The new link under "Other People" is to my cousin Tim's new blog Flashcards for the Hermeneutically Aggressive. Some might notice that, on his profile, Tim spells his surname Earley. I would like to take this moment to point out that Tim is not a distant relative; he is my first cousin. Tim's father is my father's younger brother. Here is a list of my father and his brothers' surnames:
Jack Early
Jeff Earley
Jim Early (my dad)
Jerry Earley
We can talk about the J theme another day.
Notice the even split between the LYs and LEYs, as we are respectively called. If you were to ask my father why two of his brothers insist on the extra E, his response is always "They don't know how to spell." If you push him, though, you will get a more plausible explanation. I come from a family of jokers and liars and this explanation has been attributed to the King of them all, Uncle Jack, and it's veracity has never been confirmed.
My father was born an Earley in 1931. In 1937, President Roosevelt appointed a man named Stephen Early as his press secretary. We may or may not be distantly related; there are so few Early/Earley's in both Ireland and America that we are probably all cousins of some kind. As a Southerner and a victim of the depression, my grandfather was a huge supporter of Roosevelt and changed the spelling of our last name to Early. My father went through school spelling his name Early but when he joined the army as James Early and was asked for his birth certificate, the one he presented said he was James Earley and Uncle Sam was not amused. My father wrote his sister Mary Nell (not listed above as she is no longer an Early or an Earley) and asked her to get him a new birth certificate that said Early and, since their cousin worked in the county records office, this was not a problem. Dad really could have gone Earley at this point but he thought Early makes more sense and, frankly, so do I.
The name Early in Ireland is derived from the native Gaelic O'Maolmhoicheirghe. The name translates from Gaelic as 'early rising'. Earley smacks of Anglicization. The extra E is insult upon injury. And that's just not how you spell Early!
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Some Guy Named Earley
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9 comments:
So, E, there was this great Earley/Early get together today in Maiden with a full complement of both warring factions (in celebration of Meredith getting a fancy Pharmacy degree; quite the profession choice, eh?) and I asked Pa and Pa said, "No. Huh huh." So there goes your beautifully constructed theory. Face it. You have aphasia.
And Pa was born in thirty-nine with two E's. Score.
To be fair, your Pa answers most questions with "No. Huh huh." Did you ask Uncle Jeff, or were you afraid?
There are no Earley's in Ireland, only Early's. Grandma told me once that the E was added because it made it "look more like a name." Are you calling Grandma a liar?
No, ma'am. And yes I was afraid. Thank you for disabusing me of my infantile attachment to genealogical illiteracy. I will now walk into the world with my head held high, a true Early, a _______ in one hand, and a _______
in the other.
Oh, I love mad libs.
Wait, are you suggested our ancestors might have been unedumacated?
Stop trying to get me in trouble. No, we are a lovely, generous people, bestowed with great capacities for friendship, art appreciation, creative indulgence, and colorful, amusing behavior.
Especially the colorful and amusing behavior. Speaking of which, please email me the three funniest things that happened at Meredith's party yesterday.
I wasn't there but I am quessing at the three funniest things that happened:
1. An Early (or Earley) by marriage was made the butt of a joke, any joke
2. Cousin Russell joked that now that his daughter has a pharmacy degree, he can get his oxy-contin a heckofalot easier.
3. There was a joke about spiking the party punch, but no one laughed
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