Diamonds, Dogs, and Dinero
Published Apr 9, 2018 12:05 am
By Dr. Jaime C. Laya
The Philippines’ gift to Reina Elisabetta Farnese, 1714 (from Sotheby’s).
Up for auction in May at Sotheby’s Geneva is a 6.16 carat pear-shaped blue diamond (named “Farnese Blue” and valued at 192 to 276 million pesos). An old inscription says the diamond was offered by Islas Filipinas to Elisabetta Farnese when she became the second wife of Spain’s King Felipe V in 1714.
All Spanish colonies were encouraged (i.e., commanded) to send a little something and the diamond, unearthed in India’s Golconda mine, was the Philippines’ gift. It went across the Pacific via galleon, overland across Mexico to the Caribbean where the diamond was brought to a ship—one of 12—for Spain. A cyclone hit and 11 ships sank off Florida. Filipinas’ gift was in the surviving ship. In due course the jewel was inherited by Elisabetta’s descendants, the royalty of Spain, Italy, Austria, and France (including Marie Antoinette’s daughter), the latest of whom has put it up for auction.
A century after, Elisabetta’s great-great granddaughter Isabél II became queen, reigning in 1833-68. It is she who my Lola Trining meant when she began a story with, “Noong bata pa si Sabél. (When Sabel was young.)”
The late Alejandro Roces used to say that we say pera to mean money because our indio ancestors didn’t get the private joke of their gossipy betters about their beloved Queen’s favorite pastime. She complained that her husband Francisco de Asís de Borbón, “wore more lace than me” and acted accordingly. The first coins minted hereabouts bore the image of Isabel II who, according to Anding Roces, was known as perra (shall we say, a female canine) behind her back. Still per Roces, Peninsulares would therefore refer to both coin and sovereign as perra, overheard and spelled by locals with one “r” hence pera for dinero.
Reina Isabel II on an 1864 Philippine four-peso coin
Instituto Cervantes’ director Carlos Madrid has a scholarly alternative. He says that after Isabela II was deposed in 1868, the provisional government issued copper coins that featured an Allegory of Spain, a young lady. The coin also had a lion (alluding to the ancient Kingdom of León) that unfortunately looked like a dog. Inevitably, people began calling the coin perra. More years later, the First Spanish Republic issued a 10-centavo coin that was therefore called Perra Gorda and a five-centavo coin that naturally was Perra Chica.
Carlos adds that the term is no longer current but that idiomatic expressions survive. When one says Para ti la Perra Chica to end an argument, one really means something like, “Okay, okay, sige na ngâ—payag na ako kahi’t malî ka. Huwag na nating pag-awayan.” (Fine, I’ll agree with you even if I think you’re wrong. No more arguments.) Estar sin una perra means to be broke. Fulano tiene muchas perras literally, Itong si Kenkoy maraming aso, means he’s penniless. Esto no vale ni una perra is directly translated, “It’s not even worth a bitch” i.e., “It’s worthless.”
Maybe our pera was born of both the Lion dog lookalike and the Queen’s playtime amusements—there are least three suspects other than the lace-loving Francisco de Asís as biological father of Her Majesty’s son and successor Alfonso XII.
Notes: (a) Felipe V was grandson of French King Louis XIV and uncle of King Louis XV; (b) Perra Gorda is fat bitch and Perra Chica is small bitch; (c) Spanish politics was a mess in the 19th century. Napoleon conquered Spain, dethroned Fernando VII and made his brother Joseph King. After Napoleon’s defeat, Fernando VII returned to power and designated his daughter Isabel II as successor. This led to the Carlist Wars but that’s another story. Isabel II was deposed and Spain invited an Italian to be King, Amadeo I (reigned 1870-73). Spain was polarized and the Italian was also called “King Macaroni.” He decided the situation was hopeless, abdicated and returned to Italy a year later. The First Spanish Republic was formed in 1873 but they decided to call Isabel II’s son in 1874 to be King Alfonso XII.
