Etymology,Pilgrims, Falcons and Foreign
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In reply to:
Pegram does not mean Pilgrim?
8/25/00
I like the Gypsy notion David. My grandfather, Harry Pegram was from the East End,in London. He was a bit like a gypsy, he travelled around the country opening greengrocer shops, building up the business, and then selling and moving on.
Are you familiar with the etymology of Pilgrim? The Oxford Dictonary of English Etymology traces its historical source (back)from Middle English Pilegrim, an adoption from the Provencal Pelegrin.(Spanish and Catalan equivalents Peregrino and Pelegri respectively.
It all boils down to a origin form Peregrinus Latin=foreign. Formed on per, through, and ager, territory, land(acre,agricultural)
Falco Peregrinus a medieval Latin use, the falcons were so named as they would be caught in their passage from their breeding place, unlike other hawk species(ODEE).
Back to Middle English: The suggestion is made that the derivation route to Middle English is through southern France or northern Spain.
Can one logically connect Pegram to Pilgrim?
I would speculate Pilgrims on their return journey from Compostela or some other holy Medieval destination in that neck of the woods could have called themselves Pilegrims; alternatively, might this be the route Gypsy bands took travelling north escaping Spanish intolerance?--these certainly would have been foreigners. I like the idea of Gypsy forebears.
Another thought, wasn't there a Hugo Le Pelerin kicking around England some time after the Norman Conquest?
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Re: Etymology,Pilgrims, Falcons and Foreign
Janet Hopkins 2/26/02