NAMES OF COLONIES, FOREIGN PLACES, &c. § 1. ALBEMARLE SOUND, named after Monk, Duke of Albemarle, temp. Charles II. ALBION, from either 'Alp' or 'Alb' (albus), 'the snowy range.' Aristotle was the first to write of Britain under this name. ALLEGHANY, derived from the name of an Indian tribe rapidly becoming extinct. AMERICA, from Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine traveller, who is said to have inserted the words 'Tierra de Amerigo' in a map published by him early in the 16th century. ASCENSION ISLAND, named after Ascension Day, the day of dis covery. AZORES, 'the island of hawks;' acor=hawk; es island (Portu guese). BAB-EL-MANDEB, 'the gate of hell.' BERMUDAS, discovered 1522, by a Spaniard, Juan Bermudez, who happened to be wrecked on them. BALTIMORE, named after Lord Baltimore, the patentee of the colony of Maryland; founded 1745. BOMBAY (Port.). Bona Bahia 'the good bay.' BRISBANE, founded 1823, named after a governor of this Australian colony. BRITAIN, possibly from 'Bri-etan-ia;' etan signifies country.-T. CANADA (Indian). Kanata'a cluster of wigwams.' CANARY, from a peculiar race of large dogs found there; canis= dog, and y=island. CAROLINA, dates from the Restoration (Charles II.). CHARLESTON, COLUMBIA, named after Christopher Columbus, ceded to United States Government by Maryland and Virginia, 1790.. CONNECTICUT (1665), derived from Indian. DAMPIER ARCHIPELAGO; from William Dampier, the navigator, who discovered it August 31, 1699. DAVIS STRAIT, discovered by Captain John Davis, August 11, 1585, during his first voyage in quest of the North-west Passage. DETROIT, means 'narrow passage' between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. DOMINICA, ISLE OF, discovered on a Sunday (dies Dominica), Nov. 2, 1493, by Christopher Columbus. ELIZABETH COUNTY (America), so called in honour of the mother of Prince Rupert. ENGLAND, i. e. 'Angle-land:' land of the Angles. FAROE ISLES (Norse), faar sheep, oe island. FORMOSA (Port.) = 'beautiful.' = FORT ORANGE, formerly Dutch, now called Albany, so named after James II., Duke of York and Albany, when the Dutch were expelled. FREDERICSBURG, after Frederic, Prince of Wales, son of George II. = GENEVA cenn afon (Celtic), 'the head of the river.' = GOOD HOPE (Cape of), called, by Bartholomew Diaz, Capo Tormentosa, the Cape of Storms, changed into its present name by King John of Portugal. HAYTI (Indian), 'a mountainous country.' HELIGOLAND='holy island land.' HIMALAYA (Sans.), 'perpetual abode of snow.' JUAN FERNANDEZ, so called from the Spanish navigator who discovered it. LANCASTER SOUND, from Sir John Lancaster, who helped to fit out Baffin's expedition. MAN (Isle of). Man (Celtic) = 'district.' MARYLAND, so called after Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. MISSISSIPPI (Indian), 'the great river.' MISSOURI (Indian), 'the muddy river.' NEW YORK, so called after James II., Duke of York and Albany, formerly called by the Dutch, New Amsterdam. NIAGARA (Indian), 'thunder of waters.' PENNSYLVANIA, So called from 'Penn' the Quaker, who colonised it. PERNAMBUCO 'the mouth of Hell.' RAPIDAN, so called from Queen Anne. ST. DOMINGO (Spanish); Hayti (Indian). ST. HELIER'S, from 'St. Helerius,' who mortified the flesh and 'kept his body in subjection,' by standing on sharp stones, with spikes pointed against his shoulders and breast to prevent him falling asleep. ST. MALO, from St. Maclou, possibly St. M'Cleod, a wandering evangelist of the 6th century. SANDWICH (Isles), discovered by Cook, 1769; so named after Lord Sandwich, the first Lord of the Admiralty. TARIFA; Sept. 710, a. D. the conquest of Spain. Tarif-Abn-Farah first landed here for VALETTA, from John Parisot de la Valette, the heroic Grand Master of the Knights of St. John (1566). VAN DIEMAN'S LAND, so called by 'Tasman' after Maria (daughter of the Batavian governor, Van Dieman), to whom he was attached. WIGHT (Isle of), Lat. Insula vectis. For additional information, the reader is referred to Words and Places, by the Rev. Isaac Taylor. CITY, TOWN OR VILLAGE= ciudad, bal, gar, gorod, medina, burg, EMINENCE ENCAMPMENT FOREST, HILL, WOOD FOUNTAIN, WELL HEIGHT, MOUNTAIN ISLAND LAKE MARKET MINERAL SPRING MOUTH OF RIVER patam, polis, pore, vic, tre. =auchter, berg, brae, cliff, col, cota, dun, fort, hill, gherry, mont, ramah. = caer (fort), caster, alcala. =hurst, kil, wald. = beer, brunn, en, font, well. ben or pen, berg, brae, cairn, col, craig, = ea, diva, ennis, holm. = lago, loch, lough, zee, mere, meer, tarn. = cheap, forum, haut, klobing. = acqua, bad. = baal, church, eccles, kirk, kil, llan, min ster. = aber, inver, monde, mouth, praag. ROCKY HEIGHT = cliff, craig, rock, stein. =combe, dale, den, guad, glen, grund, strath. CHAPTER X. WORDS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLACES. AGATE, 'precious stone,' from Achates, a river in Sicily. AMMONIA, salt,' prepared by the priests of Jupiter Ammon. ARTESIAN, well sunk through the chalk basin of the province of BABBLER, from the Tower of 'Babel.' BAUDEKIN, gold, silver, silk tissue, from Baldacca, or New Bagdad, a suburb of Cairo. BAYONET, from Bayonne. BERNOUSE, from Fr. 'Berne,' from Hi-bern-ia. BEZANT (coin), from Byzantium. BILBOES, from Bilboa. BONNET, from an Irish village of the same name. CALIBRE, possibly from Calabria (Taylor's Words and Places). See page 191. CAMBRIC, from Cambray. CANTER, 'a Canterbury gallop;' the easy ambling pace of pilgrims going to the shrine of Thomas à Becket, at Canterbury. CARP, from Cyprus. CARPET, from Cairo, where made. CARRAWAY, Pliny tells us, from Caria. CHALYBEATE, from Chalubes, a tribe of Armenia. CHARLATAN, derived the Italian forms ciarlatano, cerretano, from the city of Cerreto. CHERRY, from Cerasus in Pontus. CHESTNUT, from Castanea in Thessaly. COPPER, from Cyprus. CORDWAIN, from Cordova. CRAVAT, from Croatia. |