Lynn's Decluttering Planner

If you're like me, you can't really release something until you know where it's going. So, here's what I print out when I walk through my house. On any given Decluttering Day, I pick ONE OR TWO of these destinations and either load up my porch table or pack a carload. With a friend to lift & carry, each session usually takes under an hour. And it feels so great when you stop!

Here's my Three-Step Plan, plus What to Keep:

1. 1) FlyLady.net: How to Declutter
   1. FlyLady.net: FAQs like What is a 27 Fling Boogie?
2. 2) Who Picks Up What
   1. Vietnam Veterans of America: Schedule a pickup online
   2. FX - MIT Furniture Exchange
   3. Donate Books | Got Books?™
   4. Big Brother Big Sister
      Foundation (takes computers & cars)
3. 3) Where to Take the Rest
   1. Clothing, Sporting Goods, Housewares to Goodwill
   2. Bicycles to MIT Women's League - Service Projects
   3. Interview Clothing to MIT Women's League - Service Projects
   4. Book Trade to Book Rack: 1/4 Cover Price for Store Credit
   5. Books to Hands Across the Water Arlington
   6. Food to Arlington Food Pantry
   7. Rosie's Place Shelter: clothing, toiletries, non-perishable food
4. 4) What to Keep and How Long to Keep It
   1. Which Financial Records to Keep (and How Long to Keep Them)

1) FlyLady.net: How to Declutter

What to declutter? Things to ask yourself as you get rid of your clutter:

• Do I love this item?
  
• Have I used it in the past year?
  
• Is it really garbage?
  
• Do I have another one that is better?
  
• Should I really keep two?
  
• Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
  
• Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?
  

Cleanse this room of everything that does not make you SMILE.

FlyLady.net: FAQs like What is a 27 Fling Boogie?

This is a tool to help you declutter your home. Do
this assignment as fast as you can. Take a garbage bag and walk through
your home and throw away 27 items. Do not stop until you have collected
all 27 items. Then close the garbage bag and pitch it. DO NOT LOOK IN
IT!!! Just do it.
Next, take an empty box and go through your home collecting 27 items to
give away. As soon as you finish filling the box, take it to the car.
You are less
tempted to rescue the items. If you have two of any item and you only
need one, get rid of the least desirable.

2) Who Picks Up What

Vietnam Veterans of America: Schedule a pickup online

We used these folks when Dave Stryker died, and they were prompt, courteous, and left the porch clean. They will also leave you a charitable receipt.

Clothing of all types & sizes (men’s, ladies, children’s, baby’s) Clothing accessories Shoes (all kinds) Baby items House and glassware Books, toys, bikes Stereos, radios, portable TVs	All bedding, draperies, curtains Kitchenware Usable small furniture & rugs Small appliances Tools (all kinds) Jewelry and cosmetics ALMOST ANYTHING!
The driver will look for your donation from the street. Please put it out, mark it for Vietnam Veterans of America or VVA, where it is clearly visible. Thank you!

FX - MIT Furniture Exchange

In order to continue this valuable service, the FX is always in need
of donations of good, useable furniture, including sofas, chairs,
tables, bookcases, desks, beds, futons, dressers, cabinets, lamps,
rugs, small appliances, cooking utensils, dishes, children's items,
bikes, and more. All
donations are tax-deductible and arrangements can be made for large
items to be picked up. Please contact manager Judy
Halloran for more information at 617-253-4293, or e-mail us
fx@mit.edu.

Donate Books | Got Books?™

1. Use our FREE Pick-Up Service!
We respect the busy schedules of our donors, so we provide a
complimentary pick-up service to parts of Massachusetts and New
Hampshire to make giving as easy as possible. For pick-ups, just call
us at (978) 664-6555 to arrange a day that fits your busy schedule.
You can also fill out our simple online pick-up request form.
You don't even need to be home at the time of the pick-up. If you need
us to bring boxes, we will. If you need us to carry the books up or
down stairs, we will do that too! Our goal is to make donating as easy
as possible.

Big Brother Big Sister
Foundation (takes computers & cars)

Donate Clothes, Cars or Boats
Believe it or not your unwanted clothing and household
items can help us serve more kids. How? Simple. Our Big Brother Big Sister
Foundation www.bbbsfoundation.org
will pick up these items from your home. You receive a tax deduction for
the fair market value of these items. To arrange a pick up, please call 800-483-5503 or send an e-mail with
your name address phone number and best time to pick up these items to
donate@bbbsfoundation.org

Computers with Causes

Donate a Computer MA and write it off on your taxes! Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of the
computer, and individuals can deduct the current market value of a
computer. Sign up, and ship or schedule a pickup. Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of
the computer, and individuals can deduct the current market
value of a computer.



Example: A computer and related software with a purchase
price of $3,000, valued at $500 at time of contribution,
receives a $500 deduction on Schedule A. A written receipt
must be received and Form 8283 should be attached to
returns. The tax receipt that schools or nonprofits provide
should have your name on it, the name and identifying number
of the recipient organization, and the model and type of
equipment donated.

Recipients are not authorized to appraise the value of the
equipment. You are responsible for the determination of the
value of your donated equipment.

What
computer equipment is best suited for reuse?

Charitable donations of computer equipment that individuals
or companies would like to pass on directly to Computers
with causes should generally be no more than five years old,
(in most cases) in working condition, and Internet-capable.
Up to five-year-old working laptops and laser printers are
in high demand, as are 17-inch or larger working monitors,
mice, keyboards, and cables.

---

How can
I maximize the reuse potential of my computer system?

Donate your old computer to Computers with Causes within a
few months after buying your new one. For most people, it is
unnecessary to keep older computers around for parts or as a
backup machine. The effective reuse life of a computer is
only two or three years, so the sooner you get it back into
the cycle, the more useful it can be.

---

Can my
donations be used as is or do they have to be refurbished or
upgraded?

Almost all three-to-five-year-old working computers can be
upgraded to do the six things most people do with computers:
Internet browsing, e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets,
presentations, and finances. We often install bigger hard
drives, more RAM, and often a network card for computers
going to charities or schools. Up to three-year-old working
computers are generally useful as-is.

---

Where
will my reusable electronic products likely to go?

There are actually two streams of reuse. One is
noncommercial or in the form of direct use (Charitable
programs) and the other is commercial. Generally, Computers
with Causes will utilize as many reusable computers in the
direct furtherance of our charitable programs and those that
we support.

3) Where to Take the Rest

Clothing, Sporting Goods, Housewares to Goodwill

Make An End-Of-Year Tax-Deductible Donation To GOODWILL! Print out a receipt and bring it with you for them to sign. You may donate up to $500 per donation without an appraisal. To estimate the value of your donation, please go to http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p561.pdf.
Or to see what the items might cost in a Goodwill Store, please visit
www.goodwillpromo.org.

