Old Pronunciation; (James River); Wm. and Mary Qrtly., Vol. 23, No. 2

Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project

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Old Pronunciation

   Philip Alexander Bruce

   William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 2.
   (Oct., 1914), p. 126.

                        OLD PRONUNCIATION

   As is well known, the Virginians of the older generation pronounced "James"
as if spelt "Jeames" or "Jemes".  In examining a map of London and its environs
dated 1563, now in the London Museum, formerly Stafford House, I found that "St.
James Park", even then in existence, is spelt on the face of the map "St.
Jemes Park".  It is evident from this that the old Virginia pronunciation of
"James" goes back as far as the sixteenth century if not earlier.  Another
interesting object in this Museum is the painted wooden statue of an Indian
warrior used as the sign of a London tobacco shop in the seventeenth century.

                                      PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE.