Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/141

This page needs to be proofread.

n s. m. FEB. is, 1911.] NOTES AND QUERIES.


135


r>f the family being described in Shakespeare's play of ' Henry VIII.,' Act III. sc. ii. (Steven- son's edition, published 1803) ' I'll no Anne Bullens for him ' ; also in Lord Macaulay's History of England ' it is spelt Bullen."

For the use of this pamphlet I am in- debted to my brother-in-law Mr. T. F. Bullen of Liverpool, a son of its compiler. The reverend gentleman claimed that he could trace his descent from the Earl of Wiltshire, father of the ill-fated Queen. In the pro- gramme of ' King Henry VIII.,' now playing at His Majesty's Theatre, the name is spelt Bullen.

As the ' Patronymica Britannica ' regards the surname Boleyn as derived from the place-name Boulogne rather than from that of Bolein, Normandy (see 7 S. ii. 457), the form De Boullan is easily accounted for ; while in Stow's 'Annals' (1631) the ortho- graphy is " Boloigne "(IS. viii. 510).

It has been suggested that Godefroi de Bouillon, son of Eustace II. Count of Boulogne and leader of the First Crusade, was a connexion of this family ; but on investigation I find this idea to be erroneous, inasmuch as the etymologies of " Bouillon " and " Boulogne " are distinct. The ety- mology of the former can be arrived at by examining that of the place-name Bouillon- ville (Meurthe), Which in 857 was called in mediaeval Latin. Baldofo villa, i.e., " the estate of Baudulf " (Bold Wolf) ; hence Bouillon is derived from Baudoin or Baldwin (Brave Friend),* which in turn is from the Teutonic band or bald, daring, courageous ; see ' Dic- tionnaire des Noms Frangais,' by L. Larchey, Paris, 1880. Moreover, the estate of Bouillon is situated in the eastern part of Brabant. On the other hand, Canon Taylor considered Boulogne (Bononia) a variant of Bolognia, derived from a Celtic word bona, which signified " town," as in the place-names Bonn, Ratisbon, Vindobona (Vienna), and Juliobona, later Illebona {Lillebonne, the article having been prefixed).

As to the orthography of the surname of the physician and writer William Bulleyn of Elizabeth's reign, the ' D.N.B.' spalls it Bullein, and states that his medical work the ' Bulwarke of Defence ' was dedicated to Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, a kinsman of Queen Anne Boleyn ; so that he was in all probability a member of the Bullen gens, though this notion is scouted at 3 S. iv. 164. What appears to have misled philologists in regard to the origin of the surname is the


  • This derivation of the name seems preferable

to that given by Miss Yonge in 'English Christian Names,' viz., "Prince Friend."


fact that the Bullen arms are Argent, a chevron gules between three bulls' heads couped sable (see Appendix I. to ' The Grammar of Heraldry,' by Samuel Kent, London, 1716). This naturally gave rise to the assumption that the founder of the family was in early days called Bull.

N. W. HILL.

WATSON FAMILY AT MILNHORN AND BLACKLAW (11 S. ii. 527). As far as I can learn, there is in Scotland only one Milnhorn or Millhorn (in present-day spelling) a farm of that name being in the Perthshire district of Coupar-Angus. Blacklaw, how- ever, is a much more common name. There are Blacklaws in Banffshire, Forfarshire, Perthshire, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Dumfriesshire. Blacklaw tower in the last- named county was formerly the property of the Douglases of Fingland. The Lanark- shire Blacklaw is notable as having been the residence of the famous Jenny Cameron, one of the heroines of the '45 rebellion.

None of these Blacklaws, so far as I know, connects itself with the family of Watson. If, however, as seems possible, Millhorn was once their home, they may have migrated from it to some adjacent Blacklaw. On the whole, therefore, I am inclined to consider the Forfarshire Blacklaw, in the parish of Kinnell, to be the place inquired after. During the eighteenth century there were many Watsons in Forfarshire. Prof. David Watson, the translator of Horace, was a native of Brechin. There were other Watsons, possessing a voting qualification in the county, towards the end of the century. Blacklaw in Kinnell was not too remote from Millhorn in Coupar-Angus. W. SCOTT.

There is a Blacklaw in Bendochy parish, East Perth, five miles N.N.E. of Cupar- Angus ; and also a village thus named in the parish of Linton, N.E. Roxburgh, four miles south-east of Kelso.

J. HOLDEN MACMlOHAEL.

Blacklaw is the name of a village close to Aberchirder in Banffshire. N. W. HILL.

BATTLE IN LINCOLNSHIRE, 1655 (US. ii. 468). The note on the Ordnance Survey map about a battle in Lincolnshire in 1655 is in all likelihood a mistake. There were no disturbances in Lincolnshire in 1655, so far as ordinary histories record ; neither is there mention made at any time of a battle of Red Hill. May not 1655 be a misprint for 1643 ? During the latter year Cromwell