MEN'S CLOTHING Suits $15-35 Jackets $5-11 Slacks $3-11 Shirts $2-6 Outerwear $7-16 Sweaters $2-8 Accessories $2 Shoes $2-6 WOMEN'S CLOTHING Dresses $3-16 Suits $5-16 Skirts $2-8 Blouses $2-8 Sweaters $2-8 Slacks $2-8 Outerwear $7-35 Intimate Apparel $2-6 Handbags $2-4 Accessories $2 Shoes $2-10

CHILDREN'S CLOTHING Dresses $1-3 Pants $1-5 Shirts $1-5 Outerwear $3-8 Sweaters $1-5 Shoes $1-6 HOUSEWARES Cookware $2-10 Tabletop $1-10 Pictures $2-15 Luggage $5-15 APPLIANCES Vacuum Cleaners $20-40 Televisions $20-100 Lamps $5-30 Stereo Systems $25-60 Radios $5-20 Coffee Pots $10-15

COMPUTERS Systems $100-400 Printers $25-150 Monitors $50-150 SPORTING GOODS Golf Club(s) $2-25 Bicycles $12-60 Fishing Rods $5-25 Skates $3-15 Tennis Rackets $3-10 FURNITURE ** Kitchen Set $40-100 End Tables $5-20 Coffee Tables $10-25 Dresser w/Mirror $25-60 Chests $20-60 Wardrobes $15-60 China Cabinets $40-150 Trunks $15-30 Sofas $75-125 Desks $30-90

What
we do not accept:

Goodwill
is unable to accept the following items (due to the high cost of disposal
and strict government regulations):

• 
  Any Items in Need of Repair of with Missing Parts


• Baby
  Furnishings (Strollers, Car Seats, High Chairs, Cribs,
  
  Broken Toys)


• Furniture
  in need of Repair or Reupholstering


• 
  Sofa Beds


• Mattresses
  Box Springs, Waterbeds, Bed Frames, Futons,
  
  Futon Frames, Pillows


• 
  Pianos and Organs


• Food
  or Beverages


• Large
  Appliances (Washers, Dryers, Stoves, Dishwashers,
  
  Refrigerators)


• Large
  Office Furniture


• Computers
  and Monitors


• Camping
  Equipment containing Gas, Oil or Butane


• Furnaces
  or Wall Heaters


• Snow
  Skis


• Exercise
  Equipment


• Fish
  Tanks


• Televisions


• Water
  Heaters


• Gas-Powered
  Garden Tools Lawn Mowers, Weed Whackers,
  
  Etc.


• 
  Plumbing or Building Supplies Cabinets or Doors


• Auto
  Parts or Auto Accessories


• Hazardous
  Materials Including, but not limited to, Paint, Oil, Cleaning
  Products, Batteries, Extinguishers


• Recyclable
  Consumer Materials Aluminum, Glass, Plastic,
  
  Corrugated Material


• 
  Nothing Alive for example – Plants or Puppies

Bicycles to MIT Women's League - Service Projects

Mobility is important to MIT students, whether by
foot or by wheel. Because some of our international students
need to get around the campus, Cambridge, and the surrounding cities
to attend classes and visit with their friends and Host* families,
we try to lend assistance. If you have a bicycle (in reasonably
good condition) to donate to a worthy cause, please call Kate Baty,
Chair - Clothing and Bicycle Service Project, at 339.223.0395 (local
call). Your donation is tax deductible, and we supply you with a
receipt for income tax purposes.

Interview Clothing to MIT Women's League - Service Projects

Generous clothing donations by members of the MIT
community these past eleven years have enabled our students to
confidently walk into job interviews.

Many of our scholarship students arrive at the Institute with
clothing for "student life" only. Interview clothes are not
part of their wardrobe. Making such clothing available to them helps
get them beyond the first impressions stage to that point where
their expertise speaks volumes to potential employers. Although we
have no statistics on job offers/job acceptances, we do know that happy,
stylish students leave the Emma Rogers Room on "Fashion Night." Searching
for the perfect "look" for those interviews is a non-technological
challenge—one enjoyed immensely by both the students and our volunteer
"fashion consultants" that night.
If you have clothing for women (dresses and suits)
or for men (suits, white or blue dress shirts, and neckties), as
well as warm winter coats, jackets, mittens, gloves, scarves and hats
that you wish to donate to a worthy cause, please consider this
service effort. Clean clothing may be left at the League office,
Room 10-342, during business hours or you may mail them to us.
Your donation is tax deductible and we supply a receipt for income
tax purposes. Please call the League office,
617.253.3656, or email wleague@mit.edu if you have questions about donations
or if you would like to help as a "fashion consultant" on "Fashion
Night."

Book Trade to Book Rack: 1/4 Cover Price for Store Credit

The Book Rack

13 Medford Street

Arlington, MA 02474

Phone: (781) 646-2665

Fax: (781) 646-2660

The Book Rack takes in used paperbacks for store credit valued
at 1/4 cover price. Used books are sold for 1/2 off the cover price.

Store Credit can be used for up to 50% of a purchase. For instance,
if you wish to purchase $10 of used books, and have $6 of credit,
you may only use $5 of your credit toward the purchase. In this
example, the total cash outlay for this purchase would be $5.50
($10 + 5% tax - 50% of purchase in credit).

All credit can be used toward all used books. All existing slips
will be honored under this system.

Note: they say to call for an appointment with more than one box/bag, but I brought in 5 boxes on a Saturday and they accepted them cheerfully.

Books to Hands Across the Water Arlington

1043
Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington MA 02174 at the outside parking lot
of the shopping plaza where the Stop and Shop supermarket is located. This is a blue drop slot container of dimensions 6 feet high by 6 feet wide by 6 feet long with "Books for charity" signage. Access Hours: Anytime

Food to Arlington Food Pantry

Church of our Savior, 21 Marathon Street, Arlington, Ma. 02474

(Mass. Ave. toward Cambridge, 2^nd left after Lake Street)

OPEN FOR FOOD DROP-OFF: EVERY FRIDAY, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM



For Information: Department of Health and Human Services

Leon Cantor, 781-316-3251, lcantor@town.arlington.ma.us

Lyz Carey, 781-316-3264



EXAMPLES OF DONATIONS

Cereal

Dried Milk

Canned Fruits & Vegetables

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Tuna Fish & Canned Meats

Meals in a Can, i.e.

