Mary of Plymouth: A Story of the Pilgrim Settlement

by George Bird Grinnell

  I have seen at Master Bradford's home two bottles made of glass, andthey are exceedingly beautiful; but so frail that I should scarce darewash them, for it would be a great disaster to break so valuable avessel.

  WHAT AND HOW WE EAT

  And now, perhaps, you ask what we have to eat when the table is spread?Well, first, there is a pudding of Indian corn, or Turkie wheat, andthis we have in the morning, at noon, and at night, save when there maybe a scarcity of corn. For meats, now that our people are acquaintedwith the paths through the woods, we have in season plenty of deermeat, or the flesh of bears and of wild fowl, such as turkeys, ducks,and pigeons. Of course there are lobsters in abundance, and only thoseless thrifty people who do not put by store sufficient for the morrow,live on such food as that.

  Every Saturday we have a feast of codfish, whether alone or if therebe company, and Elder Brewster has already spoken to us in meetingupon the vanity of believing it is necessary that we garnish our tablewith no less a fish than cod on Saturdays, saying it is a sign that ourhearts are not yet sufficiently humble.

 

  My father is over careful of me, Mistress White claims, because heallows that I be seated at the table with himself and my mother whenthey eat, instead of being obliged to stand, as do other children inthe village when their elders are at meals. Poor Mistress White fearsthat I am pampered because of being an only child; but for my own partI cannot see how I do less reverence to my parents by sitting wheneating, than by standing throughout a long feast when one's legs growweary, as did mine the last time we were invited to dine with ElderBrewster.

  Of course we have no chairs; but the short lengths of tree trunks whichfather has cut to serve as stools are most comfortable, even though itbe impossible to do other than sit upright on them, and very often,if one grows forgetful, as did Captain Standish at Master Brewster'shome a short time ago, there is danger of losing the stool. Our mightysoldier being thus careless, tumbled backward, so surprised that heforgot to let go his trencher bowl, thereby plentifully besmearinghimself with hot hasty pudding that he had been served with in greatabundance.

 

  TABLE RULES

  Mother has written down some rules for me at table, so that I may docredit to my bringing up when at the house of a friend, and these I amcopying for you, to the end that it shall be seen I am not so pamperedby being allowed to sit while eating, as to forget what belongs to goodbreeding:

  "Never sit down at the table till asked, and after the blessing.

  "Ask for nothing; tarry till it be offered thee. Speak not.

  "Bite not thy bread, but break it.

  "Take salt only with a clean knife. Dip not the meat in the same.

  "Hold not thy knife upright, but sloping, and lay it down at the righthand of the plate with blade on plate.

  "Look not earnestly at any other that is eating.

  "When moderately satisfied, leave the table.

  "Sing not, hum not, wriggle not."

  You may see that if I follow these rules carefully, I shall not bringshame upon my mother. It is only when the large wooden bowl, which iscalled the voider, is placed on the table that I am most awkward, andmother insisted on my learning this poem, which contains many wholesomerules for behavior:

  "When the meat is taken quite away, And voiders in your presence laid, Put you your trencher in the same And all the crumbs which you have made. Take you with your napkin and knife, The crumbs that are before thee; In the voider a napkin leave, For it is a courtesy."

  WHEN THE PILGRIM GOES ABROAD

  If there be a desire to travel, we must either walk, or sail in boats,and one may not go far on foot in either direction along the coast,without coming upon streams or brooks over which has been felled a treeto serve as bridge. Now father thinks a bridge of that kind is allthat may be necessary, because of his footing being so sure; but youknow that women are more timid, and it is difficult to walk above therushing streams on so slight a support as a round log.

 

  Because of having made our plantation near to a deserted Indianvillage, there were paths through the woods in every direction, andthese we used whenever making an excursion in search of bayberry plums,or herbs of any kind.

  The Indians, after Squanto had made us friendly with the great chiefMassasoit, were ready to sell us boats, and queer sorts of ships wouldthey seem in your eyes. One kind is made of the bark taken from thebirch tree in great sheets, sewn together with sinews of deer, andbesmeared with fat from the pitch pine.

 

  I have seen one that would carry with safety four people, so light thatI myself could lift it, but no man may use one of these bark vesselswithout first having been taught how to sail it, for they are so likea feather on the water that the slightest movement oversets them.

  For my part, I feel more secure in what our people call a dugout, whichis made with much labor by the Indians, and is, as Captain Standishsays in truth, "a most unwieldy ship."

  MAKING A DUGOUT

  The Indians hew down a huge pine tree, and when I say it is donewithout the use of axes, then you will wonder how the timber can befelled. Well, when one of the savages desires to build him a boat, heselects the tree from which it is to be made, and builds a little firearound the trunk close to the ground. As fast as the flames char thewood, he scrapes it away with a sharp rock, or a thick seashell, andthus keeps scraping the burning wood until the tree falls.

