Knights and Ladies

The interesting article on professor James Pethica (“The Patroness & the Poet,” March 2010) refers to “Sir Gregory,” an impossible construction; he was, of course, “Sir William.” Meanwhile “Lady Isabella Gregory” could be so styled only if she were entitled to the honorific “Lady” in her own right, i.e., by being the daughter of a duke, a marquess or an earl. As the wife of a knight, she would simply be “Lady Gregory.”

—William Alexander McClung ’66, Boston, Mass.