Spaghetti-O’s, Stews, Hash, Ravioli, Soups

Fruit Juices, Coffee, Tea

Pasta & Sauces

Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce

Crackers, Cookies, Mixes

Jello & Pudding Mixes

Baby Food

Toiletries, i.e.

Soap, Shampoo, Conditioners,

Toothpaste, Toothbrushes,

Toilet Paper, Paper Towels,

Diapers

Rosie's Place Shelter: clothing, toiletries, non-perishable food

Through our drop-in advocacy program we are able to
distribute clothing, toiletries and other items to thousands of poor
and homeless women each year. We rely on the generosity of individuals,
companies and organizations to provide these essential items. Rosie's Place is always in need of the following items:

• Clean, in-season women’s clothing, particularly nightgowns, slippers, new underwear, bras and socks

• Toiletries – shampoo, conditioner, deodorant,
lotion, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes; regular and travel sizes are
appreciated

• Non-perishable food items, particularly canned
vegetables and fruits, cereal, peanut butter, pasta, non-refrigerated
juices and rice

• Children’s books

• Buttons and jewelry

• Playing cards

Rosie's Place does not accept baby and children's items, cell phones, computer equipment or furniture. Please click here for a list of other organizations in our community who may be able to use such items. Please contact the
Development office at 617-442-9322 for details or use our contact us form.

You can drop off in-kind donations to Rosie's Place
Monday through Friday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please note that we will no
longer accept donations on weekends and holidays.Please click here for directions.

4) What to Keep and How Long to Keep It

Which Financial Records to Keep (and How Long to Keep Them)

Get Rich Slowly

Bankrate has an excellent table summarizing how long to keep financial records. To summarize:

• Keep any tax-related records for seven years.
• Keep records of IRA contributions permanently.
• Keep quarterly retirement/savings plan statements until you receive an annual statement. If the numbers match, shred the quarterlies and keep the annual summaries permanently.
• Shred unimportant bank records after one year; keep the rest permanently.
• Keep brokerage statements until you sell the securities.
• Most of the time you can shred bills once you get a cancelled check. Keep bills for big items permanently.
• Keep credit card receipts to reconcile with your statements, then keep the statements for seven years.
• Paycheck stubs should be kept until you receive your end-of-year tax statements.
• Keep house records permanently. (Some can be held for less time, but I think it’s wise to keep them all.)

LIGHT from Ed Softky

at right: the view from Ed's balcony in Dharamsala, India, 2004

Who can encompass the dreadful shock of sudden death? This is not the memorial page for Ed Softky, and you can read here for the black story of his passing and of his many tributes. This is about Light.

For those of you who knew Ed only through his Buddhist work, let me introduce myself as an old friend, singing and dancing buddy, and housemate of Ed's since, oh, maybe 1990? I don't recall. With Liz Lewis and Alan Field, we sang together in the quartet Lingua Franca, "Music as the Common Tongue." Here is the group's demo album, a truly limited release that maybe we should reprint in Ed's memory.

I was to see Ed this weekend (Columbus Day), for one of our joyously serious sessions of "PhilosoTea" and a visit to his new home in Brattleboro. While his physical presence still lingers so powerfully in our hearts and minds, I wanted to offer one more chance to hear his rich, sustaining voice in song. Please listen to Light.

LIGHT MP3

"Light" is Ed's translation of a Buddhist prayer, set to an American Sacred Harp melody. Ed loved the Sacred Harp, which held a high place in his passion for harmony, in song and in living. This was the first time Ed had answered the call to translate Dharma in music, part and parcel of his passion for bringing the voice of dharma to the West.

As a computer geek trained in science, Ed came to natural language later in his journey. We joked that he found it easier to translate Tibetan into Perl than into English. I was privileged to offer him a home base during the three years that he studied Tibetan in Dharamsala: a deeply intentional transition that transformed his outer life. (His intention was so powerful that Ed's mere presence enlightened my cat Yoda into a Buddhist, so that he will no longer kill mice. Yoda now meditates serenely on mice and mouseness in the messy room that Ed once filled with prayer flags, incense, and inner space.)

During our long sessions of PhilosoTea, we devoted hours to reflections on language, music, spirituality, patterns and structure, and the ineffable that defies translation. We had both discovered that translation demands more than grammar and syntax: it requires not only deep immersion in cultural context, but the ability to find your way back to the surface of your own culture. Then it demand of you the skill in your native language to tell of where you have been.

"Light" became a meditation for us, over many months of conversation punctuated by absence. He brought his work to me, humbly seeking my teaching as a writer and musician, and I in turn sought teaching from him him in compassion and some comprehension of dharma. Ed would unpack each Tibetan word like a flower opening, newly aware of his own limits as an English speaker. I would grope for English words that fit the shape of the tune, and Ed would discard them as lacking the right connotation, or seize upon one with fierce joy and demand that I unpack its English meaning in my turn. We would deconstruct the Tibetan rhyme scheme and meter, seeking not just a parallel phrasing, but to extract and articulate the differences that defied translation. Ed's vision was not simply to translate Tibetan into English, but to shape and express their vastly different sensibilities by holding the gulf of space between them, words and music holding that space like two empty hands apart. Once we had a phrase, Ed would turn it over and over for months like a string of prayer beads, bringing a new verse back from India to begin again.

He was endlessly fascinated, not only by words, but by the rhythm and shape they give to tunes. In teaching me to sing "Light," he insisted that I learn the Tibetan not just word for word, but vowel by vowel, consonant by consonant, with intonation and breath in deep mindfulness, striving for the most literal and uttermost consonance with his inner understanding of the prayer. In singing, I would feel I was stumbling in the dark, and then suddenly our voices would lock in a moment of harmony and Ed would cry, YES! With what joy and radiance he showed me how the foursquare solid form of the Sacred Harp was transformed by the Tibetan phrasing into a lilting, dancing shape entirely unWestern, and yet composed of the same literal notes. He was incredibly, eagerly, joyfully demanding, and it became an extraordinary experience in songmaking.

With anyone else, even I might have gotten bored with poring over two verses for three years. But Light was Ed's calling in so many ways, and he envisioned this piece as the beginning of a series of sacred hymns for Western Buddhists. Typically of Ed, he never felt it was finished enough to publish, though he had given me a harmony and hoped to record it with me, and perhaps with others.

Music may be the voice of soul and of spirit, but it is also sadly true that the human voice is the most mortal of instruments. Ed's death is as shocking as if someone ran over a Stradivarius in the street. More so, because a violin takes its life from the fiddler. With utter commitment of his intensely physical being, Ed made of himself an instrument of Light.

In the first numbing shock of grief, the silencing of that voice stopped all music in my soul.

