It’s all in a name: The Great Palmerston Debate…
April 7th, 2013
For what seems like forever Palmerstonians have struggled with an internal lifelong debate. It is something that follows them around in their travels, from community to community; haunting them; plaguing them; suffering as the butt of jokes from outsiders. Youngsters shy away from the embarrassment; the elderly don’t understand what the problem is. Outsiders mock and ridicule without knowing the truth; yet most within the community can’t explain the reason themselves. So who is right and who is wrong?
Is it “Palmerston or Pamerston”?
The challenge truly begins with the question of how can a community identify itself without knowing where its name came from? Is it really as embarrassing as some people think? Can we actually take a bit of pride in the so called “mis-pronunciation”? Or is it simply a product of an older generations dialect?
I will personally admit cringing every time I heard my grandparents say Pamerston, and I would chuckle and try and ignore the teasing from out-of-towners as they ridiculed my home. But I never knew why I was embarrassed, I always thought it was just what some old folks say and that was that.
So many factors play into the history of the actual name debate; local legend has a part in it, however it is lacking a certain amount of detail and supporting information; regional dialect is always a possibility but so is generational values. Historically speaking the matter should stem from Lord Palmerston himself and his legacy, or does it go back further then that? In the meantime the entire debate is intertwined with the changing world surrounding the small community in Southern Ontario. Modern day factors play a major part in the ever evolving English language so in reality this debate goes beyond the local population and actually has very wide spread roots.
To begin it is best to review a bit of history of the community itself and the people. To this day there is even debate on who officially named the burgeoning community; credit is either given to Richard Johnson, the first postmaster who was given the privilege of naming the post office which opened shortly before the station was built or was it John McDermott the Reeve of Wallace; or even Thomas McDowell the first settler (and first Mayor) who sold his land for where the station now sits. Originally the name “Wallace Station” was applied and the first use of the name “Palmerston” began appearing around 1871-1872 when the station and railyard construction was in full swing. In all likelihood it was McDermott who gave the name to the station as he would have been pivotal in the political work with the Wellington, Grey, and Bruce Railway who was building the lines.
The next major consideration would be the local inhabitants and their backgrounds. The area was quickly inhabited in the late 1850’s and early 1860’s by predominantly Irish immigrants. The 1881 census showed 50% of the population identified as Irish, while the next largest group was English coming in at 25% and Scottish at 17% of the overall population. So the ties to the United Kingdom were very strong and showing their loyalty through naming a community after a British statesman only seemed appropriate.
At this juncture it only seems appropriate to also consider the “other” Palmerstons in the world. Some of the better known places are Palmerston, New Zealand (Population 890); Palmerston North, located on the North Island of New Zealand. The small city of 85,000 people is affectionately known as “Palmy” to locals. Palmerston Island, which is a tiny tropical Atoll in the South Pacific; of the 50 inhabitants all can trace their lineage to William Masters/Marsters (a Scottish cooper) who settled there with his three Polynesian wives and proceeded to produce numerous offspring. There is also a Palmerston, Australia, which is home to 6,000 and has become a suburb of Canberra. Along with these; Palmerston is the name of countless parks, and streets around the world. Most claim their naming directly to Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston or better known as Lord Palmerston; who is famous for his achievements as arguably one of the greatest British Prime Ministers and politicians during the height of the British Empire under the reign of Queen Victoria.
The curious factor in all of the worldly “Palmerstons” is all of them are commonly pronounced Palmerston with the emphasis on the “al” sound. Nowhere else is it pronounced Pamerston with the exclusion of the “l”. So that leads to ask the question of; is this a uniquely local dialect?
