Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature

n observed by all writers upon the period, and of the period. Cl

ent-you may learne the genealogy of our Saviour by the names in his regime

y in his first chapter, speaking, too, of

d Testament a preference which, perhaps, they did not distinctly avow even to themselves, but which showed itself in all their sentiments and habits. They paid to the Hebrew language a respect which they ref

nt names. The possessors were all saints, and in the saints' cal

er, Paul, John,

t the 'saint' un

as no man could pass through a single quarter of London without seeing half

make all th

an and surn

l churches, st

title to

int, the Puritan avoide

the Old Testament on other grounds than this. They paid the Hebrew language an almost supe

Greek,

ow! heat

heathen but t

acted Puritan," has a lance

oly tongu

y chiefest

pricked

n Hebr

d beyond a

written by Mayne in 1

ress

her to that hol

en shins, scald he

ess: that can ex

dee, and work H

p you ba

I could quote many instances, but let two from the author of t

anging nose, tha

utly, drop his

ssip's spoon au

aleb lose his

on Pembroke, as a memb

Pembroke, be n

y chance to spo

m-major oaths

to a feeble

oble Percy's

up a Hotspur

the Obediah

circumcis-e

borne, 'tis no

with the six

uld come from the older Scriptures. In George Chapman's "An Humorous Day's Work," after Lem

is is perfect

gruff Laber

ry all this now

written, we must pass to perfection thr

: in a-doors, I say: thieves, Purit

ain, Taylor, the Water-po

duty reade no

enth chapter

s with the charge in

d the Old

he New as

favour. And he that was least bitter in his maledictions was most at a discount. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in every-day request, Shadrach and Abednego being the favourites. Mordecai, too, was daily commemorated; while Jeremiah attained a popularity, as Jeremy, he can never altogether lose. "Lamentations" was so melancholy, that it must needs be

perhaps it was bile. Any way, Camden says "Dust" and "Ashes" were names in use in the days of Elizabeth and James. These, no doubt, were translations of the

ye not at all: in the house of

t roll thyself in the dust." Th

ffray, d. of Richard Man

liam Brickhead and Affera Law

arisen. In Kent it had become very common. The

ened Afra, the daught

ened Aphora, the daugh

obert Fuller mary

named Behn. When acting as a Government spy at Antwerp in 1666, she signs a letter "Aphara Behn" (C. S. P.), which is nearer the Biblical form than many others. It is just possible her father might have rolled himself several times in the dust ha

but his father turned it into the more cheerful Benjamin ("son of the right hand"). Of course, Puri

y, sonne of Beniamyn Ru

ett, d. of Bennoni Wallington, g

t Benoni Bucke to England from

ion of Benoni Honeywoo

ould speak badly for the chirurgic skill of the seventeenth cent

ard and unrelenting in Jael (already mentioned) t

ll, d. of Roger Manwaryng, pre

its length, that made it popular among

Philip Penn and Mehitta

bell, d. of Jeremiah Hart, apo

Rebecca, Rachel, Zipporah, and Leah were in high favour

ll Cumberford, ch

bbigale, d. of John Webb, sh

Jarrett Birkhead and Abi

d Robert Elles and Ab

ury it was beginning its career, and by Queen Anne's day had reached its zenith. When the Caval

isters,

e to ou

th on hig

at Whi

icked, sh

then, u

quoth my si

,' quoth R

, 'Yea,' and F

ty, 'Let

man. Certainly we find both Swift and Fielding using the term after this event. But there is good reason for believing that the sobriquet is as old as Charles I.'s reign. Indeed, there can be no reasonable doubt but that we owe the term to the enormous popularity of Beaumont's comed

"The Parson's Wedding," written by Killigrew some tim

deaf to y

n. Ye

her abigail, she

. Yes,

y performances, it was published as a droll, and entitled "The False Heir." In 1742 it appears again under the title of "The Feigned Shipwreck." Samuel Pepys, in

ere saw 'The Scornful Lady' well acted: D

e its work, and Abigail coming into use, like Malkin two centuries before, as the cant term for a kitchen drab, or common serving wench, as

eremy Clement, Zachary Cripps, Noah Fletcher, Enoch Gould, Zebulon Cunninghame, Seth Smith, Peleg Bucke, Gercyon Bucke (Gershom), Rachell Saunders, Lea Saunders, Calebb Carr, Jonathan Franklin, Boaz Sharpe, Esau del a Ware, Pharaoh Flinton, Othniell Haggat, Mordecay Knight, Obediah Hawes, Gamaliell Ellis, Esaias Raughton, Azarias Pinney, Elisha Mallowes, Malachi Mallock, Jonadab Illett, Joshua Long, Enecha Fitch (seemingly a feminine of Enoch), and Job P