The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-17

cA NAA>eDt v" @'eS~
 sassirt Is the seuitivs case of the Gaelic
 s.sss 9S i5s ssssss sao the Latin sacerdos. ." a priest" . compound from sacer. "sacred." and dottJs''a gift. 1" from de, dare. ito give" The iatter.i is cog duotis. Greek dos Avestan daitis and sans knit datis. all meaning gift" The former is from the Latin sancirc. <-to bind relig- iousiy. to hailvw. consecrate" IL has cog ! mates in many of the Itaiic diaiects. as Os- can sakoro. Umbrian sakra. etc. and out side of Italian territory. in the old Morse sattr. c-reeonciied. appeased.",
 Msteaif, Meteslse.
 This surname. had It's origin in Yorkshire, England. Camden tells us that in iso7, this family was accounted the most nu- merous in all England. Sir Christopher Metcaife was then the head of the family, and he met the Judges at York with . ret intie of three hundred horsemen, all of his own name and Kindred. all we'll mounted aad suitably attired. M
 The origin Of the name has been a sore puxzie to all except the popular etymologist. He has recognized it's two compohents met and calf and has evolved ctioiogicai myths 10. explain such an origin. A One fertile genius with. wealth of de- tall designed. to give verisiunilitude to the story tells us that tn the days when bull fights were In vogue in "Merrie Ensland.'' ' an infuriated bull broke away from the combat and dashed up hili with body of horsemen in hot pursuit Near the top of, the long hiii . certain John strong met the bull that straiEhtwax charged upon him. Strong seized Athe beast by the nos triis with his left hand like Milon of old. killed 1t with single blow of his fist. Proceeding down the hill lne met the riders who snxiously inquired whether he had met bull He modestiy replied that he had ''nnet a.cAif". up the hill and when the story became known he was dubbed John MetcaR.
 Another version tells us that two men were travelling through the woods in the evening dusk, and saw a, four-footed beast coming towards them. One ran way in fright, the other stood his ground and met the beast. a red calf. whence he was sur named Metcaif. and the other Lightfoot.
 Horace Smith had still third version in In mind when he wrote:
 ,.Mr. Metcaif ran off upon meeting: COW. with pale Mir. Turnbuli behind hlm. The correct orgin of the name appears to be that it is local name derived from the hill called .,Medcalf, near Dent. In the parish of sedburgh. Yorkshire. on the path leading, to the mountain called The Calf" Here lived Adam de Medcalf. who. accord ing to the Yorkshire Assize Rolls for ! Ed ward l. 127sD was killed by e neighbor. Richard de Steynortgge ue Deneke NDentD The local prefix de confirms the local ori- gin of the name.
 The Yorkshire pedigree shows such va riants as Medecalf, Metkaiff. Metecaife. Meytecalfe, Medcaif. MydcaIk Meitcalve. Metcalffe. Metcaifte). etc. The principal variants are now Metcaif(e) and Med catf(e).
 Metcaife is. thus ..the Middle calf.'i Of the term calf as a designation for an Island, as thA fssCaff tof Man"
 The prototheme is the Middle English mede, med, mid. myd. English mid mid dle" This Is cognate with the Latin me- dius oscan meffo. Greek messos and mesos, Gothic midjis. old High German and Ger man mittei. oif Saxon middii, old Tristan middel Irish mide. Armenian ,medz. Ayes tan .rnaidya, sanskrit madhyas. all meaning middle" The Lithuanian. medis, "a tree' and the Old Prussian rnedian Lettlsh mes eho. forest" originally, "a mark or border land" are also cognates. The old 'slavonic mezdu. "between'' shows the semantic evo- iution of the last ones cited, and the old Morse mork. " forest" which is the Gothic marka Anglo Saxon mearc, "a mark march or frontier" Is striking parallel. The derivation and cognates' of the deu- terotheme will be found under Calvert in No. xxVI. of this series