Mayflower

Yes – thrilling to stand in Little Compton before the grave of Elizabeth Pabody, first child born in Plymouth Colony, of John and Priscilla Alden; thrilling too, and unnerving in a way, to discuss the alleged copper mining activities of American natives, and other matters, with denizens of modern Plimouth Plantation, falling easily into the illusion as I listened to seventeenth-century perspectives delivered in curious Elizabethan accents with subtle overtones of Dutch; and immersed at an early age in the story of these first of our ilk to encounter the New England forests that I love.

But – standing, too, at the lonely monument in the Great Swamp, commemorating men, women and children butchered by brave colonists; or living now near Lovewell Mountain, where equally brave Capt. Lovewell cut down his share of his native neighbors.

Or, too, Nathaniel Hawthorn writing of the suppression of the revels at Merry Mount by stern Endicott of Boston, putting an end to the good cheer of Thomas Morton and his Indian companions. Strange that Hawthorne, chronicler of New England guilt and descendant of the hanging judge of Salem, should be so passionate in his defense of physical human joy (he despised the Shakers, too, for their celibacy).

The French, I have heard, were much more successful in their dealings with the Indians – the rich panoply of Catholic ritual appealed to the natives in ways that the asceticism of the Puritans did not; and unlike the English, they did not distain to touch – actually touch – their converts.

So, a toast offered to friends at Thanksgiving, years ago:

The Pilgrims of Plymouth's drear banks
Were Puritans, spoilsports and cranks.
For fun they would fast –
But that's long in the past –
And for this we do truly give thanks!

I so enjoyed this Mayflower interview with Nathaniel Philbrick. My ancestry harkens back to both the Quakers (Mary Dyer, who was hung on Boston Common) on my father's side, and the Boston puritans (Bowditch etc) on my mother's. Certainly religious tolerance was not on the agenda for the puritans as my family history attests! I wondered if Mr. Philbrick had done research at the Massachusetts HIstorical Society - can't imagine he didn't - and whether or not he is familiar with the group of portraits of the Winthrop family in their collection. The portraits are wonderful, but they surely are a harsh lot. I am intrigued by Squanto's journey, which I wasn't aware of, and think that would be a grand subject for his next book. Thanks - Faith Childs