Business and Diversion
Discourse at Ammauskeeg-Falls (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Business and Diversion: Discourse at Ammauskeeg-Falls<br><br>The first printed sermon preached within the limits of what is now Manchester, N. H., was at "Ammuskeeg-Falls, in the Fishing Season, 1739," by Rev. Joseph Secombe, of Kingston, N. H., a gentleman of good attainments, eccentric habits, and extremely fond of fishing. It was his custom annually, with other gentlemen, to visit the Falls for recreation and diversion. At such times he preached on Sunday to the natives and others settlers and visitors. One of his sermons was printed in Boston in 1743, and dedicated to the "Honourable Theodore Atkinson, Esq.," of Portsmouth; N. H., who was one of his hearers. Copies of the printed discourse have become very scarce, only five perfect ones being known to exist. It has been thought advisable to reprint the same that it may be preserved; hence seventy-five copies have been put into covers for circulation in libraries and among friends to preserve it from oblivion. With the exception of the modern s for the former long f, the same appears verbatim, literatim, et punctatim. The quotation on its title-page contains the name "Moniack," of which Potter's "History of Manchester," says:<br><br>"Moniack, one of the names applied to the Merrimack by the Indians, from the fact that it contained a great many islands. The literal meaning of Moniack is 'Island-place' - it being a compound word from the Indian nouns Mona (island) and Auke (place)," (p. 721).<br><br>"Namaoskeag,' or as called by the English, and now written, Amoskeag, has been a noted place for centuries. The terminals oog, ook, and uk, written by the English auke, or ook, were used by the Indians to represent a place or spot of land or water; and eag, eeg, and eek, written by the English eag, eke, and ic, were the terminals used by the Indians, to represent long or extended places of water. Thus Namaos means a fish, and compounded with eag, with the k thrown in for the sake of sound, becomes the Indian derivative noun, Namaoskeag, a long and continued place of water for fish, and was doubtless applied by the Indians to that part of the Merrimack river consisting of falls, rapids, and ripples, extending from the Skowhegan in Merrimack, to Turkey Falls in Concord... But as the country became settled, and fish scarce, the 'Namaoskeag' became limited to the rapids in the immediate vicinity of 'Namoaskeag' falls, (pp. 638-639."<br><br>The word has many variations in orthography, among them being, Namoaskeag, Naamkeake, Namaske, Naumkeag, Naimkeak, and several others. (See Potter's "Farmers' Monthly Visitor, 1852-1853.)<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.