My pleasure, Linda.  I very much suspect that Johnson, who was by no stretch
a rich man nor one who would have been invited to such as the Fitzhugh
mansion, when he wrote that edition of his magnificent dictionary in 1755
had not seen a monteith of the quality that Fitzhugh would have owned and to
which you refer.

Too often we lose sight of the fact that the ordinary 17th and 18th Century
middle class citizen (what few there were) had never even seen such
beautiful ware,  much less dreamed of owning such.  That fact also may
account, in part, for the definition given by Dr. Johnson.

I further suggest that in the 17th and 18th Century and for centuries even
before then, any big and nicer bowl owned by the family, including those
used to wash glassware, would have been pressed into service as a punch bowl
for weddings and any parties they may have had.   Beyond the churches and
the homes of the very rich and famous, an event that would require a motet
were very few and very far in between.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda E. Hughey" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: [VA-ROOTS] What is a Monteith?


> Thank you so much!  We have wondered about this for about six months since
> we found the records.  I love reading all the emails that come across my
> email.  I have learned so much.
>
> Thank you again,

> Linda
>
> -----/ Original Message -----
> From: "Linda E. Hughey" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 10:06 AM
> Subject: RE: Fw: [VA-ROOTS] What is a Monteith?
>
>
>  > Well, now that we are on the subject of identifying articles.  My 4x
> great
>  > grandfather, Captain William DeWitt of South Carolina was reimbursed
for
>  > articles that he used during the Revolutionary War by the State of
South
>  > Carolina.  One article was a silver "Cutteau", I would assume that this
> is
>  > some type of sword?  I have Google this word and looked at the Webster
>  > dictionary with no success.  Can you help?
> >  > Linda

*** I believe the word is French and derives from "coutelas" - a cutlass.

message.
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11/27/2006
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