I believe, indeed (speaking as
one who has never had occasion to own a Rhyming Dictionary), that the
number of English words consonant with my name is exceedingly small;
but leave the difficulty to the ingenious Dr. Alexander H. Japp,
LL.D., F.R.S.E., who has lately been at the pains to compose and put
into private circulation a sprightly lampoon upon me. As it is not my
intention to reply with a set of verses upon Dr. Japp, it seems
superfluous to inquire if _his_ name should be pronounced as it is
spelt.
But Carew's case is rather important; and it is really odd that his
latest and most learned editor, the Rev. J.F. Ebsworth, should fall
into the old error. In a "dedicatory prelude" to his edition of "The
Poems and Masque of Thomas Carew" (London: Reeves & Turner), Mr.
Ebsworth writes as follows:--
"Hearken strains from one who knew
How to praise and how to sue:
_Celia's_ lover, TOM CAREW."
Thomas Carew (born April 3d, 1590, at Wickham, in Kent) was the son of
Sir Matthew Carew, Master in Chancery, and the grandson of Sir Wymond
Carew, of East Antony, or Antony St. Jacob, between the Lynher and
Tamar rivers in Cornwall, where the family of Pole-Carew lives to
this day. Now, the Cornish Carews have always pronounced their name as
"Carey," though, as soon as you cross the Tamar and find yourself (let
us say) as far east as Haccombe in South Devon, the name becomes
"Carew"--pronounced as it is written.
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