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ArchivesMinnaloushe meaning
I think it is safe to assume that the meaning of the name Minnaloushe is derived from Yeats' poem. I too would like to know the origin of the name. I wonder if it's a cat he had or knew and I also wonder if there is some foundation in the Celtic language that Yeats was intending to imbed in the poem through the name. Any Yeats scholars out there with information on this?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Replies
Minnaloushe appears to be a misspelling/anglicisation of the French 'Minoulouche'. (Yeats also misspelled it as Minoulooshe in Per Amica Silentia Lunae, which he dedicated to the cat's owner, Iseult Gonne. Iseult was French, and she always spelled her cat's name as 'Minoulouche'.)
'Minou' means kitty in French, and is a generic pet name for any cat. 'Louche' means cross-eyed or squinty, which is appropriate for both a Persian and a moon-gazing cat.
'Minou' means kitty in French, and is a generic pet name for any cat. 'Louche' means cross-eyed or squinty, which is appropriate for both a Persian and a moon-gazing cat.
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bar some substantive report closer to the original users, this seems the most probably explanation.
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One source I read said the name is derived from ancient Greek where mene comes from moon, and lou from leu- - meaning bright, white possibly. Yeats added she at the end of the name. The bright moon is a main part of his poem.
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Minnaloushe was Iseult Gonne's cat (the daughter of Yeats' unrequited love, Maud Gonne.) I've never been able to find an explanation for the name's meaning, and I don't think it's an Irish word. The best I've been able to figure is this (and this is theory)--- In German, "minna" means protective, and loushe is pretty close to the sound of the word for "light" in latin (lux, lucis). So I think that Minnaloushe may mean "protective light," which certainly goes with the moon image in "The Cat and the Moon," and the idea that Gonne and Yeats would have viewed Minnaloushe as a familiar.
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It doesn't sound Irish - it sounds more French.
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This is the more accurate of the two responses I've given to this query so far: in the earlier version, I muddled up the Gonnes and the Gregorys!
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/35902 and the text is:
"As far as I recall, Minnaloushe was a cat belonging to the Gregory family, who were "friends of Yeats, and he then wrote what must have been a nonce poem, though it's so "powerful it's hard to imagine that he just saw a playful kitty through a window ...
"Anyway, it's possible that a scholarly edition of Yeats's writings might gloss it. Worth "a try! Please let us know if you come up with anything."
Nobody seems to have found anything more than this, which is a pity. It would be an excellent name for a black (male) cat.
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/35902 and the text is:
"As far as I recall, Minnaloushe was a cat belonging to the Gregory family, who were "friends of Yeats, and he then wrote what must have been a nonce poem, though it's so "powerful it's hard to imagine that he just saw a playful kitty through a window ...
"Anyway, it's possible that a scholarly edition of Yeats's writings might gloss it. Worth "a try! Please let us know if you come up with anything."
Nobody seems to have found anything more than this, which is a pity. It would be an excellent name for a black (male) cat.
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Ooh yes, please do! And I'm glad to know that my long-ago self had some foundation for her belief about the Gregorys ... can't trace the reference now, but it became my firm impression that Minnaloushe was the Coole Park kitty. No clue about the meaning ... perhaps your MIL could ask around the neighbourhood! (Lucky her; what a marvellous place to work.)
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I'll ask her. We both have black cats so she'll be interested. There is a stone with "Wild Swans at Coole" carved on it by the lake there and several stones with a poem by Shaw dotted around as well. I was not familiar with the Minnaloushe poem though I have a degree in English and Yeats featured prominently on the course!
Coole is extremely beautiful - I love going there.
Coole is extremely beautiful - I love going there.
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Yes, Minnaloushe was Yeats' cat, but unfortunately I don't know the origin of the lovely name.
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That's the answer given by Nicole March 26, 2012, but it's a bit of a stretch. On the face of it loushe seems a variant of louche, and is a family name that means "squinting" from Latin lusca/luscus, from the same root as lux "light", the original sense perhaps "squinting or shutting one eye (because of the light)". Minna meaning protective is also a stretch. It's a German abbreviation for Wilhelmina, which just means "Will (thought/desire)" + "helmet", not "protective" with a diminutive/genitive suffix to create a feminine (compare Carolina "of Charles" < Carol "Charles"). All this is purely speculative without a contemporary explanation from the family as to where the name came from.
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My cat is named Minnaloushe after Yeats’s poem, although he goes by Minnow. When I address him in French, I call him Minou ("mee-nu"), the generic kitty. Minnow/Minou derives from a root meaning small. I don't know where "-loushe" originally came from, but I'm guessing "lux" (light, Lucius). “Louche” means shady in the sense of disreputable. So when I call Minnow Minnaloushe, I'm either calling him "Little Light" or "Slim Shady"! Overall, I’d say the best interpretation is “Naughty Little Thing,” which is definitely accurate for my Minnow.
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