Behind Thanksgiving

I had planned to do a Thanksgiving acrostic using trivia from a book called Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim book of Food and Manners. I'm going to try but had some trouble doing a rough draft. So...if this in an incomplete acrostic, I apologize.

Tongue of ox- also known as neat's tongue; the 66-day trip across the Atlantic was a miserable one for the 202 passengers. These folks ate moldy cheese, dried peas, salty beef and dried fish. A large supply of ship's biscuits were stacked in huge piles. They were made of wheat flour, pea flour and water. They were flat and round, the size of dinner plates. They were also hard as rock. Their favorite meat was neat's tongue- dried ox tongue. The Pilgrims hated water and washed down their meals with beer, ale, wine, gin and brandy. Even children drank beer.

Holland first- The Pilgrims went to Holland first to test the waters of religious freedom. The Dutch treated them well and fairly. But the Pilgrims "thought the Dutch were more interested in money and fun than they were in religion." The Pilgrims were afraid their children would be adversely affected by their (the Dutch) influence. That was when they decided to travel to America.

Always hungry always cold. They left England September 6, 1620. Nothing like some cool air for your trip on the open ocean. It would have to be better than hot humid air!

Never changed their clothes the entire trip. All the passengers stayed in one room. The odor must have been Noxious.

Knife- everyone had to have their own knife. Adults were allowed to thrust knife into a cooking pot to spear a piece of food but children weren't to take any food for themselves. They could only eat whatever their parents handed to them.

Saints and Strangers- The Pilgrims could not afford the cost of a trip across the Atlantic. So they made a deal with a group of investors called Merchant Adventurers. They hired the Mayflower, and provided food and supplies. In return the Pilgrims agreed to give the Merchant Adventurers everything of value they found in America for 7 years. The Pilgrims would only keep what they needed to stay alive. The MA made the same deal with other travelers on the Mayflower. The Pilgrims called these other settlers "Strangers."

Good gravy my shoulder hurts this Thanksgiving day. I already had some trouble straightening my arm upward, but Friday I got a Tetanus/Whooping Cough Booster in same arm. Since I had had a tetanus almost exactly 2 years ago the nurse warned me I may have some muscle pain. Saturday was the worst, but after some soaking and massaging it seemed to be on the mend. Then on Monday what did we work on in Yoga? Shoulders!!! I could do everything while there without too much discomfort. But the next few days have been a bit iffy. I still cannot sleep on my right side. My complaint seems to lack Gravity next to the tribulations the Pilgrims went through just to avoid religious persecution.

Insects- Little insects like weevils, maggots and grubs chewed tunnels into the ship's biscuits so some Pilgrims preferred to eat at night in the dark.

Variety of schemes to trick the Indians- they would bury their dead at night so the Indians would not see the decimation of their population. All the healthy men would march up and down and fire their rifles with the hope the Indians thought they had a big army. They brought large canons from the ship and mounted them high on a hill.

Indians were surprisingly friendly. Samoset and Squanto assisted the new arrivals to plant crops. They also assisted in procuring a treaty between Chief Massasoit promising no Indian attacks.

Napkins- It was fine to eat with your fingers, grabbing food right from the pot, but you had to at least wipe your fingers before doing so. The Pilgrims had BIG napkins that they threw over their shoulder or tied around their necks. It hung down almost to their knees. You could use the napkin to grab pieces of hot food, too.

Guns made a tremendous noise which made hunting difficult. The guns were not very accurate, either. The Indians traded deer meat in exchange for beads and knives. The Pilgrims were thrilled; back in England only the richest people ever ate deer meat.

The Mayflower Compact was signed before the passengers were allowed to disembark. It said they would form a colony with "just and equall lawes for all." It makes me so proud that this was foremost on the Pilgrims' minds way back in 1620. The Saints and the Strangers were both Pilgrims now. They knew to insure their survival they would have to work side-by-side and compromise. After being cooped up for sixty-six days in foul conditions tempers were probably short. The fact that these people survived is a true testament to self-determination.

Penner, Lucille Recht. Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1991

*I just read this Mayflower reference: If your two parents hadn't bonded just when they did-possibly to the nanosecond-you wouldn't be here. Like wise for your parents parents and so on and so on. Continue further to the time of the Mayflower Pilgrims and you have no fewer than 16, 384 ancestors exchanging genetic material in a way that would, eventually and miraculously, result in you.
*This info comes almost word for word from Bill Bryson *A Short History of Nearly Everything p. 397

Hormonally yours,
Peg