Process: Panache/Penage

When I was documenting A-11 (Angers River/Rivière Angers) in 2003, I had stopped at the Cascapedia River Museum where I came across the book Mots and Phrases of the Gaspé (Art Campbell, 1995). This book proved to be a good read during my trip, late at night in my tent by flashlight. Re-reading it now, I am delighted by the turns of phrases that reflect the origins of English-speaking Gaspesians whose forebears were Acadians, Mi'kmaq, Channel Islanders, United Empire Loyalists, Irish, Scots, and English.

Campbell brings up the practice of intermarriage between these groups as an explanation for the hybrid nature of some placenames like Beau Glen. The French “beau” (pretty) intermixes with the English “glen” (a small, secluded valley) from the Scottish Gaelic “glean”, from Old Irish “glenn”. Hybrid placenames have always intrigued me. I have Protestant Scottish ancestry on my mother’s side and French Roman Catholic on my father’s side of the family. The expression “both sides of the house” to designate maternal and paternal ancestry (15) speaks to me as I imagine a wing dedicated to each side in my own house — with stairways and crawlspaces joining them together.

As many of the first immigrants from Jersey and Guernsey spoke French, there are many examples of transliteration, where one writing system is transcribed into another. Many of the examples that Campbell provides  involves transliteration on a phonetic level. For example, he highlights the English expression “tant tiver” (tan teever) used in Barachois, Percé, as being derivative from the French expression “temps d’hiver” meaning a very bad storm (128).

In New Richmond he also documents the general use of the expletive “colliss”, a profanity once used solely by Acadian Catholics when referring to the chalice (calice) (25). In a similar vein, “crush” in Maria comes from the French word “crèche” for a holding pen for a horse being shod (29) and “curvy-work” or “corvy-work” in St. Jules (working on a highway without remuneration) comes from the French “corvée” which originally meant unpaid labour under the feudal system (30). The word “poredashin” or "portaging" (to transport things from one place to another) comes from the French word “portage”, that is to carry a canoe and goods overland to avoid rapids or to reach another body of water (97).

A “lucifee” (Canada Lynx or Lynx canadenis) comes from the French “Loup cervier” (82) while a “mager” is a thin salmon in the Gaspé region, from the French word “maigre" (83). A “sea pie” in Percé refers to the layered meat pie  “cipaille” or “six-pâtes” made with assorted game like partridge, turkey, rabbit, venison, chicken or salt pork. Traditionally, this deep dish was cooked for six hours to feed all those gathered for the Réveillon, the Christmas feast after midnight Mass (109). The French word “veiller” (vigil or spending the evening hours in someone’s company) can be found in the English verb “veye” which was used to mean “to visit” (138). One interesting example is the expression “Bozo Bonannie” from the French “Bonne Année” used by the Mi'kmaq on the Maria reserve (17).

View Panorama PA-1 Penage Lake/ Lac Panache August 3, 2002

I was surprised to discover the documentation of the word “penage” in Port Daniel (a severe scolding of bawling-out) (94) as I had assumed in a prior post about Lake Penage (Whitefish, Ontario) that the word had no particular meaning in English. "Penage" was simply thought to be an anglicized form of Panache which means flair, elegance (fière allure) and probably refers to moose antlers which branch out impressively. In fact, a map or an aerial view of Lac Panache reveals a myriad of bays and islands, spread out like antlers. Panache seems to be the ideal metaphor and figures on maps dating as far back as 1863.

Considerating the fact that much of the lake lies within the Whitefish Lake Indian Reserve 6, what was the Ojibwa name for the lake prior to the Panache/Penage name shift? On a Parks Canada site, "Attikamek" is said to be the Ojibwa word for whitefish meaning "caribou of the waters." I will need to continue my research on the history of this lake.