In that situation we need to look at the origins of what is known as the “Canadian Raising” or better known as the Canadian accent which is broken into regional segments. Within Ontario the community of Palmerston is literally on the border of two distinct dialects, one being Southwestern Ontario and the other being Midwestern Ontario. Some unique aspects of the Southwestern Ontario dialect are a tendency to round the mouth after pronouncing the vowel “o”. Another aspect is pronouncing vowels in words such as “bag” which ends up rhyming with words like “vague” and “egg”. Lastly the drawn out “ah” in words like “can’t” which sounds like “kee-ant”. The Midwestern Ontario dialect has additional intricacies such as simplification of words eg. Prolly (probably), Sumthin (something) and “er” is often pronounced “air”, making “were” sound like “wear”.
Today, modern communication, mass media and the outside influences of other languages, accents and dialects are making “soft” regional dialects like that of Southwestern and Midwestern Ontario slowly erode away and disappear. Essentially the English language is evolving into a more generalized form rather than the regional form it used to be. This can be directly attributed to why there seems to be a generational debate on the true pronunciation of the word Palmerston. When considering that most people who reached adulthood prior to 1980 were not exposed to the international media and communications at any early age like those who reached adulthood after 1980, it’s not surprising to notice that certain elements of speech are still prevalent. A good example of this is the following: “bees knees” – “groovy” – “cool” – “dope”; all of which mean essentially the same thing but are associated more so to a specific age group/generation. That is why the dialect examples above are more common to certain age groups. While still sprinkled in the speech of younger people, it is not as heavily used.
So if we are to consider the pronunciation of Palmerston to be a regional dialect, then why aren’t any other words affected by the same phrasing? A Palm Tree is not pronounced Pam Tree! In this case it leads one to think that it’s not necessarily a regional dialect but something else.
Local legend has it that Lord Palmerston himself pronounced his name “Pamerston”, which in consideration that, while not known for his language skills he was a influential politician who would have been surrounded by highly educated people like himself who all would have spoken a proper “Queen’s English”. In this case there is no way you would make such a blatant omission in the pronunciation of your own name, especially when in Parliament.
Henry John Temple was born in his family’s Westminster house to the Irish branch of the Temple family. With his Irish lineage it’s not surprising the Irish settlers in the Queen’s Bush regarded him with such admiration. One interesting part of Lord Palmerston’s career was actually his nicknames, which he had many. He was known as “Lord Cupid” (for his love of women), “Lord Pumice Stone” (for his abrasive personality), “The Mongoose” (for his tenacious elimination of enemies) and “Old Pam”.
So that must be it! “Old Pam”...”Old Lord Pamerston” that must be where it comes from, he was known as Pamerston! Seems like a likely answer, case closed on this debate…unfortunately not. Now you must ask yourself, why was he known as “Old Pam”?
This is where all the loose threads finally come together. The word Palmerston is an old English word that is pronounced with the “l”. Pamerston actually comes from a mixture of two different words. Within Ireland there is a small parish which has become of suburb of Dublin. This Parish is known as Palmerstown. In the original Celtic the area was known as Baile Phamar (Baile meaning town). Today as modern English speakers we would pronounce Baile Phamar as “Bail-ee Fam-er”. However this is not the case in Ireland; it is pronounced “Bay-ee Pammar”. So as you can see Palmerstown would still have relics of being referred to as Pammerstown.
Combining all of this is makes perfect sense that Lord Palmerston would become known to the Irish as Lord Pamerston and eventually “Pam”. Now it all becomes clear; taking into account the strong Irish population that came to Canada and settled in the Queen’s Bush it’s only natural that their language and dialect came with them. Meaning the pronunciation of Pamerston would have been carried over.
Going back to the original question: is it “Palmerston or Pamerston” – the answer in reality is that it’s both. That being Palmerston is the traditional English pronunciation and Pamerston being the traditional Irish pronunciation. So, in reality out of respect to the original Irish settlers of the community that would actually make Pamerston more historically accurate than Palmerston.
So to those of you who snicker at someone who says Pamerston or if you’re a proud Palmerstonian who has an outsider tease that you’re from Pamerston; you can now tell them with certainty it is pronounced that way out of respect for the community’s founders and their Irish heritage.
