First, as to his name. It is generally said that Carlo Broschi owed his appellation of Farinelli to the circumstance of his father having been a miller, or a flour merchant. This, however, is pure conjecture. No one knows or cares who Carlo Broschi's father was, but he was called "Farinelli," because he was the recognised _protégé_ of the Farina family; just as another singer, who was known to be one of Porpora's favorite pupils, was named "Porporino." [Sidenote: SINGERS' NICKNAMES.] Descriptive nicknames were given to the celebrated musicians as well as to the celebrated painters of Italy. Numerous composers and singers owed their sobriquets TO THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY; as-- _Il Sassone_ (Hasse), born at Bergendorf, in Saxony; _Portogallo_ (Simao); _Lo Spagnuolo_ (Vincent Martin); _L'Inglesina_ (Cecilia Davies); _La Francesina_ (Elizabeth Duparc), who, after singing for some years with success in Italy and at London, was engaged by Handel in 1745, to take the principal soprano parts in his oratorios: TO THEIR NATIVE TOWN; as-- _Buranello_, of Burano (Galuppi); _Pergolese_, of Pergola (Jesi); _La Ferrarese_, of Ferrara (Francesca Gabrielli); _Senesino_, of Sienna (Bernardi): TO THE PROFESSION OF THEIR PARENTS; as-- _La Cochetta_ (Catarina), whose father was cook to Prince Gabrielli, at Rome: TO THE PLACE THEY INHABITED; as-- _Checca della Laguna_, (Francesca of the Lagune): TO THE NAME OF THEIR MASTER; as-- _Caffarelli_ (Majorano), pupil of Caffaro; _Gizziello_ (Conti), pupil of Gizzi; _Porporino_ (Hubert), pupil of Porpora: TO THE NAME OF THEIR PATRON; as-- _Farinelli_ (Carlo Broschi), protected by the Farinas, of Naples; _Gabrielli_ (Catarina), protected by Prince Gabrielli; _Cusanimo_ (Carestini), protected by the Cusani family of Milan: TO THE PART IN WHICH THEY HAD PARTICULARLY DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES; as-- _Siface_ (Grossi), who had obtained a triumphant success, as that personage, in Scarlatti's _Mitridate_. But the most astonishing of all these nicknames was that given to Lucrezia Aguiari, who, being a natural child, was called publicly, in the playbills and in the newspapers, _La Bastardina_, or _La Bastardella_. Catarina, called Gabrielli, a singer to be ranked with the Faustinas and Cuzzonis, naturally became disgusted with her appellation of _la cocchetta_ (little cook) as soon as she had acquired a little celebrity. She accordingly assumed the name of Prince Gabrielli, her patron; Francesca Gabrielli, who was in no way related to the celebrated Catarina, keeping to that of _Ferrarese_, or _Gabriellina_, as she was sometimes called.