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The Dobrzynskis were distinguished among their Lithuanian

brethren by their language and likewise by their stature and

their appearance. They were of pure Polish blood, and all had

black hair, high foreheads, black eyes, and aquiline noses. From

the land of Dobrzyn114 they derived their ancient family, and,

though they had been settled in Lithuania for four hundred years,

they preserved their Masovian speech and customs. Whenever any

one of them gave his son a name at baptism, he always used to

choose as a patron a saint of the Kingdom, either Bartholomew or

Matthias [Matyasz]. Thus the son of Maciej was always called

Bardomiej,115 and again the son of Bartlomiej was called Maciej;

the women were all christened Kachna or Maryna. In order to

distinguish themselves amid such confusion, they took various

nicknames, from some merit or defect, both men and women.