SCOTCH' SURNAMES,*

THE author of this pleasant little treatise, which bears the initials -(0. I.) of the accomplished professor of history in the University Of Edinburgh, begins- by reminding his readers that the use of

lined surnames arosein no obscure antiquity, but quite within the reach of record and history. It began among the Norman and French lords about the year 1000, came into England sixty years later

with the Norman conquest, reached Scotland about the year 1000, and became general there in the thirteenth century.- InEngland, it spread somewhat more slowly, for though, as Camden states, "the better sort, even from the Conquest, by little and little took surnames, they were not settled among the common people fully until about the time of Edward the Second." The family names introduced among us by the Norman adventurers were taken from their paternal castles across the Channel ; "neither is-there any village in Normandy," says Camden, "that *gave not denomina- tion to some family in England." - " On the Continent, especially in France, this style of surname, showing its territorial origin-specially when marked by the De, so much valued by our neighbours—is considered as almost the absolute test of gentry ; and maw a pretty Frenchwo.man has given herself and her fortune in exchange for. little more than the empty sound of the aristocratic prefix. With us, it "has never been so' and our difference is not merely of language. We have never recognized the principle of raising these territorial names into an aristocracy of gentry—a top cream of society. We have no higher names in England—not even De Vere, Clifford,. or Nevil—than our Spensers, ritzgeralds, Stuarts, Butlers, names which cannot have a territorial origin."

The first of Scotch families in opulence and power, at the time when surnames were introduced, did not adopt the new practice -until after several generations, and then they called themselves Steward, Stuart, from their hereditary office ; the great majority, however, of Scotch gentle names are territorial and local. Of those imported from Normandy, a few only are extant ; the rest have disappeared, or have suffered queer changes. The grand old Norman names of De Vesci and De Vere are now Veitch and Weir. De Montealto has passed through several steps into Mowat, De Montefixo into 3fuschet. De Vallibus—De

Vaux-

Do Vans—by the simple blunder of turning a letter upside down, has assumed the, shape of Vans; while De Belassize has degene- rated into the less euphonious name of Belsches. Professor lanes draws an inference unfavourable to his colleague's theory of the high antiquity of the Scotch ballads from the fad that there are not in them the names of certain Border families—De Vesoi, Be Morevel, Be Vipont, De Norms.nvil,'Avenel, Randolph, De Balliol--names now unknown even. in the traditions of Tweedside, where those who bore them once ruled as princes. Scotch local names have been much more persistent than those of

Norman origin. . • :Though the majority of ancient family names in Scotland are territorial, there are many large classes of exceptions, and the -origin of most of them is not doubtful, aii is very pleasantly shown by-our author under the, device of reviewing the population of an ideal seaport burgh of the thirteenth century. It is a busy little place, and its growing society which comprises representa- tives of nearly all conditions 'of burgher life, are feeling more and more every day what a hindrance it is to business to have among them Johns, Jameses, and Andrews, by the score, and, to have no ready way of distinguishing any one John, dames, or Andrew, from the rest in speech or writing. To remedy this great incon- venience, each man acquires, by common consent, an additional ap- pellation, which at first is personal and generally characteristic of the individual, but afterwards becomes generic, being more useful in that way in proportion to the numerical increase of-the population. Thus, there are two stages,in the history of these burgher surnames : in the first stage, they are specific, and limit the ambiguity. of ohristian names, which are then the more common ones ; 2n the second stage, these conditions are reversed ; the surname has become -common to large numbers of persons, and the christian names serve to distinguish the indiViduals in each group. There are foneigners in our Scotch burgh, and these are called- after their country; .English, (now 'written Inglis) • concerning some ,Seololi Surname. Published by Edmouston and Douglas.

Fleming; French, Welsh,. Ireland or Cornwall. Weleh is iden- tified through its latin form; IVallensis, with the illustrious name

of Wallace. Oddly enough, seine of the native burghers

bear a name , imposed -en them by the fereiguer; for wan- dering into England they have been called Scot, and are ever after so designated • among their own people. Personal qualities supply many surnames, such as john 3fickle, imd John Little, or John Small More and Bey hi_ Gaelic ; Lang and Laing, corresponding to Long in England, Stark, Stout, Stro»g, Straw. The Arst-Scotek engraver was a Strang, but he-thought fit to do his mune into English, and became Sir Robert Strange. Jolly is another name that tells its own history ; and then there are the coloured families, , the .Blaoks and Zed-des, Whites and Whytocks .(Dow or Duff and Bain in Gaelic), Greys, Browns, Beds, (Reids, .Raddimans), Greens. Blue is rare, arid no man chooses to be yellow. The French practice of naming people after the saints of their birthdays did not extend. to Scotland, .but names were often given there horn the season of birth, as Spring, Summer, Winter, Yule. We are not aware that Autumn was ever applied in this way on either side of the border but the corresponding sad more early vernacular word Harvest is com- Men enough in England as a family name. Thefixing of patronymics—they fluctuated at first—gave rise to a large class of surnames in which it is the Scotch practice to indicate the descent by the mark of the genitive case, or the affix,

Son. Thus ....Mennen Adams, Adie, all mean the same ; so do Richardson, .Richards, Dickson, Dickenson' Dick, Dickens,

Die/We. Anderson is the same , Andrews, Johnson as Jones. Die/We. Anderson is the same , Andrews, Johnson as Jones.

