THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 19, 1996 TAG: 9608170014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: George Hebert
LENGTH: 54 lines
- - ``Whitesmith''?
Quite logical. That's what I've concluded each time the word has cropped up as a job description in some book I was looking through. If there were blacksmiths, why shouldn't there have been whitesmiths?
But what were the latter smithing, as opposed to the iron that the blacksmiths heat and beat into shape?
And for quite a while I never had an answer or even a clue. That is, until the other day, when my wife accidentally came upon some old-time work definitions in a volume in the Sargeant Room at Norfolk's Kirn Memorial Library.
The book was First Settlers of South Carolina 1670-1700, by Agnes Leland Baldwin. In the foreword, Gene Waddell contributed some observations about the high degree of specialization in Colonial trades and professions and about how the Lords Proprietors worked hard to attract settlers with useful skills. And he repeated a South Carolina listing of desirable occupations from an anonymous publication of 1682 as well as some other skills of early days in America that were mentioned in other surviving records.
In this roster, we found much that was fascinating and enlightening.
Some of the ``mechanicks'' and ``artificers'' had labels quite familiar to modern eyes and ears, though with an odd spelling here and there: gunsmiths, locksmiths, farriers (horseshoers), sadlers, sailers, tanners, coopers (cask-makers), bricklayers, potters, darymaids and so on.
But many were real curiosities. Consider:
Felmongers, who were hide dealers; simplers, agricultural specialists we would call herbalists nowadays; bevers (beverage-makers); castors (hatmakers); vineroons (wine growers); silkmakers throster (male spinners) and their female counterparts, spinsters; sempsters (seamstresses); blockmakers, who crafted pulleys; and swordcutters (smiths who fashioned swords).
One occupation on the list - nailors - was given this wobbly definition: ``nailmakers.''" And ``cordwainers'' appeared with no explanation; our dictionary filled the gap (they were shoemakers or workers in cordovan leather).
And what about ``whitesmiths''? Oh, yes. According to the South Carolina research, that was simply another word for ``tinsmiths.''
I suppose I might have gone to the dictionary (long ago) on that one, too. But the history-book discovery was more fun. And - as I find now after belatedly checking in Webster's - less confusing.
For the dictionary says that, besides ``tinsmith,'' whitesmith also refers to the worker in iron who finishes and polishes, as distinguished from the one who forges (blacksmith).
I hadn't bargained for double meanings. MEMO: Mr. Hebert, a former editor, lives in Norfolk.Mr. Hebert, a former
editor, lives in Norfolk. by CNB