Imprecations
There is also a small group of surnames derived from oaths or exclamations which by habitual use became associated with certain individuals. We know that monarchs had a special tendency to indulge in a favourite expletive. To Roger de Collerye we owe some information as to the imprecations preferred by four French kings—
“Quand la Pasque-Dieu (Louis XI.) décéda,
Le Bon Jour Dieu (Charles VIII.) luy succéda,
Au Bon Jour Dieu deffunct et mort
Succéda le Dyable m’emport (Louis XII).
Luy décédé, nous voyons comme
Nous duist (governs) la Foy de Gentilhomme (Francis I.).”
So important was this branch of linguistics once considered that Palsgrave, the French tutor of Princess Mary Tudor, includes in his Esclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse a section on “The Maners of Cursyng.” Among the examples are “Le grant diable luy rompe le col et les deux jambes,” “Le diable l’emporte, corps et ame, tripes et boyaux,” which were unfortunately too long for surname purposes, but an abridged form of “Le feu Saint Anthoyne l’arde” 1 has given the French name Feulard. Such names, usually containing the name of God, e.g. Godmefetch, Helpusgod, have mostly disappeared in this country; but Dieuleveut and Dieumegard are still found in Paris, and Gottbehüt, God forbid, and Gotthelf, God help, occur in German. Godbehere still exists, and there is not the slightest reason why it should not be of the origin which its form indicates. In Gracedieu, thanks to God, the second element is an Old French dative. Pardoe, Purdue, whence Purdey, is for par Dieu-—
“I have a wyf pardee, as wel as thow” (A, 3158).
There is a well-known professional footballer named Mordue (‘sdeath), and a French composer named Boieldieu (God’s bowels). The French nickname for an Englishman, goddam—
“Those syllables intense,
Nucleus of England’s native eloquence”
(Byron, The Island, iii. 5)—
goes back to the fifteenth century, in which invective references to the godons are numerous. 2
Such nicknames are still in common use in some parts of France—
“Les Berrichons se désignent souvent par le juron qui leur est familier. Ainsi ils diront: ‘Diable me brûle est bien malade. Nom d’un rat est à la foire. La femme à Diable m’estrangouille est morte. Le garçon à Bon You (Dieu) se marie avec la fille à Dieu me confonde.’”
(Nyrop, Grammaire historique de la langue française, iv. 209).
Notes
1 Saint Anthony’s fire, i.e. erysipelas, burn him!
2 “Les Anglais en vérité ajoutent par-ci, par-là quelques autres mots en conversant; mais il est bien aisé de voir que goddam est le fond de la langue” (Beaumarchais, Mariage de Figaro, iii. 5).