Miriam Haynie

“ THE CAVALIERS
A man stood on the deck of the Virginia Merchant, a leaky English vessel bound for Jamestown. He had once been a fine gentleman, clothed in satin and velvet and gold lace. His beard had been trimmed to a peak, with small upturned mustaches, and his shoulder length hair had been curled and perfumed. "Love-locks" his curls were called.
Now the velvet was stained and the lace tarnished and his silver buckles looked more like pewter. The plumes on his hat dangled against his salt-matted hair. The ship was loaded with men just like him. ”

“ Corotoman, a bee-hive of activity, was typical of the plantations of that day. It was like a village, which was dominated by the manor house. There were the cottages of the white indentured servants, the slaves' quarters, the barn and farm buildings, the spinning-house, the laundry-house, the milk-house. There were the shops of the artisans who manufactured and repaired the articles used on the plantation. There was a shop where boats were built. Corotoman had everything that it needed to make it a self-sustaining unit. ”

“ Beds were in every room, even in the hall where meals were taken.
On a winter's night we can imagine John Mottrom dispensing hospitality at Coan Hall—food, drink and roaring fires. Great plotting and planning must have gone on before the hearths, while the passing tankards of metheglin cheered and warmed the indignant gentlemen from Maryland.
Perhaps John Mottrom's guests were charmed with his new home and decided that it was easier just to settle at Chicacoan. At any rate we hear no more of treason. Instead, settlers begin to arrive in the Northern Neck. ”

“ For a century after the first settlers came to the Northern Neck the forest was still alive with wolves. In the evenings they could be heard hunting and they sounded "like a pack of beagles."
These wolves were small, not much larger than a fox, but so ravenous that if a traveler was forced to spend the night in the woods he could hardly keep his horse from being devoured even though tied close to him and to the light of the fire. ”

“ We know that Henry watched the women gather corn in hand baskets and dump it into larger baskets for he later recorded these facts. He no doubt learned quickly to like the Indian food—the corn pones that came brown-crusted and smoking from the ashes, the fish and meat broiled on hurdles over the fire or turned on a spit. He doubtless tasted the broth and bread made from chestnuts and chinquapins and reserved for the chief men at the greatest feasts, and opossum and beaver, stews of fish and vegetables, and doves and partridges baked in wet clay, and dined on venison, turkey and oysters. ”

“ Meanwhile, back in Virginia the colonists went on as usual for news was slow in crossing the ocean. The pioneers of the Northern Neck had their own problems—fevers and bloody flux, Indians, wolves, witches, and taxes to be paid to the Colonial Government at Jamestown. It would be a long time before they would know that their land had been given away lock, stock and barrel, for Charles had given his followers not only the land and the rivers, but all rights pertaining to them, even to the "wild beasts and fowle," the fish and the "wrecks of the Sea." ”

“ Many are the tales that lingered on in the Neck about the geese that were struck down by swords, the bowls of milk that were lifted to mouths and gulped down, the firkins of butter that were carried away by soldiers who thrust their arms elbow deep in the butter and carried it off that way, the cattle that were slaughtered before the hungry eyes of the natives, the churches that were profaned—the list could go on and on. ”

“ When Robert Carter of Corotoman, Lancaster County, dressed on Sunday mornings he had a choice of several dress swords and of several belts to hold them—there was the silken belt, the buff, and the one of tan leather which was both "genteel and strong." His coat was of velvet with lace choker and cuffs, and his satin shorts were fastened at the knees with silver buckles to match those on his shoes.
If he looked in the mirror, as a servant adjusted his wig, he saw a strong man of medium height with a plump clean-shaven face and dark eyes that observed everything but saw no humour in anything. ”

“ The town of Leeds on the banks of the Rappahannock River was a thriving center of trade and shipping in colonial days. Here the big ships lay at anchor while their holds were filled with tobacco for the London market. Here the returning ships unloaded the English luxuries that were so dear to the hearts of the Northern Neck planter-families. ”

“ As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face. ”

“ The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another famous son.
"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution." ”

