Blair Collection > Surnames & place-names of the Isle of Man

HicfmantEs itsEtr in Hit Jale 0f SDan. 125
A small selection of such sobriquets will sujE&ce : 'John
Kneal, Robin;' ' Ewan Christian, Hughee;' ' Wm.
Garrett, Jack;' 'John Cowly, Saul;' 'John Caley,
Hommy;' 'Robert Crow, Paul;' 'John Bridson,
Giles;' are specimens of a large number found in the
registers, and are probably all fathers' names. ' John
Clarke, Bahee ;' 'John Killip, Nelly;' 'William
Cubbon, Annie;' 'J. Corlett, Vess,' i.e., Bess; 'Dick
Quayle, Vessie,' i.e., Bessie; 'John Corlett, Inny-
keig;' 'Tom Cubbon, Vary,' i.e., Mary; are probably
their mothers' names. ' Gilbert Teare, Tom Nan,'
had probably both his father's and mother's name. Wil-
liam Corlett was known by the totally different name
of ' Billy Garrett ;' and we find the burial of ' Janie
Bridson, wife to John Bridson,' called ' Jo Laurance '
Females seem rarely to have borne this form of nick-
name, but we find ' Mary Looney, als Guaggin als
Mary Thom Doo,' i.e., Mary Black Tom. Such extra-
ordinary compounds as 'Jem-Jemmy-Jem-Jem-Jem,'
' Ocky-Dickbeg-Dickbob,' ' Tom-Billy-Sam-Harry-
Phaul ' were not unknown. ' Thomy-Hom-Homy '
Thomas the son of Thomas, the son of Thomas.
'Juan-Jack-Ned,' i.e., John the son of John, the
son of Edward, was a well-known character. He
is said to have rolled an eighteen gallon cask of
ale all the way up the long hill from Laxey towards
Douglas, and when he arrived at the top to have taken
it up in his hands and drunk out of the bung-hole !
Such titles as ' Billy Illiam,' ' Illiam Joe,' ' Nancy
Joe,' ' Dicky Dan,' are not uncommon.
4. Nicknames from trades and occupations, ' Dan
Teare, physick,' and 'John Kew^n Ye, doctor,' remind