History
The name Funk, which means evil odor or vapour, is thought to have been given to the island because of the foul odor which predominates there. The smell arises from the nitrate and phosphate concentrations found in the guano deposited by the many millions of birds which have nested there over the centuries.
Some contend that the name may be traced to a Norse or Icelandic word for a haycock which the island resembles. This hypothesis appears unlikely, since the name Funk did not often appear on maps until the late 18th century. Before that time the island was usually referred to as Penguin Island.
It is believed that Gaspar Corte-Real visited the island in 1501. Shortly after that date it appears on two maps by Pedro Reinel as Y Dos Saues (1504) and Ylhas das aves (1520), both of which refer to an island of birds. A 1626 map by Pierre Mortier labels the place I des Penguins, while an Italian map dated 1661 has the island marked as I Penguin Abonda di Vecelli (Penguin Island abounding with birds). One the earliest British maps by cartographer Herman Moll, dated 1716, refers to it as Penguin Island. The name Funk Island appears on James Cook's 1775 map as it does in the charts and surveys compiled in 1765. According to the book Pioneers in Canada (Blackie and Sons 1912) Jacques Cartier in 1534 commented on the great number of birds and Polar Bears on Funk Island.
Funk Island was probably called Penguin Island because the Great Auk used to nest on this island by thousands, and possibly tens of thousands, up to the late 18th century when its numbers declined drastically. However, the American Heritage Dictionary suggests the word "penguin," which may be derived from the Welsh pen gwyn meaning "white head," originated with the name of the island and subsequently become an synonym for "Great Auk."
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