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The name Scaramella has a rather comical sound in Italian - not quite as outrageously ridiculous as "Pio Pompa" (Pious Pump!!)- but it nonetheless has an antiheroic Commedia dell'Arte tang to it... along the same lines as Sganarello, but somehow plumper-sounding...?
And thanks to the google I've discovered that "Scaramella" is in fact the burlesque hero of a famous 15th century madrigal by Josquin des Prez:
Scaramella is a commedia-type character who is supposedly off to war with sword and buckler but in fact is more interested in impressing the ladies:
...
Scaramella va alla guerra colla lancia et la rotella La zombero boro borombetta, La boro borombo
Scaramella fa la gala colla scharpa et la stivala La zombero boro borombetta, La zombero boro borombo
Lol! "Ignoring moralities is always undesirable, but doing so systematically is really worrisome." Mohammed Khatami
I.e. a swashbuckler.
Swashbuckler is a term that came about in the 16th century and was applied to rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen. It came about due to the popularity of the fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was filled with much "swashing and making a noise on the buckler" (see dictionary.com reference, below)
Later on (18th cent.) - "caramella" came to mean lorgnette:
Which gives us Scaramella the quintessentially phony "miles gloriosus" conman-spy... who'd run a mile from a real battle, vastly prefers snooping around in fine kid boots and lace ruffles, especially at gala evenings where he can oogle the ladies through his eyeglass/spyglass? "Ignoring moralities is always undesirable, but doing so systematically is really worrisome." Mohammed Khatami
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