What is a Humpy?

What is a Humpy? … That is my question for the day. Every since I can remember I have heard the name Humpy.  That my friend was my grandfather’s nick name. We all called him Daddy Humpy. But his given name was Loyd Bowman McFarland. I bet that is a bit of trivia for some of you family members out there. No wonder we have a problem trying to track our family tree down; we don’t even know the given name.

But you know it makes me wonder what’s in a nick name? How in the world do people come up with such stuff? Think about it, how many of us have nick names? Actually, just in my family alone there are other nick names such as ….Rooster, Pone, Bo Monkey, The Sputniks, Goober and Doodles; and that’s just to name a few. I was chatting with a friend the other day and he was talking about a family member named ‘Cooterbob’. As we concluded the conversation, I began to wonder about the name, ‘Cooterbob’. That’s when my precious Daddy Humpy came to mind and I was reminded, his name was unusual as well. And then I wondered why did the family call him Humpy?

Well I know they say each name has a meaning. Many years ago the name they gave children was extremely important. You didn’t choose a name just because you liked it. You chose it because it had great meaning. The name was more of a prophetic speaking over the child’s life. In the bible names were changed over and over again to give greater meaning. Maybe that was it! Maybe my grandpa’s name was changed to Humpy for greater meaning. Believe me though; I wasn’t holding my breath waiting to find out.

To my great surprise, I did find out the meaning of ‘Humpy’. Of course, I went to the dictionary first and the closest thing I found was the word, ‘hump’. Well, that didn’t do it. Surely, if it wasn’t in the dictionary then it would not be in the college thesaurus. Yep! Sure enough, it wasn’t in the thesaurus. Was it in the list of baby names? What’s your guess? NO!… Not even almost! So like any red blooded American would do, I went to the Internet and began my search. By this point I was surely curious; did someone just pull it out of thin air? Trust me; I know they did with my ‘Pone’, because I came up with that name as a small child….poor guy. He was stuck with it for the rest of his life. But, as weird as it was, I think he sported the name proudly!

So let’s see what I found. This is what Wilkipedia had to say about ‘Humpy’ … A humpy is a small, temporary shelter made from bark and tree branches, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines, with a standing tree usually used as the main support. The word humpy was adopted by early white settlers, and now forms part of the Australian language. Small impermanent dwellings, made of branches and bark were built prior to the construction of more permanent buildings, and were referred to as humpies. It is sometimes called a lean-to, since it can rely on the tree for support.

Well, there you have it!….You know, I must say, I really like the word lean-to. That describes my Daddy Humpy so well. He most definitely was a lean-to….we leaned to him for support, love and encouragement…AND….he leaned to his family for the same. Do you see it? The lean-to relies on the tree for support and we all rely on our families for support….our family tree. The secret here is my Daddy Humpy was my great-uncle before he became my grandpa. That’s correct; my real grandfather was ‘Rooster’ (William Franklin McFarland); which is yet another story. He died when my father was only 17 years old. Shortly after that my great-uncle ‘Humpy’ came to the rescue, fell in love, and married my grandmother, ‘Mama Mac’ (Inez Pearl McFarland).

It was many years before we knew the real story about Daddy Humpy, but somehow it was unimportant. He was our grandpa and we loved him dearly. He loved to aggravate us….he would jiggle his false teeth at us…and sometimes lose them in the process. He was a real ‘hoot’ and a wonderful grandfather….a real lean-to….and he has left some beautiful memories for generations to come. There was nothing temporary about our Daddy Humpy. He was for real and he loved us dearly….AND….We love our Daddy Humpy!

This article is in memory of: Loyd Bowman ‘Humpy’ McFarland (Mar 27, 1910 – Sept 1, 1977); Inez Pearl ‘Mama Mac’ McCowan-McFarland (Jan 8, 1910 – Dec 29, 1973); William Franklin ‘Rooster’ McFarland (June 12, 1904 – June 27, 1947), my grandparents….AND…my father, Rayford Lamar McFarland (Jan 3, 1930 – May 15, 1982).

I offer my services to write memoirs and life stories of you and your loved ones. It’s as simple as sitting on a front porch sharing story after story about your life and your loved ones as you relax in a rocking chair, chattering away about what you know best….your loved ones.

Please continue to read my blog  http://rockingchairchatter.com and be sure to keep a watch for my new website  http://www.myfrontporchfriends.com/ as we continue to write our stories.

Enjoyed the chat,

Lorraine

Lorraine McFarland lives in Plant City, Florida. She is a professional writer specializing in memoirs, life story writing, and capturing memories of your loved ones.

Copyright March 2011 by Lorraine McFarland. The author retains sole copyright to her contributions to this article.

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