The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-04
YOUR FIRST NAME
ITS ORIGIN AND THE FAMOUS FOLK
WHO HAVE BORNE 1T

ia'cOioihS 10 some JUDGES, the greatest
queen that ever ruled in any land. not
excluding Queen Elizabeth. But she was
an interruptions woman, with a cruel
disposition. She even connived at her
husbands murder
with Peter out of the way. Catherine
was crowned Empress Of all the Rus
slas, and 1t was as empress that she
won the admiration and wonder of the
world. She ruled with wisdom. did much
to bring the civilization of Russia UP to
that of the rest of Europe. promulgated
new laws. encouraged the arts. and di-
iected material conquests for her coun-
! try.
Five GATHERINGS have shared the Eng
I!sh throne. Catherine of VAois. or of
France, who married Henry V. is note
worthy because she was the grandmother
Of Henry VII. Three of Henry VIII
Unfortunate wives-the first. the fifth.
>hd the siXth-were named Catherine
The charming Portuguese princess who
married Charles ii was another royal
Catherine of England
Still another famous royal Catherine
was the queen of Henry ii of France
me queen of a powerful country, the
mother Of three kings. the ,nother-in- law
o. Mary. Queen of Scots, a capa bic ruler,
the daughter of the strongest family in
de Medici is chiefly remembered for the
great blot which the massacre of St
Ban tholomew stamped not only on her
eiSn. but OF. France
There have been many other interest
ing GATHERINGS of less fame than Cath
crimes of royal birth. Among them were
some five saints who tried to live as
worthiy as the AleXandrian MARTYR:
Catherine de Cora, wife of Martin I.u
fhnN. IL
loved companion of the great English
statesman: Kate Claxton. the actress.
who created the part of Louise" in The
Two Orphans" Kate Douglas Wigcin.
popular American author and worker
among poor children: Catherine Macau-
ley. Irish ph!lanthropist. who. almost q
century ago. founded the order of the
Sisters OF Mercy: Catherine Maria Seds-
wick. who wrote best Sellers" among
them Redwood" and THE Linwoods,
some fifty years ago and Kate Greena-
way. whose dainty drawings Of children
charmed Europe and America.
The saint who gave the world the old
est OF tine jewel names was even more
mYth-bound than the saint who made
Catherine popu.GV. For lin the days OF
fcrod the king" says the Bible, behold,
there came wise men from the East to
jerusalem. Traditions soon fixed the
name Of ore of these treasure bearers
from the mysterious East as Jasper. II
traced his journeyings and even identi-
ned his bones. and wherever the stories
OF his life Were heard. his name was
adopted
IL Is Gaspare. Garpardo. and Caspa no
in Italy. Gaspar in England and Amer
lea. For som. reason. perhaps because
of their more difficult pronunciation and
less pleasing sound. the names of the two
other wise men never became widely
popular.
The most famous descendants of this
popular wise man are Jasper Tudor. Earl
Of Pembroke. son of Catherine of France
and her second husband, Owen Tudor.
"a partisan in the Wars of the Roses of
the House of Lancaster. who died in
li6: GaIparo Balbi. a Venetian traveller,
who spent the years between 1873 and
l5S in India; kaspar Olevianus, born at
Treves. in Prussia in 1856 one of the
founders of the German Reformed
Church: Gaspard Colgnl. celebrat ed
French Hugucnot leader. who in 1872 was
the first victim of Catherine de Medici's
massacre Of st. Bartholomew. and Sir
Casper furdon Clarke, art critic and con-
noisSeur. and lately curator of the Metro
poitan Museum of Art in New York
Cordeiia. the third most popular of
the jewel names. was the name OF
one of the eleven thousand virgins
who went with ST. Ursula. a British
princess, on her Journeys. The ira
dtion is that Ursula. who had deter
mined never to marry, was sought
by "ferocious tyrent." She prom
ised to marry him if he would allow
her to sail unhindered for three years.
Her companions were to be ten maid
ems. and each of these was to have
a thousand maidens with her. The
"tyrent" gathered the maidens to-
Gether. and in eleven richly decor
ated ships they started forth. They
Travelled down the Rhine. and then
walked TO Rome. On their way back
they were killed by the Huns.
In his frantic search for eleven
thousand young maidens. the 'tyrent,'
undaunted by Ursula's strange de-
mand, journeyd to Wales and per-
suaded Cordelia to join Ursula. Her
name has always been popular in Ire
land.
Esmeralda is used now only in
Spain. Its popularity there is due to
the reputation of an early Christian
martyr who bore the Grecian form
of the name Smaragdos. Sapphire,
which is still in use in modern Greece.
was brought into general disfavor by
the wife of Ananias. Damanta is
sometimes met with in different
lands, and there was once learned
Italian poet named Diamante Fains.
Garnet was borne to fame by Sir
Garnet Wolseley. the British general
who commanded the expedition to
subdue Riers Rebellion in Canada in
1870. and later won distinction in In
dia.
Catherine. which means crystal:
an Garnet, Esmeralda. Sapphira and
Diamanta are all o. Greek origin.
Jaspar comes from the East. and sig
nifies either the stone of the same
name. or treasure master" Corde-
liza is a Celtic name and means prob
ably the Gem of the Sea"
M'nrNrrrht hN Eranccs Marshalll