TOM Johnston writes an interesting letter (March 9) anent the pronunciation of Lenzie.

He is not correct, though, in saying that the "Z" in Lenzie and Menzies and similar words is the old Scots"Y".

The "Z" represents the now obsolete letter "yough" which had a similar shape to a "Z" and was easily confused with it.

The name Douglas is almost a lost pronunciation. It was once spoken as Doo-glas, which reflected the Celtic original of DubhGhlais, the Dark Stream.

The inhabitants of the village of Douglas still pronounce it Dooglas.

Willie Douglas,

252 Nether Auldhouse Road, Glasgow.