[ganong] place-nomenclature OF NEW BRUNSWICK 183 



(d) a pal von of the voyage, (e) the reigning- monarch. Cartier, for example, 

 gave many such. Sometimes the explorer's name becomes attached to 

 his discover}' ÇHiidsons Bay). Names of this kind often persist, many 

 remain long upon- maps without other actual use, sometimes wandering 

 about from place to place, but many disappear. Later, when exploration 

 is more careful, if there is friendly intercourse with the natives manyiof 

 their names are adopted, but if there is enmit}' from the start, few of 

 these can be learned. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where French 

 and Indians long were friends are rich in native names, while New- 

 foundland has hardly one. 



AYhen as a result of official explorations, settlements are formed, the 

 rulers at home give names usually to honour some royal person, or 

 perhaps for political effect : such are Virgin ia, Carolina. For smaller 

 places the new settlers themselves find names, adojiting those of the 

 natives, or in consultation together choosing that of the old home, of 

 patron, friend, ruler, or often a biblical name. A people devoted to the 

 church, as the French, give many names of Saints to their settlements, 

 which is plain in Quebec ; and the presence of names of this kind is the 

 greatest difïerence between our place-nomenclature and that of Europe, 

 where most of the place-names go back to heathen times. 



Later the local legislators establish and name counties and townships, 

 choosing names very commonly from the titles of prominent men in the 

 old country ; it is thus that many English place-names have been adopted 

 by us ; they were not given in remembrance of the places, but in honour 

 of the Dukes, Earls and other Lords, who happened to have them in their 

 titles. Later, when indejiendence of the Mother Country is achieved, 

 there awakens a local pride ; native or aboriginal names are revived, as in 

 the newer States of the Union, and the fathers of the Republic are 

 abundanth' commemorated. If the supply from these two sources fails, 

 they may again be brought from Europe, but this time not from the 

 Mother Countrj-, but from a classical region the common property of all, 

 as has happened in New York State. Commeinorative or other imported 

 names lose their interest etymologically as soon as they are traced to 

 another locality. 



Names are often deliberately invented, as in Indionajjolis, Collina, or 

 are fanciful, as Cocagne, Utopia, and the results may be good, but when 

 formed with the deliberate idea of poetry, as often about summer resorts, 

 they are rarely successful. 



How THEY CHANGE. — Changes in place-names may be so complete 

 that the extreme forms are no more alike than the infancy and age of a 

 man, yet be the same individual. The chief cause of change is transfer 

 from one language to another, which results in (1) changes in sound due 

 to hearing wrongl}^ the unfamiliar syllables ; (2) familiarization or alter- 

 ation of the unfamiliar into the nearest, familiar sounds ; the principles 