 

  Then he cuts off ten or twelve feet in length by burning and scrapingexactly as before, and this is the length of the boat he would build;but it is simply a solid log. Now he sets about building a fire alongthe top, charring the wood and scraping it away until, after whatmust surely be a wonderful amount of labor, he has hollowed out thathuge log into a shell. The bark is then stripped from the outside, andthe ends fashioned by burning until they are smooth, and the ship iscompleted.

  GOVERNOR CARVER'S DEATH

  It was in April, when, because the weather had grown so warm it seemedmuch as if we had been restored to the favor of God, that a greatcalamity came upon us of Plymouth, and my father says it is impossiblefor us to understand how sore a stroke it was to our people who counton making a home in this new world.

  Governor Carver had hoped to make such a garden as should be a modelfor all in the village, and to that end he worked exceedingly hard,so father says. He was planting and hoeing from early light until itwas no longer possible to see what he was about because of the comingof night. Already many of the plants, concerning which Samoset andSquanto had told us, were showing through the ground, until, as CaptainStandish said, "all the others should take pattern by him that we mightnot taste again of the bitterness of famine."

  The day had been very warm, and the governor was working exceedinghard, when suddenly he complained of a pain in his head. He strove invain to continue the labor; but Mistress Carver insisted that he comeinto the house and lie down on a bear skin, which Captain Standish hadmade into a bed-cover, and this he did.

  Master Bradford and my father were summoned in the hope that it mightbe possible to give him some relief; but they could do no more thanpray for his recovery, and even while they were pleading most ferventlywith God, the poor man lost all knowledge of himself, nor did he speakagain.

  During three days every one prayed; no trees were hewn lest the noisedisturb him, and all the women in the village gathered in or around thehouse that they might be ready in case their services were needed. Itwas as if we were having three Sabbaths at once. Then he died, withouthaving come to know that he was ill, and we were more heartsick andlonely even than when the _Mayflower_ sailed away.

  It seemed to me as if then was the time, when our hearts were so sore,that our people ought to have poured out their souls in prayer over thelifeless body of him who had been so good a friend to us all; but thatwas forbidden. Therefore Governor Carver was laid in the grave withouta word or sound, other than the sobs of the women and ch
ildren, whomourned so sorely.

  Those who had muskets discharged them as a parting salute to him whohad been our governor, and we walked sorrowfully and in silence away,little dreaming that within three short weeks Mistress Carver would beburied near her husband's last resting place in this world.

  WILLIAM BRADFORD CHOSEN GOVERNOR

  Two days after we had said farewell to Master Carver, Master WilliamBradford was chosen governor; but because he was yet stricken with thesickness, Master Isaac Allerton was named as his assistant.

  I have no doubt that Hannah will be surprised at knowing that "littleWillie Bradford," as I have heard the old women call him, has becomeour governor. When a boy, he lived in Scrooby, and came, rather fromcuriosity than a desire for the truth, among our people, who werecalled Separatists, or Non-Conformists, because they would not conform,or agree, to King James' orders regarding their religion.

  William Bradford came to believe, after attending the meetings in ElderBrewster's house, that ours was the true religion, and when our peoplemade up their minds to go into Holland where they might be allowedto worship God as they chose, Master Bradford went with them. Therehe learned the trade of a weaver of cloth; but later he apprenticedhimself to a printer.

  Now he is become the foremost man of all our company, because of beingthe governor, and of a truth has he been a very present help to us inour time of trouble.

  FARMING IN PLYMOUTH

  I wish you might have seen how different to that which is the custom inScrooby, was our farming done on the first season after we came ashorefrom the _Mayflower_. Because of having no working cattle with which toplough, the men were forced to dig up the ground with spades, and wearylabor it was. Those of our people who were well enough to remain inthe field, planted nearly twenty-six acres, six of which were sown withbarley and peas, while the remainder was given over to Indian corn.

  Squanto showed us how this last should be done, and, strange as it mayseem to you in England, he used fish with which to enrich the land,putting three small ones in each hill.

  You must know that all of us children, and the women, work at theplanting of this corn, for it is the only kind of food to be had whichcan be kept throughout the year without danger of being spoiled, andwhen one grows weary with the task, it is only needed to bring to mindour hunger when we first came ashore.

 

  Perhaps you may wonder where we got so much of the corn for seed. Ithas all come from the Indians in one way or another. Some of it Squantobrought from Massasoit's people; but a goodly portion has been found onthe graves, of which there are very many near our village.

  As to planting barley and peas, Squanto knew nothing; therefore thework was done somewhat as it would have been done at home, exceptthat the land was encumbered with rocks and trees, and we were muchperplexed by lack of tools.

  The seed was finally put into the ground, but even when the taskhad been performed to the best of our ability, it was an odd lookingfarm to those who had seen the fair fields of England. Large rocksstood here and there, while many stumps of trees yet remained, forour fathers had not been able to clear the land entirely. We shallhave much work at harvest, in gathering the crops from amid all theseunsightly things.

  WAYS OF COOKING INDIAN CORN

  I must tell you of a way to cook this Indian corn which Squanto showedto Captain Standish, and now we have it in all the houses, when we areso fortunate as to have a supply of the wheat in our possession.

