The Names of All Manner of Hounds: Inventory in a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript

[JamesCoyne]

"Abstract: The Names of All Manner of Hounds is a unique list of 1065 names for hunting dogs (running hounds, terriers and greyhounds) found in a fifteenth-century manuscript that has recently been sold into a closed private collection. The present article offers a critical edition of this unusual text, which has never been published before, preceded by an introduction that contextualizes its contents in terms of the hunting culture and the milieu to which they belong. ..."

https://sci-hub.ru/10.1484/j.viator.1.103488

[epilys]

Xenophon, the author of Anabasis, also wrote a treatise on hunting, which includes suggestions for naming hounds:

> Give the hounds short names, so as to be able to call to them easily. The following are the right sort: Psyche, Thymus, Porpax, Styrax, Lonchê, Lochus, Phrura, Phylax, Taxis, Xiphon, Phonax, Phlegon, Alcê, Teuchon, Hyleus, Medas, Porthon, Sperchon, Orgê, Bremon, Hybris, Thallon, Rhomê, Antheus, Hebe, Getheus, Chara, Leusson, Augo, Polys, Bia, Stichon, Spudê, Bryas, Oenas, Sterrus, Craugê, Caenon, Tyrbas, Sthenon, Aether, Actis, Aechmê, Noes, Gnomê, Stibon, Hormê.

Translations:

> Psyche, Pluck, Buckler, Spigot, Lance, Lurcher, Watch, Keeper, Brigade, Fencer, Butcher, Blazer, Prowess, Craftsman, Forester, Counsellor, Spoiler, Hurry, Fury, Growler, Riot, Bloomer, Rome, Blossom, Hebe, Hilary, Jollity, Gazer, Eyebright, Much, Force, Trooper, Bustle, Bubbler, Rockdove, Stubborn, Yelp, Killer, Pele-mele, Strongboy, Sky, Sunbeam, Bodkin, Wistful, Gnome, Tracks, Dash

Ancient Greek text: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynegeticus#Chapter_7

[pugworthy]

This poem by Jon Anderson came to mind...

"Ye Brothers Dogg"

  Ye dog O'Toole, who hath
  not work at love, nor art,
  nor goeth school, sayeth
  with fart at golden rule.

  Be it bitch or biscuit
  or platter stew,
  ye palate alone shall guide you.

  Ye dog Hodain forgoeth bone,
  nor doth disdain to moan.
  For wind and rain, ye snow
  and ye seasons, sun, and world roll on.
  But ye days a dog are not long.

  Brothers two, ye slim Hodain
  and fat O'Toole, beneath fence,
  diggeth hole.

  Into ye world ye brothers dance.
  Nor would return, ye fat
  O'Toole and slim Hodain.
  Sooner is report, brothers two
  doth run amok in neighborhood.

  Cautions O'Toole,
  'Hodain, ye may bark,
  may scowl, and be rude.
  But do not bite ye hand
  what giveth dog food.'

  Though all complain of brothers
  two, no wind nor rain doth drive them home.
  Then sayeth Hodain to brother,
  'O'Toole, though we have been
  friends through thick and thin,
  dog needeth some love from man.'

  So end ye song of brothers two.
  Away they had flown,
  and back they flew.
  Reclineth ye yard
  through seasons and sun,
  through wind and
  rain, ye snow, ye fog.
  O'Toole, Hodain,
  ye brothers dog.

Hodain (or Husdant ) was the name of Tristan's hound from the 12th century legend of Tristan and Isolde. I'm surprised neither is in the list - or maybe it is and I didn't see it.

[tdeck]

For what it's worth most of these "ye"s are probably meant to be "þe" which is just "the" and is pronounced with a "th" sound.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_olde

[dang]

We changed the url from https://imgur.io/gallery/3JVAIHS to a copy of the paper it's taken from. Thanks to the user who emailed!

Edit: changed back to that from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257920157_The_Names... because people couldn't read the paper at the latter link.

[tedmiston]

The new source doesn't show the list of names... maybe it's buried in the PDF if one is willing to download a whole PDF just to glance at the list.

It also seems that accessing said PDF is buried behind an authwall.

The list is immediately accessible in the Imgur gallery.

That feels like a step backwards to me.

[hackeraccount]

Is this names like spot, rover, etc. or names like beagle, bloodhound, etc. ?

I assume the later but that still seems like a lot of dog types for the 15th century. I suppose dogs were important and it's an Eskimo/snow thing.

[msrenee]

It looks like it's names for individual dogs, broken down by letter then by the type of dog. Houndis and braches, male and female hounds respectively. Tereris I'm guessing is terrier.

Greyhoundis and greybicches. I don't know why that's so hilarious to me. I think it's just the archaic spelling forced me sound it out and it took a second to process.

[bitwize]

I love how they opened things in Middle English. Makes me think of the Canterbury Tales. PEM format keys should adopt the convention:

    ----- HERE BYGYNNETH YE RSA PRIVATE KEYE. -----
    .
    .
    .
    ----- HERE ENDETH YE RSA PRIVATE KEYE. -----

[dbcurtis]

Please write more IETF RFCs. The world needs more of this.

[NelsonMinar]

Screenshots? There's a PDF with proper text published as part of doi:10.1484/j.viator.1.103488. available at your favorite hub for science.

[AlbertCory]

Dog name trivia:

I live in a mixed Asian neighborhood. I've met four dogs owned by Indians, all named "Simba."

At one time in the dog park, there were three dogs named "Cooper."

But the absolute dumbest name you can give your dog is "Bailey." If you named your dog Bailey you are dead to me :)

[bitwize]

I've started grouping dog names according to a common pattern. For example: Blonde dogs named after thunder gods. My apartment complex has three: a Jupiter, a Zeus, and a Thor. Or, goldendoodles whose names can be followed with "Jack cheese". My complex has two: Colby and Pepper, and they seem to have identical goldendoodle personalities as well.

[silisili]

Last time I went to the vet it was 'Murphy'. The assistant called for 'Murphy' and 3 of the 4 or 5 owners there got up.

[saaaaaam]

Luna. Even worse than Bailey.

[pavlov]

If I ever need names for pet server instances again...

[layer8]

Based on your user name, shouldn’t you have dogs?

[mikek]

My favorite is definitely "Beste-of-all"

[homonculus1]

He was surely the leader of a fine category:

  "Pretiboy"
  "Swepestake"
  "Stanchebost"

But, there was also another kind:

  "Plodder"
  "Vagrawnte"
  "Helpeles"

[realo]

“Chopper” seems modern and quite well suited too … particularly for dogs with big teeth …

[ilyt]

Did people actually named their dogs like that or is that wild imagination of some writer? A lot of them seem... impractical

[mchaver]

If we assume the names were pronounced with Middle English, they would sound quite a bit different compared to Modern English. You can hear a few words here.

https://forvo.com/languages-pronunciations/enm/

I was looking for a Middle English text to speech tool to try out some of the names, but no luck finding one.

[nerdponx]

I wonder if people didn't train their dogs "by name" at that time. I imagine that many of these dogs were working dogs in some sense, and maybe they were more like horses in that their names were useful labels but not actually used to address the animal.

[preommr]

I swear I call my name by everything other than her official name.

[sitkack]

It is mildly warming to see that people have been using funny names for their pets for a great long while.

[commandlinefan]

I was a little disappointed that Beowulf wasn't on there.

[kaycebasques]

Are there any great books on the history of dogs?

[lmaocat]

They had one named "Monke"... nice

[racl101]

I don't see Tartuffe the spry wonder dog.