Re: Chidester/Chichester in West Virginia
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In reply to:
Re: Chidester/Chichester in West Virginia
4/07/01
Don,
You're right about Chichester, England.It's an old Roman city (all cities in England that end in -chester were once Roman camps... Manchester, Dorchester, Winchester, etc.) I had always assumed the spelling transition from Chichester to Chidester was someone's poor handwriting (a script ch could be easily read as a d if the "chair seat" on the h was small)It was a real shock while visiting Chichester several years ago to discover that the locals pronounced it Chidester! There is a definite oral basis for the change from Chichester to Chidester. In a similar vein, it was a real revelation to me after I was grown and had children of my own to figure out that the "Chissie cat grin" my grandmother used to refer to when someone had a slilly look on their face was really a reference to the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.She was simply using the pronounciation that had come down through the generations from England!She also called the kitchen sink a zink and warshed the clothes.