# Place-Names of the Province of Nova Scotia

Place-Names
OF THE
Province of Nova Scotia
BY
THOMAS J. BROWN
1922
A WORD IN JUSTIFICATION. ——————
THE towns, villages, capes, coves, hills, valleys, rivers, lakes and harbors of this, our glorious province by the sea, have many strange and beautiful names. Many of them were named by the original Indian tribes; others, by the brave Spanish, French, Norse and English adventurers of the early times; and still others by the Scotch, Irish and English emigrants who at a later date luckily made this province their adopted home.
Often have we heard the "stranger within our gates" exclaim: "What an odd [or pretty] name!" "What does it mean?" "And why was it so named?"
This little book is intended to furnish, to a limited extent, the answers to these questions.
The material has been gleaned from many sources; it would obviously have added considerably to the work to have credited the many authorities from which the information has been so ruthlessly plundered. The Author (?) will, however, frankly admit that so far as he is concerned, there is very little of the contents original matter.
The manuscript has been placed in the hands of the printer with the full knowledge of its imperfections, but with the hope that it may some day be of assistance to a more competent craftsman.
As a "Peace Offering," it is dedicated to the memory of Nova Scotia's past and present historians.
Rock Eyrie,
    North Sydney, N. S., THOS. J. BROWN.
       December, 1922.
" Names of places form an important part of our history. They stand as memorials of men and events in the past. They throw light on the scenes and movements of former ages, and therefore cannot be neglected in our study of the development of our country."
An extract from an unpublished MS. on Place-Names, by the late Rev. Dr. Patterson, of Pictou, N. S.
THE INDIAN NAMES OF CANADA. ——————
Written by Mr. Richard Huntington, Yarmouth, 1883.
AMERICA.
    The name first appears in 1499, and is called after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian Astronomer and Explorer. The name as applied to the New World had its origin in Germany.
    Columbia, the name sometimes applied to America, is so called from Columbus, who discovered America in 1492.
CANADA.
    The name first appears in 1540, and is derived from the Indian word "Kannata" or "Kannatha" which means a settlement, or collection of cabins. It is said to be of Iroquois Indian derivation, and was supposed to have been applied to the Indian encampment at Montreal, but was unwittingly applied by Cartier to the whole country.
MARITIME PROVINCES.
    The Maritime Provinces were known by the Indians as "Megamage" i. e. home of the Micmacs, or the true man.
    Note. 1.—The names in this book are in alphabetical or dictionary order. Immediately after the name appears the initial letter, or letters of the County in which the place is located.
| Annapolis | (A) |
| Antigonish | (Ant.) |
| Cape Breton | (C. B.) |
| Colchester | (Col.) |
| Cumberland | (C) |
| Digby | (D) |
| Guysborough | (G) |
| Halifax | (H) |
| Hants | (Hts.) |
| Inverness | (I) |
| Kings | (K) |
| Lunenburg | (L) |
| Pictou | (P) |
| Queens | (Q) |
| Richmond | (R) |
| Shelburne | (S) |
| Victoria | (V) |
| Yarmouth | (Y) |
    Note 2.—So far as adopted by them to this date the spelling of the place names throughout is the spelling approved by the Geographic Board of Canada.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.
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