[HN Gopher] Our Man in Fotheringhay
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       Our Man in Fotheringhay
        
       Author : Caiero
       Score  : 17 points
       Date   : 2024-06-05 04:58 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (literaryreview.co.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (literaryreview.co.uk)
        
       | neonate wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/lsn55
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20240605133656/https://literaryr...
        
       | OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
       | Pronounced "Fungy" with a hard 'g' if Wodehouse is to be
       | believed.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barmy_in_Wonderland
        
         | gerdesj wrote:
         | That's a name that has meandered through some centuries, at
         | least two major divisions of English (off of England), a vowel
         | shift, and no doubt a lot of G&Ts.
         | 
         | I live in Somerset, which for some reason has a reputation for
         | some weird place names. It does too but no worse than the rest
         | of the country.
         | 
         | Hatch Beauchamp (Hatch Beech'um), Ryme Intrinseca (whatevs),
         | Tintinhull (Tint'nll), Crewkerne (Crook'un). Oh and there's a
         | bloody great chalk outline of a bloke with a massive club at
         | Cerne Abbas.
         | 
         | You may have heard of Glastonbury. That is pronounced in these
         | parts something like: Glasstunbree (run all the syllables
         | together, shorten all the sounds except the mildly sibilant ss
         | and trailing ee). The music festival is actually held near
         | Pilton but Glasto sounds much cooler.
        
           | OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
           | I pronounce Loughborough as Loogabarooga. In my head, of
           | course.
           | 
           | Others I've come across over the years, some in Wodehouse,
           | some not:
           | 
           | Featherstonehaugh --> Fanshawe
           | 
           | Cholmondeley --> Chumley
           | 
           | Mainwaring --> Mannering
           | 
           | Wickhammersley --> Wickumsly
           | 
           | Menzies --> Mingis
           | 
           | The last immortalized in the limerick:                 A
           | lively young damsel named Menzies       Inquired "Do you know
           | what this thenzies?"       Her aunt with a gasp       Replied
           | "It's a wasp!"       "And you're holding the end where the
           | stenzies"
           | 
           | http://hull-awe.org.uk/index.php/Menzies
        
             | gerdesj wrote:
             | Menzies is Scottish and as you say: "Mingis".
             | 
             | Featherstonehaugh -> Festonay (I made mine up - do you have
             | a citation ... to be honest, "fanshaw" sounds right)
             | 
             | Loughborough -> Luffbru
             | 
             | Your others, I agree with. eg (Mr) Mainwaring - Dad's Army.
        
               | OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
               | Featherstonehaugh: See Wodehouse's character Ukridge -
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Featherstonehaugh_U
               | kri...
               | 
               | There's also https://www.cntraveler.com/story/youre-
               | probably-pronouncing-...
               | 
               | "...You could try hundreds of pronunciations of
               | "Cholmondeley" (in Cheshire) before hitting on "chumley,"
               | and the sixteen-letter "Featherstonhaugh" (in
               | Northumberland) drops more than half its weight to become
               | "fanshaw."..."
               | 
               | etc.
        
               | ericgreveson wrote:
               | Northumbrian here. Another good one is the village of
               | Ulgham ("uffum").
        
               | OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
               | Woolfardisworthy --> Woolsery
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolfardisworthy%2C_Torridg
               | e
        
             | globular-toast wrote:
             | One Norfolk: Happisburgh -> Haysbru
        
         | arunix wrote:
         | Interestingly, it is also the name of the central character in
         | "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" and pronounced "fother-ring-
         | gay"
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Could_Work_Miracle...
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/z1iHe42UCCo?t=250
        
       | ggm wrote:
       | Killing Mary Queen of Scots was politically expedient, killing
       | Mary was followed in due course by her son's ascendency to the
       | fused thrones of England and Scotland. (James the VIth and 1st
       | who was in turn the father of Charles I).
       | 
       | I would argue the evidence of the lack of divine retribution for
       | Mary's beheading laid the seeds for what happened to Charles I.
       | Clearly, the divine right of Queens (and Kings) had limits.
       | Calvinists didn't appear to believe in it.
       | 
       | Charles I was captured by the Scots and handed over to Cromwells
       | forces. The same (protestant) Scots having been behind religious
       | disputes, which led to (Catholic) Mary being first imprisoned,
       | and then beheaded out of political expediency by a protestant
       | English monarch and government. And in due course, a
       | nonconformist protestant english government did away with Charles
       | I.
       | 
       | If Charles hadn't stuffed around with the Scots over
       | Presbyterianism, he might have lived. Thus, a martyr in every
       | sense because politically, he was naieve. Their decision was
       | weighted by religion, he'd undermined their religious liberty.
        
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