Well, apparently I’m in no position to mock “Stanley” considering some of the names in my own ancestry. “Quasha Ruth” always comes to mind as an example of ‘what were her parents thinking’. “Tubman Mankin” if he lived today would invariably be nicknamed Tubmankin. That poor girl “Delorma Bruce.” And then there’s Elder “Hatevil Nutter” who lived up more to his family than his personal name.
And then there’s the epithets. I am fond of epithets. In fact I think everyone should have one. Feel free to suggest what you think mine should be.
Through the “Alice Freeman Connection” (Why are there so many / sites about Freeman? What’s on the other side? ♪) we are connected to a bunch of epithets, which means we are connected to a bunch of nobility. Because nothing says blue blood more than a usually slightly demeaning word attached to one’s name for all eternity.
So, we are descended from such remarkables as:
Aethelred II "The Unready"
Eochaid "The Venomous"
Pippin “The Short” and his wife, Bertha Broadfoot
Elias “Boy” Giffard (who lived almost 70 years, and probably really hated that nickname by the end.)
Richard I "The Fearless" (I bet people pulled pranks on him all the time. “Ha! You totally flinched! Not so Fearless as all that, eh?”)
Heinrich I “The Fowler,” so called because he was checking his bird nets when they came to tell him he was to be king.
We are also descended from his wife, St. Mathilda. Call me naive but I hadn’t really thought about Saints having descendants. Though I suppose they have to find something else to occupy their time other than being Saintly.
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