The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-14

in accordance with the custom of his | day. to assume the surname "de Doug las," from his lands. The family first rose into historical importance in the time of Robert Bruce. Their lats' career leads the enthusiastic Hume to | declare;
 go many, % good. as the pousisss' | Of one surname was ne'er In Scoelsnd | seen."
 The Douglas River. from which the l lands took their name. is in British Du-glas. in Gaelic Dubh- glas. pro and nd writisn tn 9fs centuries. Duvglas or Duveglas. This name signifies "the dark blue !or green )water," and is aptly descriptive of the stream in Lanarkshtre, which. with its tributaries. drains and Yoors 2 country
 The prototheme is the Gaelic dubh. Old Irish and Pictish dub. Welsh ana Breton du. Cornish duv. Gailic dubos Doubs),, all meaning dark. black" II Is cognate with the Gothic daubs. Old High German toub. English deaf. also the Gothic dumbs, Old High German tumb, English dumb. the Creek tuphios blind. dark" Lettish dumsch dark brown" and dumbra. ''black."
 The deuterotheme is the Gaelic, glas. Old Irish glass, welsh and Breton glas. var1ously defined as gray, blue, green" The Irish names Glasdercus, "gray-eysd.' and Glassicu, gray hound" are very old. Pliny tells us that the plant wood used by the Celts in tattooing was called glastum In Gaul. It is said to have been sky blue (caeruleum) or a green (vitreum) by ancient writers. Acre, Acres, Aclker. The common noun acre now Indicates definite measure of land, but In Anglo-Saxon and early Middle English its meaning was "an open or cultivated feld," regardless of its size. This use is abundantly illustrated in the lit- erature of those periods and survives still in our expressions "acredale." "acre fight" Gods acre. Ca church yard) and in place as Castle Acre. West Acre. etc. This is the meaning of its cognates also. such as the Old Frisian ekker. Old Saxon Accar. Dutch akker. Old | Morse akr. Swedish aker. Danish ager, Gothic akrs, old High German achar, German acker. Latin ager. Greek agros and Sanskrit ajras. The radical Is found in al. ito drive" Hence ajra signifies originally "a pasture field! but became In Indo-European times used in the widest sense of field and | common" as tillage partially supplant' ed the rearing of cattle.
 The word was thus a close synonym | of field" in our surname period and as such gave rise to the surname which appears on the earlier records as de | Acre." "del Acre." and indicates ono | who lived at or beside the acre. the | field.
 Acker is an occasional variant which preserves one of the several Middle | English spellings of tfx common noun Acres, now characteristic of Hertford- shire and Akers now found principally in Oxfordshire. are equivalent names made by the addition of the sufix "s' | which may be either pluralie or geni- | tival.
 Wood, Woods. The surname Wood appears in the | Domesday Book, 10S6 in the Latlnfzed | form De Silva. In the Hundred Rolls of 1273 we find late u c. at the) wode," "de la Wode" and fin le Wode, which show very clearly the local or | first bore 1t derived 1t from their res idence "at or in the wood" The old spelling Wode is Still spo- | radio both in England and America The later Wood has almost entirely displaced 1t and has established itself in most of the English counties. It IS especially frequent in Yorkshire and Cheshire and in the Northern Midland counties, Derby. Nottingham, Stafford and Leicester. It is also frequent ir Kent and Sussex. Woods prevails ir Lancashire, Suffolk. Norfolk and Wilt | shire.
 The word wood Is from the Anglo
 Saxon wudu, originally widu. "a wood tree, wood, timber" This Is cognatt
 with the Middle Dutch and Middle Low
 German wede. Old High Ger
 man witu, Old Morse vithr. Swedish
 and Danish we'd "a wood. a tree." Olt
 Irish i'd, Irish fiodh. "A wood. tree
 Gaelic flodh. ''wilderness, timber"
 Welsh groydd, trees" gwyddeli, bush
 es."
 Copyright, 1909 by Samuel Grant Oli'
 phant.