CARMAN
This is a copy of an article published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 3rd May 1999,
reproduced by kind permission of the author, the late Desmond Holden.
The “What's in a Name” series was a regular
feature in the Advertiser over the period 1993‑2004,
taking a refreshing look at the derivation of some typically
Derbyshire surnames.
Articles are confined to the origins and meanings of surnames,
and do not indicate any particular interest on Desmond's part in
the genealogy, descent, or family history of individuals bearing
the surnames featured.
Editor's Note: Articles are provided for general interest and
background only. They are not intended to provide an exhaustive treatise
for any individual family history - investigations of which may yield
quite different results. Or, in Desmond's own words:
“In the end it must remain with individual bearers of the names to
draw upon family traditions and to seek out such documentary
evidence as is available to decide the matter for themselves.”
WHAT'S IN A NAME …
Are you called CARMAN?
This name has been specially, requested by a reader. It has close
similarities with "Carter", "Carrier" and "Charman" and shares
their meaning - i.e. a person who transports goods. However it can
also signify "a peasant farmer" and this will be looked at in the
present feature, leaving the other details for a later issue.
"Carman" is not very common. There are only 15 in the local
directory. This infrequency can be attributed to the fact that it
is directly derived from a Germanic source which provides both the
disagreeable expression "churlish" and the personal name "Charles"
which has often been viewed askance - e.g. "Ain't he a proper
Charley!" To be described as "churlish" implies that somebody is a
vulgar boor. It attributes to him all the characteristics of a
"churl" and that was a word which the Norman aristocracy poached
from its Anglo-Saxon equivalent "ceorl".
Among the English it had been a perfectly acceptable title because
it signified "Man" whereas the Normans contrived to debase its
meaning to something akin to "yokel" and even "yobbo"!
As a personal name "Charles" also meant "Man". It was not unknown
to our English ancestors but it was never popular and, indeed,
after the invasion went quite out of favour - probably for the very
good reason that it was hugely admired, in the frenchified form
"Charles", by the Normans on account of their first king "Charles
the Great" or "Charlemagne".
After 500 years however it resurfaced because James I (1603-1625)
thought it might prove lucky since all his previous five namesakes
had successfully been stabbed, blown-up, assassinated, slaughtered
in battle and gone mad! He ought to have taken warning that many
kings called "Charles" had also come to grief - e.g. Charles VIII
of France just about knocked off his head after passing under a low
arch! So James began by naming his son "Charles" who became Charles
I - and we all know what happened to him! Charles II spent years in
exile and Charles, the Young Pretender (1720-1788) ended up as a
chronic alcoholic in Rome.
The name later acquired a dubious popularity during the 18th
century, largely because people who still supported the Stuarts and
detested the Hanoverians saw it as an artful way of registering
their allegiance to the Cavaliers. It remained very popular right
until 1925 and then went quite out of favour. Only recently has it
shown signs of a slight comeback.
Going back now to our early English ancestors, the infrequency of
"Charles" among them as a personal name can be attributed to the
fact that "carl" or "churl" had been part of the everyday
vocabulary and meant simply "a Man". Conferring it as a baptismal
name would have been the equivalent, modern usage, of naming a boy
"Lad" or "Chap".
The old meaning still survives in the expression "Man and Wife'. In
an early English version of the Bible "ceorl" is used in context
where it means "husband" (e.g. John, IV 17). Furthermore Anglo-
Saxon society regognised three forms of status: the "Earls" who
were the governors; the "Thanes" who did the fighting and the
"Churls" who farmed the land. To have been called a "churl" was no
disparagement.
After 1066 these distinction were swept away. William the Bastard
(as modern historians now describe him) seized all the land and
parcelled it out among his cronies. A few highly favoured "Earls"
were permitted to retain their rank but the rest of the Saxon
community had the new and hated feudal system imposed upon them.
The former "ceorls" and "churls" were re-named "serfs" and from
having once been an acceptable and recognised status name, it was
debased into a term of contempt and abuse. In 1380 the poet Chaucer
refers to one of his characters as "the foul churl, that swine!"
Nevertheless there is tenuous evidence that a few favoured "churls"
enjoyed a special and localised status, and acquired the name
"Churlmen" or "Carmen".
What little evidence is available to the Peak Advertiser suggests
that is was certainly something to be a "Carman" but exactly what
it entailed must be left to the social historians. For example, in
Northumberland (1196) a certain "Simon" is specifically picked out
as the nephew of "Kareman" and in Kent (1201) a man called "Hamo"
is noted as being the son of "Karlman". In 1325 the wife of "Thomas
le Carman" bears the dignified designation of "Dame Anne" which
could go to reinforcing the suggestion that she and her husband had
some standing among their neighbours.
Spelling variations are not significant. In Cambridge (1279) a
certain "Robert" appears both as "Carleman" and "Karlman". The
evolution of "Carlman" into "Carman" is not exceptional either. It
illustrates a trend whereby the letter "-l-" in the middle of a
word loses its sound, although it may be retained in writing - e.g.
half, alms.
Because the Normans did not succeed in tyrannising the Scots, the
name did not evolve among them: nor is it listed in Ireland.
Strangely enough the only personality appearing in the Standard
Biographies is is William Carman (1861-1929) a Canadian-born writer
whose poems about life in the open air are still included in
Anthologies.
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© Desmond Holden
From "The Peak Advertiser", 3rd May 1999.
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