Once upon the late 1500s, some Englishmen gazed across the Atlantic.
Europe was – and for a long time had been – an embattled place full of shifting alliances and religious warfare. England had recently crushed the Spanish Armada, finally gaining some maritime control over the country that had been gobbling up riches in the New World.
The time was now, the Englishmen felt, to seize their chance.
Off they sailed, landing at length in a wild, green place that had no gold but plenty of strange creatures and people. From here they would have a base for competing with Spain and searching for a (nonexistent) passage through the continent to trade with India and China.
What would they call this bright new conquest?
Historians recount the tale. In a letter, the captains of an early voyage wrote home that the king of the native people was named Wingina. They also wrote that natives called the country Wingandacoa, though we now know the word’s meaning was closer to “My, what fine clothes you have on,” said Frances Pollard, chief librarian for the Virginia Historical Society.
Then there was the unspoiled, fertile – dare they call it virgin? – nature of the land. But above all, there was the queen.
Elizabeth I refused to marry. When she first took the throne in 1558, it was a sticking point with her advisers.
“She says, ‘It’s my decision, and I’m the monarch,’ ” said Nicholas Popper, assistant professor of history at the College of William and Mary. “Eventually, it crystallizes into this ‘Virgin Queen’ thing.”
The nickname stuck. And Elizabeth let it stick. She alone ruled England, and everyone who called her the Virgin Queen knew it.
So years later, when that crew set their sea legs to the shores of England’s new world, they knew what to call it.
As recounted by George R. Stewart in his 1958 book, “Names on the Land,” they wrote it thus: “The king is called Wingina, the country Wingandacoca.”
To that, Stewart writes, was added, “And now by her Majesty, Virginia.”
Elisabeth Hulette, 757-222-5214, elisabeth.hulette@pilotonline.com?
