To the editor:
Mr. Conkling instructs us, in the July issue (p. 35), that the proper way to pronounce the name of the island is “I’ll -a hoe” (perhaps because someone on Chebeague “she bigue, she-BIG, ch-beeg” told him so).
I often heard from my grandfather and father (Bangor, Southwest Harbor) that the name of that island had at least three possible pronunciations, though I am not sure I can make as clear as Mr. Conkling:
“I’ll a hoe”
“Eel ee oh” (pronounced as one syllable, with the “eel” pronounced like the long thin critters)
“I’ll -a hut” (with the last syllable pronounced like the small wood building).
No one ever clarified for me which might be accurate, and I suspect it depended on which part of the coast you hailed from — not to mention your attitude, but I do doubt that Mr. Conkling knows exactly which is the correct version.
Keep up the otherwise excellent work,
Dan Hinckley
Phippsburg