Just who is the son of Vitie?
Why, when I should simply be eating and enjoying my food like any other normal person, do I have to go in for deep philosophical inquiry or intellectual theorising about it? I ought to do what Mama Frumplington used to tell me to do: ‘Shut your mouth and eat your dinner!’ (I never could work out what that meant.)
Those who dither over dinner face serious disadvantages. As the old adage goes, ‘Enquiring mind equals cold potatoes’ — or something along those lines, anyway.
Yesterday evening was a perfect example. Instead of wolfing my McVitie’s Christmas Irish Cream bar in under two seconds, as I usually might (and jolly tasty they are, too) I stood at the kitchen worktop, as if mesmerised, staring at the packaging. After years of snacking on digestive biscuits and other of the mighty McVitie’s products, it had only just occurred to me to wonder about the origins of the McVitie name. I don’t mean just the history of the biscuit company; you can find that out any time you like. No, I’m talking about the surname itself.
‘The “Mac” or “Mc” part of Scottish surnames means ’son or daughter of’, doesn’t it?’ I said. Shana nodded and fished the pencil from behind her ear, preparing to take notes.
‘So that must mean that the surname ‘McVitie’ must mean ’son — or daughter — of Vitie. But ‘Vitie’ doesn’t sound like a proper name, does it. So where does the name come from?’
Suddenly something snapped. I looked up. Shana cussed and glared at the broken point of her pencil. Leaning on the paper too hard again, I thought. I’ve told her about that before. She promised to do some research on the internationalnet — ’glooging’ I think she called it — just so long as I promised to get on and eat my delicious Irish Cream bar now — or, at any rate, before it reached its best before date sometime in January 2009.
And here, thanks to Shana’s finely honed information foraging skills, is all you need to know about the McVitie name:
[T]his is a famous Scottish surname, which is also well recorded in Ireland. … It has been claimed … that the origin is the ancient pre 12th century Gaelic word “bhiadh”. This may be a form of the original French word “vitaille” and the even older Latin “victualis”, and as such it would have been occupational for a merchant, one who supplied “victuals” or provisions. … The fact that this surname is also world famous for making biscuits is surely only coincidence.
source: The internet surname database
Disclaimer: in case you were wondering, we are not being paid, either directly or indirectly, for mentioning McVitie’s products. Our opinions are genuine. We just happen to like them. However, if anyone from McVitie’s is reading this, we would be quite happy to make room in our cupboards for a small truckload of free samples.