ANTIGONISH

town, seat of Antigonish county, northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies at the head of Antigonish Bay, an inlet of St. Georges Bay, 31 miles (50 km) east of New Glasgow. The site was originally settled by the French in 1762; the first British immigrants (soldiers and Scottish Highlanders) did not arrive until after 1785. The earlier name, Dorchester, was replaced by Antigonish, a word that is of Micmac Indian origin and has a disputed meaningeither broken branches or river of fish. Antigonish is now chiefly residential, but lumber, farm products, and fish are exported, and gypsum and limestone are quarried nearby. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese, and St. Ninian's Cathedral dates from about 1875. The town is the seat of Mount St. Bernard's College (1883) and of St. Francis Xavier University (1853), where the Antigonish Movement, a cooperative, self-help program, was instituted in 1930. The Highland Games, patterned after the Braemar Games of Scotland, are held there annually in mid-July. Inc. 1889. Pop. (1991) 4,924.