SPECULATIVE VERSUS HISTORICAL WORD-LORE .sx BY DR. F. J. ALLEN .sx Everyone interested in word-lore is doubtless fond of speculative etymologies , and quite rightly ; for ( as it has been said ) " speculation is the mother of progress , " and the man who has no speculative faculty is not likely to discover much .sx The pioneer must always imagine something beyond the visible horizon .sx But when the speculative origin of a word is compared with the documentary history of the same , it is astonishing how discrepant they may be found to be ; and the etymologist learns sooner or later to regard his speculations with distrust , and to realise that the chief use of speculation is to suggest new lines of research , though the result of that research may be different from what was expected .sx It would be well if everyone , before launching a new conjecture ( or even quoting a current one ) in word-lore , would look up as much as he can of the history of the matter .sx For this reason I venture to mention a few of the best books on the history of words , which should be consulted if possible .sx Those who have not .sx the fortune to possess these books might find some of them in public libraries ; and , indeed , every public library should contain such works , for they would greatly add to its usefulness .sx No-one should venture into word-lore without being acquainted with the work of Skeat , the great genius of English etymology .sx His great " Etymological Dictionary " traces the history of English words back to their earliest known roots .sx His " Concise Etymological Dictionary " issued later , is within the reach of most people's pockets , and has the advantage that it corrects many erroneous etymologies in his greater dictionary for even the best etymologist must always be liable to err , especially where documentary evidence is incomplete or ambiguous .sx The wonderful " New English Dictionary " ( by Dr. Murray and others ) contains the contributions of many leading etymologists , but is less thorough than Skeat's works .sx Quite recently Professor Weekley has published his most compendious " Etymological Dictionary of Modern English , " in which the latest discoveries in etymology are recorded , and many modern and even slangy words are investigated .sx A cheaper and concise edition of this work is published , containing no fewer words , but less elaborate explanations .sx Of works on place-names , those by Prof .sx Skeat deserve first mention .sx They deal with the names in six counties , namely , Cambridgeshire , Huntingdonshire , Bedfordshire , Suffolk , Hertfordshire , and Berkshire ; the first four counties are dealt with in publications by the Cambridge Antiquarian Society ; Hertfordshire by the East Herts Archaeological Society ; and Berkshire by the Clarendon Press .sx The English Place-Name Society ( Liverpool University ) are preparing very thorough histories of the place-names in many counties .sx The following volumes have appeared :sx I. , Introductory ; II .sx , Buckinghamshire ; III .sx , Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire ; IV .sx , Worcestershire ( all published by the Cambridge University Press) .sx Some excellent volumes by private workers have also been published , among which I can recommend Middlesex , by J. E. B. Gover , Herefordshire , by A. T. Bannister , Cornwall , by T. F. G. Dexter , and Fife and Kinross , by W. J. N. Liddall .sx For the study of Surnames the dictionary by Bardsley may be recommended for its conscientious work on the lines of Skeat .sx " Surnames of the United Kingdom , " by Henry Harrison , issued under the auspices of the Philological Society , and published by the Eaton Press , London , S.W. , is much more comprehensive , containing English , Welsh , Scotch , Irish , and many naturalized foreign names , and tracing their derivation often multiple as far as possible .sx Works on word-lore older than Skeat's first publications ( about 1880 ) must be read with caution and checked in the light of later methods .sx PERSONAL NAMES IN DEVON .sx BY BARBARA CARBONELL .sx Names , Christian and surnames , have a strange fascination , and it is interesting to trace them from " one generation to another .sx " There seems always to have been what may be termed " fashions " in names , and search in old parish registers will show how in the 16th and early 17th century the most usual names were John , William , Robert , Richard , Edward , Peter , with Marie ( not often Mary until about the middle of the 17th century ) , Anne usually spelt Ane , Elnor , Als , Alse , Alace , or Alys , Jone or Johan , Agnis and Elizabeth for girls .sx This last name Elizabeth was overwhelmingly popular from about the middle of the 16th century for over a hundred years , and in one register I have seen , I found that more than two-thirds of the girls were baptised Elizabeth , not only in one or two years , but over quite a long period .sx In the West Country there are several uncommon names , both Christian and surnames .sx Of the former are Willmott and Richord ; these were girls' names and as they were almost invariably given to the daughters of men called William and Richard respectively , it would seem as though they were the recognised feminine forms of these names .sx With the rise of Puritanism the registers show a change in the names , and towards the end of the 17th century Charity , often spelt Chiritie , Priscilla , Abigail , Keren-hapuch , Azarias , Melchisedec , and Athanasius occur with great frequency .sx The 18th Century brought Betty , Laviny , Gyles , Christopher , Dorotie , Roger , Artur , and Charesles .sx I give the usual spelling , and later Jarge or Goorg , as it was spelt in one register in Devon , and it is interesting to note how the change in the fashion in names occurred in this out-of-the-way part of England , quite forty years after other parts of the country had made a change .sx Thomasine or Tamzine , was a common name in Devon up to the beginning of the 19th Century , and earlier ran Elizabeth very close in popularity .sx Rabat , or Rabet , a girl's name , does not seem to have survived the ages .sx It is to be found very frequently in several parishes , .sx parishes divided by the whole width of the country , but does not appear later than the end of