The jester Wamba in conversation with the swineherd
Gurth explains how the Anglo-Saxon term took on the homelier, rougher,
more workaday uses and left the more refined and fastidious uses for the
Norman-French. A domestic animal, says Wamba, was cared for by the
conquered people, and in consequence bore while living a "good Saxon"
name--swine, ox, or calf; but it was served at the tables of the
conquerors, and therefore when ready for consumption bore a "good
Norman-French" name--pork, beef, or veal. "When the brute [a sow] lives,
and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes
Norman and is called pork, when she is carried into the castle hall to
feast among the nobles.... He [a calf] is Saxon when he requires tendance,
and takes a Norman name [Monsieur de Veau] when he becomes matter of
enjoyment."
Let us see how Scott's contention fares if we extend his list of terms
relative to animal life. As throughout the rest of this chapter, with the
single and necessary exception of List B, the first word in each pair is
native, the second classic:
sheep, mutton deer, venison horse, equine
cow, bovine bull, taurine sheep, ovine
wolf, lupine hog, porcine bear, ursine
fox, vulpine cat, feline dog, canine
fish, piscatorial mouse, vermin rat, rodent
mankind, humanity man, masculine woman, feminine
childish, infantile boyish, puerile
A glance at this list will show that, at least as regards animal life, the
native word is likely to be the more familiar and unpretentious.
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