In modern Southwark last week, speaking with the tavern manager Natalie about what was on tap, she said one of the brews was from “Argin.” Hard G as in gap or goat. I could tell, even if she wasn’t from there, that she’d been around there for long enough to know the vernacular.

“You know how I could tell?” I asked her.

“Yes. Because I know how to say Argin.”

Oregon is not ORE-i-gon or even ARE-i-gun.

So Oregon Avenue is ARGIN Avenue.

Old Southwark is the setting for much of Shot Tower.

The date for a Meet The Author event at Pete’s — the closest tavern to the shot tower — is currently in the works.