Nom d'un chien! (Brount).

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

This may be a silly question, but what does the name 'Brount' mean? Does it translate as anything, or is it just for the sound - like calling a dog 'woof'? There's a Middle-English (medieval) word 'brount' meaning strike/blow - so I wondered if maybe it's an Old French/regional equivalent of calling a dog 'Buster' (or Tyson!)?

Also, does anyone know the source of the story that it was a Great Dane (Danois)? Is this just a historians' guess? (It was a fashionable dog breed at the time, as was a Mastiff - they're both insanely huge! Only the wolfhound is bigger - my cousin has one - it eats chairs).

Comments

[cat-empress.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about the truth of it all, but I always liked the idea of Robespierre having a dog bigger than he is. You can probably blame Hilary Mantel for that mental image.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Yes - it's wonderful! The idea of this great pony-sized animal dragging him along! And they're more than 6 feet tall on their hind legs.

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

I've searched for the sense of Robespierre's dog's name quite a lot... I don't know why, but I've always thought it reminded me *something* I've already heard somewhere. I'm wondering if it's not a reference to something in a novel or something very random. For example, I've recently discovered -- and it was coincidentally -- what Le Bas' dog's name -- Schillichem -- was: it's a town in Alsace! Except, he didn't write it the way it's supposed to be written (it's probably his French comprehension of the name): it's Schiltigheim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiltigheim).

So... Brount could really be anything... And maybe it refers to something that isn't supposed to be written that way neither.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

I've just been trying to find other 18thc dog names and they're all incredibly random (more so than now, even). There seem to be some after place names, like an American one called Glasgow, classical, and some just nonsense (I like 'Faddle' and 'Shock'). I suppose Brount's just a doggy sounding word - ah well, it probably won't offer up any political insights!
(There's a medieval Welsh/celtic word that's believed to mean 'stinking' that came up when I googled, but I really can't see that appealing as a name, specially not to Robespierre!)

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Hm, I've never been able to find the original source on Brount, but I have seen it occasionally written Blount--which I always assumed had something to do with interpretation of handwriting. "Brount" is certainly more common, but if there's nothing on that name, you might try searching for "Blount."

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I've just tried searching with Blount. As a modern English/American surname it seems to mean blonde, from Old French Blund, OE Blunt - blund doesn't sound that close, though. And I'm hoping not: there was a historical dog called 'Blondi', and, er, it died of a cyanide pill in a Berlin bunker in 1945...!!!
I presume 'Brount' must just be for the sound of the word: I had a dog called 'Biff' because 'Biff' seemed somehow doggy: not the sort of name that would work for a cat.

I was wondering in the first place because the ubiquitous 'Tiddles' is from Tibert in the Roman de Renart/Renard (though I've just realised Tibert must itself be from the coat-pattern 'Tabbi', which was a striped fabric from Persia), so maybe there were dog names in Romances or something like that?

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be most unfortunate. -__-;
It's quite possible that it's just for the sound... Though I've also seen it written "Bruant," on occasion. Perhaps that means something.

It seems to me an unlikely source, but anything's possible, I suppose.

[marieclaire08.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be surprised if the origin of the "Robespierre had a Great Dane named Brount" story is Charlotte Robespierre's memoires. She had many little stories that all found their way into history books: Robespierre's keeping pigeons as a child, etc. It's pretty interesting, though I can't help distrusting her a bit. I wonder if she was just terribly treated by historians and novelists. Perhaps she was a delight, and perceptive...but the image of her as a pain won't leave my head.

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

estellacat posted her memoirs on this site - if you go to the site's profile page there's a link to her translation. I rather like the way she comes across: she's spiky but who can blame her, given the life she had? And it's cruel to blame her for changing her surname, as some do - she must have been terrified after Thermidor, a poor spinster alone with no family and a near-unique, globally-reviled surname that would make her a target! She actually goes on mission with Augustin through dangerous country - she's quite adventurous despite being so prim - and all those years later, and despite all the horror that happened since, still seems very upset about letting the pet bird die!