I have found in my studies of history and related geneology that up until
the 20th century most people practiced creative spelling. My grandfather,
in letters written in 1880s, referred to his Jamerson cousins as Jimmyson.
Also, I found a local deed wherein the writer covered all bases - the name
Margery wrote:
"But when I look at Irish names I get bewildered. How come you
can say e.g. Shona and write Sionaid? Or Shivawn, and write
Siobhan? Was there a different set of people inventing spelling
in Ireland? Is it because Ireland was a foreign (to us) country
then?"
Not too sure about th
