Earlier this week we had lunch at L'Image in Preuilly sur Claise; well known to our friends Simon and Susan who run Loire Valley Time Travel. We had done all sorts of bits and pieces and just happened to be in Preuilly round about noon.....so... errands done, lunch beckoned. We opted for the standard lunch menu and had salads to start; mine with tuna, Niall's with pork. Main course was brochettes of beef with rosemary and haricots. Dessert was classic creme caramel.
What's all this got to do with names .... well... it was my [Antoinette's] turn to wave the 'carte bleu' when it came to pay and Christophe, the patron, remarked that my name was French. Not stopping to think that my carte bleu does not have my first name on it, I replied that it was my mother's fault. She had given me the French version of her mother's name Antonia, hence Antoinette.
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| Marie Antoinette by A. Vestier c.1775 |
By this time Christophe had been joined by the chef. After a few grinning references to heads being guillotined the chef said it wasn't a popular name for girls in France anymore. Marie Antoinette has a lot to answer for!
Christophe said no...he meant the surname on the card!
Now as best we know there is no connection with France at all. Niall's family name --Duthie-- comes from the east coast of Scotland north of Aberdeen and historically the family belongs to the Clan Ross.
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| clan badge and motto: 'success nourishes hope' |
Just in case you were wondering; no, Antoinette doesn't wander round in flouncy dresses and bouffant hair, nor does Niall drape himself over a rock dressed in a kilt!
9 comments:
Hello Niall and Antoinette:
What a spoilsport you are! And there were we thinking that Niall was permanently to be found draped over a rock in a kilt, eating haggis and playing the bagpipes. And, of course Antoinette, we are sure to find you permanently eating cake! Please say that at least that is so!!!
I would definitely check the family tree if I were you.....you might have a claim to a wine heritage !!
Interesting ......
When the cake is finished, you can always advise then to eat shortbread instead!!
@Jane & Lance-- sorry to disillusion you ;-). Although I am partial to carrot cake; and Niall does like proper haggis. Anyway we're on clay soil here, no crags to be seen and it's a bit hard to look decorative splayed in mud ;-)
@Jean--ah if only!!
@Gaynor-- exactly :-)!!
How strange eh? I think it's fair to say that only us Scots still here (or back here in my case) are keen on draping ourselves seductively over a crag in a kilt...
I bet they pronounced Duthie deliciously, didn't they? My last name is Paton (english pronunciation is Payton) but the French said it like Patton with the emphasis on the O. It sounded so much more exotic!
@Craig--Well the 'th' sound is nigh on impossible for the French so what we get DU TI. My family name also gets the translation treatment--Verveen becomes Vervaine [as in the plant..:-)]
Interesting to note how similar the Ross tartan is to the Munro tartan... Foulis Castle the clan HQ is in Easter Ross, just across from the Black Isle. [Ross, by the way, is my middle name... due to a family link.] I sign my paintings as Ross Munro. Given the long French connection with Scotland there may well be that link... either as an adopted name by someone knowing the Sept of Clan Ross 'Duthie'... or a Duthiel being honoured by the Clan Chief by being adopted and 'breeding in' so to speak and a Sept of Clan Ross arising that way.
@Tim--historically the Duthies were all [herring]fisher folk; when we visited it seemed as if every 2nd person in Fraserburgh & Roseharty was called Duthie. Perhaps the odd one got blown off course :-)
Or didn't just go for the Silver Darlings... nudge-nudge, wink-wink, catch my drift matey!?
The WV is "sastrudi"... it is about time that blogger WV generator learnt to spell Saturday correctly... unless "sastrudi" is one of the cheeky, quayside fish wives?
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