DAUPHIN is a title given to the eldest son of the royal family of France, and heir presumptive of the crown, on account, as is said, of the province of Dauphine, which in 1343 was granted to Philip of Valois, on this condition, by Humbert, dauphin of the Viennois. The dauphin, in his letters patent, styled himself “By the grace of God, eldest son of France, and dauphin of Viennois.”

Most authors who have sought the origin of the name Dauphin and Dauphine seem to have indulged too much in conjecture. Duchesne is of opinion that it was the grandson of Guy the Fat who first bore the name of dauphin. But Chorier observes, that William, canon of Nôtre-Dame at Grenoble, who wrote the life of Margaret, daughter of Stephen earl of Burgundy, married to Guy, son of Guy the Fat, calls the latter simply Guy the Old, and the former always Count Dauphin; and he adds, that no record nor monument ever attributes the title of dauphin to Guy the Fat, or to any of his predecessors; so that it must necessarily have taken its rise in his son, all of whose successors so constantly assumed it that it became the proper name of the family. Guy died in the year 1142, in the flower of his youth; so that it must be about the year 1120 that the title commenced, and without doubt on some remarkable occasion. Chorier observes further, that this prince was of a military disposition, and delighted in nothing but war; and again, that it was the custom of the cavaliers to deck their casques, their coats of arms, and the housing of their horses, with some figure or device peculiar to themselves, and by which they were distinguished from all others engaged in the same combat or tournament. From all these circumstances, he conjectures that this Guy chose the dolphin for his symbol; that this was the crest of his helmet; and that he bore it on his coat in some notable tournament or battle in which he distinguished himself; and this, Chorier makes no doubt, is the real origin of the appellation.

The seigneurs or lords of Auvergne have likewise borne the appellation of dauphin ; but the dauphins of Auvergne had it not till a considerable time after those of the Viennois, and even received it from them. The manner of their doing so may be briefly explained. Guy VIII. dauphin of Viennois, had by his wife Margaret, daughter of Stephen earl of Burgundy', a son and two daughters. The son was

Guy IX., his successor. Beatrix, one of the daughters, was married to the Count d’Auvergne, who, according to Blondel, was William V., or rather, as Chorier and others think, Robert VI. father of William V. This prince lost the greater part of the county of Auvergne, which was taken from him by his uncle William, assisted byLouis the Young; and he was left master of only the little canton of which Vodable is the capital. But he had a son whom he called Dauphin, on account of Guy, or Guignes, his uncle by the mother’s side; and from his time his successors, holding the same petty canton of Auvergne, styled themselves dauphins of Auvergne, and bore a dolphin for their arms.

Dauphins, or Delphins, in literary history, a name given to the commentators on the ancient Latin authors, who were employed by Louis XIV. of France for the benefit of the prince, under the care and direction of Μ. de Montausier his governor, and Bossdet and Huet his preceptors. They were thirty-nine in number.