Margaret, Marg, Peggy and Peg

Does Peggy’s Cove get its name from one of the nicknames for Margaret? In honour of his mother, Marguerite, Samuel de Champlain named the adjacent body of water St. Margarets/Margaret’s Bay (the interweb has mixed feelings about that apostrophe).

Does it get its name from a survivor of a nearby shipwreck who was named Peggy (or who was too young to remember her real name and who was given that name) who then married a resident of the cove area, becoming (wait for it) Peggy of the Cove?

Dunno. And don’t much care. Although if the possibly apocryphal survivor had been named Brunhilde, we can only marvel at how well history works out sometimes. It’s not at all clear to me that Brunhilde’s Cove would have become home to the most photographed lighthouse in the world, a claim we also saw on the official signage at the site.

Now, as Google Images show, it is a delightfully photogenic lighthouse in a stunning setting but it’s not at all clear to me how anyone could verify such a “most photographed” claim. But I admit that wasn’t my first thought when I was, finally, standing where I could get my own photograph of the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove.

Wow. It really *is* beautiful.

My second thought?

I knew the people were going to be a problem.

And so they were. Mid-afternoon on a blue-sky Sunday in late September, the only way to get a photo without obvious people in it was to stand back. Way back.

2-photo collage of Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, showing the crowdsOr I could get rid of the people by giving up the curve of the cove and going in for the close-up. Interesting, but not quite the same.

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse - close-upMaybe I could go back sometime, stay in a local B&B, and get up before the tour buses start arriving. (Dawn, maybe?) I’m sure there’d be only a few dozen other people doing the same thing. But in case that doesn’t work out, I thought I’d better get a few more shots in the general area.

Peggy's Cove Townsite2-photo collage of rocky shoreline at Peggy's Cove

 

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12 Responses to Margaret, Marg, Peggy and Peg

  1. Judith Umbach says:

    Oh, your photos take me back to the first time I saw Peggy’s Cove and the lighthouse! (The second time it was wrapped in fog, not obscuring the lighthouse exactly, but definitely a different feel.)

    Always good to grab a gigantic unverifiable slogan. Did you know that Calgary claims to be the Best Public Library in the world? Given the fates of many public libraries, ours probably is – we think so.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Judith – Unverifiable equals unrefutable, eh? Thanks for supporting the Most-Read Mixed-Bag Blog!

  2. John Whitman says:

    Isabel – unlike some visitors from Ontario, remember to stay off of the black rocks!

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      John – You bet! If I ever had the leg strength and balance to handle them, I sure do no longer.

  3. Lighthouses always remind me of how much I do not know or ever will about life at sea. They stir literary memories and tales of awe-inspiring fidelity of the light-keepers. Times have changed but I imagine those lighthouses still serve their ancient purpose.

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Laurna – I love being by the sea (especially on a nice day) but, like you, know almost nothing about a life lived on it, near it, or from it. Maybe this is why we have literature? Get a sense of it without getting seasick, and without losing loved ones to it.

      • Jim Taylor says:

        A friend who lives in Truro said that Farewell to Nova Scotia “the seabound shore, may your mountains dark and gloomy be” truly represents the spirit of the Maritimes because so many of its men were lost at sea. The sea is both their friend, their partner, and their nemesis.
        Jim T

        • Isabel Gibson says:

          Jim – I can believe it. In Lunenberg, we saw a memorial to the town’s fishermen lost at sea: 80 vessels and 650 men. Over half the vessels were lost with all hands. Two years (1926 and 1927) had August storms that sunk 6 ships, with 136 lost. Here’s one version of that song.

  4. Alison says:

    I always wonder why it is so famous? There are many more photogenic spots in the Maritimes, I feel?

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Alison – Maybe it’s the Kardashian of landscapes? Famous for being famous? I would sorta like to have a crack at it without the crowds. And with the blue sky. And some big white fluffy clouds . . .

  5. Marilyn Smith says:

    An iconic place at any distance! The rocks! The ocean! The village! The lighthouse! The Bluenosers! Looks like it was a beautiful day by there!

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Marilyn – It was a *lovely* day. I admit I didn’t notice/appreciate the fluffy clouds until I saw my photos on my laptop.

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