CHURCH

Local. A house of Christian worship, derived from the old English chirch, and Scottish Kirk, Latin circus, and this from the Gaelic cearcal, a temple, a round building. The root of Church is from the Gaelic car, roundness, from which we have cirke or kirke.

CANON

(Welsh.) The river Taf is called in the interior the Canon, or the singing river. A rule, a law; a dignitary of the church.

BUCKMINSTER

(Sax.) From totem, beechen, or bugan, to bend, a bow, a corner, round; and minster, a church, a monastery.

NEFF

French, Naif, artless, candid. Nef, a water-mill; the nave of a church.

BUSKIRK

(Dutch.) Local. From Bos, a wood, and kerk, a church the church in the wood.

METCALF

In the Welsh, medd signifies a vale, a meadow, and caf, a cell, a chancel, a church, i. e., the church in the vale. The origin of the name, however, is given by tradition in this wise. In those days when bullfights were in vogue, in merry England, one of the enraged animals broke away from the combat, and was hotly pursued by horsemen. A certain John Strong happened to meet the bull on the top of a hill, and when attacked by the furious beast, he seized him in the nostrils with his left hand, and killed him. As he came to the foot of the hill, meeting several persons in the pursuit, he was inquired of whether he had met a bull; he replied he Met a calf and from this circumstance was called afterward John Metcalfe.

LANDER

Welsh, Llandir. Glebe lands belonging to a parish church, or land containing mineral ore.

LELAND

Local. Laland, an island in Denmark, the same as Leylande, the ancient manner of spelling the name, and denotes Low lands. In Welsh, Lle is a place, and Lan a church. Lan may signify any kind of inclosure, as Gwin-lan, Perlan, an orchard, a word applied to gardens, houses, castles, or towns.

KELLY

(Gaelic and Welsh.) A grove, generally of hazel. Kill or Cille, in the Gaelic and Celtic, denotes a church.

KIRKHAM

Local. From Kirk, a church, and ham, a village. The name of a small town in England, whence the surname originated.

KIRKALDY

Local. From Kirkcaldy, a town in Fifeshire, Scotland, from Kirk, a church, and culdee, the worshipers of God, the first Christians of Britain, who were said to have had a place of worship there in ancient times.

KIRKPATRICK

Local. A parish in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, i. e., Patrick's Church.

KIRBY

Local. The name of several small towns in England, whence the surname is derived; so called from Kirk, a church, and by, a village or town.

FANE

From Fane, a temple, a church. Gaelic, Fann, faint, weak, feeble.

ST. ALBANS

Local. A town in Hertfordshire, England, so named from a Pagan deity, Alban, which name signifies a high hill, the Verulam of the Romans. Offa dedicated a church to Alban, the proto-martyr of Britain, in the time of Diocletian.

KILGOUR

(Gaelic.) Local. The ancient name of a parish in Fifeshire, Scotland, so called from kill, a church, and gour, a hill - the church on the hill, or surrounded by hills.

OUDEKIRK

(Dutch.) Local. From a town of the same name in Holland, and signifies the old church, from oude, old, and kerk, a church.

SAXTON

An under officer of the church, the same as Sexton. Local, Sax-town, a town of the Saxons.

KIRK

(Teut) Kirche, a church. Gaelic, cearcall, a circle, the primitive places of worship among the Celts were round, a symbol of eternity, and the existence of the Supreme Being, without beginning or end.

DALZIEL

(Gaelic.) Local. Taken from the parish of Dalziel, in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The parish is said to have received its name from the old parish church which stood near ihe Clyde, which was probably so called from Dal, a dale or valley, and cille, a church the church in the valley. There is the following tradition, told by Nisbet, of the origin of the name: A favorite of Kenneth n. having been hanged by the Picts, and the King being much concerned that the body should be exposed in so disgraceful a situation, offered a large reward to him who should rescue it. This being an enterprise of great danger, no one was found bold enough to undertake it, till a gentleman came to the king, and said, Dahid, that is, 'I dare.'

BACON

Bacon, from the Anglo-Saxon bacan, to bake, to dry by heat. Some derive this surname from the Saxon baccen or buccen, a beech-tree. Upon the monument of Thomas Bacon, in Brome Church in Suffolk (Eng.), there is a beech-tree engraven in brass, with a man resting under it It appears, also, that the first Lord-keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, with his two wives, are represented in a similar manner.

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