Posted by Roger Wardale on July 02, 2015 at 05:24:58 user RogerW.
In Reply to: Nicknames (let's all try a different tack) posted by Magnus Smith on July 02, 2015 at 03:42:55:
That is a very interesting new angle, that had never occurred to me.
I would add what sort of mother would go on calling her daughter Titty?
ATR tells us that Titty 'insisted' on being called Titty and refers to 'In Aleppo Once' p. 34, where it says nothing of the sort.
The solution can probably be found in Dora Altounyan's journal, but I do not have the appropriate years.
When Titty was six, their mother referred to her as 'Titty' in a letter. That is as near as I can get.
There seems no doubt that the Collingwoods and Altounyans were not everyday people living everyday lives. The talented Collingwoods lived only for their art and the Altounyans lived a life of privilage, surrounded by Armenian and Turkish servants where the children were taught by their mother.
Against that background I would hazard a guess that none of them were aware that the name had any significance beyond the fairy story.
To try to answer my own question, a very unworldly mother.
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