Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 August 1

= August 1 =

De'Ath
Apparently De'Ath is a real surname. I have only seen two instances of it: "Dominic De'Ath" in the TV series In the Red (TV series) and Sydney De'Ath, later known as Judge Death in the Judge Dredd comics. Both names are a pun on the word "death". In real life, does the surname De'Ath have anything to do with the word "death", or is this just a coincidence? J I P &#124; Talk 02:56, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Apparently also existing as D'Ath (eg. Yvette D'Ath). See also Ath. Oalexander (talk) 05:30, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Other bearers of the name: Wilfred De'Ath, his son Charles De'Ath, and Rod de'Ath. --Lambiam 21:14, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I believe the surname De’Ath is French in origin, and literally means “of/from Ath” (which is a town in Belgium)… so I would say it is coincidence. Blueboar (talk) 13:02, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * "D'Ath" maybe, but "De'Ath" would be very bad French - see elision (the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel): "In written French, elision (both phonetic and orthographic) is obligatory for the following words... the preposition de". Alansplodge (talk) 21:58, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * This is true in modern French… not sure about medieval French. Blueboar (talk) 12:11, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * You may be right Blueboar, this source suggests that it was used in Middle French poetry, but not in prose. That leaves the question in the "De'Ath" example, what on earth is the apostrophe for? Alansplodge (talk) 17:31, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * This BBC article is about a database compiled by the University of the West of England which has been used as source material for the The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. It says of De'Ath:
 * It is in fact derived from the Old English dēaþ meaning "death". "Perhaps for someone who played the part of Death in a local pageant," the dictionary states. "The spellings de'Ath, de Ath, D'Eath, are post-medieval, introduced to dissociate the name from the negative connotations of the word," it said.
 * Alansplodge (talk) 21:45, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * A Dictionary of English Surnames, 1991, P. H. Reaney, R. M. Wilson (p. 879) agrees with the explanation above and references the Chester Mystery Plays which had a character called "Death". It also notes a medieval occupation called a "dethewright" in East Anglia, which referred to a tinder maker, but it does say too that the town in Belgium theory is "just possible". Alansplodge (talk) 22:12, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * The Avengers (uk) tv show had an episode "Castle De'ath" where Steed and Peel visit a castle owned by the De'ath cousins. 212.178.135.35 (talk) 13:09, 2 August 2021 (UTC) Martin.

Did Queen Elizabeth I ever leave England/Wales?
Did Queen Elizabeth ever leave England/Wales and additionally, who was the most recent English/British ruler (including the Cromwells) never to leave the area that they ruled?Naraht (talk) 21:51, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * Why Elizabeth Never Left England states "Like her siblings Edward VI and Mary I, Elizabeth I never left England to visit other realms in the British Isles and the European continent during her reign." You've excluded what she did before she was queen, but now I'm curious. (I suspect she didn't go "outside".) Clarityfiend (talk) 22:25, 1 August 2021 (UTC)


 * I don't think she did. However, this 1845 speech in Parliament by John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll claims that George III "...during a very long life and very long reign, was never out of England, nor indeed more than one hundred miles from the place of his birth". His father George II was a bit more adventurous, having been present at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria, where he was more of a nuisance than an inspiration; perhaps why his son was never encouraged to join his army abroad. Alansplodge (talk) 22:31, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * George II didn't even arrive in England until he was over 30 years old, when he and his father arrived to be crowned Prince of Wales and King of England respectively. -- Jayron 32 11:50, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Quite right. I think George III must have been the last royal stick-at-home. George IV visited Hanover in 1821 and William IV had a previous career in the Royal Navy, so was probably the most widely travelled royal up to that time. According to our article, he was arrested after taking part in a pub fight in Gibraltar and visited North America during the War of Independence.  Alansplodge (talk) 17:48, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Apparently, A. N. Wilson claims, in his 2011 The Elizabethans, that she never needed to visit Wales as she was a Welsh-speaking member of a taffia in the royal court! Martinevans123 (talk) 18:35, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * King of Great Britain, not King of England; and Princes of Wales are invested rather than crowned. Proteus (Talk) 20:14, 3 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, thanks for the corrections. -- Jayron 32 13:14, 4 August 2021 (UTC)