Azel Ames

“ We know enough of the absolute unselfishness and devotion of all the Leyden leaders, whatever their birth or station,—so grandly proven in those terrible days of general sickness and death at New Plymouth,—to be certain that with them, under all circumstances, it was noblesse oblige, and that no self-seeking would actuate them here. It should be remembered that the MAY-FLOWER was primarily a passenger transport, her passengers being her principal freight and occupying the most of the ship, the heavier cargo being chiefly confined to the "hold." ”

“ No mention is found of any "outfitting" of the MAY-FLOWER passengers except the London apprentices. There is no doubt that a considerable supply of all the above-named articles was necessarily sent by the Adventurers on the MAY-FLOWER, both for the Pilgrims' needs on the voyage and in the new colony, as also for trading purposes. There seems to have been at all times a supreme anxiety, on the part of both Pilgrim and Puritan settlers, to get English clothes upon their red brethren of the forest, whether as a means of exchange for peltry, or for decency's sake, is not quite clear. ”

“ Spinning-wheels and hand-looms were such absolute necessities, and were so familiar and omnipresent features of the lives and labors of the Pilgrim housewives and their Dutch neighbors of Leyden, that we should be certain that they came with the Pilgrims, even if they did not find mention in the earliest Pilgrim inventories. Many ancient ones are exhibited in the "Old Colony," but it is not known that it is claimed for any of them that they came in the first ship. ”

“ An equipment having so much of the character of a uniform—not to say "livery "—as that furnished by Higginson's company to its people suggests the "hedger and ditcher" type of colonists (of whom there were very few among the Plymouth settlers) , rather than the scholar, publisher, tradesman, physician, hatter, smith, carpenter, "lay reader," and soldier of the Pilgrims, and would certainly have been obnoxious to their finer sense of personal dignity and proportion. ”

“ It is quite possible that some few sheep, rabbits, and poultry for immediate consumption (these requiring but little forage) may have been shipped, this being customary then as now. It is also probable that some household pets—cats and caged singing-birds, the latter always numerous in both England and Holland—were carried on board by their owners, though no direct evidence of the fact is found. There is ample proof that goats, swine, poultry, and dogs were landed with the colonists at New Plymouth, and it is equally certain that they had at first neither cattle, horses, nor sheep. ”

“ It is evident from the statement of Bradford that every one of the sixteen men who went out (under command of Standish) on the "first exploration" at Cape Cod had his "musket, sword,, and corslet;" that they relied much on their armor, and hence, doubtless, took all possible with them on the ship. They probably did not long retain its use. In the letter written to the Adventurers from Southampton, the leaders complain of "wanting many muskets, much armour, &c." ”

“ Doubtless an equivalent provision existed—though in less "all-of-a-pattern " character—in the bales and boxes of the MAY-FLOWER'S cargo for every need suggested by the list of the Higginson "outfit," which is given herewith, both as matter of interest and as affording an excellent idea of the accepted style and needs in dress of a New England settler (at least of the men) of 1620-30. One cannot fail to wonder at the noticeably infrequent mention of provision in apparel, etc., for the women and children. ”

“ The most that can be claimed with confidence, for particular objects of alleged MAY-FLOWER relation, is that there is logical and moral certainty that there was a supply of just such things on board, because they were indispensable, and because every known circumstance and condition indicates their presence in the hands to which they are assigned, while tradition and collateral evidence confirm the inference and sometimes go very far to establish their alleged identity, and their presence with their respective owners upon the ship. ”

“ A pewter platter said to have been "brought over in the MAY- FLOWER" is now owned by the Pilgrim Society, which also exhibits smaller pewter formerly Edward Winslow's, and bearing his "arms," for which, as previously noted, a like claim is made. Platters, dishes, "potts," ladles, bottles, "flaggons," "skelletts," cups, porringers, "basons," spoons, candlesticks, and salt "sellars," were among the many pewter utensils unmistakably brought on the good ship.
The wooden-ware of the colonists, brought with them, was considerable and various. The Dutch were long famous for its fabrication. ”

“ Mention is made of it by several of the early Pilgrim writers. Carlyle, as quoted, speaks of it as a diet-staple on the MAY-FLOWER. Salt ("corned") beef has always been a main article of food with seamen everywhere. Wood' states that the "beef" of the Pilgrims was "tainted." In some way it was made the basis of a reputedly palatable preparation called "spiced beef," mentioned as prepared by one of the sailors for a shipmate dying on the MAY-FLOWER in Plymouth harbor. ”

“ A glimpse of the weary life at sea on that long and dreary passage is given in Bradford's remark that "she was much opened with the people's lying in her during the voyage:' This shallop with her equipment, a possible spare skiff or two, the chests, "boxes," and other personal belongings of the passengers, some few cases of goods, some furniture, etc., constituted the only freight for which there could have been room "between decks," most of the space (aft) being occupied by cabins and bunks. ”