But then, silence has always been one of Ed's greatest gifts. Only in silence can we truly listen, and truly hear. Ed taught me to hear light.

I trust that Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, Mary Cay Brass, and others will share with me the solemn joy of spreading this small flame of Light that Ed has left for us. I look forward to singing it with you.

Sea Slugs in Marzipan
Originally uploaded by noelegance

Gastropod Gastronomy: The Edible Nudibranch
Photos and video of our latest team exploit in performance-art food. Now this is Extreme Sushi.

Red Herring Morris gives team biologist Phill Nimeskern a thank-you gift for chairing the Ale. Phill, who has eaten a sea slug for science, repeats the experiment in marzipan and song. The nudibranchs were inspired by this month's cover story of the June 2008 National Geographic. Go look 'em up!
ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/doubilet-photography

Walter Coe Clark Family 1907

Back Row: Edith Clark (wife of Walter Edward Clark), Walter Edward Clark, John Alexander McGill, Lewis Wilson Page, Frances Josephine (Clark) Page

Middle Row: Harold Norton Clark, Julia Elizabeth (Clark) McGill, Martha McGill (lap), Hilda McGill, Gertrude McGill, Walter Coe Clark (father), Albert Wendell Clark

Front Row: Helen Louise (Clark) Farnham, George Bradford Farnham

Martha McGill was my maternal grandmother, and this recently discovered photo is the earliest known photo of her and her family. This photo came from my Washington State cousin Lewis Norton Clark, who writes:

"Martha’s mother, Julia Elizabeth (Clark) McGill, and [Lewis'] Grandfather, Harold Norton Clark, were siblings in the family of Walter Coe Clark and Julia Gertrude (Norton) Clark.

This past weekend, while my brother and his wife were visiting from Phoenix, we had a family gathering with our ailing father. In the course of visiting, we began perusing family photos. The attached photo is one such photo that surfaced. My brothers and I knew that it featured the Walter Coe Clark family because we recognized our Grandfather Harold. We proceeded to ask our father to identify as many people in the photo that he could. Since Dad is deaf and can no longer speak, it was pretty difficult to get answers. Since I know the family line I was able to write down the names of Walter Coe Clark’s children and by pointing to names and faces, Dad identified as many as he could.

So glad that the photo I sent is meaningful. Of the brothers and sisters (and spouses) shown in the photo, your line is the only one I’ve been able to locate. When you think about it, there are quite a few offspring of those represented in the photo scattered about the country. Where and who they are continues to be a mystery. I have so much information to share, with so few to share it with. Our ‘cousin’ connection to John Adams is really quite amazing, something worth sharing.

Your dating of the photo seems logical given the birth dates of people in the photo [Martha was born in 1905]. My Grandfather, Harold Clark, the youngest in the picture, was born on October 13, 1889. He looks to be about 18-20 years old. When I think of our connection to your family, it’s really quite amazing that your Grandmother Martha and my father Frank are first cousins. I’d speculate that there are very few, if any, of the first cousins left. Since Grandpa Harold was the youngest in the family, married at the age of 30, and had my father at the age of 33, it’s quite probable that Dad is the only surviving first cousin. Again, when I look at the photo, I can’t help wondering where the Farnham and Page, as well as the Albert Clark and Walter Edward Clark families are scattered. By the way, your Great Great Grandfather (my Great Grandfather) Walter Coe Clark is buried in Olympia, WA in the same plot as my Grandfather Harold. Speaking of Walter Coe Clark, and the photo, his wife, Julia Gertrude (Norton) Clark (according to my father) died when Grandpa Harold was two years old."

Lewis also sends a photo of his own family. His father Frank Clark is the grandson of young Harold Clark above (seated, left).

Back row left to right… Lewis Clark, my Brother Frank, My Brother John, Frank’s wife Ana (center) and our Father, Frank (center, front).

Old Sea Dog
Sunday was our first MIT Chantey and Maritime Sing of the season in our dog-friendly summer venue at the Wood Sailing Pavilion. Mina the Dog snoozed in her MIT burgee, dreaming of sea chanteys from the Revels Book of Chanteys and Sea Songs. Much to the entertainment of some visitors from the Revels Pub Sing, Mina woke when we sang the Dutch chantey Los Mina Loos, and "sang along" happily whenever her name came round in the chorus!

Photo: Harriet Fell-Brown

Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society at the Edmund Fowle House, Watertown



The Edmund Fowle House is the second oldest surviving house in Watertown. During the Revolutionary war, it was the seat of the new Massachusetts government while the British occupied Boston. The Watertown Historical Society has completed a major restoration, and the house is now open to the public and available for functions. We had a wonderful time playing Revolutionary-era tunes and songs in their lovely parlor.

Second Annual Merrymount Mayday

This year's Kettle of Fish Morris Ale was a great success, especially the final stand at Merrymount on Maypole Hill. We danced the morris, wove the Maypole, led the audience in Sellenger's Round and the Padstow Day Song and Hal an Tow, and applauded Dr. Jack Dempsey's dramatic reading of the Poem that Morton composed and nailed to his Maypole, which was 80 feet high and crowned with buckshorns. We had a goodly number of the good people of Quincy, who are pleased to see the Maypole return to Maypole Hill.

Advance publicity was excellent this year, with feature articles in Wicked Local Quincy, the Patriot Ledger and the Boston Globe. Today's Patriot Ledger carried a great article with a full photo spread.

Newtowne Mayday on the Charles 2008

Mayday 2008
Originally uploaded by Stew Stryker

Stew Stryker has posted a great slideshow of May morning 2008.

Hal an tow, jolly rumbalow
We were up long before the Maypole!

Well, WE were there at 5, and anyone there at that hour doesn't need a songbook, so we sang until the Maypole arrived. The weather was cool but dry, the Lowell House receiving line warm and welcoming, and the crowd pretty good for a workday. We processed along the usual route, despite Harvard Square construction, and concluded with a fine Maypole dance by a group of local school kids whose teacher had brought them to see us as a field trip. Merry May!

Folio: Boston, November 1884
"A Man who plays the accordion is the greatest nuisance to be found in the world of alleged music with one exception: that of the person who spells accordion with an e."

As the recent inheritor of a melodeon--and as one who plays in a band with both an accordion and a banjo--I dedicate this fine sentiment to the late Dave Stryker, to bandmate Nancy Koch, and to all accordion players of my acquaintance: all of whom know that if you spell it with an "e", it's not an accordion--it's a melodeon.

