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COX (Part Two)

This name has already been the subject of a previous feature wherein several miscellaneous origins were looked into. The discussion now moves on to another source, the old English work "Cocc" which only adds to the difficulties already expressed, in as much as it has it has two distinct meanings. One of them corresponds with the modern word "cock" in the sense of the rooster and the other is a location-name which is no longer in general use.

It is not certain how "cock" (i.e. the bird) entered our vocabulary. The word "coccum" existed in Medieval Latin, but it is actually a reversal of the native expression "cocc" anyway. We know this because early translations of foreign texts rather apologetically run "coccum" alongside the classical Latin equivalent "gallinum". So in a code of laws promulgated round about the year 850 there is mention thus: "si quis coccum aunt gallinam furaverit " (...if anybody shall steal a cock (English word) or a cock (Latin word)...) Suggestions, by the way, that it is derived from the French word "coq" are mistaken because an identical development also took place in that language.

The ultimate origins appear to lie in the Slavonic term "kokotu" which itself comes from the Sanskrit "kukkuta" which is undoubtedly an attempt to name the creature after the sound it makes, It is interesting to note that the same thinking probably influenced the Malaysians in naming their native bird, the Cockatoo, which in their language appears more or less as "Kaketoe".

The next point to be taken is the use of bird names when referring to or addressing people. Throughout the Midlands, the expressions, "Me Duck" is frequently heard. In Scotland and parts of the North, "Hen" may be heard as a term of endearment and also as a genial description of women in general - hence "a Hen Night" at the club.

Further south, the Londoner's "Wotcha Cock!" has now extended across the entire english speaking world. In the early years of the present century there was a vogue for referring to the children of one's family as "the chicks" while "Dove" is met with occasionally, but it seems rather dated now (vide "Oliver Twist", Ch.27).

Much less common is "sparrow" - as when Shakespeare makes a character say "My sweet delight, my sparrow" (Timon of Athens). In the Middle Ages the word "Cock" was so extensively used that it almost attained the status of a baptismal name. The earliest is Koc, son of Pertuin (Lincoln: 1230), and mention may be made of Coc of Shrewsbury (1273) and Kok Forester from Sussex (1296). In 1429 Roger Thornton left a small legacy to "Cok my Servante" while Henry VII (1485-1509) conferred Patents on "Coc Crissop" and "Coc Femwick". In a list of characters for a play produced about 1565 a young boy is named simply as "Cock". A popular folk-hero (c.1490) was "Cock Lorell - a sort of latter-day Robin Hood. (Incidentally the name "Cock Robin" is more indicative of gender than affection and in any case dates from only 1609).

The stroppiness of youths, their practice of making a din and their propensity to show off was just the way the barn-yard creature acted and so it is not surprising that the expression became also a general description for all boys and young men. Its modern counterpart has now shifted from a bird to an animal - namely a young goat and "kid" is now used in much the same way as "cock" was employed by our ancestors. (It is perhaps worth noting that "git" and "kid" are related terms. But the former, which is understood to have been current in Scots schools and described first year scholars, has, since about 1950, become contemptuous slang).

"Kid" is first recorded as descriptive of youngsters in 1598 and was originally regarded as vulgar slang. It gradually became more acceptable and by the time of Queen Victoria (1837-1901) it had become perfectly acceptable. In 1841 even the sedate Lord Shaftsbury described how he took "my wife and the kids" for an outing. Today it is quite unexceptional.

What is very remarkable, however, is that at almost the same time as "kid" entered current vocabulary, "cock" as a sort of personal name went completely out of usage.

Just as today it is often the custom to refer to a young man as (for example) the "Winslow Boy" or "Billy the Kid", so also in the Middle Ages and, in fact later, there was a corresponding practice of linking similar forms of identity with "cock". So, in the case of Simon, it took the form of "Simcock" and if he was called "John", then from "John" we got "Hanna" (shortened from Latin "Johannes") and ultimately "Hancock".

All these variations eventually ended up as surnames and furnish a fascinating narrative - but, sadly, discussion here would be out of place. Furthermore, any attempt now to proceed and enter into an explanation as to how "Cock" modulated into a surname would put too much pressure on existing space and must be offered for inclusion in a later issue of the "Advertiser".

To be continued.

© Desmond Holden
From "The Peak Advertiser", 31st August 1998.

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