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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Topic started by: larkspur on Monday 02 January 17 10:37 GMT (UK)
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Having a Scottish Laing gt gt gt grandmother, I, an English woman have always pronounced this as LANG. Having watched Ricky Tomlinsons WDYTYA it was pronounced as LANE.
Please could someone tell me the "correct" one. I am sorry for my ignorance on this matter :-[
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As a Scot from Edinburgh I would be a "Lang" man myself. Others may disagree!
William
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Nah, Scottish name Laing as in lame. Glasgow surname, nothing to do with the commoner Lang! ;D
Skoosh.
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Thank you both, not sure how helpful :D ;D My lot of Laings are from around Elgin and Rafford Moray.
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There was a Laing who did his psychiatric stuff on TV.
Skoosh.
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As a Morayshire girl, I would and do pronounce it "layng"
Ellen
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Many thanks Ellen.
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Ellen, it's just that folk who are not familiar with the name take a guess. Laing the Jeweller in the Argyll Arcade is so well known here in Glasgow that the question doesn't arise.
Skoosh.
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I recant, Skoosh, as your post has just reminded me of Laing the Jeweller in Rose Street in Edinburgh and that is pronounced as Ellen has said!
William
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As I know nothing of the Jeweller, is it now certain that it is pronounced LANE with a silent G, because if I try and twist my English tongue around LANEG ??? well I will leave it to your imagination, needless to say I had to fetch a duster to wipe down my screen 8)
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I would pronounce this as Ellen has posted -
Layng like Lang but with the softer sound of Lay at the beginning of the word (Hope this makes sense) . I would never pronounce it or have heard it pronounced in Ayrshire, Lane :D
Looby :)
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Thank you ;)it does make sense. I just need to fetch my duster again....Happy New Year one and all.
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As a Morayshire girl, I would and do pronounce it "layng"
Ellen
So dae I ;D
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As a Scot from Edinburgh I would be a "Lang" man myself. Others may disagree!
I recant, Skoosh, as your post has just reminded me of Laing the Jeweller in Rose Street in Edinburgh and that is pronounced as Ellen has said!
Unless otherwise told by the owner of the name, I would pronounce it to rhyme with 'bang' if it is spelled 'Lang' and 'layng' if it has an i in it.
I have no opinions on how it might have been pronounced by any particular family before spelling became more fixed, other than that the spelling probably followed the way they pronounced their own surname rather than the other way round.
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Don't get tongue twisted with the pronunciation, larkspur, just be grateful you have some Scottish blood in you :).
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As we do actually have Laing's in the family - dinna go posh with it - it's pronounced "Lang" - simples :)
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As we do actually have Laing's in the family - dinna go posh with it - it's pronounced "Lang" - simples :)
As it's spelled LAING then it's pronounced Lay-ng - even simpler.
And if it was spelled LANG then it would be pronounced Lang - but it's no
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Don't get tongue twisted with the pronunciation, larkspur, just be grateful you have some Scottish blood in you :).
That as well ;D
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If you type Laing into the search-engine at the top of the page and click on Search, you will find literally hundreds of threads that have mentioned Laing over the years.
In my native East Neuk of Fife it was certainly (and probably still is) pronounced LAY-ng.
David "Dr. Who" Tennant has just starred as Dr. RD Laing in a new film.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38512736
I'm sure that when Laing was growing up in Glasgow, his family would have pronounced their name LAY-ng, but of course he made his name (sorry, didn't intend a pun) among the media crowd in London and elsewhere and Laing was probably seen as a funny variant of the more familiar Lang, and pronounced accordingly.
Harry
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Definitely LAY-ng from me too (having been at school with a number of Laings in NE Scotland, they bristled if it was pronounced Lang). I've always thought of them as two distinct surnames, though I can see how the spelling may have been mixed over time.
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Thank you one and all. I thought this would be a simple question when I first posted it. ::)
To sum up. I am just going with LANG, which is how I have always thought it was pronounced, and just avoid mentioning the name to any Scots- persons I may come across, less they think I am either a social climber or a down and out :D
Incidently I am very proud of my Scottish great granny, but would like to have gotten her in a hard chair under a lamp and put some very serious questions to her......naughty, naughty girl :o
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Once worked with an Auld Wullie Laing, long gone & nothing Lang aboot him, certainly no toff!
Skoosh.
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Just to establish my Laing credentials - I descend from Alexander Laing and Janet Brown, "both in this parish", married at Kilrenny on November 22nd 1723. Same day, same place, John Murray married Margaret Tervit or Tarvit. Both couples were my 5 x great-grandparents.
Harry
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i'm a Borderer and its LAY-NG for us too
NB: might be a good idea if you are searching LAING to checkout Lane/Lang, because names where recorded mostly from verbal conversation and with different accents & dialect they could sound different the the person documenting the records.
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i'm a Borderer and its LAY-NG for us too
NB: might be a good idea if you are searching LAING to checkout Lane/Lang, because names where recorded mostly from verbal conversation and with different accents & dialect they could sound different the the person documenting the records.
Of course names can sound different depending on the accent.
You just need to view the censuses to see that happening.
My own name LAWRIE has been spelled Laurie, Lowrie, Lourie etc.
I once got a letter from an insurance company addressed to a Mr. Lorry ::)
We had spoken on the phone.
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Having a Scottish Laing gt gt gt grandmother, I, an English woman have always pronounced this as LANG. Having watched Ricky Tomlinsons WDYTYA it was pronounced as LANE.
Please could someone tell me the "correct" one. I am sorry for my ignorance on this matter :-[
Laing building construction - pronounced - Lang - another one for the pot x
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Having a Scottish Laing gt gt gt grandmother, I, an English woman have always pronounced this as LANG. Having watched Ricky Tomlinsons WDYTYA it was pronounced as LANE.
Please could someone tell me the "correct" one. I am sorry for my ignorance on this matter :-[
Laing building construction - pronounced - Lang - another one for the pot x
Then it's wrong!
If it's spelled LAING why would ye pronounce it LANG and omit the I ?
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Laing building construction - pronounced - Lang - another one for the pot x
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In the home town/county of John Laing Construction it's pronounced as written and not Lang.
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Used to work for Laing Construction and it was pronounced LAY-NG in the north of England and Scotland only LANG in the South or by a Southerner
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Laing may yer lum reek
Nah! Doesn't sound right ;D