We Have Not Seen Much Of Jake,

the dog next door,

but we hear him a lot as he barks at the dustbin men when they call round, but his name got me thinking about names that were used in days of old that were given to pets, dogs and cats have been with us for centuries, and so has our habit of giving them affectionate names, based upon various Medieval texts, we know that Sturdy, Whitefoot, Hardy, Bo, Terri, Troy, Nosewise, Amiable, Nameles, Clenche, Bragge, Ringwood, Holdfast and yes Jakke were all popular dog names,


as for domestic cats they were known as Gyb – the short form of Gilbert –  and that name was also popular for individual pet cats, meanwhile in France they were called Tibers or Tibert was generic name for domestic cat in France – Tibert the Cat was one of the characters in the Reynard the Fox animal fables, other names for cats included Mite, who prowled around Beaulieu Abbey in the 13th century, and Belaud, a grey cat belonging to Joachim du Bellay in the 16th century, so maybe my naming the dog next door Jake did somehow have a link to Medieval times, how strange.