TOM, MYTHIC AND MATERIAL.
"All Toms are alike," quoth the elegant Pelham; and if we were asked to define the leading idea of him, we should describe a downright honest John Bull, essentially manly, but withal a bit—perhaps a large bit—of a dullard. His masculinity is unquestionable. A male cat, as every body knows, is a Tom-cat; a romping boy-like girl is a Tom-boy, or a Tom-rig; a large nob-headed pin is a Tom-pin; and in many provincial dialects the great toe is, par excellence, the Tom-toe. Last, not least, there is the nectar of St. Giles, the venerable Old Tom. In proof of his stupidity we can adduce a goodly show of epithets—Tom-fool, Tom-neddy, Tom-noddy, Tom-cull, Tom-coney, Tom-farthing, &c. We know, indeed, there are people who hold that even in these instances Tom is merely the masculine prefix to distinguish the he-fool (i. e. the Tom-fool) from the Molly or she-fool of the ancient mumming. But the race of Toms must not lay this flattering unction to their souls, for the hypothesis won't stand. The very monosyllable itself, like "Sammy," has a strong twang of the bauble in it. An open truth-loving fellow is a Tom Tell-truth; but, on the other hand, all tinkers—a sadly libelled race of men—are invariably Tom-tinkers, as all tars have been Jack-tars from time immemorial. In some of the old-fashioned country games at cards the knave is called Tom; and the wandering mendicants who used to levy black-mail, under the plea of insanity, were Mad Toms, or "Toms-o'-Bedlam." "Tom all alone" is a northern sobriquet for the Wandering Jew, who, the last time we heard of him, was caught stealing gingerbread nuts at Richmond Fair. In the legendary division there is the notorious Tom-Styles—the depredatory Tom the piper's son (legitimate issue of Tom Piper, the musician of the old Morris Dance)—the fortunate Tom Tidler of the original diggings, and that heroic little liege of Queen Mab, the knight of the thumb. Tom-Tumbler was a saltatory fiend in the days of Reginald Scott; and Tom Poker still devours little folks in Suffolk, without doubt (thinks Forby) a descendant of the Sui.-G. tompte poecke, or house-goblin. As for the ignominious Tom Tiler (North Country for hen-pecked husband) we cannot allow him to belong to the family; for who can imagine a hen-pecked Tom! he must have been a wretched individuality, a suffering, corporeal Tiler.
Tom also bestows his name on divers other things, animate and inanimate. Among fishes there are Tommy-Loach, Tommy-Bar, and Tom-Toddy (the Cornish name of the tod-pole). The Long-Tom and the Tom-tit are both ornithological Toms. Tom Tailor is a child's name for the Harry-long-legs—another singular instance, by the way, of Christian names applied to animals. Tom-trot reminds one of pre-pantaloon orgies, and is (I think) something in the brandy-ball line. Finally, we may remark, that a large proportion of her Majesty's subjects are in the habit of conferring the endearing name upon the staff of life itself. "Navvies," agricultural labourers, and such like gentry, are accustomed to divide all human food into two classes, which they euphonically denominate respectively Todge and Tommy; the former comprising spoon-meat, and the latter all hard food which requires mastication. But this, we think, is not a case of Tom per se, but rather referable to the Camb.-Brit. tama, which has exactly the same acceptation.
V. T. Sternberg.