Raleigh: Located at the inner part of Ha Ha Bay (yes, there is a bay by that name, see the section on Bay to find out how that name came about), it is most likely that it was named after Sir Walter Raleigh.

But, why was Sir Raleigh so honored? There seems to some confusion as to why (and even when) the town actually was given its name.

According to the ENL listing on the town, it is stated that the "present name was adopted in 1914 in honour of Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh was known to French migratory fishermen at Quirpon in the eighteenth century and probably to Basque fishermen before that time".

However, in the Wikipedia listing on the town of Raleigh, it is stated that "Raleigh was originally named Ha Ha Bay, after the bay where it is located.

However, in 1922, the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Raleigh, the flagship of the North Atlantic and West Indies squadron, ran aground across the straits in Labrador and the town of Raleigh was renamed after the ship".

Raleigh had a population of 177 in 2016, a total which reflected a 11.9% decrease from the 201 recorded in 2011.

Pistolet Bay: While Pistolet is not listed on the Cabot and Lane's charts as a major bay it is shown between Cape Norman and Burnt Cape and is included because of its "odd" name.

In the same area as Ha Ha Bay, Pistolet Bay is a much larger indentation on the Great Northern Peninsula.

There are two possibilities for the name: Baie de Pistolet or "Little Pistol" may have been named after a small handgun that could easily have been used by French fisherman. From Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre (the French version of Wikipedia), "The first pistols appeared at the dawn of gun history.

The oldest known pistols were used in the Battle of Towton in England on March 29, 1461" The second possibility is that the bay's name came from the French surname "Pistolet".

From the House of Names Website comes the following. The surname Pistol was first found in Leicestershire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 12th century when they held estates in that shire.... Spelling variations of this family name include: Pestell, Pestel, Pistol, Pestol, Pestoll, Pistoll, Pestall, Pestal, Pester, Pestor, Pistor and many more.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands....

Ha Ha Bay: Also not shown on the Cook and Lane Chart, Ha Ha Bay is at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula.

It is a relatively small bay, east of Pistolet Bay, and located west of L'Anse aux Meadows. While "Ha Ha" is an odd name, but even "odder" there are a number of places that have "Ha! Ha!" in their name; Ha! Ha! River, Lake Ha! Ha, the town of St. Louis du Ha! Ha! and even a Baie des Ha! Ha! but they are all in the Province of Quebec.

In 2011, Edward Bessey wrote a book entitled Chronicles of Ha Ha Bay: A Collection of Stories. On the Google Books website, the book is described as follows:

A historical collection of true, oft times embellished, forgotten sagas of tremendous hardship, daring exploits, hilarious anecdotes, devoted love, foolhardy capers, of the rugged, resilient people of Ha Ha Bay and area, eking out a subsistence living on the stormy, unforgiving North Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, told with a human face.

Canada's first European settlement, most destructive hurricane, most devastating tsunami, most deadly disease epidemic, even genocide; all occurred in Newfoundland.

Bessey, the author states that "this is a work of fiction. However, most chronicles are based on actual events, often dramatized and/or sensationalized to underscore tragic, and sometimes hilarious events of Newfoundland's forgotten history". It is within the first few pages that the derivation of baba is uncovered.

According to local legend, Jacques Cartier on a trip to New France in 1534 ran into a babu which in Old French is a "dangerous narrow strip of land connecting an island to the mainland", in other words an obstruction or dead end.

The haha that he "ran" into was in the opening of "bay within a bay" and the obstruction is now known as "Old Man's Neck" and the bay is known as Ha Ha Bay (Baic Haha).

Cartier described, in his journal, the land surrounding the bay as a "godforsaken land, the likes of which the Lord would have given to Cain". The peninsula that he is referring to is now known as the site of the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve, known for some of the rarest lichens and flowers on the planet.

PISTOLET BAY PROVINCIAL PARK:

Located on the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula, Pistolet Bay Provincial Park encompasses 897 hectares (2,216.54 acres) of delightfully varied vegetation.

The park is part of the lowlands of the Long Range Mountains and contains stratified rocks that were deposited during the Cambrian and Ordovician periods (approximately 500 million years ago).

The most recent event in geological history was the glaciation which occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch. The area was covered by glaciers as much as 1 kilometre (.62 mi) thick in places until they retreated about 10,000 years ago.

The park also has a diverse eco-environment with many types of plants, trees, and shrubs as well as an abundance of wildlife ranging from large terrestrial mammals to small animals and birds.

The nearby Strait of Belle Isle provides opportunities to view marine mammals and seabirds.

As mentioned earlier, the derivation of "Pistolet" is not known definitively. Two possibilities are that it could refer to a small pistol or it could be a family name.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/RaleighNL