A review of "Puritan Days," a.k.a. "Lee-li-Nau," an opera by Earl Marble and Richard Stahl. Folio Magazine, January 1884

The existence of this opera about Merrymount is more interesting than its somewhat alarming excerpts given in Folio. One imagines Gilbert and Sullivan as performed by F Troop (!). However, put this in context as an American response to the height of the G&S craze following H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), which was "received in America with “enthusiasm bordering upon insanity” (Kate Field, Scribner’s Monthly, xviii, 754). Lee-li-Nau was staged the same year as Princess Ida, two years after the Savoy opera house was built expressly for G&S. Small wonder American composers were searching for New World themes to capitalize on "Pinafore-mania." Thomas Morton must have seemed ideal material for 1880s fans of Buffalo Bill's Wild West and of Indian Princesses of the Victorian stage like author and actress Pauline Johnson.

I have searched to no avail for a libretto or sheet music. "Leelinau" itself does not have a citation in online catalogs of the Smithsonian (SIRIS), the Library of Congress American Memory Collection, the Boston Public Library, or the Minuteman Library Network. Harvard HOLLIS does have the libretto for a similar opera that Richard Stahl published in 1883: The Salem witch : an American comic opera in three acts (also available a the BPL).

[page 91] A NEW AMERICAN OPERA
"Lee-li-nau" is the name of a new American opera, which is the joint work of Earl Marble as the librettist, and Richard Stahl as the composer of the musical score, and which was mentioned, before its completion, under the title of " Puritan Days." A less stern and severe title was deemed necessary, and so the name of the Indian princess who figures largely in the story was seized upon. It is not strictly a comic opera, its aim being somewhat higher, and its action at times dignified and dramatic, though there is a great deal of fun developed in the action of the story, the plot being hazy and somewhat unsubstantial, the story really being one of sentiment tinged with the romantic features of Puritan and Indian characteristics as discovered by looking back two hundred and fifty years, and scanning life as it then existed in the Plymouth colony. It would be absurd to speak of it in a historical sense, though Miles Standish, Governor Bradford, and Thomas Morton, figure in the story, and on different occasions the exact language that these historical characters used is made available under similar conditions. The scene of the second act is laid at Merrymount (now the residence of Hon. John Quincy Adams), where Morton, referred to in the Plymouth annals as "the Lord of Misrule," held high carnival one luckless Mayday, where he gathered his clans, both whites and Indians, and raised a May-pole, and danced about it till he danced himself into jail, through his arrest by doughty Miles Standish, which furnishes a dramatic ending to the act. The first and third acts are laid in Plymouth, and the opera ends by the sending-back of Morton to England as a prisoner in the Mayflower, which swings away from her moorings as the curtain fails. Of course this is not history, though the Plymouth authorities did what they could to make it such. The dignified sentiment of the opera is furnished by two Pilgrim lovers, idyllic in every respect; and there are other phases of love-making, — between a young Plymouth subject and an Indian princess (baritone and contralto), and between two young people, recent arrivals in the colony, who refuse to work one Christmas Day, and, as a punishment, are forbidden by the Governor to play on that day, he ordering them to " keepe within doors," which incident will be remembered by the careful reader of colonial history. This couple, as well as the idyllic lovers, are tenor and soprano. Thomas Morton is bass ; and another strong bass character is an Indian medicine-man or jossakeed, who is a character in his way. All the " horse-play," which is given place to only in small quantities, falls to the lot of this Indian. The author has endeavored to make an opera of sentiment and humor, with what degree of success of course remains to be seen. There is a chorus of Indian girls, whose business is very original, and whose music is expected to become very popular. Several of the numbers in waltz time are said to be very catchy.

The following is a tenor song sung when an Indian attack is expected :
— The Indian foe is here !
As the twilight settles down,
From the forest deep he will skulk and creep
To destroy the hapless town.
Be firm as the foe comes on,
Defying the savage crew !
With our trust on high, we will live and die
Like men with their God in view.
Strike home when war-whoops roar!
Strike home at the painted foe !
While to God we pray that the coming fray
Will the Pilgrim valor show.
Fur God is our watchword here
In this wilderness alone,
As we work and pray for a fairer day,
With never a sigh or groan.

And the following stanza is from a song by the Indian princess :
Cometh Lee-li-nau, the princess,
Dancing Fawn,
Daughter of a forest chieftain.
Since the dawn
She has journeyed here to Plymouth,
By the sea,
That the pale-face from the far-land
She might see.

"Lee-li-nau" will have its first production at the Baltimore Academy of Music, Nov. 10, by the Wilbur Opera Company, by which it is now in active rehearsal. — Boston Evening Transcript.

[page 156]
FOLIO "PURITAN DAYS." The story of " Puritan Days," the new opera by Earl Marble and Richard Stahl, opens soon after the settlement of Plymouth, and begins with a Puritans' chorus, after which Miles Standish, Governor Bradford and others express their Indignation that a new arrival of y»ung people from England had refused to work on Christmas Day, the Puritans declaring such obstinacy to be no better than popery, and Governor Bradford singing: —

When I was a lad in England old,
I studied over many a way,
In summer heat and winter's cold.
To make my work seem only play.
I looked all over the universe,
And pondered on the things that I saw,
Abd soon concluded that sport was a curse
To be put down by the arm of the Law.
Sport has an animosity
For work, and the velocity
With which it works atrocity
Is such a dreadful thing!
It favors all rascality,
And harbors criminality,
Hence Puritan fatality
Will have no ting-a-ling.

Subsequently two of the young rebels sing a duet as follows : —

The country it is big enough
For freedom all around,
And we have danced the jig enough
To be no longer bound.
Oh, it is very curious
That freedom is a thing
That seems to be so spurious
When some one else is king.
The Pharisee is ever here,
The hypocriti also,
And always will be, never fear,
Oh, never fear, heigh ho

These are second tenor and second soprano characters, the first soprano and tenor being dignified and lovers, of course, while a baritone and contralto (the latter an Indian princess) are lovers, and, with the others, are married by Indian rites in the last act.

Very old prints have been secured by Mr. Marble of the Indian dance in vogue in such cases, known as the Dance of the Uirdí ;irid Blossoms, of which he hopes to have a brilliant finale made when the opera is produced. It may not be out of place to state that Mr. Marble has taken the name of Doty for this baritone from the Edward Doty who came over in the Mayflower, and who scandalized the Plymouth community by marrying an Indian maid, and from whom Mr. Marble claims descent.

