Note 40 — Chapter I · OF THE ORIGIN AND NAME OF CARDS

The Abbé Bullet, previous to the appearance of his little book on Cards, in 1757, had commenced the publication of a Celtic Dictionary. In the former there are many traces of his mind having acquired a bent from his Celtic researches. He finds the origin of the term as or ace in the Celtic as; and in the same language he finds the true meaning of the names of the Queens of Clubs and Hearts, Argine and Judith. Argine is formed of ar, la, the, and gin, belle, beautiful; and Judith is a corruption of Judic,—which is formed of jud, a queen, and dyc, twice. Both those queens, according to his fancy, are intended to represent Anne of Bretagne, wife of Charles VIII and Louis XII. According to Père Daniel, Argine is an anagram of Regina, and is meant for Mary of Anjou, wife of Charles VII; and Judith is not the heroine of the Old Testament, but the wife of Louis-le-Debonnaire. Though those doctors disagree, yet each appears to have equally good reasons for his opinions. The consequence is that we can put no faith in either.