The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-06-21

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lcountry, where 1t ia still frequent
name among tho pensnntry, Brien was
carried to England by the Bretons who
aided In. the Norman Conquest.
The Domcaday records two under
tenants OF lands who bore the names
Brien and Brion, respectively Our
| next great registry OF names, the
1 HunIred Rolls of 1873. records the
ranie in several counties under the
variant forms Brien. Bryan Bryon, I'll
Brian, etc. 1t was fairly popular for a
| few centuries and fingered on in North
Yorkshire, Westmoreland and Furness
as personal name until the end Of
the eighteenth century. So the organs
| OF England are Bretons, not irish.
| The greatest of the Irish Brians WAS
the renowned Brian Boroinhe (Boru),
the 176tl monarch of ireland, born In
! o26, at Ceann-corndl, (Sinkora), tho
royal seat Of his ancestors. The regal
splendor and lnagniflcence OF his reign
was equaled only by that TO Taras
sovereign Cormac Mac Art, In the third
century.
Brian owed his surname, Boroimhe,
"of the Tribute" to the tribute he i'm
posed upon Ulster. He defeated tho
Danes In twenty-five battles and was
then slain in 1914 In the great legend
II
The great Irish sept Of the O'Briens.
of Thomond, descended from him and
from them many Of the Brians. Briens,
Brlnes. Brlons, Bryans. Bryens, Brynes,
Bryneys. McBrlans, ETC.. O'Brians. etc,
OF the present day receive their sur
name.
The, name may have it's origin In the
root of the Old Irish brig. "valor,
strength, WORTH and, as an adjective.
powerful. strong, mighty" the Gaelic
brigh, substance. essence. power"
Welsh bril- esteem. dignity. honor"
Cornish and Breton bry, regard re-
spect."
These are Indicative of qualities that
loom up prominently above the ordl-
nary mediocrity as the mountains and
plain. SO the words have been thought
to be corresponding metaphors from
the Old Irish bri. breg. Cymric. Cor
nish and Breton bra, mountain. hill"
hry. high" Old Gaelic braig, Gaelic
brae. hill" However that may be, |
the name is better connected with this
second group. Here belong also the
Celtic Brigantes Chill folks a rltlsh
tribe, the Irish Bright, whose name is
the same In meaning as the Latin
Augusta, Cymric breenhin king" Gal
lie Brigham, Arebrigium and other
proper names and the Old Persian
Eardiya. royal name which the
Greeks called Smerdis.
Among the many cognates are the
Gothic bairgahei "tnountain-range."
Old High German berg, "mountain."
Old Morse b1arg. rock" Anglo Saxon
teorg. oeorh, "hill." English barrow.
Teutonic Burgundiones "Highlanders,"
whence Burgundy, Old slavonic brezu
and Russian bereg. bank" COT riv-
err. Armenian bardzr. high. berdz
height Ossetic barzond. high" Per-
sian buland, high Avestan berezant.
high" and Sanskrit brihant. high,
great. also mans name.
Bryan then may be rendered strong.
great and is eptly descriptive OF the
character OF tho Conmoner."
Hughes.
Few names have done more to enrich
onomatology than the personal name
Hugh, which. with hts Northern and
Southern variants. Hew and How, re-
spectively. has given us some seventy
mics. It's compounds and their
derivatives easily swell the number to I
more than 100.
The surname Hughes is one of
these patronymics, formed by the ad.
dtion of the genitival suffix s, and
signifies "the son of
Hugh"
The personal ": lie Hugo was known
In England even prior to the Conquest,
but was confined chiefly to foreign
eccles!astics. 1t became frequent i'm
after the Conquest. and
there are scores of instances In the
Domesday.
On the continent the name had been
frequent since the seventh CEN
fury. Hug, Hugo Hoge. Hucke. Ucke.
etc, were found in Germany; Hughes.
Hues, Huon. Huet, etc. have been fire.
quent In France since the days of
Hughes lie Grand. the powerful Count
of Paris and his great son and name
sake. founder of the Capetian line; Ugo
and Ugolino. the latter immortallzed by
Dante, have for centuries been at home
in Italy, and Ougon was not unknown
to the Byzantine Greeks. Dutch has It's
Huig and Morse has had its Hugh ever
since the famous visit of Thor to Ut
gard. when only Hugh could outstrp
even the god In the race. for Hugh is
Thought. Huglnn and Munninn
: