Pumpernickel (1807)

[Laurence Horn]

At 5:20 PM -0400 4/17/02, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>A TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND ALONG THE RIGHT AND LEFT BANKS OF THE RHINE,
>TO THE SOUTH OF GERMANY, IN THE SUMMER OF 1806
>by John Carr
>London: Richard Phillips
>1807
>
>    OED has 1756, then 1839 for "pumpernickel," stating "origin uncertain."
>
>Pg. 347:  My driver stopped to give his horses some wretched hard
>bread, used by the peasants in Westphalia, composed of straw and
>oats, called _bonpournikel_ from the following circumstance.  Many
>years since a Frenchman, travelling in this country, called for
>bread for himself, and upon this sort being presented, he exclaimed,
>_C'est bon pour Nickel_ (the name of his horse); upon which the old
>woman who had brought it in ran about the village in a great pet
>relating the story.

You mean it wasn't Napoleon?  And it wasn't "pain pour Nicole" (his
horse)?  I think that version of the myth is really much more
resonant, but maybe it's a later blend of Carr's (pre-)1806 version
with the salience of Napoleon at that time.

Interesting how far back some of these etymythologies can be traced
(esp. by Barry), and how long some of them survive.

larry