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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Now that George has opened up this interesting thread again, I have a comment or two. First let me respond, with my editor's hat on, to Jim's original plea for more apostrophes. Yes, undoubtedly many of our two-barrelled geographical names had apostrophes, especially those places that were actually possessed by the named person. Then, as John explained, the mapmakers had their way with the apostrophes, and it's the official gazetteer (in our case the _Nova Scotia Atlas_) that we editors consult for "proper" spelling and that most publishers will insist on, for the sake of consistency. As for Jim's two examples, I doubt that Kings County ever had an apostrophe. I don't know for a fact, but it seems unlikely that the county was named after someone named King, or for a royal; rather, as suggested by Pat, Kings and Queens Counties in all three Maritime provinces most likely arrived on this side of the Atlantic borrowed and unadorned. Starrs Point, though, was settled and owned by the Starr family, so it probably did have an apostrophe at one time. Now, however, since the Starrs no longer own the place, use of the possessive "Starr's" would not be as accurate as the adjective form, "Starrs" (indicating a place where the Starrs live or lived). Apostrophe or not, the origin is easy to surmise. As a matter of interest, the Nova Scotia gazette includes only three place names with apostrophes: Clark's Harbour (Shelburne County), St. Peter's (Richmond County. Note that only the village has an apostrophe -- not the bay, canal, inlet, island, or junction), and Fisher's Grant (a two-part Indian reserve in Pictou County) .For the truly punctilious, you should know that one ungazetted name is officially apostrophized: the Municipal District of St. Mary's (Guysborough County). Chris mentioned his frustration with the Herald for removing the italics from the Latin names in his letter re the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle. This is a pretty standard style convention of newspapers (the Globe is an exception) -- not to use italics. It's a tradition predating computerized typesetting, and like it or not it's just a fact of life. And finally, I share Ian's enthusiasm for the Elizabeth Bishop poem, The Map, and I thank Brian for making me aware of this poet. Doug Linzey
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Index of Subjects