[Illustration] The Women of the Mayflower and Women of Plymouth Colony By Ethel J. R. C. Noyes Plymouth, Massachusetts 1921 Copyright, 1921, by ETHEL J. R. C. NOYES. Linotyped and Printed by Memorial Press, Plymouth, Mass. FOREWORD. The Pilgrim Women have been written about so little that it is indeed a pleasure to welcome a book bearing the title, “The Women of the Mayflower and Plymouth Colony.” History has dwelt long and minutely upon the Pilgrim Fathers and their great adventure, but has passed over the women with a generalization and occasionally a tribute. Even their contemporaries have had but little to say about them. The author of this little book is to be highly commended therefore for this much needed addition to our meagre store of literature about the mothers of this Nation. There is much need to-day to perpetuate their spirit, to practise their faith, to maintain their ideals. They loved liberty and endured hardship, sacrifice and suffering for its sake. They built the homes of the Nation on the foundation of English ideals of home and family life which we cherish to-day as ours. They served their homes and the community life of the colony with loyal and unswerving devotion. They brought up their families in those rugged virtues and a living faith in God, without which nations perish. They have a message for us to-day, calling us back, not to their austerities but to their righteousness and spirituality. Such books as this help to spread that message throughout the Nation. (Signed) ANNE ROGERS MINOR, _President General, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution_. The Women of the Mayflower and Women of Plymouth Colony [Illustration: CONTENTS] THE GREAT NORTH ROAD 11 THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT 23 UNDER THE LINDENS OF LEYDEN 35 THE FIRE OF FAITH 55 THE FIRST STREET 83 THE BRIDE SHIP 119 BENEATH THE PINES OF PLYMOUTH 131 A CHAPLET OF ROSEMARY 183 THE GREAT NORTH ROAD.