Little Delving
Beyond Here There Be Dragons
The Christening - Albert Finneas McCool
Aug 28, 2008 11:51 AM Filed in:
Day To Day
Okay, after nearly five days of get used to time with each other and much debate amongst the three of us, we have finally decided on an actual name for the Small Black Menace (though Josie I have a feeling will always think of him as SBM!)
Names are important. In the old days names were considered to be magical, and though as T.S. Eliot tells us, SBM already has a secret name of his own that he alone knows, picking a new everyday name for this little guy who is just starting out is a pretty big deal. So after much consideration we have come up with a rather large name for this rather wee cat. It's a name that I think comes with plenty of room to grow into as he gets older and which I think fits his spirit and personality quite well.
Albert Finneas McCool. We'll go with just plain Finneas for everyday use, and Finn for short.
Now I can see many of you out there scratching your heads, so a little explanantion is probably in order! First, let me just say that he is such a little guy, too small really to have stepped out into Life on his own as he has, all bluff and bluster in this great big world, that it just seemed like he needed a big ol' name he can climb on top of and hang onto. So we went big. Second, we wanted to find him a name with both symbolic significance and nuance enough to it to allow him to fit himself to his name as he grows so that he wears it well and comfortably all of his years.
So with those ideas in mind, his new name, Albert Finneas McCool, is an amalgamation of...
Albert Finney, a very fine and longtime favorite actor of mine, full of bluster when he needs to be, adventurous enough to have played a young and rambunctious Tom Jones, chameleon enough to play both a young and old Ebeneezer in the musical film Scrooge, and tough enough to play Leo O'Bannon, the Irish gangster in Miller's Crossing.
Phineas Taylor Barnum, Mr. P.T. Barnum himself, the master of The Big Sell, The Big Show, and The Big Dream.
Finn McCool, the mythic Celtic warrior, leader of the outlaw pack of Fianna, fighters all. Finn was stout-hearted, fleet of foot, and crafty like a fox. "Finn" by the way is a nickname meaning "white-haired", an appropriately upside down moniker for The Small Black Menace that will serve him well in the ofttimes upside down world of faery and folklore.
And finally, of course, there is a nod to Huck Finn, Mark Twain's roustabout adventurer, traveler, and philosopher for the common man. Huck too was tossed out into the world to survive on his own wit and moxy, and his many adventures on The Big River gave him a unique perspective and an appreciation for Life.
That's a mighty big twined up ball of stuff to pull from, and so hopefully mixed in there somewhere are all the bits and pieces Finneas will need to help him grow into his everyday name. So, say hello to Mr. Albert Finneas McCool, the newest addition to The Little Delving household, family, and pirate crew.
