Marillier, probably a Huguenot name, is an Old French form of marguillier, a churchwarden, Lat. matricularius. The hermit survives as Armatt, Armitt, with which cf. the Huguenot Lermitte (l'ermite), and the name of his dwelling is common (Chapter XIII); Anker, now anchorite, is also extant. Fals-Semblant says—
"Somtyme I am religious,
Now lyk an anker in an hous."
(Romaunt of the Rose, 6348.)
While a Pilgrim acquired his name by a journey to any shrine, a Palmer must originally have been to the Holy Land, and a Romer to Rome. But the frequent occurrence of Palmer suggests that it was often a nickname for a pious fraud. We have a doublet of Pilgrim in Pegram, though this may come from the name Peregrine, the etymology being the same, viz. Lat. peregrines, a foreigner.
[CHAPTER XVIII TRADES AND CRAFTS]
"What d'ye lack, noble sir? —What d'ye lack, beauteous madam?"
(Fortunes of Nigel, ch. i.)
In the Middle Ages there was no great class of retail dealers distinct from the craftsmen who fashioned objects. The same man made and sold in almost every case. There were of course general dealers, such as the French Marchant or his English equivalent the Chapman (Chapter II), the Dutch form of which has given us the Norfolk name Copeman. The Broker is now generally absorbed by the local Brooker. There were also the itinerant merchants, of whom more anon; but in the great majority of cases the craftsman made and sold one article, and was, in fact, strictly forbidden to wander outside his special line.