THE LEGACY OF THEIR ARRIVAL IN NEW ENGLAND 400 YEARS AGO LIVES ON IN FIVE NEW ENGLAND STATES
BY PAUL WADE
Next year, Plymouth and Massachusetts will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the 1620 arrival of the Mayflower Pilgrims in the New World. This voyage was the catalyst for waves of settlers, who fanned out into four other New England states. Here are some of the places where their heritage lives on.
THE MAINSTREAM: MASSACHUSETTS
After many difficulties in boisterous storms, at length, by God’s providence upon the ninth of November following, by break of the day we espied land which we deemed to be Cape Cod… From an insert in Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Four centuries after one of the 1620 Mayflower Pilgrim passengers recalled the arduous journey, Massachusetts’ Cape Cod peninsula is known as one of America’s favourite holiday playgrounds. But, as I discovered, there are still numerous reminders of the Pilgrims’ landing and their weeks exploring the area. At the very tip of ‘the Cape’ is picturesque Provincetown. There, from the top of the 252ft-tall Pilgrim Monument, I saw the same rolling sand dunes and Atlantic Ocean seascape that greeted the travellers. But this was not what they had expected. Having set sail from Plymouth, Devon, their destination was the Colony of Virginia. But the Mayflower had gone off course and they ended up hundreds of miles to the north.
After 65 days at sea, the Pilgrims were exhausted and ill. It was winter, so their first priority was to find food. And they did – a stash of Indian corn at what is now Corn Hill Beach in Truro, where a weathered plaque marks the spot. But the Native Americans, who had stored it, were not pleased. In nearby Eastham, they confronted the newcomers on First Encounter Beach, where families play and paddle today. Farther west, the long ignored Native American story is told in Mashpee, at the Wampanoag Tribal Museum and Old Indian Meeting House.
Seeking a friendlier environment, the Pilgrims sailed across the bay. As every American schoolchild knows, they called their landing place Plymouth in honour of their home port. Legend has it that Plymouth Rock – now sheltered by a granite canopy – marks the very spot where they allegedly first set foot. I strolled along the waterfront to Mayflower II, the 1956, full-sized replica of the Pilgrims’ ship. Measuring about 80 feet long and 24 feet wide, it, like a time machine, whisked me back through the centuries. Down the steps on the ’tween deck, the low ceiling and cramped conditions made me feel claustrophobic; yet, this was ‘home’ for 102 men, women and children during the crossing. Mayflower II is currently undergoing restoration at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, but next year she will make a triumphant homecoming to Plymouth for the 400th anniversary.
Plymouth’s Pilgrim Hall Museum, reputedly one of the oldest continuous museums in America, boasts paintings inspired by the original Mayflower voyage, as well as the only portrait painted from life of a Pilgrim Father, Edward Winslow. But, for a real sense of Pilgrim life, I headed about three miles south to Plimoth Plantation. In this living history museum, costumed interpreters gossip, cook, tend the crops, and – in well-rehearsed Olde English accents – discuss 17th-century politics, religion and their relations with the Native People, whose lives are depicted next door at the Wampanoag Homesite. There, real members of local tribes talk about their own traditions and demonstrate age-old skills, from transforming deerskin into clothing to creating a boat by ‘burning out’ a tree trunk.
The Pilgrims were followed by waves of settlers. In 1630, John Winthrop led a fleet of 11 ships to Massachusetts, while 20,000 Puritans followed in the next 10 years. Their legacy remains throughout New England, from vibrant cities, such as Boston, to seaside towns and picture-perfect Colonial villages inland.
THE MAINE THING: THANK GOD FOR COD
I have long enjoyed holidays on Maine’s unspoiled rocky coast, particularly on Monhegan Island, ten miles off the mainland. Even before the Pilgrims’ journey, English fishermen ‘wintered over’ there. “They salted their catch to preserve it,” Emily Grey, curator of the Monhegan Museum of Art & History, told me. “Part of local lore is how the Pilgrims sailed a shallop, a small boat, up here to get food, when they were battling starvation.”
Long known as an artists’ colony, Monhegan later inspired 20th-century American painters, such as George Bellows and Rockwell Kent. Their works are displayed in the museum, along with exhibits about fishing. Today, Monhegan remains an artists’ colony – and locals still fish for cod and lobster.
LURED TO NEW HAMPSHIRE BY STRAWBERRIES
Like many coastal cities, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, developed because of its harbour. But, back in 1623, there was an additional lure – the wild strawberries growing along the Piscataqua River. In fact, the settlement was once called Strawbery Banke – and the name lives on at the open-air museum, where 30-or-so historic buildings range from homes and workshops to a tavern.
I discovered how this neighbourhood evolved between 1695 and 1955 by talking to costumed role players – an innkeeper, an Irish immigrant and the wife of a former New Hampshire governor. And, with her Native American heritage, storyteller Anne Jennison provided insights into relations between local tribes and English newcomers. And there are even wild strawberries growing in the garden.
CONNECTICUT CONNECTIONS
From the coast of Massachusetts, English settlers also spread inland. In 1633, ‘Ten Adventurers’ founded Wethersfield as a trading post on the Connecticut River. Business was so good that, in 1649, they launched the Tryall, the first ship built in Connecticut. Today, Wethersfield is a delight, with its large town green, photogenic 18th- and 19th-century homes, stylish B&Bs and the Wethersfield Museum, which tells the story of ‘Ye Most Auncient Towne in Connecticut’.
RHODE ISLAND: SMALL STATE, BIG IDEA
Rhode Island may be the smallest of the American states, but it is home to a big idea – religious freedom. That’s thanks to Roger Williams, who disagreed with the strict religious rules of Massachusetts, left the colony and, in 1636, founded Providence Plantation, today’s Providence, the state capital. Students at prestigious Brown University provide the buzz, while Colonial-era homes on Benefit Street reflect the past. And at the Roger Williams National Memorial, enthusiastic park rangers explained to me those revolutionary ideas that helped to shape American history.
