Factoid of the Day

Ever spotted a sign with the words "Chevy Chase" on a sign where they seem completely out of place? Like what the heck would the actor, Chevy Chase, have to do with this lame apartment complex in San Diego, or this city in Maryland, or this golf course in an outlying suburb of Chicago, or this East Coast bank chain? Well, I know I've scratched my head on that one. I mean, I like the guy, but National Lampoon movies don't seem like they're inspiring enough to be the namesake of these seemingly boring places.

After I did some research I discovered that Chevy himself was actually named after the same thing that all these other places were named after as well. Here's the text from Wikipedia about what Chevy Chase REALLY is:

The Ballad of Chevy Chase

There are two extant English ballads known as The Ballad of Chevy Chase, both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being written down, other versions of this once popular song may also have existed.

The ballads tell the story of a large hunting party upon a parcel of hunting land (or chase) in the Cheviot Hills, hence the term, Chevy Chase. The hunt is led by Percy, the English Earl of Northumberland. The Scottish Earl of Douglas had forbidden this hunt, and interprets it as an invasion of Scotland. In response he attacks, causing a bloody battle which only 110 people survived. Both ballads were collected in Thomas Percy's Reliques and the first of the ballads in Francis James Child's Child Ballads.

The actor/comedian Chevy Chase and the town of Chevy Chase, Maryland, were both named after The Ballad of Chevy Chase. The bank Chevy Chase Bank was, in turn, named after the Maryland town.

So there you have it. That's what Chevy Chase really is. If you are dorky enough to want to know more, the full wiki article can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Chevy_Chase