While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Bagaduce. The name of the peninsula in Hancock co.,
Me., on which Castine is situated. Purchas mentions Chebegnadose (n should
probably be u) as a town in 1602-1609 on Penobscot r. in
Abnaki territory, with 30 houses and 90 men, which may be connected with the
more modern name. It is also, according to Willis (Coll. Me. Hist. Soc., iv,
103, 1856), under the form Abagadusset (from a sachem of that name), the
name of a tributary of the Kennebec. It is introduced here for the reason that
Sullivan (Hist. Me., 95, 1795) applies the name, under the plural form
Abagadusets, to a body of Indians which, in 1649, resided in this immediate
section. Vetromile, however, says: "We are sure there was no Indian village at
Castine, called at present Bagaduce, a corruption for matchibignadusek,
water bad to drink. " Ballard (Rep. U. S. Coast Surv., 1868, 248) gives
as the full form matche-be-gua-toos, bad bay, referring to a part of
Gastine harbor, and this is the meaning commonly given. Rasles gives
bagadassek as meaning to shine. Dr William Jones suggests that the Chippewa
pagŭdāsink, windward side, may be a related
term.
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906