A chorus of Indian girls is one of the novelties of the opera, affording color and action in no small degree, giving a distinct flavor to the second act, which occurs at Merry Mount, which was such an eyesore to Plymouth, and where Thomas Morton (basso) and his followers make merry on the succeeding May Day, and get arrested during the festivities by gruff Miles Standish. An Indian Medicine Man, the Indian princess referred to, and Morton and his reckless followers crowd the second act full of fun and melody. Mr. Marble has retained a portion of the words of one of Morton's bacchanalian songs for one of the numbers, and regrets that the crude old melody, that is spoken of but not preserved in the annals of the old colony, cannot be also utilized The last act is devoted almost wholly to sentiment and wholesale matrimony, though fun occasionally manifests itself.

The composer of the music, Richard Stahl, is a young man, but he has written two operas that have had successful runs in Germany, besides many detached works of a less ambitious character that have enjoyed popularity. He is brimming over with talent, and his music is strikingly original. The score of "Puritan Days" exhibits great versatility and discernment. There are several choruses in it of superior merit; an exquisite solo for the soprano; some catchy humorous movements — in fact, all the variety that is essential to a work of this sort. He has exercised admirable discrimination in making the music characteristic of the subject matter, so that it is an American opera in more than one respect. To do justice to Mr. Stahl's production in the limits of a brief newspaper article is quite impossible. We can only say that "Puritan Days" seems to possess all the elements that go to make up a successful comic opera, and Messrs. Marble and Stahl should have no difficulty in finding a manager suitable to present it properly to the public. — The New-York Mirror.

[page 220] EARL MARBLE. THE STORY OF "LEE-LI-NAU.
The following is the story of " Lee-li-nau," the new American light opera, written by Earl Marble, and composed by Richard Stahl, which was to have been given in Baltimore early in November, but which, owing to insufficient rehearsals, has been delayed in its presentation, and will have its first production at the People's Theatre in New York, December 1, by the well-known Wilbur Opera Company.

The story opens at Plymouth, one Christmas Day early in the settlement of the Colony, by the refusal of a number of newly arrived immigrants to work on Christmas Day, which aroused ihe ire of Governor Bradford, whose anger was increased when a short time afterward he found the }oung people engaged in play, though their consciences would not permit them to labor. The reader of Colonial history will remember how the Governor met this question, telling them if it was against their conscience to work it way against his conscience that they should play while others worked. Various degrees of rebellion are displayed, and singing and Dancing are indulged in; an Indian medicine man appears, frightening the children ; and after a while a messenger announces the approach of a large body of Indians, when preparations are made to rewst them, which preparations are stopped by the arrival of the Indian princess Lee-li-nau, bearing a flag of truce, and expressing friendship and a desire for acquaintance. John Doty, a young Puritan of independent tendencies, become enamored of her at once.

The second act takes place at Merrymount on the succeeding Mayday. Here have gathered Thomas Morton (termed in Puritan annals "the Lord of Misrule") and his adventurous followers, who proceed to have a rollicking good time, in imitation of the old English custom, though without the restraints of civilization. Here come, by invitation, Lee-li-nau and her troop of Indian girls, and of course young Doty, and on various pretexts the Pilgrim lovers from Plymouth, those who rebelled against labor on the preceding Christmas, and the Indian medicine man, who gets drunk on Morton's whiskey in the most approved fashion, and is reckless alike in the manner in which he creates both fun and consternation. The Maypole meantime hae been erected, and the revels about it are at their height, when Miles Standish enters, and arrests Morton, which closes the act.

The third act occurs at Plymouth early in the June following, on a day set for the return to England of the Mayflower, on which it has been determined to send Morton as a prisoner. He is broken in spirit, talks and sings in a doleful way, and goes aboard the vessel in handcuffs, with a dejected air. Love scenes and songs are seen and heard between the Pilgrim lovers, who have walked through the various scenes in a dignified, stately, conscientious way, and abo between two of the young people numbered among the rebels in the first act, but now become quite docile in the Pilgrim harness. The marriage ceremony, it will be observed, is performed by Governor Bradford, one of the tenets of the early Pilgrims being an aversion to having the marriage rite solemnized by any religious ceremony. Here also come Doty and Lee-li-nau, who are supposed to be married in a mystic fashion by the Indian medicine man.

The action of the opera closes with the dance of the birds and blossoms by the Indian girls, when, as the curtain descends, the Mayflower is seen moving out into the waters of Plymouth Harbor, while the strains of the closing chorus ring out merrily on the sweet June air. Susie Kirwin is expected to make a great hit in the title-role, which affords her one of the finest opportunities she has ever had; and Ed. Chapman, as the Indian medicine man, keeps the company in constant laughter by his funny business at rehearsals.

Indian Princess of the Victorian Stage
The stage career of Emily Pauline Johnson, or Tehakionwake, illustrates that at least some prominent native women participated actively in the "Indian Princess" image presented in Lee-Li-Nau, and made good money at it. In the 1890s, Tehakionwake toured Europe in buckskins and beads, entirely intentionally. For the second act, she'd come out in a ball gown and recite Shakespeare, as befitted her multicultural heritage.

"Throughout the 1880s Johnson established herself as a Canadian writer and cultivated an audience amongst those who read her poetry [which] signaled her membership amongst Canada’s important authors (Strong-Boag and Gerson 2000, p. 101). In her early literary works, Johnson drew lightly from her Mohawk heritage, and instead lyricized Canadian life, landscapes, and love in a post-Romantic mode reflective of the literary interests she shared with her mother (Strong-Boag and Gerson 2000, p. 101).

In 1892, Johnson recited her poem “A Cry from an Indian Wife,” a work based on the battle of Cut Knife Creek during the Riel Rebellion, at a Canadian Authors Evening arranged by the Young Men’s Liberal Club. The success of this performance initiated Johnson’s 15 year stage career and encouraged perceptions of her as a girl (although she was 31 at the time of this performance), a beauty, and an exotic Aboriginal elocutionist (Strong-Boag and Gerson 2000, p. 102).

After her first recital season, Johnson decided to emphasize the Native aspects of her literature and performance by assembling and donning a feminine Native costume (Strong-Boag and Gerson 2000, p. 9-10). Johnson’s decision to develop this stage persona, and the popularity it inspired, indicates that the audiences she encountered in Canada, England, and the United States — like the large crowds who attended shows such as Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show and ethnological Aboriginal exhibits in the 1890s — were educated to recognize representations of Native peoples on stage and were entertained by such productions (Strong-Boag and Gerson 2000, p. 111)."

During my traveling years reenacting the living history of the fur trade, I became fascinated with Pauline Johnson, visited many of her landscapes from Ontario to British Columbia, and set two of her poems to music: Songs My Paddle Sings and Toast to Vancouver. Her work places Tehakionwake among North America's greatest poets of any ethnicity, and she embraced her heritage within the cultural context of her era.

