LOVAT (Part Two)
This is a copy of an article published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 17th November 2003,
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 LOVAT?
(Part Two - Ed's Note: sadly I missed the edition with Part One in)
In the preceding article (Lovet) it was submitted that
whatever associations that surname might have with Scotland,
they were rather too ambiguous to allow for any positive
comment. But this is not the case with Lovett. Slight though
the difference may be, it furnishes a surname with at least a
dozen permutations - but all with a single source. That
single source is the Latin name for wolf which is Lupus. It
passed into Norman-French as "lou" (male) and "louve" (female
wolf) along with the diminutive forms "lovel" (cub) and
"louvel" (female cub). Out of which have emerged numerous
surnames, many of which can be found in the local directory.
Why should the wolf be so strongly represented? As a starter
it is to be noted that during the Middle Ages wolves roamed
widely on our island. They were so much in evidence that it
is hardly surprising that their name was widely adopted as
personal names, and eventually surnames. Up to the 1300s its
use as a nick-name can readily be identified from the
frequency of the definite article as in "Robert le Love"
(Cambridge, 1279). (The "Love" here is from the French
"louve"). As a personal name it was widespread. Where the
influence of the Norsemen was felt, the name "Ulf" was
popular as in Westmoreland where mention is made of "Ulf of
Appelbi" (1163). Note its appearance in place-names such as
Ulverston and Wolverhampton. Continental forms are easily
recognised as in the case of the musician Mozart (Wolfgang)
and the theatrical family "Lupino" (from the Italian "little
wolf').
Remembering that wolves were roaming at large, encountering
them was always a hazard. They were at an advantage in the
dense woodland which covered the greater part of the country
and so the clearing of the trees was an important task. Here
in the Peak District one family held land on condition that
it kept wolf packs under control. It is said that a Welsh
prince undertook to render tribute of 300 carcasses of wolves
to the English King, Edgar, (959-975) - a job he did so well,
it seems, that after 3 years he said he couldn't find any
more! Certainly later records assert that the last wolf in
England was killed during the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509).
In Scotland the beast was exterminated by 1743 and in Ireland
some 25 years later.
The literature of the period indicates that the wolf was
certainly feared for its ferocity but also grudgingly admired
for the cunning it showed when hunting in packs. Special
tribute was paid to she-wolves for the determination and
courage demonstrated when protecting her young. So the name
of the animal was not only widely used for identifying many
men, but "son of the wolf" passed to their sons. The Latin
for "wolf-cub" was "lupellus" and this was regarded as an
acceptable alternative to other forms then currently used as
"-son" or "Fitz-" In fact these terms were frequently
duplicated - as in the name of Henry of Branxholm in Scotland
of (1183) and of Willelmus of Oxford (1206) whose names are
recorded as being either "Lupellus" or "Lovell".
Similarly constructed surnames can be found all over the
Island. Far south in Devon was Baldewin Lovel (1272) and way
up in Scotland, lived Morice Lovel, a priest in Roxburgh.
Similarly, William Lovet lived in Northampton in 1086 and
Willelmus Lovett is mentioned in the records for the West
Riding (1379).
The Domesday Book (1086) records innumerable spellings of the
two surnames which have now more or less settled on Lovell
and Lovett. It is now very difficult to separate them out and
it would be tedious to enumerate the many varieties.
In only one instance is it advisable to exercise caution.
Most of the names will eventually reveal some association
with "Wolf" but a few of them might have developed from the
site-name "Low" which means "hill" or "Small eminence".
Families with Irish connections can take it that their
surname was imported from England or Scotland. Briefly
"Lovett" is special to Kerry and "Lovell" to Kilkenny.
An interesting instance of the adoption of the name "Lovell"
occurs in the folk story concerning a child, abandoned in a
forest and reared by a wolf. It was named "child of the Wolf"
or "Lovel" by his finders. And just as "Kitty" is understood
today as the generic pet name for a cat, so also was "Lovell"
employed for a dog during the Middle Ages!
Curiously enough, in spite of the universality of forms of
the surname, no "headliners" appear in the Standard
Biographies. Indeed only one place-name of much significance
can be located: Lovell in Wyoming.
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© Desmond Holden
From "The Peak Advertiser", 17th November 2003.
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