"Quand la Pasque-Dieu (Louis XI.) deceda, Le Bon Jour Dieu (Charles VIII.) luy succeda, Au Bon Jour Dieu deffunct et mort Succeda le Dyable m'emport (Louis XII). Luy decede, nous voyons comme Nous duist (governs) la Foy de Gentilhomme (Francis I.)." So important was this branch of linguistics once considered that Palsgrave, the French tutor of Princess Mary Tudor, includes in his Esclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse a section on "The Maners of Cursyng." Among the examples are "Le grant diable luy rompe le col et les deux jambes," "Le diable l'emporte, corps et ame, tripes et boyaux," which were unfortunately too long for surname purposes, but an abridged form of "Le feu Saint Anthoyne l'arde" [Footnote: Saint Anthony's fire, i.e. erysipelas, burn him!] has given the French name Feulard. Such names, usually containing the name of God, e.g. Godmefetch, Helpusgod, have mostly disappeared in this country; but Dieuleveut and Dieumegard are still found in Paris, and Gottbehuet, God forbid, and Gotthelf, God help, occur in German. Godbehere still exists, and there is not the slightest reason why it should not be of the origin which its form indicates. In Gracedieu, thanks to God, the second element is an Old French dative. Pardoe, Purdue, whence Purdey, is for par Dieu-- "I have a wyf pardee, as wel as thow" (A, 3158). There is a well-known professional footballer named Mordue ('sdeath), and a French composer named Boieldieu (God's bowels). The French nickname for an Englishman, goddam-- "Those syllables intense, Nucleus of England's native eloquence" (Byron, The Island, iii. 5)-- goes back to the fifteenth century, in which invective references to the godons are numerous. [Footnote: "Les Anglais en verite ajoutent par-ci, par-la quelques autres mots en conversant; mais il est bien aise de voir que goddam est le fond de la langue" (Beaumarchais, Mariage de Figaro, iii. 5).] Such nicknames are still in common use in some parts of France-- "Les Berrichons se designent souvent par le juron qui leur est familier. Ainsi ils diront: 'Diable me brule est bien malade. Nom d'un rat est a la foire. La femme a Diable m'estrangouille est morte. Le garcon a Bon You (Dieu) se marie avec la fille a Dieu me confonde.'" (Nyrop, Grammaire historique de la langue francaise, iv. 209). PHRASE-NAMES Perhaps the most interesting group of nicknames is that of which we may take Shakespeare as the type. Incidentally we should be thankful that our greatest poet bore a name so much more picturesque than Corneille, crow, or Racine, root. It is agreed among all competent scholars that in compounds of this formation the verb was originally an imperative. This is shown by the form; cf. ne'er-do-well, Fr. vaurien, Ger. Taugenichts, good-for-naught. Thus Hasluck cannot belong to this class, but must be an imitative form of the personal name Aslac, which we find in Aslockton.