Who's Who In Denmark, 1860
Horace Marryat writes about Danish surnames and titles of nobility in 1860
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
“Who's Who In Denmark” from A Residence in Jutland, the Danish Isles and Copenhagen by Horace Marryat, 1860.
December.—The orders of titled nobility exist only in Denmark since the reign of Christian V. Previous to the year 1670 the titles of Baron and Count were unknown: all those who were of noble birth, "armigeri," or created so by letters patent, were styled "noble," without any extra distinction. The favourite minister of King Christian, by whose advice this revolution was created, was probably not unwilling to exchange his plebeian name of Schumacher for the more high-sounding appellation of Count Griffenfeld, by which he is chiefly known in history. In 1671 he created nine Counts and twenty-five baronial houses.
The nobility was then divided into three heads—Counts, Barons, and those who bore no title at all. Among these last were many of the oldest families of the kingdom, who refused to be parties to the monarch's innovation. Certain privileges were granted to the new-made Counts and Barons, and thirteen Counties (Greyskaber) were created into fiefs, which the Counts held as vassals of the Crown. They had the rights of "sanctuary" within their own domains for all crimes except "lese-majeste"—the right of "treasure trove" on their estates, as well as "flotsam et jetsam," with exemption from taxes and all ordinary imposts.
Castle of Fredriksborg. Image from text.
Each county was held by feudal tenure, and a fine was payable at the death of the proprietor, according to the regulations of the charter by which it was held. The county of Langeland paid a purse of red velvet containing 400 gold rose nobles; Laurwigen three iron guns; in the same manner as the small seigneuries of the Channel Islands and many ancient manors of England are still or were formerly held of the Crown.
The privileges of the Barons were much less than those of the Counts, and at the proclamation of the constitution of 1849 these (with the exception, perhaps, of that of sealing their letters with red wax) were abolished.
The only instance of the rank of Duke being conferred upon a subject occurs in the person of Knud Porse, Duke of Samso and South Halland, of whom we have already made mention!
It was not until after the reign of Frederic I. that the Danish nobles definitively assumed patronymics. Previous to that time they merely continued to be called by the name of the father, with son or sen added, and were only distinguished by their coats of arms.
The Danish patronymics are singularly short and undistinguished, and the older the family the uglier they are. It is not to be wondered at that, on the creation of the titled nobility, Christian, as well as the individuals ennobled, were glad to smarten up their names into something more imposing than those they had received from their fathers before them. I have copied out a few from the Armorial, which somewhat struck my fancy, and give them, chrysalis as they were, and butterfly as they become:—
It is amusing to see what favour lilies, roses, lions, crowns, and thunder, enjoy in the newly-selected appellations.
I do not consider this change of name to have been an affair of vanity so much as of necessity: it was quite requisite to strike out something new from the insupportable confusion arising from the numerous branches of the same families. In the Danish Armorial I find, under the head of Nielsen, 19 different coats of arms, 9 distinct families of Andersen, 14 Bagge, 8 Basse, 10 Bugge, 23 Jensen, 18 Jonsen, 10 Munk, 19 Olafsen, 10 Skytte, and many other families in equal proportion.
The town of Copenhagen swarms with Jensens, Hansens, Petersons, Thomsens, and all possible "sens." Were it not for the Germans, I scarcely know what would become of them. When a peasant woman—say Catherina—captivated by the attractions of Hans the butcher, or of Niels the tailor, entered into the bonds of wedlock with one or the other, she forthwith bore the name of the trade of her husband, and henceforth became Catherina Butcher, or Tailor, as the case might be.
Very few names of real Danish origin are to be found among the titled nobility. They consist chiefly of the families of note who have been naturalized in the country since the year 1659; still some do exist of pure Danish descent—as Bielke, Bille, Brahe, Hardenberg, Rosenkrantz, Thott, Trolle, Ulfeld, &c, though even among these are some of Holstein extraction.