Today's readers encountering the romanticized stage version of the "Indian Princess" may well wince at reading that "A chorus of Indian girls is one of the novelties of the opera, affording color and action in no small degree" to Lee-Li-Nau. These stereotypes may well be painful to modern readers. But Pauline Johnson was a successful author on stage as well as in print, and a chorus of English, Italian, or Japanese girls afforded similar novelty, color and action to Gilbert and Sullivan in equal degree.

May-Dew Dancers at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

The every-day book and table-book; or, Everlasting calendar of popular amusements By William Hone:

The Lord of Misrule (Alfred Noyes)

All on a fresh May morning, I took my love to church,
To see if Parson Primrose were safely on his perch.
He scarce had got to thirdly, or squire begun to snore,
When, like a sun-lit sea-wave,
A green and crimson sea-wave,
A frolic of madcap, May-folk came whooping through the door: -

Come up, come in with streamers!
Come in with boughs of May!
Come up and thump the sexton,
And carry the clerk away.

Now skip like rams, ye mountains,
Ye little hills, like sheep!
Come up and wake the people
That parson puts to sleep.

They tickled their nut-brown tabors. Their garlands flew in showers,
And lasses and lads came after them, with feet like dancing flowers.
Their queen had torn her green gown, and bared a shoulder as white,
O, white as the may that crowned her,
White all the minstrels round her
Tilted back their crimson hats and sang for sheer delight:

Come up, come in with streamers!
Come in with boughs of May!
Now by the gold upon your toe
You walked the primrose way.
Come up, with white and crimson!
O, shake your bells and sing;
Let the porch bend, the pillars bow, before our Lord, the spring!

The dusty velvet hassocks were dabbled with fragrant dew.
The font grew white with hawthorn. It frothed in every pew.
Three petals clung to the sexton’s beard as he mopped and mowed at the clerk,
And “Take that sexton away,” they cried;
“Did Nebuchadnezzar eat may?” they cried.
“Nay, that was a prize from Betty,” they cried, “for kissing her in the dark.”

Come up, come in with streamers!
Come in with boughs of May!
Who knows but old Methuselah
May hobble the green wood way?
If Betty could kiss the sexton,
If Kitty could kiss the clerk,
Who knows how Parson Primrose
Might blossom in the dark?

The congregation sputtered. The squire grew purple and all,
And every little chorister bestrode his carven stall.
The parson flapped like a magpie, but none could hear his prayers;
For Tom Fool flourished his tabor,
Flourished his nut-brown tabor,
Bashed the head of the sexton, and stormed the pulpit stairs.

High in the old oak pulpit
This Lord of all misrule -
I think it was Will Summers
That once was Shakespeare’s fool –
Held up his hand for silence,
And all the church grew still:
“And are you snoring yet,” he said,
“Or have you slept your fill?”

Your God still walks in Eden, between the ancient trees,
Where Youth and Love go wading through pools of primroses.
And this is the sign we bring you, before the darkness fall,
That Spring is risen, is risen again,
That Life is risen, is risen again,
That Love is risen, is risen again, and Love is Lord of all.”

“At Paske began our morrice
And, ere Pentecost, our May;
Because, albeit your words are true,
You know not what you say.
You chatter in church like jackdaws,
Words that would wake the dead,
Were there one breath of life in you,
One drop of blood,” he said.

“He died and went down to Hell! You know not what you mean.
Our rafters were of green fir. Also our beds were green.
But out of the mouth of a fool, a fool, before the darkness fall,
We tell you He is risen again,
The Lord of Life is risen again,
The boughs put forth their tender buds, and Love is Lord of all!”

He bowed his head. He stood so still,
They bowed their heads as well.
And softly from the organ-loft
The song began to swell.
Come up with blood red streamers,
The reeds began the strain.
The vox humana pealed on high,
The Spring is risen again!

The vox angelica replied – The shadows flee away!
Our house-beams were of cedar. Come in with boughs of May!
The diapason deepened it – Before the darkness fall,
We tell you He is risen again!
Our God hath burst his prison again!
Christ is risen, is risen again; and Love is Lord of all.

Miles Standish was a little man, a soldier from his youth,
He said he'd fought the Spaniards and I think he told the truth,
For he could fire a musketoon and he could build a fort
And the Pilgrims all admired him, though he wasn't quite their sort.

Tom Morton was a merry man and liked a merry frolic,
He said, "These long-nosed Pilgrims give an honest heart the colic!"
He built a place called Merry Mount to serve his merry ends
And danced around a Maypole with a lot of rowdy friends.

The Pilgrims were indignant, for they didn't like his game,
They said his merry Maypole was an idol and a shame,
They vowed that it was scandalous to dance to such a tune,
So they ordered out Miles Standish, with his fav'rite musketoon.

"Ho,ho!" laughed Morton, merrily, "'Tis only Captain Shrimp!"
"Hew down yon idol!" Standish roared and made him feel quite limp
For they hewed the pretty Maypole down, in spite of all his cries,
And chopped it into kindling wood before his very eyes.

They sent him back to England and they told him to stay there.
--They didn't like those gentlemen with perfume in their hair.
--They didn't like wild gentlemen with mischief in their port.
But they always liked Miles Standish, though he wasn't quite their sort.

He lived with them and fought for them and drove their foes away,
A bold Cock-robin of a man whom nothing could dismay,
And, when he died, they mourned him from the bottom of their hearts.
For it isn't where your inches stop. It's where your courage starts.

Benet, Rosemary and Stephen Vincent. A Book of Americans. NY: Holt, 1961.

Source: http://inquiryunlimited.org/lit/poetry/ghistpoems1.html#F1

Lynn on YouTube

Videos showing me: typically singing, dancing, fooling, or all at once. Updates automatically when new content is added.

Introducing Mr. Paddy Washtub

When you play in a band with a pogocello, who can resist a washtub bass? The photo at left is Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society founder David Rosen with the inimitable pogocello. On the right is the newest member of the band, a handmade washtub bass from Athens, Georgia: bought on eBay and shipped to Boston on Greyhound.

Who buys a string bass on eBay? Well, not intentionally. I was browsing to find out whether anyone should spend the several hundred dollar estimate I'd heard for repairing the cracked upright bass of our late friend Dave Stryker. Not that I really wanted Dave's bass, which is a full-size monster larger than my car. But we wondered what it was worth, for donating to a school or selling to some local musician as-is. So, go to eBay and plug in "upright bass" and "< $500."

You don't find much in that price range. But what is THIS? A washtub crossed with a banjo? I read on. "Handmade washtub bass. Full 3/4 size fingerboard of black walnut, maple face. Piezo pickup. Impervious to heat and cold. Fits in the front seat of a Prius. Local delivery to Athens area only."

