Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1903 — ODD NOMENCLATURE [ARTICLE]

ODD NOMENCLATURE

Borne Cortona Names of Places in tka Skate of Massachusetts. tn the Middlesex (Mass.) fells some good old colonial names are preserved, like Jingleberry hill and Chillyshally brook. Shot pond was named by Governor Winthrop, who discovered It in the winter, because of the many rocks that showed through the lee and spotted the surface. Powderhorn hill, in Chelsea, is said to have been bought of the Indians for a horn of powder. The fact of misfortune to divers unknown persons—whether trivial or not does not appear—finds a record In Bad Luck mountain in Granville and Bad Luck pond in Douglas. There may be •ome association between Burncoat brook and a pond in Leicester and Spencer and Burnshirt river, likewise in Worcester County. Drinkwater river Is a felicitous name for a stream of good water. It Is in Hanover, and possibly there may have been a fatally of that name in the neighborhood. Strong Water brook in Tewksbury has quite different associations. Sought-For pond, in Westford, suggests a long and baffled quest for the spot through the wilderness in the olden days. One of the least euphonious of names is Skub river in Essex and Middlesex counties. It Is worthy a place among such English names as Wormwood Scrubs, a park in London. A legend about the names of the group of islands on the south coast presents an instance of how fancied resemblance gives rise to stories. It Is related that these islands once belonged to a man with four daughters. To Nancy, the eldest, the father gave the first choice, and the fact that “Nan-took it” is recorded In the name Nantucket, tlie Island she selected. Nantucket, of course, is In reality an Indian name. Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands went to Martha and Elizabeth, respectively, while to the fourth daughter, whose name has been lost to memory, there was nothing left but the most remote and undesirable of the group, which was called No Man's Land, because Its owner was a woman. The Elizabeth Islands, In fact, says the Boston Transcript, were named for Queen Elizabeth by Bartholomew Gosnold, their discoverer, whose name has been given to the town that comprises them.