Aspy Bay (/ˈæspi/)[1] is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean near the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Principal features along the bay's coast are the Wilkie Sugar Loaf hill and the Aspy Fault.
Communities along the bay include Smelt Brook, White Point, South Harbour, and Dingwall.
The name "Aspy" is Basque in origin, after Aspe Peak in the Pyrenees, or the monastery of Santa Maria de Axpe near the Bay of Biscay; there are however other theories, regarding the origin of the name.[2] A surviving French chart found at the Depot General des Dartes in France and dated 1780 refers to the area as "Aspe".[3] Records dating from the earlier 1700s identify the area as Egmont Bay, with a mostly French fishing fleet of 30 shallops stationed there.[3]
At the time the first permanent settlers arrived, mostly Loyalists, the area was known as Wegwaak, meaning "Turning Suddenly" in Miꞌkmaq.[3]
- ^ The Canadian Press (2017), The Canadian Press Stylebook (18th ed.), Toronto: The Canadian Press
- ^ Hamilton, William (1996). Place Names of Atlantic Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 288
- ^ a b c Patterson, G.G. (1885). History of Victoria County. College of Cape Breton Press. ISBN 0-920336-02-7.