I was enthralled. I visited the page for days, telling myself not to be ridiculous. But--I am a Fool, after all. And truly, the idea of bringing this unique item to our eclectic and eccentric band was irresistible. So, the crazy lady from Boston wrote to Athens and asked, "How much to ship?"

Mr. Pat Lyons of Georgia's Magpie Paddy ("Traditional Irish Music for the Deep South") was bemused, but eager to help once he realized I was serious (and prepared to pay a shipping cost close to his asking price for the bass itself). By way of explanation, I sent him our website photo, complete with pogocello. According to Pat, his wife looked over his shoulder at us on the screen and exclaimed, "They look like people we already know!" Indeed. I knew that from looking at this bass. It just had to be. This wasn't a sale. It was a North-South cultural exchange, Irish band to Irish band.

And so, the deal was struck, the auction bid, the instrument crated, and a cross-the-Mason-Dixon-Line bus ticket bought for what has to be one of the larger packages to go Greyhound. (I had visions all week of Georgia Paddy riding North in a bus seat with a backwards feed cap on his peghead, staring out the window and wondering what the Yankee Irish gal from Boston was going to ask him to play...)

Once arrived, Mr. Paddy Washtub's evident personality, humor, and dignity earned him his name the moment he emerged from his crate. And yes, he sounds like a "real" string bass, with a remarkably clear, warm, accurate tone both acoustic and amplified. The band is amused and mostly delighted, and we're finding all sorts of use for him once we get used to his taking up the space of a seventh member onstage.

And no, I don't--or didn't--actually PLAY bass. But for such a splendid creation, I had to learn. After all, it's just the bottom four of the guitar, which I do (or did) play, so I'm gettin' along. Bandmate Jonathan Gilbert also plays, and has outfitted Mr. Paddy's fingerboard for me with a set of sailors' stripes, Suzuki-fashion, for those of us who still need to fret. And fortunately, open strings lend themselves well to our band motto: "Play D Until Something Happens." So I plunk along happily on the downbeat, alarming our guitarist (who's used to being the bottom of the band) and apparently entertaining the audience no end.

Paddy's been the talk of the town at our "St. Patrick's Month" concerts, finding his niche from Murphy's & Ryan's Polkae and Drowsy Maggie to the Flop-Eared Mule and the Jamaica Plain Rag. He was a huge hit on St. Patrick's Day at Honey Fitz Pub in Malden, where he got the chance to be played by a REAL bass player from our friends The Kellsmen. And this summer, he may get a boat ride out to Georges Island to play for sea chanteys at our annual Fourth of July with Boston Harborfest. Meanwhile, I plan to teach Mr. Paddy some work songs and gospel at a few hallway jams at NEFFA--and I do mean JAMS, if I know what a bass can do.

Just goes to show: eBay can change your life! You just never know what you can do until you try.

Morris and Maypole Return to Merrymount

The Inhabitants of Pasonagessit (having translated the name ...to Ma-reMount [MerryMount]; ... did devise amongst themselves to have it performed in a solemne manner with Revels, & merriment after the old English custome: prepared to sett up a Maypole upon the festivall day of Philip and Jacob .... And because they would have it in a complete forme, they had prepared a song fitting to the time and present occasion. And upon Mayday they brought the Maypole to the place appointed, with drums, guns, pistols, and other fitting instruments, for that purpose ; and there erected it with the help of Salvages, that came thether of purpose to see the manner of our Revels. A goodly pine tree of 80 foot long, was reared up, with a pair of buckshorns nailed one, somewhat neare unto the top of it : where it stood as a faire sea marke for directions; how to finde out the way to mine Hoste of Ma-reMount.



May 2008 marks the 381st anniversary of the first and most celebrated Maypole in North America at Merrymount, in Quincy, MA. English trader, attorney, and adventurer Thomas Morton brought his West Country customs from Devon in 1624, and raised a Maypole in 1627 to revel with the Massachusetts and other Native peoples at the Merrymount settlement.

The Plimoth Puritans disapproved. Myles Standish arrested Morton in 1628 for trading in guns and liquor. Morton was exiled without trial on the Isles of Shoals, shipped back to England, tried, and then freed to return to his "New Canaan." Pilgrim John Endicott chopped down the Maypole and the Puritans of Boston burned Merrymount. Morton settled in Maine and died there in 1647, after having been instrumental in revoking the Pilgrims' Massachusetts Bay Colony charter. Sadly, it came too late for his Maypole.

In celebration of Morton's life and times, morris dancers will raise a Maypole on the site in Quincy, MA (map) and dance around the Maypole as we did in 2007. Quincy native Chris Pahud leads us in the title song from his CD Morton's Return, composed by Jim Ryan who also sang and danced with us that day. Check out Chris's MySpace page for his arrangement of Morton's Songe.

There was likewise a merry song made, which (to make their Revells more fashionable) was sung with a chorus, every man bearing his part; which they performed in a dance, hand in hand about the Maypole, whiles one of the Company sung, and filled out the good liquor like gammedes and Jupiter.

Drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes,
Let all your delight be in Hymens joyes,
Lo to Hymen now the day is come,
About the merry Maypole take a Roome.

Make greene garlands, bring bottles out;
And fill sweet Nectar, freely about,
Uncover thy head, and feare no harm,
For here's good liquor to keepe it warme.

(For group participation, the morris dancers sing The Songe to our familiar traditional tune of Staines Morris, sung each May morning on the banks of the Charles River from 1974 to this coming Mayday.)

The Merrymount Maypole festivities are part of the 2008 Kettle of Fish Morris Ale, organized by Red Herring Morris of Belmont, MA. This year we will have a special guest, Morton scholar Jack Dempsey, who has produced both a critical biography of Morton and a new edition of the colonist's New English Canaan. Dr. Dempsey, who teaches at Bentley College, has also written a movie script about Morton's 1627 Revells, entitled Merrymount: A True Adventure Comedy. Jack will be leading an informal discussion on Morton's life and times on Maypole Hill while we await the morris dancers' return.

I look forward to researching and photographing traditional and revival West Country Maypole sites and customs from Morton's home ground of Devon and Plymouth on my August 1-15 trip to Sidmouth Folk Week this summer. I'll be the guest of Mike Gibson and the Middle Bar Singers for their session at the Anchor Inn, continuing on to South Devon and Cornwall the following week.

For more information about Thomas Morton and Merrymount, check out my collection of del.icio.us links tagged Merrymount. Or enjoy this video of Staines Morris and other dawn festivities at the 2003 Newtowne Mayday on the Charles.