“ It is significant that eight out of nine of the male "servants" should have died in the first four months. It was impossible that scurvy should not have been prevalent with both passengers and crew.
CHAPTER VIII THE MAY-FLOWER'S LADING Beside her human freight of one hundred and thirty or more passengers and crew, the lading of the MAY-FLOWER when she sailed from Plymouth (England) , September 6/16, 1620, was considerable and various. If clearing at a custom-house of to-day her manifest would excite no little interest and surprise. ”

“ In the absence of cooking facilities, it became necessary in that day to rely chiefly upon such articles of food as did not require to be prepared by heat, such as biscuit (hard bread) , butter, cheese ("Holland cheese" was a chief staple with the Pilgrims) , "haberdyne" (or dried salt codfish) , smoked herring, smoked ("cured ") ham and bacon, "dried neat's tongues," preserved and "potted" meats (a very limited list in that day) , fruits, etc. ”

“ Much of the cargo originally stowed in the SPEEDWELL, a part, as we know, of her company, and a few of her crew were transferred to the MAY-FLOWER at Plymouth, and there can be no doubt that the ship was both crowded and overladen.
It is altogether probable that the crowded condition of her spar and main decks caused the supply of live-stock taken—whether for consumption upon the voyage or for the planters' needs on shore—to be very limited as to both number and variety. ”

“ That certain articles of household furniture, whether now existent or not, were included in the ship's cargo, is attested by the inventories of the small estates of those first deceased, and, by mention or implication, in the narratives of Bradford, Winslow, Morton, and other contemporaries, as were also many utensils and articles of domestic use. ”

“ The few data we have permit us to confidently assume that some such disposition of the passengers was (necessarily) made, and that but for the leaky decks, the inseparable discomforts of the sea, and those of over crowding, the wives of the Pilgrims (three of whom gave birth to children aboard the ship) , and their daughters, were fairly "berthed."
Bradford is authority for the statement that with the "governor" of the ship's company were chosen "two or three assistants . . . to order [regulate] the people by the way [on the passage] and see to the disposition of the provisions," etc. ”

“ This would also leave an after cabin for the Master, who not infrequently made his quarters, and those of his chief officer, in the "round house," when one existed, especially in a crowded ship.
Cabins and bunks "between decks" would provide for all of the males of the company, while the seamen, both of the crew and (some of) those in the employ of the Pilgrims—like Trevore and Ely—were no doubt housed in the fore castle. ”

“ Winthrop' gives the price of his beef at "19 shillings per cwt." Winslow advises his friend Morton, in the letter so often quoted, not to have his beef "dry-salted," saying, "none can do it better than the sailors," which is a suggestion not readily understood. "Smoked" beef was practically the same as that known as "jerked," "smoked," or "dried" beef in America. A "dried neat's- tongue" is named as a contribution of the Pilgrims to the dinner for Captain Jones and his men on February 21, 1621, when they had helped to draw up and mount the cannon upon the platform on the hill at Plymouth. ”

“ It is not likely that they were sent for after 1621, because the Adventurers were never in mood to send if asked, while Bradford, in speaking of the first alarm by the Indians, says, "This caused us to plant our great ordnance in places most convenient," leaving a possible inference that they had smaller ordnance in reserve. With this ordnance was of course a proper supply of ammunition adapted to its use. The "sakers" are said to have carried a four-pound ball, the "minions" a three-pound ball, and the "bases" a ball of a pound weight. ”

“ Bradford and Window both mention hoes, spades, mattocks, and sickles, while shovels, scythes, bill-hooks (brush-scythes, the terrible weapons of the English peasantry in their great "Mon mouth" and earlier uprisings) , pitchforks, etc., find very early mention in inventories and colonial records. Josselyn, in his "Two Voyages to New England," gives, in 1628, the following very pertinent list of "Tools for a Family of six persons, and so after this rate for more,—intending for New England." ”

“ That they had some "fowling-pieces" is shown by the fact that young Billington seems (according to Bradford) to have "shot one off in his father's cabin" aboard ship in Cape Cod harbor, and there are several other coeval mentions of them.
The arms and accoutrements (besides ordnance) of the MAY-FLOWER Pilgrims, known on the authority of Bradford and Winslow to have been brought by them, included muskets ("matchlocks") , "snaphances" (flintlocks) , armor ("corslets," "cuirasses," "helmets," "bandoliers," etc.) ”

“ This is rendered certain by Bradford's difficulty (as stated by himself) with Captain Jones, previously referred to, showing that the ship had her own supply of beer, separate from that of the colonists, and that it was intended for the seamen as well as the officers.
Bradford mentions "aqua vitae" as a constituent of their lunch on the exploring party of November 15. "Strong waters" (or Holland gin) are mentioned as a part of the entertainment given Massasoit on his first visit, and they find frequent mention otherwise. Wine finds no mention. ”

“ Pots and kettles of all sorts find more frequent mention in the early inventories than anything else, except muskets and swords, and were probably more numerous upon the ship than any other cooking utensil. ”

“ The "fresh meat" mentioned as placed before Massasoit' on his first visit was probably venison, though possibly kid's meat, pork, or poultry. Of swine and poultry they must have had a pretty fair supply, judging from their rapid increase, though their goats must have been few. ”