the 18th century .sx Amie was a popular name , and one register at least shows Chatherine for several generations , as a way of spelling Catherine .sx It is very noticeable how families will keep to one or two names for generations , Sylphrina is a name which was repeated in one register in all the branches of one family from about 1590 to 1800 , and in another Tiphanie or Tiffany .sx Jennifer , Petronell , Arminell , Aloysius , Damaris , Tryphena and Sabrina were also found carried on from generation to generation .sx Late in the 18th century it became the fashion , a fashion set no doubt by the Royal Family , to give two or more names , and Mary Jane , Mary Ellen , William Henry , and John Thomas begin to appear in the registers .sx Spelling of course was always a very variable quantity , and it appears as though every Parson and every clerk had his own way of spelling every name , and often two or three variations !sx Surnames of course suffered more in this way than Christian names , and it is no unusual thing to find that two or more surnames in a village are but variants of one original name , for instance in one parish the name of VARWELL , in the course of a century becomes VARREL , VARLE , FARWELL , and VURWELL , and it is hardly to be wondered at when one finds such an entry as the following :sx John son of John and Mary Gampton buried .sx Mary Gamton wife of John Gameton buried .sx Devon easily changes S into Z , so Seaward , Zeaward , Seward , Sayward , and Zayware , must have originally been one family , Ferneaux , in one parish survives at the present day as Ferny , and Zealakes as Zellicks , Walwyn as Wallens , and Harmeston as Hampson .sx Honey seems to give several surnames ; it is common in some parts of Devon by itself , and Honeychurch , and Honeywell , are also known , while Honeybone , Honeysett , and Honeysweet occur with less frequency .sx Cobbledick , Conybeare , Vinnicombe , Ashplant are familiar in this county and Hok or Hock is a foundation for several surnames , Hokridge , Hockin , Hockaday , Hocking , Hocketty , Hocker , or Hooker , Hockway or Hookway .sx Surnames are specially interesting in the registers shewing as they frequently do , how occupations and trades remain in one family often for centuries .sx In one village from 1398 to 1888 a family of the name of Tozer were the local blacksmiths , and the place where the smithy stood ( alas it was pulled down some six years ago ) is still known as Tozers .sx Two highly respectable and respected families of labourers in the same parish have been labourers there at least since the first entries in the registers in 1600 .sx In one village in Devon all the cottages and cottage property .sx are known by the name of former occupants and owners ; when the properties have been divided , the name has been divided too , thus there are still in the village houses known as Darts , Part Darts , Godfreys , Godfreys House , Part Godfreys , Dimons , Part Dimons , Little Part Dimons , and search in some old deeds belonging to the parish shews that in some cases the original owner who gave the name to the property lived there or owned it as long ago as the 13th century .sx SEASONAL PLACE-NAMES .sx BY ALFRED WATKINS .sx I am convinced that a large number of place-names referring to the seasons are derived from being on the sites of mark-points on the ancient alignments , which , formed across country , pointed to sunrise or sunset on the seasonal dividing days , and thus took the place of a calendar with early folk .sx The basis for the proof of this is not my own investigation or theory , but facts divulged within the past third of a century by the reliable investigators I will now quote .sx Mr. Magnus Spence in the Orkneys , and Mr. A. L. Lewis and Sir Norman Lockyer ( Astronomer Royal ) , in various localities , found that in many stone-circles one stone aligned through another to a third object on the sky-line ( a hill-top , cairn or barrow , or a standing stone ) , and on to the horizon where the sun rose on a quarter or half-quarter day .sx Strange to say , these observations were treated with considerable contempt in some quarters .sx Recently another skilled observer , Admiral Boyle Somerville , has thoroughly tested another set of circles , and found a similar set of facts .sx I have found that these alignments continued for long distances over other stones , mounds , &c .sx , and thus brought the seasonal information home to many more of the population than if limited to one spot .sx Now it is quite probable that places on such alignments would get named after the season to which the sunrise ( or sunset ) pointed .sx And in fact Admiral Somerville's details gave one such instance , for a stone circle on Beltany Hill in Donegal had stones which aligned to sunrise on May Day or Bealltaine as it was called .sx Such May Day observations survive in fact , for on May morning the choristers assemble on Magdalen Tower , Oxford , and sing a hymn to the rising sun , and although want of local survey prevents me from verifying this tower as a spot on a May alignment angle , the map seems to show one through Christchurch or Oxford Cathedral .sx I now give some topographical proofs of the connection between seasonal names and the alignments .sx Sunrising Hill in Oxfordshire has an alignment over it through Middle Tysoe and Ratley Churches , and on through the Three Shire Stone to a hill-point , and this is at 49 degrees , approximately Midsummer sunrise angle .sx I found another Sunrising spot ( a hamlet ) in an old one inch Ord .sx Map bought over forty years ago for a Cornish coast tramp .sx Trying again the 49 degrees angle , it goes exactly through two barrows about two miles away .sx ( This is 10 miles N.W. of Truro .sx ) A still more convincing group of names is in the same map , four miles E.N.E. of Truro .sx Here are four homesteads arranged in the form of a diamond , all within about half-a-mile , as below , where the dots indicate the positions of the houses :sx Here an alignment between Fair Weather and Sunrising , east and west , points to Equinoctial sunrise , and passes through two barrows three miles distant .sx One between Summer and Sunrising is also confirmed as an alignment by going through the vallum of a camp called Carvoza at a distance .sx