Why do North Americans insist on pronouncing the name of the capital of Scotland as "Edin-boro"? Is this some ancient pronunciation that the Scots have forgotten but through an accident of history the Americans have retained? I always thought the pronunciation was something along the lines of "Edin-burra" . I've even heard "Em-bra". I could understand the American, and sadly many Canadians make the same mistake, confusion if the name was spelled Edinborough. But it's not.