tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post127649960565065886..comments2024-03-28T00:11:33.489-04:00Comments on bensozia: Halfhead, Rousby, and the Gentle Life of Colonial MarylandJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-39635256446118706322015-08-07T16:32:35.411-04:002015-08-07T16:32:35.411-04:00As for the whole Rousby affair, this is why I love...As for the whole Rousby affair, this is why I love history - the most absurd and fantastical events are to be found in the past, and are far more interesting for their reality than any fantasy could be.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-50067249316425450612015-08-07T16:23:03.458-04:002015-08-07T16:23:03.458-04:00"Can the name "Halfhead" mean anyth...<i>"Can the name "Halfhead" mean anything other than idiot?"</i><br /><br />While I'm cheerfully certain you ask in jest, one of my favorite little hobbies is studying etymology, and I happen to have an actual answer for you, so hey!<br /><br />Halfhead is a corruption of the Old English "healf" + "hid", quite literally meaning "half hide". Well what might that refer to, then? Someone with a strange skin defect? Or perhaps a particularly lousy fur trapper? <br /><br />Like so many other surnames, this one is based on a placename, and once you know that fact you can piece it together with a related bit of information. A "hide" of land was the amount that could be plowed by a single plow and a team of eight oxen - roughly one hundred acres. So if someone owned a tract of 50 acres, it might conceivable end up named "Halfhide". And we do know it happened elsewhere before - theres a "Halfhides" in Essex, for example.<br /><br />There are a number of records of various people with this surname, with variations like "Halfhyde" and "Halvehid", the latter of which is the earliest example of the name, attested from 1212.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com