DEBRETT’S PEERAGE, 1915
ROTHES, EARL OF (Leslie)
[Title pronounced “Roth-ez.”]
Norman Evelyn Leslie, 19th Earl and a Representative Peer for Scotland; b. July 13th, 1877; succeeded 1893; ed. at Eton; is Lieut-Col. Highland Cyclist Batn; formerly Lieut. (Reserve) 4th Batn. Devonshire Regt; Lieut. 6th Vol. Batn. The Black Watch (Roy. Highlanders), and Capt. Fife R.F.A.: m. 1900, Lucy Noël Martha, only child of Thomas Dyer-Edwardes, J. P., of Prinknash Park, Gloucester; 5 Hyde Park Gate, W., and Chateau de Retival, Caudebec en Caux, Normandy.
Family motto: “Grip Fast.”
COMMENT: Debrett's, the Bible of the British Aristocracy, in this 1915 entry for the Countess of Rothes' husband, prints in parentheses what it declares is the proper pronunciation for 'Rothes.'
The pronunciation offered by Debrett's differs markedly from the Hollywood convention that the
name be pronounced 'Roths,' as if rhyming with 'moths.'