Note 3 — Chapter I

The name occurs in a dozen different forms in the ancient records. I adopt the form which is generally used by modern French writers. D’Argentré and other historians of Brittany say that it was not unknown about Nantes in those days. We must remember that it was the period when nicknames, trade-names, etc., were passing into surnames. Another pun on the name, which greatly tickled the mediæval imagination, was ‘Aboilar,’ supposed to convey the idea that he was a dog who barks at heaven (aboie le ciel). It was perpetrated by Hugo Metellus, a rival master.