by Eleanor Dixon Glidden

R ES T OR A TION O F T HE BOWDOIN

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in July, 1986, the B o w d o i n , with its characteristic ice-barrel on her foremast, will be in the "grand parade", representing the state of Maine and sixty-five years of our American maritime enterprise.

And with the exciting heritage of our nation, the sturdy schooner will also symbolize an almost unknown chapter of Arctic adventurethe first American whaleships in these waters. During the midEighteenth century, several Nantucket brigs went into Davis and Frobisher Straits, hunting the whale which the English, Dutch and French vessels had found there. Leading these New England craft we r e t he Na n t u c k eter s , C a p t a in R ich a r d P i n k h am i n t he S e a f l o w e r , Captain Benjamin Bunker in the Grampus, Captain Beriah Fitch in the Polly, and Captain Francis Swain in the Mary. It was to be many years before the Nantucket whalemen returned to the area, and this with individuals rather than ships. In the 1880's, Captain Timothy Clisby was whaling in Cumberland Sound, and George E. Coffin, Ge o r g e F ol g e r a n d Ne l so n E w e r s a ile d with C a p t a in S pi c e r i n t he E r a to Hudson Bay. The spirit of their enterprise is a part of the tradition, and also a part of the sturdy Bowdoin's return to the old, familiar haunts.

Winter

The cat-o-nine-tail has grown old Grown colorless and quiet, almost dead, And to keep from freezing Wears a fluffy tam-o-shanter on her head.

There's a gull with only one leg On a twisted old chimney top Of a house that is shuttered and dark. Like a pirate of old with his peg. He raucously screams At the thickening fog With a bitterness wantonly stark.

Eleanor Dixon Glidden