Nicknames, according to the Carrick-on-Suir writer Michael Coady, can be a kind of communal poetry which tell us about the "oral archaeology" of a town. If so, nobody knows more about the oral archaeology of Carrick than Michael, who has a copybook full of nicknames - past and present - used in his home town.
And if some of the characters concerned were, or are, half as colourful as the monikers applied - try Khyber Pass, Hole in the Wall or Hot Fomentation - Carrickon-Suir must be a lively town indeed.
Many of the nicknames collected have been "recycled" by Michael in his poem All Souls - from his book of the same name published this year:
Cough No More and Boil 'Em In Oil
Feach Amach and Pingin Fe Chloch
Peggy's Leg and Pull Through
The Sleepy Tailor and All Is Well
Red Spinner and Rattle the Latch
Sean a Mham and Fear Bhocht
Blue Lookout and Hole in the Wall
Hat o' Thrushes and Hot Fomentation
Pigeon's Milk and Khyber Pass
Laredo and Moscow and Oilcan and Oxo
Bengal Lancer and Mary Game Ball -
on this grounded night I meet them all.
All of the characters in the poem are real, and while some of the names are revealing, others remain a mystery even to the writer. Some are not lacking in imagination, but are still clear in meaning. Feathery was the name given to a bird fancier, while a local electrician was known to all as Live Wire.
But why on earth was anyone in Carrick called Khyber Pass or Bengal Lancer? Michael reckons the explanation probably lies in the movies, perhaps an old Errol Flynn film popular in the town.
As the poet continues his journey home in All Souls, the focus switches from nicknames to a litany of names and occupations -
"for Pat Winton the breeches maker
and Tim Byrne the weaver
for Ellen Lyons the cider woman
and John Massey the brazier for Kate Connors the washerwoman
and John Brazel the hatter . . . "
- of people who lived in Carrick in 1799.
The names are taken from a remarkable census carried out in the town under the direction of an officer in the Dorset Militia, Col William Morton Pitt, which is now with the British Library in London.
The census provides a unique picture of an Irish town at the end of the 18th century, giving it national as well as local significance.
It includes the names, addresses, occupations and religious affiliation of the town's 11,000 residents, more than twice its current population. It even includes such comments as "a cripple" or "an idiot".
Carrick-on-Suir heritage centre has a facsimile copy of the census. But now Michael Coady and another Carrick man, Dick Denny, have compiled a computer database of the document which it is hoped will be available for sale next year.
All Souls by Michael Coady, a compendium of poetry, story, illustration and memoir, is published by The Gallery Press, price £7.95 (hardback £13.95).