Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay ColonyDow, George Francis
History
Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Dow, George Francis
Massachusetts -- Social life and customs -- To 1775
"Our Bed chamber, which is dignified with the title of _state room_,
[there were only two staterooms: the captain occupied the other] is
about five foot wide and six long; on one side is a bed fitted up
for Fanny and on the opposite side one for me. Poor Fanny's is so
very narrow, that she is forced to be tied on, or as the Sea term
is _lashed in_, to prevent her falling over. On the floor below
us lies our Abigail. As she has the breadth of both our Beds and
excellent Bedding, I think she has got a most envyable Berth, but
this is far from her opinion, and she has done nothing but grumble
about her accommodations." The two had been asleep about an hour
when her brother came to the stateroom and let down "the half door"
to enquire after their healths. His "Cott" swung from the ceiling
of the cabin of the brig and the two boys slept on a mattress on
the deck beneath the hammock. The hencoop was located on deck just
over his head and in the morning the rooster and hens kept up such a
pecking that it was impossible for him to sleep. The brig was making
a northerly course in a heavy sea and Fanny and the maid were both
seasick and lying flat on their backs in their five by six foot
cubicle, dimensions probably somewhat underestimated by Miss Schaw,
although later she records that "we sit in bed till we dress, and
get into it whenever we begin to undress."
In the cabin, in which Schaw hung his "cott," was a small cast-iron
stove and here, too, was the case containing the Captain's gin,
which he frequently opened and the odor of which set their stomachs
topsy-turvy and sent poor Fanny to her bed, and Schaw flying on deck
for fresh air. This cabin was furnished with joint stools, chests,
table, and even an elbow chair which Miss Schaw had lashed to a
mooring near the fireside.
A few days after sailing the brig ran into a storm and the water
finding its way into the cabin almost reached the beds in the
stateroom--(which was located beside the companion stair)--forcing
the maid to "peg in with the boys who could easily let her share
with them." The gale also washed away most of their private store
of provisions so they were forced to depend upon the ship's stores
which consisted mainly of neck-beef, several barrels of New England
pork, then on its third voyage across the Atlantic, oatmeal,
stinking herrings and excellent potatoes. Lobscouse was a favorite
dish made from salt beef that had been hung by a string over the
side of the ship till tolerably fresh and then cut up in little
pieces and stewed for some time with potatoes, onions and peppers.
They also varied their diet by "chowder, scratch-platter and
stir-about."[65]
[65] _Journal of a Lady of Quality_, New Haven, 1921.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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