But now let us turn to those who, less euphonious, are noted among the oldest families of the kingdom. Many are marked as "Gammel familie uddod"—extinct—and I am sure for those who are blessed with sensitive ears it's a mercy they are so:—"And (duck), Alf (elf), Begger (pitch, old Danish), Bolt (bolt), Bier, Blaa (blue), Daa (doe), Demp, Dan, Eek, Fleb, Fos (waterfall), Flue (fly), Gagge, Glib (net), Glob, Glud, Glug (hole), Grib (vulture), Grip, Grim (soot), Gamut (vulture), Griis (pig), Greb (dungfork), Hø (bay), lis (ice), Kalf (calf), Knae (knee), Knat, Kud, Krum (crooked), Moth, Myg (gnat), Muus (mouse), Myrk, Naes (nose), Neff, Neb, Oxe (ox), Pee, Pig (spike), Prip, Quie (heifer), Rod (root), Rud, Skaal (cup), Saxe (scissors), Skytte (marksman), Slet (plain), Sot (sickness), Splid and Split (discord and rent), Stud (bullock), Strucl (end), Ran (robbery), Snubbe (1388), Steak, Stick, Suur (sour), Svab, Sviin (hog), Taa (toe) — excessively ancient and now unhappily extinct. Fancy writing an elegy on the "last of the Toes"!
The names of the great Norwegian families were just as simple. I find enumerated among those of Christian I.'s time Smør and Ost—butter and cheese.
Many of the earliest and most ancient Danish names are common in England, and are in all probability of Scandinavian origin: as they are all "noble" here, there can be no affront in supposing so:—Achesen, Baad (boat), Bagge, Basse (wild boar), Beck (streamlet), Bing (bin), Biel, Budde (messenger), Bølle (Buller, bilberry), Brand (fire), Brun (brown), Burns (1680), Byg (buck), Bourke, Dene, Due (dove), Gait (boar), Felden, Fleming (Olaf dictus, 1316, old record), Foxe (1268), Franke, Hind, Heye (hay), Frost, Graa (gray), Drage (dragon), Flint, Dyre (deer), Klerk, Keith (knot), Kidd, Green, Haar (Hore), Hair, Hare (1333), Hoste (cough), Jesson, Knap (button), Krabbe (crab), Krag (crow), Lang (law), Lester, Moss, Munk, Myre (ant), Orrn (worm), Paak (Poke), Paris, Pike, Piper, Portman (1471), Jermiin, Pott, Komer, Seefeld, Stær (starling), Tideman, Todde, Winter, &c.
The family mentioned as Ældgammel par excellence is that of Grubbe, one of the oldest in the kingdom, and, strange to relate, this said name, certainly not imposing in its sound, bears in England the same palm of antiquity as its Scandinavian cousin. Many years since, when Lord Lansdowne, as Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, neglected to place on the list of magistrates the name of a certain Mr. Grub, a perfect ferment was excited in the county. The then youthful Lord Kerry, astonished at the excitement, inquired somewhat sneeringly, "Pray who is this Mr. Grub?" The answer he received was, "Mr. Grub possessed lands in the county of Wiltshire centuries before Lord Lansdowne's family was ever heard of in Ireland."
Among the list of noble families I find many of Scotch extraction, who have settled in Denmark during the middle ages; but, strange to say, not one Irishman.
First on the list of Scots appears the name of Sinclair, of whom there are two families. In the year 1380 Henricus de Sancto Claro attested, as one of the council of the kingdom, that Erik was alone heir to the crown of Scandinavia: in 1389 he was created Count of Orkney by Erik, who was then associated in the government with Queen Margaret. This family bear arms nearly similar to those of the Scotch Sinclairs—a cross engrailed, quartering four ships with three masts. The later family of this name, who settled in 1607 at Sinclairs Holm, bear as their arms four lions rampant over a cross engrailed.
The Sandersons, too, stand high, ennobled by Erik of Pomerania; Dunbar in 1616; Duncan 1685; Durham, an admiral, died in 1598; Balfour and Arnold in the last century; Forbes 1560; Keith, a General under Frederic V., 1771; Lockhart, one of the earliest Scotch settlers in Denmark. Of English settlers I have found no mention. Two Frenchmen, de Fontenay by name, distinguished themselves as admirals in the Danish service—a most remarkable event in the page of northern history.
Marryat, Horace. A Residence in Jutland, the Danish Isles, and Copenhagen. John Murray, 1860.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
