The Extraordinary Adventures of Peskett
by matt @ 11:49 am. Blogged under Thinking
Whilst chatting about last night’s semi finals in the official Eurovision chat room (sad I know), a French guy ‘FrenchFrog’ (he had a sense of humour) told me my surname was an old Celtic Britanny word for ‘fish’. That’s not an explanation I’d ever heard before, usually the genealogy books trace it back to ‘pescod’ - a seller of peas - a street being named Pescod Street in Windsor. However, ‘FrenchFrog’ pointed me in the direction of a book called ‘Les Aventures Extraordinaires de Peskett‘ by Pierre Péron.
The translation of this book’s summary seems to be something like ‘There was once a male fish called Peskett who, tired of life in the circus (or circus of life?), plunged one day into the underwater depths to discover a fantastic universe there. After many adventures, Peskett becomes acquainted with a very pretty siren answering to the name of ‘Hair Curler’… It sounds intriguing so I’ve ordered a copy. Does this mean that I need to stop pronouncing the last two letters of my name like Hyacinth Bucket, describing myself as Matt ‘Pesgay’?
Technorati Tags: peskett, brittany, celtic
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May 13th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Yay I want one too! and no not Peskay sounds to much like Pesky, but most people like to pronounce my name - same as yours funnily enough - as Peskette.
Can this story be true? surely not. I’d rather be a seller of peas or even pea baskets than Billy The Fish.
May 14th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I must say I’ve been researching the Peskett family for a few years and I have also never heard of the French connection. I have a copy of the book,(I had to have copy so my kids could say they had a book written about their surname). My wife is french Canadian and is not familiar with the french expression. I think I’ll stick with Peskett, English not French.
May 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
I think I would rather get married and get a new name entirely
May 16th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Oh dear littlesis. If you don’t like the name Peskett you don’t have to get married to change it…. just change it. But what’s wrong with Peskett other than you get called Baskett, Biscuit, Priskitt, Prescott ( now that is an insult) Pesquith, or and these are my favourites Breastkit (what?) Pissedgit (!!!!) Pressedtit(!!!!!!!) or- sign of the times -Deskjet. Yours J. Blessedtwit
May 16th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Try living in Canada with the French canadians and you become Pesquette. Why is it that a simple 7 letter name can be spelt and pronounced so badly?
May 16th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Just remembered one my dad said he used to be called: Pissquick!
May 18th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Just came across this similar name:
‘Peskov’ but this one is from Russia!
May 18th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Yes we nearly did that when I married Sue with a hybrid of Imianowski and Peskett to create Peskowski.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Today I am Ms Parfrewestcoat- where on earth did that one come from? …. Actually I might keep that …. Ms Parfrewestcoat - it has a little je ne sais quoi hmmm ?
May 26th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Yesterday Les Aventures Extraordinaires de Peskett arrived, a very colourful book which I’m sure will entertain junior when he learns French. It’s quite authentic and possibly quite well read, an old hand written price tag in Francs inside it and a slightly battered corner making it not the best looked after ‘new’ book I ever bought.