“ Captain John Smith, military leader of the expedition to Virginia in 1607, who explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay Country, described it thus:
"There is but one entrance by sea into this country, and that is at the mouth of a very goodly Bay, the widenesse whereof is 18 or 20 miles.
"Within is a country ... heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation.... Here are ... hils, plaines, valleys, rivers and brookes all running most pleasantly into a faire Bay compassed but for the mouth with fruitfull and delightsome land...." ”

“ While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition [Pg 118] says. In cold weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect her head and face.
The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was a noisy place—there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so glad to see each other. ”

“ On the Virginia side of the Potomac, Kinsale in Westmoreland County, situated on an estuary called Yeocomico River, was one point of departure and arrival. This village had become quite cosmopolitan, for the country people were not the only ones who ran the blockade. Strangers from the North and South—merchants, speculators, adventurers, Northern draft dodgers, Southern sympathizers from the North, pro-Unionists trying to reach the North, even ladies, usually married women traveling with their husbands—all rubbed elbows in Kinsale. ”

“ He felt a little sorry for himself because he was a somber "meagre" figure in his dark clothes among these gay people. His greatest handicap was that he had never learned to dance and—"blow high, blow low, Virginians will dance or die!" He wrote to a friend in the North: "Here we either strain on Horseback, from home to Church, or from house to house if we go out at all—or we walk alone into a dark meadow, or tall wood. But I love solitude, and these lonely recesses suit exactly the feeling of my mind."
In spite of his disapproval Fithian grew fond of the Northern Neck and its people. ”

“ Falmouth is on a river that empties into Chesapeake Bay. The houses are perched on declivities and hills. There are mills. I love water wheels when they glisten.... We saw scenery much wilder than any in Scotland. It consisted of islands in the Rappahannock, lying above Falmouth. We gazed on them from a long plank bridge. What a pity the Virginians will span their streams with plank instead of stone! A stone bridge overgrown with moss is a bewitching sight. Several Scotch families have lived in Falmouth, tho the place is called Fal from a river in England. ”

“ By midafternoon the beach was lined with people who had learned the good news through the grapevine.
A nondescript crowd they were, but representative of the countryside at that time. Very old men, children and boys were there but the majority were women of all ages. The clothes of every one were knitted and homespun, their main virtue being warmth. They had come on foot, on horseback, in carriages and wagons. ”

“ Although the bordering waters of the Potomac, Rappahannock and Chesapeake were rich with food, when the Virginians tried to take the oysters, crabs and fish, a tug from the Federal flotilla which patrolled these waters would come "steaming out to hasten them home, with sometimes a six-pound shot sent after them for emphasis."
The women, girls, old men and boys raised what they could, but many fields, once lush with corn, tobacco, sugar cane and other crops, now lay barren save for sedge and pine seedling. Many of the men had ridden away to war on the horses. ”

“ The Stronghold is a most interesting book, especially to Virginians and to natives and descendants of natives of the Northern Neck of Virginia. It is divided into three sections, the seventeenth century, the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century. It tells a great deal about the early history of the Colony and more especially of that portion of the Colony of Virginia, of which she is a native, from the days when the white man first came to the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers down to the beginning of the twentieth century. ”

“ Although a trip to Jamestown would have been an exciting change after years of wilderness living, there is reason to believe that Mrs. Mottrom did not accompany her husband to the capital city. She probably supervised the preparation of food for the voyage, and packed his clothes.
John Mottrom's clothes were no doubt as fashionable as the English tailors could furnish. Rich fabrics and bright colors were worn by Virginia gentlemen of the seventeenth century, and they never seemed to think that their "citified" garments looked out of place in the primitive setting of the New World. ”

“ The immigrant Carter had done well. His plantation was orderly and successful and he had accumulated considerable wealth.
John Carter died when Robert was six years old, and the elder son inherited the bulk of the estate, as was the custom then according to the law of primogeniture and entail.
But John Carter did not forget Robert. He left instructions that his younger son should be well educated, specifying that "during his minority" he should have a man or youth servant bought for him. This servant was "not only to teach him his books ... but also to preserve him from harm and evil." ”

