Coopers and Fletchers

The second largest law firm in the world is Baker & McKenzie. I'm sure Mr. Baker was quite proud of his accomplishment, especially given that the ancestor whose name he carried was a baker -- you know, a guy who baked things. Way back when a "dusty baker" was probably covered in flour.

The surnames I've always gotten a kick out of are the ones related to a trade or profession. Many end in "er", of course, meaning "the guys who does..." Some end in "ward", as in "the guy responsible for". A "wright" made things, while a "smith" made or refined stuff, especially metal.

Some obvious ones:

• Food and drink: Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Cook, Miller
• Clothing: Tailor (Taylor), Weaver/Webster, Shoemaker, Glover
• Housing and building: Thatcher, Carpenter, Sawyer ("the guy who saws"), Plumber, Bricker/Brickman, Mason, Waller
• Farm and Field: Farmer, Hayward, Gardener, Shepherd, Shearer, Parker (in charge of a game park), Woodward
• Transportation: Wagoner, Carter, and Porter all moved stuff around. They were dependent on the Wheelwright/Wheeler, Wagonwright (now Wainwright) and the Cartwright, any of these sometimes shortened to just Wright.
• Making music: Piper, Harper, Singer
• Gentry and clergy: Lord, Knight, Duke, Abbot, Bishop
• Craftsmen and tradesmen: Turner (lathe operator), Smith (often short for blacksmith), Goldsmith, Coppersmith, Potter, Tanner, Barber, Stringer, Roper
• Boating and seafaring: Keeler (bargeman), Fisher, Boatman, Waterman

The less obvious ones are the best:

• A Cooper was a barrel-maker, and a Hooper made the hoops for the barrels. They were buddies, I'm sure.
• Mr. Fletcher made arrows. His best customers were probably Mr. Archer, Mr. Bowman, and the guy who made the bows, Mr. Bowyer (now Boyer.)
• A Faulkner was in charge of falcons.
• Tucker, Fuller, and Walker were all names of people who cleaned and thickened cloth.
• Barker worked in tanning. Using tree bark in the process, I guess?
• A Dexter dyed cloth.
• Peterman was another name for Fisher.

Interesting, too, that there are feminine versions -- in English these end in "ster" or similar. So Brewster for Brewer, Baxter for Baker, etc. And another name for judge was Deemer, whose feminine form was Dempster.

It was the same in other European countries, of course, so Smith is Schmidt in German and Lefevre in French, while Miller is Molina in Spain and Molnar in Hungary.

Fun, huh? I think very few people who carry a profession or trade surname would want to go back to that line of work, in this day and age. Unless you wanted to make and sell knives instead of playing football. Eh, Mr. Cutler?

Pat

And Now for Something Completely Different

"Dinsdale?"

That's what my brother Ed would say when peering through a doorway to see who was in the room. It's from Monty Python's Flying Circus, this particular skit about the London gangsters Doug and Dinsdale Piranha. The line is spoken by the creature Dinsdale fears the most, an imaginary 12-foot giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman.

I'm guessing you readers fall into two camps: Those who think "Ummm -- pretty weird, Pat", and those who remember the skit (and all the others) with fondness. You either got Monty Python or you didn't, and we certainly did growing up.

Our first exposure was the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which we boys saw in the theater with Dad. It was absurd and hilarious, and we loved it. It was also unlike anything else; what crazy writer would have King Arthur travel the English countryside with his aide using coconut shells to produce a horse's clip-clopping? Or meet up with the fearsome "Knights Who Say Ni" (keepers of the sacred words "Ni", "Peng", and "Neee-Wom")? We quoted from the movie constantly.

A few years later we were living in New Jersey when the public TV station started showing reruns of the original "Flying Circus" almost every night. We got to be big-time Monty Python geeks, along with a few of our friends. I wonder if our buddy Al Freeman still goes by the nickname "Throatwobbler Mangrove"?

I just watched Holy Grail with the kids, and they loved it, too. It was surprisingly kid-friendly, with only one short scene I had to skip over. They've since watched the movie again a couple of times, and already have a few favorite scenes or lines ("You know much that is hidden, O Tim.")

So here's a test -- you, too may be a Monty Python geek if:

• You can recite long sections of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
• Your favorite parrot is the Norwegian Blue
• You like your Camembert cheese a little runny
• You like a good argument
• You've ever had a really weird job interview
• A good breakfast for you is Spam, eggs, sausage, and Spam
• When you meet someone named Tim you add (in your mind) "...the Enchanter"
• You think it's boring to just walk normally
• You know a joke can be too funny

I could go on, thanks to the wonders of YouTube, but I'll stop there. Have fun watching some old favorites, if you're a fellow geek, but beware -- because nobody expects...the Spanish Inquisition!

Pat