178 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



LIST OF INDIAN WORDS. 



The following Indian names, applied by the early settlers 

 to streams, ponds, or places in the original township of Groton 

 and neighborhood, for the most part are still in common use. 

 The spelling of these words varies, as at first they were written 

 according to their sound and not according to their derivation. 

 In the absence of any correct standard either of spelling or 

 pronunciation, which always characterizes an unwritten lan- 

 guage, the words have become so twisted and distorted that 

 much of their original meaning is lost; but their root gener- 

 ally remains. It is rare to find an Indian word in an early 

 document spelled twice alike. In the lapse of time these ver- 

 bal changes have been so great that an Indian now would 

 hardly recognize any of them by sound. Even with all these 

 drawbacks such words furnish one of the few links in a chain of 

 historical facts connecting modern times with the prehistoric 

 period of New England. As the shards that lie scattered 

 around the site of old Indian dwellings are eagerly picked up 

 by the archaeologist for critical examination, so these isolated 

 facts about place-names are worth saving by the antiquary 

 for their philological value. " Gather up the fragments that 

 remain, that nothing be lost." 



Babbitasset — formerly the name of a village in Pepperrell, now 

 included in East Pepperell. 



Baddacook — a pond in the eastern part of the town. 



Catacoonamug — a stream in Shirley, which empties into the Nashua. 



Chicopee — a district in the northern part of the town, and applied 

 to the highway approaching it, called Chicopee Row. 



Humhaw — a brook in Westford. 



Kissacook — a hill in Westford. 



Massapoag — a pond lying partly in Groton and partly in Dunstable. 



Mulpus — a brook in Shirley. 



Nagog — a pond in Littleton. 



Nashoba — the old name of the Praying Indian Village in Littleton, 

 now applied to a hill in that town as well as to a brook in Westford. 



Nashua — a river running through the township, and emptying into 

 the Merrimack. 



