PILIGRIM'S PROGRESS
It’s time to talk turkey – and cranberry – says LINDSAY SUTTON as he wades in to the Pilgrim Fathers’ story
CHRISTMAS dinner with turkey and cranberry sauce is a real British institution. Well, actually, that’s not strictly correct. Although it may be hard to swallow, we actually ‘pinched’ it from America’s Thanksgiving.
Both the bird and the berry are from the New World, brought back to Europe by Spanish explorers or British settlers, depending on which story you believe.
Certainly, the wild turkey was domesticated for eating purposes on both sides of the Pond.
And certainly, a huge Thanksgiving celebration took place in 1621, after the Pilgrim Fathers had survived their first winter and reaped their first harvest in Plimoth Plantation, in what is now the state of Massachusetts.
The Thanksgiving habit took hold, President Abraham Lincoln made it official, American families tucked in together on the fourth Thursday of November each year, and we borrowed the meal for our Christmas. Result all round.
As we approach the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s amazing journey from the port of Plymouth in England to present-day Plymouth on the coast of New England, it is fascinating for the visitor to walk in the footsteps of those early settlers.
The journey of the Pilgrim Fathers – and Mothers, let us not forget – who braved the Atlantic storms for a new life in the New World, is a heroic story.
What is often left out of the script is the bit about them being helped out by Native American tribes already living there. However, that doesn’t detract from the bravery of the Pilgrims seeking a new beginning.
When you see the replica of that little ship called the Mayflower, you realise the magnitude of what the Founding Fathers achieved. That’s why special plans are underway to celebrate the 2020 landmark anniversary event, quickly followed by the 2021 Thanksgiving 400th.
The replica Mayflower is away being refurbished, but will be back at its berth in Plymouth, Massachusetts – just an hour from Boston – in 2019, ready for tourist visitors to go on board.
There are hints that royal and presidential visits will be in order for the ‘Big Bang’ 2020 celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic. However, with Trump tensions riding high, it may fall to ex-presidents to do the honours.
In the meantime, there’s plenty to see and do in and around Plymouth and the long curl of Cape Cod, that ends at the tip with Provincetown, the place where the Pilgrims first landed in November 1620. They reached the mainland just before Christmas and landed on Plymouth Rock – still there to this day – ready to suffer the effects of the harsh New England winter.
Today’s visitor can get an insight into conditions when they walk round the replica Plimoth Plantation, complete with 17th Century homesteads and superb in-character actors and actresses who play the parts of the original settlers.
A chat with Governor William Bradford is most illuminating – in my case, one Yorkshireman speaking to another with just 15 or 16 generations between. He came from a village in old West Yorkshire; so did my folks. He and his family broke from the High Church; so did mine.
He was a wool comber, as were my relations. He made the 3,000-mile journey by sea to start a new life, a new community; we stayed put.
Only half of the 102 Pilgrims on the Mayflower survived that first, harsh winter. When they were able to celebrate their first Thanksgiving, a year on, they were on the road to recovery and prosperity, tough as it was.
From Plymouth Rock, and the nearby spring and stream that has
served the community well from day one, you can walk up the old town, past buildings that date back to those early days. Crossing the modern Main Street, with its shops and coffee houses, you come to the First Parish Church.
It’s shaped like an upturned boat and it’s no surprise to find it was constructed by boat builders, the last of four churches on that site.
Services have been held since the Pilgrims landed, and there’s still a Brewster in the congregation, all those generations on from William Brewster, the minister on board the Mayflower.
Behind the church, stretching up the hillside, is The Old Burial Ground.
You can wander up the path, seeking out the graves of original Pilgrims.
Bradford’s grave. . . Warren’s grave . . . one saying simply ‘Brother,’ the next ‘Sister.’ Very powerful, very poignant.
The Pilgrim Hall Museum provides more food for thought. You realise ‘Separatists’ – those who broke from the Established Church of England back home – could be burned at the stake for their defiance. No wonder they fled to more liberal Holland, then to the New World.
Three of the Mayflower women were pregnant. You can still see the original Dutch cradle in which Peregrine White was placed when he was born.
From the 51 Plymouth settlers who survived, there are now three million descendants in the USA. You can bet that they just love their turkey and cranberry celebration in honour of their ancestors. Think about their bravery as you celebrate Christmas.
Only half of the 102 pilgrims on the Mayflower survived that first, harsh winter...