All spelling and orthography have been modernised, except for the occasional moment when the difficulties of understanding the original text are outweighed by the insight – and pleasure – to be gained from a direct encounter with the remarkable language of Ralegh’s own time. Readers who wish to enjoy the letters and other documents in their original form should turn to Sir Walter Ralegh in his own words, where works such as Youings’ and Latham’s 1999 edition of the Letters are listed.
Sir Walter’s contemporaries wrote his surname as Raleigh, Raliegh, Ralegh, Raghley, Rawley, Rawly, Rawlie, Rawleigh, Raulighe, Raughlie and Rayly. This is hardly a surprise. A well-known playwright never signed his name Shakespeare, preferring (usually, but not always) Shakspere. I have chosen Ralegh because that, more often than not, was Sir Walter’s own spelling, and he used it consistently in later life.
As for how to pronounce Ralegh, I spent many years calling him ‘Raw–lee’ (the evidence being the punning attacks of his hostile contemporaries) but now prefer his name to rhyme with barley. We are slightly clearer about Ralegh’s own pronunciation of his first name: a deep, Devonian ‘Water’.