Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 September 1907 — What “Constable” Has Meant. [ARTICLE]

What “Constable” Has Meant.

“Constabulary” and ‘‘constable” are curious instances of verbal ups and downs in dignity. Literally “constable” (“comes stabuli”) means only “stable attendant;” but, with “chamberlain,” “steward" and many other names of servants, it became exceedingly dignified when the service was loyal. The constable of France and the lord high constable of England were very great men, and Scotland has still her hereditary lord high constable in the Earl of Erroll. Nowadays in ordinary speech “constable” has dropped again to mean only a policeman, “this lower constableship,” as Blackstone quotes from Lambard, having been a derivative of the lord high constable's office “and, as it were, a very finger <jf that hand.” One can never tell where/ a word will Anally arrive. “Policeman” and “politician” by origin both mean a man who looks after the affairs of the community.— London Chronicle.