Asa has it in his head that he’s a “true gentleman.” Since I have better things to do, I’m going to let Asa explain that one to you.
Thank you Chuck Billy. While scrolling through photos from Mom and Dad’s recent visit to Star Island, at the Isles of Shoals, I made a remarkable discovery. I’ve always known that I was named after one of Mom’s ancestors who lived at the Isles of Shoals in the nineteenth century. However, I had no idea that Asa Caswell was an “Esquire.” Thus making me an Esquire too! It says so right there on his first wife’s gravestone. “In memory of Mary, wife of Asa Caswell, Esq.”
Ok, to be perfectly honest, I admit at first I had no idea what “Esq.” meant. Being a member of Generation Alpha, (yes, that really is what they are calling anyone born between 2011 and 2025 according to an article in Forbes magazine), I immediately assumed the letters were some sort of abbreviation. Like how BOL stands for Barking Out Loud. But I was baffled as to what ESQ could be. Extremely Silent Quintet? I don’t recall Mom ever mentioning my namesake was a musician. Although he probably enjoyed the music coming from poet Celia Thaxter’s cottage. Chuck Billy suggested, Excitable Silly Quack. But from Mom’s research on the man, nothing stands out to call him a silly duck. Although he probably did visit the birds on nearby Duck Island. Perhaps it stands for Extremely Short Quotes. My namesake was known as a man of few words. Asa Caswell was a fisherman, so perhaps Esq. stands for Edible Sand-free Quahogs? But if I recall correctly, he mostly fished for haddock and cod off the shores of Star Island, not clams. Ok, I admit I let my imagination run wild here.
Therefore, I decided to turn to Chuck Billy’s recommended source for all knowledge, Google, to find my answer. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, Esquire: (n) a title of courtesy often used by attorneys usually placed in its abbreviated form after the surname. That can’t be right. Asa Caswell definitely wasn’t a lawyer. But maybe because he was always bailing his nephew, Lemmy, out of trouble he assumed the title? Nope, that can’t possibly be right. Then there’s (n) a candidate for knighthood serving as shield bearer and attendant to a knight. Oh I like that definition! I go on a lot of adventures, so the same probably holds true for my early namesake! However, always the spoilsport, Chuck Billy shook his head no. That just leaves, (n) an unofficial title of respect, having no precise significance, sometimes placed, especially in its abbreviated form, after a man’s surname in formal written address; in Britain applied to a commoner considered to have gained the social position of a gentleman. THAT’S IT! Asa Caswell Esq. had no precise significance but gained the social position of gentleman at the Isles of Shoals! Therefore by default, I’m a gentleman too! “Asa, Esq.,” I like how that sounds! For those of you who may be curious to learn more about who Chuck Billy, Lemmy and I are named after, not to mention Star Island too, please see our 2015 post My Spirit’s Home.
