Bouey knife (Bowie knife) (Jan. 25, 1836)

[Wilson Gray]

"Buidhe" indicates that the vowel is [u]. But where does the English
spelling, "Bowie," which has plausibly led to the spelling
pronunciation with [o], come from?

-Wilson

On 6/23/07, David Bowie <db.list at pmpkn.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Bouey knife (Bowie knife) (Jan. 25, 1836)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> From:    Bapopik at AOL.COM
>
> > The Dominican mother-in-law is in town, and we took her to the Alamo. She
> > still doesn't know what it's about or what it's called.
>
> > In the gift shop was an exhibit on the Bowie knife. I forget the  citation,
> > but an early one was for "Bouey" knife. I would never have  thought to look
> > for this spelling (and can't find it on the web).This is before  the death of
> > Jim Bowie at the Alamo, March 6, 1836.
>
> Well, my father has discovered that one of the more common spellings of
> the family name for both Jim Bowie and me[1] back in Scotland was
> "Buidhe". I somehow doubt you'll find Bowie knives advertised with
> *that* one, though.:)
>
> <snip>
>
> [1] A pair of brothers named Bowie came from Scotland to the US a couple
> centuries ago; Jim Bowie is descended from one of them, i'm descended
> from the other.
>
> --
> David Bowie                               University of Central Florida
>      Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
>      house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
>      chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.
>
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