Toponymie | Canton de Potton | Place Names

In English, the term brûlé means “burnt”.  Obviously a word where “fire” is the immediate first thought – sometimes caused by the whim of Mother Nature, sometimes by man.  On a map of Potton, the Brûlé is denoted to the north of Chemin Laliberté as a large marshy area, from which springs a brook of the same name.

On the ground, the area definitely looks somewhat desolate, like a once-burned region with many swales, dense with marsh grasses and brush.  Local lore abounds with stories of the Brûlé, mainly warnings about its unforgiving nature.  

The Brûlé is an area locally known to be a fairly sinister place that is thick with underbrush on difficult terrain, of shifting ground (quicksand perhaps), not to be entered into lightly or without notification to others when going there.  In spite of its proximity to Owl's Head Mountain, bearings are difficult to check and even the experienced hunter can become quickly disoriented.  The overall terrain is that of a swale, meaning slightly depressed.  The terrain rugged, and visual reference to a landmark, even the mountain, difficult and in places, impossible.  It has long represented good territory for hunting, but travel into parts of the Brûlé can be very unforgiving of those without compass, intrepid spirit and an abundance of good common sense. 

Speaking of burns and brûlés: in the Township of Potton live several families with the surname Brulotte – always impeccably identified by their French speaking counterparts; however those same families were often identified as the “Burns” families by the local English speaking population! (the Omer Brulotte family of Sugar Loaf Pond, and Wilfrid Brulotte of Chemin de Province Hill – should the reader wish to confirm this anecdote independently!)