Mystery Solved!

Remember when I told you about Grizzle Cale? How, among all of the Elizabeths, Marys, Sarahs, Annes, and Catherines, there was a lone "Grizzle?" Remember how I couldn't believe it and wondered what her parents were thinking and where on Earth did they come up with the name Grizzle? Well, last night the mystery was solved!

I met up with an old friend/professor of mine, Carter Hailey, and while catching up on life (which, of course, includes a discussion of my many hours at the microfilm reader with 18th-century court order books) I mentioned that one of the stranger things I had come across was a woman named Grizzle Cale. "Grizzle," I said. "Grizzle. Can you imagine? I can't even think what that would be short for! Maybe her parents just wanted her to stand out so they came up with something crazy." Then Carter said, "No, I know where it comes from, I think. I think it might be the 'z's that are throwing you off." I paused. "What do you mean?"

"It's from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," he explained. Griselda or Grisele, apparently, was the 'patient wife', and the name became synonymous with virtue and obedience. Instances of Grissel, Grisele, Griselda or-- get this-- Grizzel (dum dum dum!!!) come up fairly frequently in English literary works through the sixteenth century, and three operas called Griselda came out between 1721 and 1735. Though they were Italian operas, it is extremely conceivable that an Englishman would be familiar with the works since the Italian opera was all the rage in London during the 18th century.

Of course, that just solves one mystery. Now a million more questions arise: was Grizzle first generation colonial American? Was she born in England? It's quite possible that even if she wasn't, her parents were born in England-- the microfilm often has people come forward to declare that they have recently imported themselves from Great Britain into the colony as indentured servants or otherwise. Did her parents see one of these operas or hear about it in the streets of London? Even if they were all colonial by birth, perhaps they had been affluent and her father was educated enough to have read Chaucer. Perhaps they had been poor but he had been lucky enough to attend a grammar school. Perhaps they read about the operas playing in London in one of the colonial newspapers. Perhaps they were still affluent and Grizzle herself had been educated!

And what did Jacob Cale think of his wife? Did he expect her to be really quite as obedient as her name suggests? Was she fiery or docile? Did she fit her name or rebel against it?

If only there were some way to know the answers.

Just one of the tantalizing bits of history; the thrill of discovery, followed by the never-ending and often unanswerable questions. But hey, at least Grizzle isn't quite such a mystery anymore!