Children -- United States; United States -- Social life and customs -- To 1775
Ancient Tin Toy 373
Doll's Wicker Coach 374
Stella Bradley Bellows, 1800 _circa_. Owned by Arthur C.
Bradley, Esq., Newport, N. H. _facing_ 378
Daisy Chain. 381
Playing Marbles 385
Spanish Dolls. In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. 389
Leaf Boats. Made from Leaves of Flower de Luce 395
Child Life in Colonial Days
CHAPTER I
BABYHOOD
_Some things are of that nature as to make
One's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache._
--_The Author's Way of Sending Forth His Second Part of the
Pilgrim. John Bunyan, 1684._
There is something inexpressibly sad in the thought of the children
who crossed the ocean with the Pilgrims and the fathers of
Jamestown, New Amsterdam, and Boston, and the infancy of those born
in the first years of colonial life in this strange new world. It
was hard for grown folk to live; conditions and surroundings offered
even to strong men constant and many obstacles to the continuance of
existence; how difficult was it then to rear children!
In the southern colonies the planters found a climate and enforced
modes of life widely varying from home life in England; it took
several generations to accustom infants to thrive under those
conditions. The first years of life at Plymouth are the records
of a bitter struggle, not for comfort but for existence. Scarcely
less sad are the pages of Governor Winthrop's journal, which
tell of the settlers of Massachusetts Bay. On the journey across
seas not a child "had shown fear or dismayedness." Those brave
children were welcomed to the shore with good cheer, says the old
chronicler, Joshua Scottow; "with external flavor and sweet odor;
fragrant was the land, such was the plenty of sweet fern, laurel,
and other fragrant simples; such was the scent of our aromatic
and balsam-bearing pines, spruces and larch trees, with our tall
cedars." They landed on a beautiful day in June, "with a smell on
the shore like the smell of a garden," and these happy children had
gathered sweet wild strawberries and single wild roses. It is easy
to picture the merry faces and cheerful laughter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account