CLUB NEWS Leigh WI – February meeting The Mayflower Marriage, Arminal Dare
We have, I am sure, all heard about the Mayflower, that plucky little ship that set sail in 1620 for America with 102 Pilgrims on board. They were heading to a new life, free from religious persecution, to a land of plenty where the rivers were full of fish and the forests alive with game. The Mayflower and her sister ship, the Speedwell, were due to set sail in June 1634 but they had to turn back to Plymouth twice as the Speedwell was leaking. They eventually got going in September by which time the westerly winds were blowing hard and they encountered many storms which hampered their progress and made their lives a misery. To make matters worse, their food supplies had been depleted with their long wait before setting out and starvation was a real concern. The book, The Mayflower Marriage, which was the topic of our WI Talk, by Arminal Dare, follows the two main protagonists – and real people – Priscilla and John, on board and travelling to America with all their hopes and
dreams. They are an unusual couple in that they see themselves as equals, where women in England were still the property of their husbands. After two miserable months at sea, the ship arrives in the wrong place and they are forced to spend the hard winter on board; many of them die of cold and disease, leaving only 53 passengers and half the crew alive. They call their new colony Plymouth and life in the early days is grim. Priscilla loses her father, mother and brother in quick succession to famine and disease, but John is her constant support and their relationship blossoms. The sweeping, heroic narrative follows them throughout the remainder of their long and eventful lives, but you will have to read the book to discover how they survived the many hardships. Although Arminal has written this as a novel, the historic facts are mostly true and well documented. She has the gift of turning bare facts into an uplifting and sometimes disturbing story.
The next WI meeting is 29 March at Leigh Village Hall at 2.30pm when Cindy Chant will tell us of the Life and Times of Sir Walter Raleigh. Morag Orchard 49