“ Fithian was not sure that he was doing the right thing in coming to Virginia. His friends had tried to persuade him not to go to that "wicked colony" where he would be sure to fall in with evil companions and become a drunkard or a gambler. If his parents had lived Fithian would probably have stayed in the North, but they had recently passed away, and the salary as a plantation tutor was good. With a last prayer to the Lord that he would be strong enough to stick to his upright way of life, Fithian set off on his journey to the Northern Neck of Virginia. ”

“ Matilda could afford to have expensive tastes. She had inherited Stratford and its six thousand acres of rich tobacco soil, with enough slaves to tend it, and other lands scattered all over northern Virginia.
Harry took Matilda to New York where for three years he represented Virginia in Congress. They were gay and happy years, but it was over all too soon.
When Matilda died, Harry wrote: "Something always happens to mar my happiness."
At the foot of the garden at Stratford, Harry built a vault for Thomas Lee's granddaughter, Matilda, who was called "divine." ”

“ Dreams of gold were always in the minds of men at that time. Perhaps here was to be found the "glistering mettal" that John Smith had heard about from the Indians the winter before.
Most of the company clambered up the banks and burrowed in the earth among the cliffs. The ground was so sprinkled with gleaming spangles as to seem "halfe pin dust." Smith refrained from this made scramble and proceeded in a more organized way.
With Japazaws, King of Patowmeke, as guide, he ascended one of the tributaries of the river, called Quiyough, as far as the depth of water would allow. ”

“ The Potomac rangers were appointed by the governor for frontier duty. The county lieutenant, in command of the county militia, was given the power to impress men who lived in the region for this service.
The outfit was composed of a commander and eleven men with horses, arms, and necessary equipment. The Rangers had orders from the Jamestown government to "seize any Indian or Indians whatsoever," and have him, or them, put in jail to remain there until "delivered by due process of law." [Pg 108]
Indians were not the only public enemies in the frontier country. ”

“ We can imagine Ursula hustling about at Coan Hall, her clothes a blur of brightness, as she supervised the servants, disciplined the children, twirled the roast of venison on the spit in passing, or lowered her candle or betty-lamp into the cooking pot to see if the stew was ready. ”

“ His father was William Fleet of the London Virginia Company, which may have been the reason that Henry came to the New World. Henry was adventurous, quick-witted and intelligent. He made good use of his stay in the wilderness of the Northern Neck by studying his new environment. Later he wrote down some of these observations:
"It aboundeth in all manner of fish. The Indians in one night will commonly catch thirty sturgeons in a place where the river is not above three fathom broad. And as for deer, buffaloes, bears, turkeys, the woods do swarm with them, and the soil is exceedingly fertile." ”

“ Prior to the coming of good roads to Virginia and the building of the bridges across the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers what is known as the Northern Neck, although actually a peninsula, was to those living in the eastern portion almost an island and it was but natural that marked peculiarities of the people of this section distinguished them not only from those who lived in other sections of the country but to a less extent from those living in other parts of Virginia. ”

“ Ordinary squirrels, rabbits, foxes and "Rackoones" were abundant. Captain John Smith no doubt saw beaver at work when they crossed the many streams. "The Beaver," he wrote, "is as bigge as an ordinary water dogge ... His taile somewhat like ... a Racket, bare without haire."
The procession of Indians and the lone white man may have come upon a herd of heavy, slow-moving "Kine." (These were buffalo but are believed to have lacked the hump.) They were not as wild as the other animals of the wilderness. Perhaps Smith caught glimpses of the elk that roamed the forest. ”

“ When the Yankee gunboats patrolled the waters surrounding the Northern Neck during the Civil War they found the entrance to Little Wicomico River—where the Potomac and Chesapeake meet. They entered through its natural channel which was open then and quite deep.
Men went ashore to hunt for provisions—vegetables from the gardens, eggs, milk and freshly made butter. Even preserves and jellies from the shelves of the good housewives of Little Wicomico. They searched for men who might be at home, too. ”