Murgatroyd

Murgatroyd is an aristocratic English surname.[1] Its etymology, according to one source, is as follows: in 1371, a constable was appointed for the district of Warley in Yorkshire. He adopted the name of Johanus de Morgateroyde, or literally: Johanus of Moor Gate Royde or the district leading to the moor.[2] Another source says the place name means Margaret's road.[3] In Norse, the Royd meant "Clearing" (as in a forest)[4] Although Moorgate in London was a gate with the road to the moor passing through, in Yorkshire, Gate (again from Norse) means street, so Moor Gate Royd would be "A clearing in the forest on the road to the moor".

The name is also used in the favorite catchphrase of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss – "Heavens to Murgatroyd!".

The name may refer to the following:

People

Fictional characters
  • Miss Murgatroyd, from 1936 Bette Davis film “Satan Met A Lady”
  • The Murgatroyd family, in the Gilbert and Sullivan 1887 opera Ruddigore
  • The Murgatroyd family of businesspeople, in Fallen London
  • Evelyn Murgatroyd, in The Voyage Out, a 1915 novel by Virginia Woolf
  • General Murgatroyd, in Highland Fling, a 1931 novel by Nancy Mitford
  • Murgatroyd and Winterbottom, a British comedy act consisting of Ronald Frankau and Tommy Handley
  • Ambrose Murgatroyd, in the 1941 Preston Sturges movie The Lady Eve
  • Miss Amy Murgatroyd, in A Murder Is Announced, a 1950 novel by Agatha Christie
  • Murgatroyd, pet rabbit of the eponymous main character in Celia, a 1989 film directed by Ann Turner
  • Alice Margatroid (corruption of Murgatroyd) in the Touhou Project series of video games
  • Murgatroyd, one of Morwen's cats in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
  • Reginald "Reggie" Murgatroid, from The X-Files episode, "The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat"
  • Candice Murgatroyd, in British television programme Ackley Bridge
  • A galactic mega crime boss in the Lensman series of science fiction novels by Edward Elmer "Doc" Smith
  • The disgraced former butler of Aunt Dahlia, in the Jeeves and Wooster stories of P.G. Wodehouse.
  • Roger Murgatroyd, henpecked husband of Edna Murgatroyd, in the story The Emperor found in Frederick Forsyth's 1972 anthology No Comebacks
  • Mr Mergatroid, a love-sick talking robot, in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Time Spanner

References
  1. "Heavens to Murgatroyd Idiom Definition – Grammarist". grammarist.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  2. Martin, Gary. "Heavens to Murgatroyd". The Phrase Finder.
  3. Campbell, Mike. "View Surname: Murgatroyd". Behind the Name: The Etymology and History of Surnames.
  4. Holroyd. "The Royds".
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