Origin of Names
and ...
An Outer Banks Lexicon
Our close Neighbor, Currituck County, gets its name from the Indian word Cortank, wild goose.
Dare County is named for Virginia Dare, the first child of English parentage born in North America. Born August 18, 1587 in the "Cittie of Raleigh" on Roanoke Island to Eleanor and Ananias Dare, the fate of the child and her parents is unknown.
The names Wanchese and Manteo, towns on Roanoke Island, come from those two Indian Chiefs who befriended the colonists who were to become lost forever. Both were taken to England in 1584 and returned to Roanoke Island in 1585 with the Grenville and Lane Expedition. Manteo remained a staunch friend despite ill advised actions on the part of the English which included an attack on the Indians. Wanchese's regard deteriorated and it is believed that he became somewhat hostile and downright disenchanted.
Ocracoke was supposedly named after one of our more unsavory early inhabitants, the infamous Edward Teach, more widely known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard dropped anchor in the inlet to unload his booty and viewing the vast expanse of sand and water, shook his fist and yelled into the calm breeze, "Oh, Crow Cock!"
The name Hatteras was apparently derived from an area further north along the Outer Banks which was called Hatorask by the early settlers.
The Fort Raleigh Historical Site on Roanoke Island is, of course, named after Sir Walter Raleigh, poet, soldier, statesman and courtier par excellence, whose dream of a colony in the New World was not to be. This particular section of the Outer Banks is often referred to as the Sir Walter Raleigh Coastland. The capital of the great State of North Carolina is named after Sir Walter Raleigh. In Raleigh's time, the whole new land was known as Virginia in honor the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth.
The most popular theory of the name Kitty Hawk is that it derives from the local Indian reference to the time for hunting geese, "Killy Honker" or "Killy Honk".
The name Kill Devil Hills is deep in legend. The town includes the site of man's first flight and is the base of the beautiful Wright Brothers Memorial. There are so many stories dealing with the origin of the name that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. One of the stories is that in the 1700's William Byrd of Virginia, apparently no admirer of the Carolinas, wrote that "most of the rum they get in the country comes from New England, and is so bad and unwholesome that it is not improperly called "Kill Devil." Another story is that a ship loaded with this "Kill Devil Rum" was wrecked opposite the hills, hence the name.
The legend of Nags Head is that in the days of pirates, when tales drifted ashore of the wonderful treasures being plundered at sea, one of the "Bankers", (natives to the Outer Banks) got the inspiration which brought the name Nags Head. A lantern was tied around the neck of an old and gentle horse, and this old nag led slowly up and down the dunes now known as Jockey's Ridge, so that the light shone out to sea. As a ship's captain saw this light, it appeared to be from a ship riding at anchor in a sheltered harbor, but when he tried to make anchorage his ship would go aground, with land pirates then making the crew "walk the plank" before looting and burning the ship.
An Outer Banks Lexicon
Like the old-time residents of other isolated coastal cultures, those along the Outer Banks used a varied and distinctive vocabulary to express themselves. Herein lies a sample of the old words; now archaic and little heard. These words were collected from a variety of sources, including editions of Sea Chest Magazine and The Hatteras Monitor newspaper.
- A-gal-lin - A date with a girl. "Bobby's gone a-gal-lin again tonight."
- Borl - Bile. "Casper's so mean I bet he's just fulla borl.
- Berlaskin - Ailing, Crippled. "My berlaskin back's been acting up again, doc."
- Calm of Day - Dawn. "The waves were really breaking at the calm of day."
- Chunk - To throw. " Vern chunked a rock at the sheriff."
- Country - Mainland of North Carolina. "Ain't nothin over in the country; ain't no reason to go."
- Disremember - To forget. "To be honest, Miz Mazie, I disremembered where I put your cake."
- Down-Belower - Resident of south end of Hatteras Village. "Dale ain't no down- belower; he's from Trent."
- Fatbacks - Menhaden, a silvery ocean fish used for bait. "How many fatbacks y'got earl?"
- Findings - Salvage from a shipwreck. "Portor tol me he got his findings from that Four-Master."
- Found - To give birth. "Miz El Vaney's gone and found a little one Luther."
- Frap - to hit. "Harrell, stop frapping your sister."
- Going to lee'urd, going to sea - death. "Uncle Erskine's been in a bad humor all night: I 'spect he'ee be going to sea by the calm of day."
- Hattres, Hattris - Hatteras. "Aaron's gone doen to Hattres."
- Hit's - it's. "Hit's fixin' to storm down south, fur shore."
- Holp - Help, Helped. "Arlen holp him fix the house yesterday."
- Hoi Toide - High Tide. "What's time's hoi toide, Elmer?"
- Humor - Illness. "Jenkie's in a bad humor today, worse than Tuesday."
- Memorize - Remember. " Do you memorize the day we saw that squall?"
- Miz - Mrs., used for married women only, generally combined with the first name. "Miz Amanda went down to the meeting place."
- Mommick - To beat or rough up. "The sea 'bout mommicked them to death during the Mirlo Rescue."
- Moy (Moyn)- My, Mine. "Tommy, you know that's moy net, don't you?"
- Oiland - Island. "I heard Braxton left the oiland yesterday."
- Out - Denotes age. "Little Janie's 10 years out today."
- Pizzer - Veranda, Porch. "I think I'll go set out on the pizzer with some yaupon tea.
- Sot - Set. "Ol' Adam's mind's too sot to change."
- Studiments - Studies or Lessons. "Missy shore knows her studiments, she does."
- Swarp - To Kill. "Willie says he swarped them trout with a wire."
- Timid - Sore, Sensitive. "All that sun's made moy skin a mite timid."
- Toime - Time. "It's hoi toime we got to that chore, Lemuel."
- Woid - Wade. "Don't woid out to far, Rachel, else you'll be over your head."
- Win-nurd - Windward. "Head'er win-nurd and maybe she'll stay afloat then."
- Wind - Used infrequently in place of air. "Georges' headed on down to the store for to put some wind into his car tires."
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