Triumph of Wrong

Smart U. S. citizens who have been fooled when attempting to pronounce the name of Baron Dalziel commonly suppose that most Englishmen utter it correctly. No supposition could be more false.

Florid, big-boned Baron Dalziel of Kirkcaldy, kinsman of Europe's late Sleeping Car Tycoon Baron Dalziel of Wooler (TIME, April 30), has now said: "I have long ago given up trying to get English people to pronounce 'Dalziel' correctly. . . . The late Lord Dalziel also accustomed himself to let the wrong pronunciation pass uncorrected. . . . He ceased to maintain the tradition that 'Dalziel' should be pronounced 'Dee-el.' "

Village folk of Kirkcaldy in Scotland and of Wooler, on the Scottish border, were discouraged last week by this Triumph of Wrong, and vexed that the fine old name of "Dee-el" has been citified and Londonized into "Dal-zeel."

The second most mispronounced British peer is perhaps "Lord Chumly," spelled Cholmondeley. The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley stubbornly persist in calling themselves "Chumly." Last week their daughter, Lady Aline "Chumly," presided over a charity rummage sale at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, while their youngest man child, Lord John "Chumly" donned a "cowboy suit" (imported from the U. S.) and took sixpences from people who wanted to dip into a bran tub for prizes of doubtful value.