habitation by a hill, a mount, a brook, a burrow, a
castle, a bawn, a ford, and the like ingenious conceits.
Yet these are exceeded by others, whereof some have
contrived anagramatical appellations, from half their
own and their wives’ names joined together:
others only from the lady; as, for instance, a person
whose wife’s name was Elizabeth, calls his seat
by the name of Bess-borow. There is likewise
a famous town, where the worst iron in the kingdom
is made, and it is called Swandlingbar:
the original of which name I shall explain, lest the
antiquaries of future ages might be at a loss to derive
it. It was a most witty conceit of four gentlemen,
who ruined themselves with this iron project. Sw.
stands for Swift,[193] And, for Sanders,
Ling for Davling and Bar. for
Barry. Methinks I see the four loggerheads
sitting in consult, like Smectymnuus, each
gravely contributing a part of his own name, to make
up one for their place in the ironwork; and could wish
they had been hanged, as well as undone, for their
wit. But I was most pleased with the denomination
of a town-land, which I lately saw in an advertisement
of Pue’s paper: “This is to give notice,
that the lands of Douras, alias WHIG-borough,”
&c. Now, this zealous proprietor, having a mind
to record his principles in religion or loyalty to
future ages, within five miles round him, for want
of other merit, thought fit to make use of this expedient:
wherein he seems to mistake his account; for this
distinguishing term, whig, had a most infamous original,
denoting a man who favoured the fanatic sect, and an
enemy to kings, and so continued till this idea was
a little softened, some years after the Revolution,
and during a part of her late Majesty’s reign.
After which it was in disgrace until the Queen’s
death, since which time it hath indeed flourished
with a witness: But how long will it continue
so, in our variable scene, or what kind of mortal
it may describe, is a question which this courtly
landlord is not able to answer; and therefore he should
have set a date on the title of his borough, to let
us know what kind of a creature a whig was in that
year of our Lord. I would readily assist nomenclators
of this costive imagination, and therefore I propose
to others of the same size in thinking, that, when
they are at a loss about christening a country-seat,
instead of straining their invention, they would call
it Booby-borough, Fool-brook, Puppy-ford,
Coxcomb-hall, Mount-loggerhead, Dunce-hill;
which are innocent appellations, proper to express
the talents of the owners. But I cannot reconcile
myself to the prudence of this lord of WHIG-borough,
because I have not yet heard, among the Presbyterian
squires, how much soever their persons and principles
are in vogue, that any of them have distinguished
their country abode by the name of Mount-regicide,
Covenant-hall, Fanatic-hill, Roundhead-bawn,
Canting-brook, or Mont-rebel, and the
like; because there may probably come a time when
those kind of sounds may not be so grateful to the
ears of the kingdom. For I do not conceive it
would be a mark of discretion, upon supposing a gentleman,
in allusion to his name, or the merit of his ancestors,
to call his house Tyburn-hall.