The First Harvest-home In Plymouth
: THANKSGIVING DAY: Good Stories For Great Holidays
BY W. DE LOSS LOVE, JR (ADAPTED)
After prayer and fasting and a farewell feast, the Pilgrim Fathers left
the City of Leyden, and sought the new and unknown land. "So they lefte
ye goodly & pleasante citie," writes their historian Bradford, "which
had been ther resting place near 12 years, but they knew they were
pilgrimes & looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to
ye Heavens their deares
When, after many vexing days upon the deep, the pilgrims first sighted
the New World, they were filled with praise and thanksgiving. Going
ashore they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven. And
after that, whenever they were delivered from accidents or despair, they
gave God "solemne thanks and praise." Such were the Pilgrims and such
their habit day by day.
The first winter in the New World was marked by great suffering and
want. Hunger and illness thinned the little colony, and caused many
graves to be made on the near-by hillside.
The spring of 1621 opened. The seed was sown in the fields. The
colonists cared for it without ceasing, and watched its growth with
anxiety; for well they knew that their lives depended upon a full
harvest.
The days of spring and summer flew by, and the autumn came. Never in
Holland or England had the Pilgrims seen the like of the treasures
bounteous Nature now spread before them. The woodlands were arrayed in
gorgeous colors, brown, crimson, and gold, and swarmed with game of all
kinds, that had been concealed during the summer. The little farm-plots
had been blessed by the sunshine and showers, and now plentiful crops
stood ready for the gathering. The Pilgrims, rejoicing, reaped the fruit
of their labors, and housed it carefully for the winter. Then, filled
with the spirit of thanksgiving, they held the first harvest-home in New
England.
For one whole week they rested from work, feasted, exercised their
arms, and enjoyed various recreations. Many Indians visited the colony,
amongst these their greatest king, Massasoit, with ninety of his braves.
The Pilgrims entertained them for three days. And the Indians went out
into the woods and killed fine deer, which they brought to the colony
and presented to the governor and the captain and others. So all made
merry together.
And bountiful was the feast. Oysters, fish and wild turkey, Indian
maize and barley bread, geese and ducks, venison and other savory meats,
decked the board. Kettles, skillets, and spits were overworked, while
knives and spoons, kindly assisted by fingers, made merry music on
pewter plates. Wild grapes, "very sweete and strong," added zest to
the feast. As to the vegetables, why, the good governor describes them
thus:--
"All sorts of grain which our own land doth yield,
Was hither brought, and sown in every field;
As wheat and rye, barley, oats, beans, and pease
Here all thrive and they profit from them raise;
All sorts of roots and herbs in gardens grow,--
Parsnips, carrots, turnips, or what you'll sow,
Onions, melons, cucumbers, radishes,
Skirets, beets, coleworts and fair cabbages."
Thus a royal feast it was the Pilgrims spread that first golden autumn
at Plymouth, a feast worthy of their Indian guests.
All slumbering discontents they smothered with common rejoicings. When
the holiday was over, they were surely better, braver men because they
had turned aside to rest awhile and be thankful together. So the exiles
of Leyden claimed the harvests of New England.
This festival was the bursting into life of a new conception of man's
dependence on God's gifts in Nature. It was the promise of autumnal
Thanksgivings to come.
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