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The Surname
"A knight of Cales,
A gentleman of Wales,
and a Laird of North Countree;
A Yeoman of Kent,
With his yearly rent,
Will buy them out all
three¡"
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Legend?  Myth?
This coat of arms is of doubtful origin. It does,
however, keep popping up. Numerous people have sent it to me.
It is allegedly taken from the "Ingoldsby Legends" by
Thomas Ingoldsby, Esq, ca 1837.
The little rhyme at left comes from the same source. It
is immediately apparent that "Kent" and "Wales" and "North Countree"
are place names, not surnames. It is also true that surnames sometimes
rise from place names. There were English CALES . . .they were called
the 'Ship Captain Cales', apparently not blood relation of my line.
There was a gentleman named CALE who was appointed to government office
by King George. I am told that the word CALE is ancient French for a
woman's headdress. I have found Cales of French origin, not related.
My ancestor David Kail came to the Colonies from Germany.
That does not necessarily mean he was of German descent. His name,
spelled differently on each of the four ship's lists of the Loyal
Judith, consistently comes out phonetically as "Keel". Was it "Koehl",
or "Keil"? One intruiging prospect is that Old King Cole, of nursery
rhyme fame, who was a real King of Scotland . . .in the Second Century,
before there was a Scotland . . .yes, they dug him up in the Nineteeth
Century to make sure he was real . . .had the same phonetic pattern.
His name comes out COEL, which can be pronounced KEEL.
He was the 52nd monarch of the Roman Empire in what we
now know as the UK, and great-grandfather of the Emperor Constantine.
Is it possible? David Kail was illiterate, at least in English. He
signed his mark as "D||" . The mark is there on the Ship's List and on
dozens of legal documents still extant in Virginia archives. Illiteracy
was not typical of the German race. So the question remains: Who was
David Kail? Who was his wife, Alberdina Barthemia? She isn't on the
Loyal Judith list. He was Protestant. Huguenot? Albigense?
WHO KNOWS? Sometimes legends and myths are more fun than
the truth!
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