April 7th, 2013
For what seems like forever Palmerstonians have struggled with an internal lifelong debate. It is something that follows them around in their travels, from community to community; haunting them; plaguing them; suffering as the butt of jokes from outsiders. Youngsters shy away from the embarrassment; the elderly don’t understand what the problem is. Outsiders mock and ridicule without knowing the truth; yet most within the community can’t explain the reason themselves. So who is right and who is wrong?
Is it “Palmerston or Pamerston”?
The challenge truly begins with the question of how can a community identify itself without knowing where its name came from? Is it really as embarrassing as some people think? Can we actually take a bit of pride in the so called “mis-pronunciation”? Or is it simply a product of an older generations dialect?
I will personally admit cringing every time I heard my grandparents say Pamerston, and I would chuckle and try and ignore the teasing from out-of-towners as they ridiculed my home. But I never knew why I was embarrassed, I always thought it was just what some old folks say and that was that.
So many factors play into the history of the actual name debate; local legend has a part in it, however it is lacking a certain amount of detail and supporting information; regional dialect is always a possibility but so is generational values. Historically speaking the matter should stem from Lord Palmerston himself and his legacy, or does it go back further then that? In the meantime the entire debate is intertwined with the changing world surrounding the small community in Southern Ontario. Modern day factors play a major part in the ever evolving English language so in reality this debate goes beyond the local population and actually has very wide spread roots.
To begin it is best to review a bit of history of the community itself and the people. To this day there is even debate on who officially named the burgeoning community; credit is either given to Richard Johnson, the first postmaster who was given the privilege of naming the post office which opened shortly before the station was built or was it John McDermott the Reeve of Wallace; or even Thomas McDowell the first settler (and first Mayor) who sold his land for where the station now sits. Originally the name “Wallace Station” was applied and the first use of the name “Palmerston” began appearing around 1871-1872 when the station and railyard construction was in full swing. In all likelihood it was McDermott who gave the name to the station as he would have been pivotal in the political work with the Wellington, Grey, and Bruce Railway who was building the lines.
The next major consideration would be the local inhabitants and their backgrounds. The area was quickly inhabited in the late 1850’s and early 1860’s by predominantly Irish immigrants. The 1881 census showed 50% of the population identified as Irish, while the next largest group was English coming in at 25% and Scottish at 17% of the overall population. So the ties to the United Kingdom were very strong and showing their loyalty through naming a community after a British statesman only seemed appropriate.
At this juncture it only seems appropriate to also consider the “other” Palmerstons in the world. Some of the better known places are Palmerston, New Zealand (Population 890); Palmerston North, located on the North Island of New Zealand. The small city of 85,000 people is affectionately known as “Palmy” to locals. Palmerston Island, which is a tiny tropical Atoll in the South Pacific; of the 50 inhabitants all can trace their lineage to William Masters/Marsters (a Scottish cooper) who settled there with his three Polynesian wives and proceeded to produce numerous offspring. There is also a Palmerston, Australia, which is home to 6,000 and has become a suburb of Canberra. Along with these; Palmerston is the name of countless parks, and streets around the world. Most claim their naming directly to Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston or better known as Lord Palmerston; who is famous for his achievements as arguably one of the greatest British Prime Ministers and politicians during the height of the British Empire under the reign of Queen Victoria.
The curious factor in all of the worldly “Palmerstons” is all of them are commonly pronounced Palmerston with the emphasis on the “al” sound. Nowhere else is it pronounced Pamerston with the exclusion of the “l”. So that leads to ask the question of; is this a uniquely local dialect?
