Beginning in August 2020, brief paragraphs were posted on several websites commemorating the activities of the Mayflower Pilgrims exactly four hundred years ago; this was the origin of what became “Mayflower: Day by Day,” following the journey from July 1620, when the Leiden Pilgrims left Holland, and concluding in December 1621, after the Fortune left Plymouth to return to England. The original posts were taken down not long afterwards, but in response to popular demand they are here preserved together in one place, so that readers can go through the journey again.
The texts for each day remain as they were originally posted, with minor corrections and alterations. A list of all passengers on the voyage, and not simply those who have descendants, is included as an appendix. Extensive quotations are made from William Bradford’s journal, Of Plimmoth Plantation, and from Mourt’s Relation: in some cases the spelling is modernised, in others it is not, particularly when the original spelling is significant to make a point.
In addition to brief notes on the Mayflower’s course and position on this famous journey, there are many other installments looking at a variety of related topics: economics, law, government, food, clothing, building, origins, and famous descendants. One of the most intriguing questions concerns the men on the Mayflower above the age of 20 who did not sign the Mayflower Compact, and those who did so under duress and coercion. What happened to them?
This is more a reflective perusal of a wide variety of sources, original and more modern, to go deeper into the details of the Pilgrim story and experience of 1620-21, based on forty years of reading and research and discussion. A bibliography and an index to full names, places and subjects add to the value of this work.
W. Becket Soule
2025, 6" x 9", paper, index, 420 pp.
ISBN: 9780788447327
101-S4732