-Lawson and Laurie mean the son of Lawrence ; Manson the son of Magnus. _Kennedy is another shape of Kennethson„ or

3P.Kenzie. The Highland patronymics in Mac continued fluctuating much longer than the Sons of the lowlands, and most _of them were only fixed into unchanging our-

names in the last century. It has been too hastily assumed that these Highland names were always intended to imply the clan's descent in blood froon scene heroic or even mythical person- age and on this assumption the names of the 111'31abs, SODS of the abbot, the 311Phersons, sons of the parson, and the X' Vicars, have been quoted in evidence of the scandalous lives of the Scotch clergy in the middle ages. So lightly does Professor limes esteem this argument, which cannot be unknown to him, that he does not condescend to notice it in any way, but says that the lileNabs "seem to have their ancient name as representing the old Abbots of Strathfillan or Glendochart, who had become secularized, and appropriated the lands , whit*, belonged to the monastery," and that some such descent may be expressed in the other clerical surnames, as well as in M'Intosh, the sons of the chief, and others. Coming back from the Highlands to his thriving Scotch burgh of the thirteenth century, he finds that there also- ,: " The church, with its establishment, has originated several of onrnames. Men merely dwelling there are called at Church or of Kirk—shortening, by the common process, into the surnames of Church and Kirk. Clerks, so called from their learning, however they spell their name, are not neces- sarily in orders, and will leave honourable families descended of them. Bishop and Parson, Friar and Monk, are surnames, perhaps marking pa- tronage. Proctor is a church officer. Jore—.Dewar—Deuchar, is cu- riously connected with the custody of relics. In the choir are Singers, gangsters, (shortened into Sang). Of this class I suppose is the name of St. _Michael, Michel, Mitchell and, of it too, perhaps of the Celtic section of the inhabitants, are men who take the fine names of Gillies (servant of Jesus), and Gilchrist (Christ's servant), Gilmichael, Gilmory, or Gilmour (servants of St. Michael and Mary). Gillecalum and Malcolm (servant of Columba), as well as aillescop and Gillespie (the Bishop's servant)."

The medical profession is represented in the family nomencla- ture of the burgh by Barber, Leech, and probably Leechman. There are Leeches on both sides of the border, but most of them north of the Tweed spell their names with itch by way of national distinction. The names furnished by the merchant guild and the trades are numerous and, for the most part, so easily recognized that we need mention only a few of them. The unpopular office of collecting the multures' or makes, gives the name of Multerer, afterwards to become Mutter. Fuller and Walker are syno- nymes signifying the owner of the walking or fulling mill. The Cooper's man who hoops the barrels is John Girdwood; the Eng- lish call him Hooper. The officer who stamps them is the Brander. The Barters, Brewster*, Sitters, and Webster* would in England be called bakers, brewers, shoemakers, and weavers. We have borrowed the Scotch name of the dyer, Litster, without knowing its meaning, and turned it into Laster. The Lorimers are bridlemakers, and the Fletchers are arrowmakers (in French Flechier.) (low, and probably Cowan, are Gaelic aliases of Smith— "The necessity of some distinction hefore surnames are common, gives rise to a curious custom in our. burgh. Men distinguish. themselves and their dwellings by signs or cognizonoes. It is not only inns and shops or booths that exhibit these emblems; burghers and gentry of all classes do the same. This gives us a class of names common to France, England, and Scotland. John at the Bell becomes John Bell, and the Lamb, a favourite eognistanoit; in connexion with the symbol of St. John, originates the family of Lamb, and its affectionate dilninutive Lansby—a name once of good re- pute as a native name in Angus, though those who bear it in modern times have sought a French origin, and spell it L'Ami. The same custom gave rise among our neighbours in -thei-Seutli,-to-the name of Angel, and even the strange one of Devil, neither of which we have affected. But we have Kings and Bishops, and even a few .Popes in our Presbyterian Scotland-4- names probably to be traced, to a similar origin. A little clan of these last, pronounced .Paipt, exists in Caithness and Orkney. I conjecture that the same practice has given origin to many of our names commencing with Saint, end proheley isle to this custom that we oive a large-class of names that are not otherwise easily to be accounted for—Ime,atithe mlly'names derived from names of animals. liven ill we suppose;40% 8oRte..909ie dental relation to the animals suggested the names of Hare and Dog (which we spell absurdly Doig,) .Brock, our Seotch shape of badger, and the well- known names of Swan, Eagle, Heron, Peacock, and Craw, we cannot adopt such an origin for the surname of Oliphant (the Scotch shape of elephant,) or of Lion, the name of the noble family of Strathmore, whose family tradi- tion does not point to any foreign source, but who can hardly allege an encounter with the royal beast in the forests of Angus. They bore for their coat armour the Lion of Scotland, and may, perhaps, have exhibited a lion over their-gate, as, we know, they constructed in the shape of a lion that curious silver cup still preserved at Glainmis, and which is the prototype of the 'blessed bear of Bradwardine.' " - Our space will not allow us to dwell on the -names derived from rural scenes and occupations, or from offices of high or low degree. Among the latter, we will only mention an illustrious one, for which the genealogists have assigned a childish etymo- logy, Na • peer—non pareille. The progenitors of the gallant Napiers were Naperers, or keepers of the royal napery. Our anther finds that there is a branch of their house in -the North Of Scotland who are "vulgarly called Lepers---euphonim cause!