In that situation we need to look at the origins of what is known as the “Canadian Raising” or better known as the Canadian accent which is broken into regional segments. Within Ontario the community of Palmerston is literally on the border of two distinct dialects, one being Southwestern Ontario and the other being Midwestern Ontario. Some unique aspects of the Southwestern Ontario dialect are a tendency to round the mouth after pronouncing the vowel “o”. Another aspect is pronouncing vowels in words such as “bag” which ends up rhyming with words like “vague” and “egg”. Lastly the drawn out “ah” in words like “can’t” which sounds like “kee-ant”. The Midwestern Ontario dialect has additional intricacies such as simplification of words eg. Prolly (probably), Sumthin (something) and “er” is often pronounced “air”, making “were” sound like “wear”.
Today, modern communication, mass media and the outside influences of other languages, accents and dialects are making “soft” regional dialects like that of Southwestern and Midwestern Ontario slowly erode away and disappear. Essentially the English language is evolving into a more generalized form rather than the regional form it used to be. This can be directly attributed to why there seems to be a generational debate on the true pronunciation of the word Palmerston. When considering that most people who reached adulthood prior to 1980 were not exposed to the international media and communications at any early age like those who reached adulthood after 1980, it’s not surprising to notice that certain elements of speech are still prevalent. A good example of this is the following: “bees knees” – “groovy” – “cool” – “dope”; all of which mean essentially the same thing but are associated more so to a specific age group/generation. That is why the dialect examples above are more common to certain age groups. While still sprinkled in the speech of younger people, it is not as heavily used.
So if we are to consider the pronunciation of Palmerston to be a regional dialect, then why aren’t any other words affected by the same phrasing? A Palm Tree is not pronounced Pam Tree! In this case it leads one to think that it’s not necessarily a regional dialect but something else.
Local legend has it that Lord Palmerston himself pronounced his name “Pamerston”, which in consideration that, while not known for his language skills he was a influential politician who would have been surrounded by highly educated people like himself who all would have spoken a proper “Queen’s English”. In this case there is no way you would make such a blatant omission in the pronunciation of your own name, especially when in Parliament.
Henry John Temple was born in his family’s Westminster house to the Irish branch of the Temple family. With his Irish lineage it’s not surprising the Irish settlers in the Queen’s Bush regarded him with such admiration. One interesting part of Lord Palmerston’s career was actually his nicknames, which he had many. He was known as “Lord Cupid” (for his love of women), “Lord Pumice Stone” (for his abrasive personality), “The Mongoose” (for his tenacious elimination of enemies) and “Old Pam”.
So that must be it! “Old Pam”...”Old Lord Pamerston” that must be where it comes from, he was known as Pamerston! Seems like a likely answer, case closed on this debate…unfortunately not. Now you must ask yourself, why was he known as “Old Pam”?
This is where all the loose threads finally come together. The word Palmerston is an old English word that is pronounced with the “l”. Pamerston actually comes from a mixture of two different words. Within Ireland there is a small parish which has become of suburb of Dublin. This Parish is known as Palmerstown. In the original Celtic the area was known as Baile Phamar (Baile meaning town). Today as modern English speakers we would pronounce Baile Phamar as “Bail-ee Fam-er”. However this is not the case in Ireland; it is pronounced “Bay-ee Pammar”. So as you can see Palmerstown would still have relics of being referred to as Pammerstown.
Combining all of this is makes perfect sense that Lord Palmerston would become known to the Irish as Lord Pamerston and eventually “Pam”. Now it all becomes clear; taking into account the strong Irish population that came to Canada and settled in the Queen’s Bush it’s only natural that their language and dialect came with them. Meaning the pronunciation of Pamerston would have been carried over.
Going back to the original question: is it “Palmerston or Pamerston” – the answer in reality is that it’s both. That being Palmerston is the traditional English pronunciation and Pamerston being the traditional Irish pronunciation. So, in reality out of respect to the original Irish settlers of the community that would actually make Pamerston more historically accurate than Palmerston.
So to those of you who snicker at someone who says Pamerston or if you’re a proud Palmerstonian who has an outsider tease that you’re from Pamerston; you can now tell them with certainty it is pronounced that way out of respect for the community’s founders and their Irish heritage.