Surname Origins, Their Source and Significations (1875)

The signet of his lord was in the hands of the Spigurnell' or 'Spigurell,' both of which forms still exist, I believe, in our general nomenclature. As the sealer of all the royal writs, the king's spigurell would have an office at once important and careful. The term itself is Saxon, its root implying that which is shut up or sealed. Our 'Coffers,' relics of the old 'Ralph le Cofferer,' or 'John le Cofferer,' though something occupative, were nevertheless official also, and are to be found as such in the thirteenth century. They remind us of the day when there were no such things as cheque-books, nor banks, nor a paper-money currency. Then on every expedition, be it warlike or peaceful, solid gold or silver had to be borne for the baron's expenditure and that of his retinue; therefore none would be more important than he who superintended the transit from place to place of the chest of solid coinage set under his immediate care. Our early 'Passavants,' or 'Pursevaunts,' or more literally pursuivants, were under the direction of the 'Herald,' or 'Heraud,' as Chaucer styles him, and usually preceded the royal or baronial retinue to an-

alluded to in the Boke of Curtasye. Speaking of the steward's offices in the hall, it says:

'At counting stuard schalle ben,

Tyll alle be brevet of wax so grene,

Wrytten into bokes, without let,

That before in tabuls base been set.'

Further on, too, it adds

'The clerke of the kitchen shalle alle thyngs breve.'

The name itself lingered on uncorrupted for some time; for as simple 'Breviter' it is found in 1580 in a Cambridge University list. (Hist. C. C. Coll. Cam.) The corrupted 'Bretter' still exists, and is met with in ' William Bretter,' a name entered in the Calendar to Pleadings of Elizabeth's reign.

SURNAMES OF OFFICE.

nounce its approach, and attend to such other duties of lesser importance as his superior delegated to him. In this respect he occupied a position much akin to that of the 'Harbinger' or 'Herberger,' who prepared the harborage or lodging, and all other entertainment required ere the cavalcade arrived. When we reflect upon the large number of retainers, the ceremonious list of attendants, the greater impediments to early travel, and the difficulties of forwarding information, we shall see that these officerships were by no means so formal as we might be apt to imagine. To give illustrations of all the above-mentioned surnames were easy, were it not that the number is so large that it becomes a difficulty which to select. Such entries, however, as 'Jacob le Messager,' 'Godfrey le Coffrer,' 'Roger Passavant,' 'Main le Heralt,' 'Herbert le Herberjur,' 'Nicholas le Spigurnell,' 'Peter le Folle,' or the Latinized 'Johannes Stultus,' may be recorded as among the more familiar. A reference to the Index will furnish examples of the rest, as well as additional ones of the above.

In a day when horses were of more consequence than now, we need not be surprised to find the baronial manger under special supervision. This officer figures in our medieval archives in such entriesas 'Walter le Avenur' or 'William le Avenare.' 1 As his very name suggests, it was the avenar's care to provide for the regular and sufficient feeding of the animals placed under his charge.2The 'Boke of Curtayse' tells us his duties

1 'To John Redyng, wiener, for the expenses of le palfrais, 50l.' Materials for Hut. of Reign of Henry VII., p. 407.

2 'Item: It is ordeyned that the King's Avenor, with the two clerkes