  It is poured into the hot ashes of the fireplace, and allowed to remainthere until every single wheat kernel has been roasted brown. Then itis sifted out of the ashes, beaten into a powder like meal, and mixedwith snow in the winter, or water in the summer. Three spoonfuls aday is enough for a man who is on the march, or at work, so CaptainStandish says, and we children are given only two thirds as much.

  Mother says it is especially of value because little labor is needed toprepare it; but neither Sarah nor I take kindly to the powder.

  The Indians also steep the corn in hot water twelve hours beforepounding it into a kind of coarse meal, when they make it into apudding much as you would in Scrooby; but mother likes not the tasteafter it has been thus cooked before being pounded, thinking much ofthe fine flavor has been taken from it.

  Sometimes we make a sweet pudding by mixing it with molasses andboiling it in a bag. It will keep thus for many days, and I once heardCaptain Standish say that there were as many sweet puddings made inPlymouth every day as there were housewives.

  Next fall we shall have bread made of barley and Indian corn meal,so father says, and I am hoping most fervently that he may not bemistaken, for both Sarah and I are heartily tired of nookick, and ofsweet pudding, which is not very sweet because we have need to guardcarefully our small store of molasses.

  We girls often promise ourselves a great feast when a vessel comes outfrom England bringing butter, for we have had none that could be eatensince the first two weeks of the voyage in the _Mayflower_.

 

  Squanto often tells us of a kind of vegetable, or fruit, I am notcertain which, that grows in this country, and is called a pumpkin.It must be very fine, if one may judge by his praise of it, and weare looking forward to the time when it shall be possible to know forourselves.

  THE WEDDING

  And now I am to tell you of a marriage in Plymouth which deeplyconcerned Sarah and me. You may be certain that we made great accountof it, although Master Bradford warned us against setting our hearts onthe wicked customs of England.

  I had hoped Elder Brewster would marry the couple, for Sarah and I weredeeply interested in them, having seen much of the love-making while wewere on board the _Mayflower_.

 

  If the bride and groom had been in England, it would have been a timeof feasting; but our people here shun such show, therefore did we losemuch of merrymaking.

  Although the bride and groom went to Elder Brewster's house, which hasserved us as a place for religious meetings, it was Governor Bradfordwho listened to their vows and declared them to be man and wife, and inless than half an hour the newly-made husband was working in the field,while the wife was making sugar.

  MAKING MAPLE SUGAR

  Yes, we have sugar in plenty now, and, strange as it may seem, it comesfrom the trees. It was Squanto, that true friend of ours, who showedus how to take it from the maples, of which there are scores and scoresgrowing everywhere around us.

 

  To get it one has only to make a hole in a maple tree, and put thereina small wooden spigot shaped like a spout, and straight-way, when thefirst warm weather comes in the spring, the sap of the tree, mountingfrom the roots to the branches, will run out of the hole through thespout into whatsoever vessels we place beneath.

  After that we boil it in kettles until it becomes thick like molasses,or yet more, until it is real sugar, after having been poured in pansof birch-bark to cool. It has a certain flavor such as is not to befound in the sugar of England; but answers our purpose so well thatit can be used to sweeten the meal made from the corn, or eaten as adainty.

  DECORATING THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE

  You must know that our house is not now as rough on the inside as itwould appear from what I first wrote. Father has saved the skins of allthe animals he has caught, and prepared them in the same way as do theIndians, which makes the fleshy side look like fine leather. These wehave hung on the walls, and they not only serve to keep out the wind,but are really beautiful. With the rough logs and the chinking of clayhidden from view, it is easy to fancy that ours is a real house, suchas would be found in England.

  We have many fox skins, for father has shot large numbers of foxes, andin what seems to me a curious fashion. He saves all the fishes' headsthat can be come at, and on moonlight nights throws them among thetrees, where the foxes, getting the scent, give him a fair opportunityfor shooting.

  Once he killed four in less than two hours, and we have hung them inthat corner of the kitchen which we call moth
er's. Thus it is that shecan sit leaning her shoulders against the warm fur, through which thewind cannot come.

  There is no need for me to tell you that we have more wolf skins thanany other kind, for our people find it necessary to kill such animalsin order to save their own lives. One night before all the snow hadmelted from the ground, Degory Priest was coming through the forestafter attending to his traps, and was followed by five hungry wolves,who kept close at his heels, and would have eaten the poor man but forhis industry in swinging a long pole that he carried to help himselfacross the streams.

 

  Fortunately for Degory Priest, Captain Standish heard his outcrieswhile he was yet a long distance from the village, and went out withthree armed men to give him aid.

  TRAPPING WOLVES AND BAGGING PIGEONS

  Our fathers dig deep pits, which are covered with light brushwood, insuch portions of the forest as the wolves are most plenty, and many aone has fallen therein, being held prisoner until some of the peoplecan kill him by means of axes fastened to long poles. Father has builtmany traps of logs; but I cannot describe how because of never havingseen one.

  Wolf Head Decoration on the Meeting-House]