Comments are cordially invited, addressed to [email protected]
The Philippines’ gift to Reina Elisabetta Farnese, 1714 (from Sotheby’s).
Up for auction in May at Sotheby’s Geneva is a 6.16 carat pear-shaped blue diamond (named “Farnese Blue” and valued at 192 to 276 million pesos). An old inscription says the diamond was offered by Islas Filipinas to Elisabetta Farnese when she became the second wife of Spain’s King Felipe V in 1714.
All Spanish colonies were encouraged (i.e., commanded) to send a little something and the diamond, unearthed in India’s Golconda mine, was the Philippines’ gift. It went across the Pacific via galleon, overland across Mexico to the Caribbean where the diamond was brought to a ship—one of 12—for Spain. A cyclone hit and 11 ships sank off Florida. Filipinas’ gift was in the surviving ship. In due course the jewel was inherited by Elisabetta’s descendants, the royalty of Spain, Italy, Austria, and France (including Marie Antoinette’s daughter), the latest of whom has put it up for auction.
A century after, Elisabetta’s great-great granddaughter Isabél II became queen, reigning in 1833-68. It is she who my Lola Trining meant when she began a story with, “Noong bata pa si Sabél. (When Sabel was young.)”
The late Alejandro Roces used to say that we say pera to mean money because our indio ancestors didn’t get the private joke of their gossipy betters about their beloved Queen’s favorite pastime. She complained that her husband Francisco de Asís de Borbón, “wore more lace than me” and acted accordingly. The first coins minted hereabouts bore the image of Isabel II who, according to Anding Roces, was known as perra (shall we say, a female canine) behind her back. Still per Roces, Peninsulares would therefore refer to both coin and sovereign as perra, overheard and spelled by locals with one “r” hence pera for dinero.
Reina Isabel II on an 1864 Philippine four-peso coin
Instituto Cervantes’ director Carlos Madrid has a scholarly alternative. He says that after Isabela II was deposed in 1868, the provisional government issued copper coins that featured an Allegory of Spain, a young lady. The coin also had a lion (alluding to the ancient Kingdom of León) that unfortunately looked like a dog. Inevitably, people began calling the coin perra. More years later, the First Spanish Republic issued a 10-centavo coin that was therefore called Perra Gorda and a five-centavo coin that naturally was Perra Chica.
Carlos adds that the term is no longer current but that idiomatic expressions survive. When one says Para ti la Perra Chica to end an argument, one really means something like, “Okay, okay, sige na ngâ—payag na ako kahi’t malî ka. Huwag na nating pag-awayan.” (Fine, I’ll agree with you even if I think you’re wrong. No more arguments.) Estar sin una perra means to be broke. Fulano tiene muchas perras literally, Itong si Kenkoy maraming aso, means he’s penniless. Esto no vale ni una perra is directly translated, “It’s not even worth a bitch” i.e., “It’s worthless.”
Maybe our pera was born of both the Lion dog lookalike and the Queen’s playtime amusements—there are least three suspects other than the lace-loving Francisco de Asís as biological father of Her Majesty’s son and successor Alfonso XII.
Notes: (a) Felipe V was grandson of French King Louis XIV and uncle of King Louis XV; (b) Perra Gorda is fat bitch and Perra Chica is small bitch; (c) Spanish politics was a mess in the 19th century. Napoleon conquered Spain, dethroned Fernando VII and made his brother Joseph King. After Napoleon’s defeat, Fernando VII returned to power and designated his daughter Isabel II as successor. This led to the Carlist Wars but that’s another story. Isabel II was deposed and Spain invited an Italian to be King, Amadeo I (reigned 1870-73). Spain was polarized and the Italian was also called “King Macaroni.” He decided the situation was hopeless, abdicated and returned to Italy a year later. The First Spanish Republic was formed in 1873 but they decided to call Isabel II’s son in 1874 to be King Alfonso XII.
Comments are cordially invited, addressed to [email protected]