Blackamoor

blackamoor English +, Lancashire Etymology 1 From Blakemor (first recorded use in 1210), from en ang blæc black + ang mór moor. Proper noun en village bor/Blackburn with Darwen co/Lancashire cc/England OS grid ref SD6925. Etymology 2 Noun en obsolete or archaic offensive en blackamoor. 1601, pronouncement of Queen Elizabeth I in 1601, Staying Power: the History of Black People in Britain, Peter Fryer: highly discontented to understand the great numbers of negars and Blackamoors which (as she is informed) are crept into this realm... who are fostered and relieved [i.e. fed] her to the great annoyance of her own liege people, that want the relief [i.e. food], which those people consume, as also for that the most of them are infidels, having no understanding of Christ or his Gospel. III 87 Mrs. Milford broke the thread of his soliloquy by desiring he would not talk about nasty Blackamoors any more, for she should dream of them at her bed-side. en 1995 The Blurred Racial Lines of Famous Families: Pushkin Genealogy http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/pushkingenealogy.html "Although, as we now realize, no Blackamoor at any 18th century European court was merely decorative, in Ibrahim's case, Peter's expectations for him were as loaded with responsibility as those he would have had for his own son." References Blackburn District Towns & Villages, accessed on 2005-04-22 black Anagrams en aabcklmoor blockorama