Jock = a Scotsman, 1587 (antedates OED 1788-?)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 1/31/2010 10:16 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>  I meant the earliest generic front-name type nickname for any ethnic group.
>
>All the early contenders seem to date from the 17th C.
>
>JL

In that case, the "Jock" from 1587 is a contender:
_The Famovs Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing
the Honourable Battell of Agin-Court As it was plaide by the Queenes
Maiesties Players_.  [no author.] London: Printed by Thomas Creede,
1598.  One of the characters is "Iock".  [Harvard says: "One of the sources of
Shakespeare's Henry IV [sic!], probably written about 1587." --Hand
list to Old English plays.]  Full view, downloadable.

(According to Gutenberg, neither "Jock" nor "Iock" is in Henry IV,
Parts I or II -- or Henry V.  And, as I noted previosly, the earliest
OED cite for ":Jock" as "any Sctosman" is 1788, from Grose.

Joel

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