There is a house near me that is named Toyes with the symbol of a Red Kite are they connected in anyway?

Question

Sorry to confuse you but the symbol of the Red Kite is the bird not the Toy? I wondered if the word Toyes is a foreign word for the bird. I only ask because my Mother asks me every time we pass the blooming house..................

Answer 1

Hi Michael,

I was trying to be funny when I posted yesterday. Since you updated your question, I have done as thorough a search as I can, and I'm sorry I couldn't find anything about red kite hawks also being called toyes. [On the other hand, it is great news that these beautiful birds are coming back from the brink of extinction.] Take a look:

http://www.redkites.co.uk/
Could it be that two small business share space in the house?
If you're curious, I don't see what should stop you from asking the owner of the house about the reason for the signs. If you're too shy to do it in person, you could put the question through the post box with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. That way you'd be sure of getting the correct answer.


Good luck!
K.

Answer 2

Toyes, apart from being an Old English way of spelling *toys* and a pop group it is also the name of a French footballer (soccer to the US) Geofrey Toyes. I have no idea where the kite connection is but it might have French roots.

Answer 3

Toyes are/were pop group who advocated getting high. Red Kites do this naturally, perhaps there is a connection between the two.

Answer 4

I don't know--why don't you go there and find out? If it's a toy store, I can see the red kite conection, but if so, why misspell it as "Toyes"?

Unless, of course, they're trying to be cutesy, as in "Ye Olde Te Shoppe".