Ye antient wrecke—1626

by Charles W. Livermore; Leander Crosby

CHAPTER I.

Introductory Sketch.—Removal of the Hull to Boston.—Communication from Messrs. Dolliver and Sleeper.—Statement of D. J. Lawlor, Esq.—Model and Draught.

HE wreck of the Sparrow-Hawk, which was discovered in 1863, may be justly regarded as one of the greatest curiosities of the age. This ship sailed from England for Virginia, in the fall of 1626, with a large number of emigrants. After a long passage, she went ashore on Cape Cod, and was there finally wrecked in a place then known as Potanumaquut Harbor. Details of her passage and loss, and the subsequent career of her passengers, have been preserved by contemporary historians, from whom we shall make brief extracts in the course of this work.

From the several local histories of the Cape, the posthumous edition of Thoreau’s work, and an important note from Professor Agassiz, the public have been made aware of the continuous geological changes of that remarkable mass of drift, which we denominate “Cape Cod.” The statements of these various authors are singularly elucidated and confirmed by the history of “The Ancient Wreck.” The preservation and discovery of the Sparrow-Hawk present facts of startling interest to all,—but especially to those who are acquainted with the minutiæ of early colonial history. They have in mind, and can readily recall with us, the condition of the passengers, and the fate of their craft.

Benjamin Drew, Esq., of Chelsea, formerly of Plymouth, Mass., who had the good fortune to see the wreck upon the beach at Orleans, before its removal, presents us with the following remarks, which we here insert as a suitable preface to the historical details:⁠—

As I stood upon the shore, surveying with my friend[1] the remains of the vessel which crossed the ocean two hundred and forty years ago, imagination brought vividly before me the scenes of that early voyage, the wrecking of the ship, and the providential escape of the passengers and crew. Two hundred and forty years! yes, nearly that long period had elapsed from the time of its protracted and unsuccessful battling with the elements, and its subsequent submergence in these sands of Nauset; and to-day the sea, recovering the dominion it so long ago yielded to the land, has disclosed to us the hull in all its fair proportions and symmetry as it glided into the water from the builder’s hand, in the reign of James the First.

The deep human sympathy which attaches to every scene where men have fought or suffered,—which treasures every relic of the times of the Pilgrims, invests this ancient wreck with a deep and abiding interest. As we behold it, we seem to see Mr. Fells, Mr. Sibsie, and the “many passengers” casting anxious eyes to the west; for it is stormy weather, and the sea is rough, and they have been six weeks afloat, “and have no water, nor beere, nor any woode left;” and there is Captain Johnston “sick and lame of ye scurvie,” so he can “but lye in his cabin dore and give direction;” and we observe that the passengers are “mad for land,” and so through “fear and unruliness,” compel the mariners “to stear a course betweene ye southwest and norwest, that they might fall in with some land, what soever it was, caring not.” And we recall, too, the wild scene, when in the night they grated on the bar of an unknown shore: the morning distress, when their cable parted and they beat over the shoal,—their joy at drifting safely on a beach with only the soaking of their cargo,—for they now discover that a plank has started, and that the oakum has left the seams. We listen with them to the strange voices of the red men; nor do we wonder that they “stand on their guard:” but hark! these red men talk English, and they tell of “New Plymouth” and “ye Governor.” So Mr. Fell and Mr. Sibsie sit in the cabin here,—this same cabin!—and write to the Governor; anon that worthy personage crosses the bay, bringing spikes and material for repairs; he steps on board, and gives his advice in the premises. They get a supply of corn, and repair their ship, intending once more to make sail for Virginia; surely they will find it this time! Before, “they had lost themselves at sea;” but now they will take a new departure, and will soon reach the land of their hopes. Not yet, my worthy friends,—your tight, “serviceable” craft, now afloat, must be driven upon the eastern side of the inner harbor, and hopelessly wrecked; you must sojourn with the Pilgrims; and the Sparrow-Hawk, giving a name to “Old Ship Harbor,” must lie for centuries under the sand and under the salt-marsh; successive generations of Doanes shall swing the scythe, and toss the hay, over her forgotten grave; but, in due time, when these rocky, wooded islands, shall have sunk

“Beneath the trampling surge,

In beds of sparkling sand,”

your ship shall stand revealed again,—timbers and planks all sound, the “occome” vanished from her seams, and “ye spikes” and all other iron dissolved away; but we shall find your old sandals, and the beef and mutton bones which you picked when you bade your vessel a last good-by; and we shall feel a kindred satisfaction in re-lighting the long-extinguished fires in these venerable tobacco-pipes which you forgot to take away; and we shall send your rudder for a while to the Exchange in State Street; and that, and all the timbers and planks which you feel so sorry to leave, we shall,—Mr. Fells, and Mr. Sibsie, and Capt. Johnston, by your leave,—remove to a dry locality, and there, at our leisure, explore the privacy of your cabin, and listen to your conversation with Samoset and Governor Bradford.

If the “Advance,” which was shut in by Arctic ice, and abandoned by Elisha Kent Kane, should some day be sent adrift in a contest of icebergs, float into the Atlantic, and be towed into harbor, we can readily imagine the interest with which she would be regarded. If the “tossut” remained, who would not be anxious to creep through it into the sacred precincts so long the home of the great adventurer,—the abode, likewise, of Hans, and Ohlsen, and Morton,

“Whose latitudinous eye

Beheld the billows roll,

’Neath the long summer’s genial sky,

Around the northern pole?”

What crowds would come from all parts to see the famous brig! But here is the hull of a ship of more worthy fame than the Advance,—one which crossed the Atlantic while Boston was inhabited by Indians; when this continent was, indeed, the new world,—a ship which came freighted with passengers, who became, by force of circumstances, residents with, and, of course, friends of, the Pilgrim Fathers; and who long retained in their Virginia homes a sense of gratitude for favors received in the time of their trial. May those days of mutual good will return!

Charles W. Livermore, Esq., of this city, a member of the City Council, and Leander Crosby, Esq., of Orleans, a well-known resident of the immediate vicinity of Old Ship Harbor, with a laudable desire to preserve so remarkable a relic, have removed the hull to Boston, and had all the parts put together in proper order by Messrs. Dolliver and Sleeper, well known and experienced ship-builders. Thus will be perpetuated a ship which sailed the ocean contemporary with the Mayflower,—doubtless the only one of that remote age now existing on the face of the earth. Truly, a most unique curiosity, and well worthy the attention of all men.

Mr. Livermore requested Messrs. Dolliver and Sleeper to communicate in writing all matters relating to the style of building, the condition of the hull, and any other particulars which might be of interest. Those gentlemen, having put planks and timbers together in their pristine shape, have furnished the following information in accordance with the request of Mr. Livermore:

Boston, August 17, 1865.

Charles W. Livermore, Esq.

Dear Sir,—While putting into their original position the various portions of the ship so long buried at the Cape, we have, as you requested, taken special note of her peculiarities, &c., and in compliance with your desire send the following statement.

Notwithstanding the many years which this vessel has been exposed to the fury of the elements, and to the action of the shifting sands in which she has been buried, her outline has been remarkably well preserved. Only a practised mechanical eye could detect a little inequality in her sides, in consequence of her having had a heel to port. We have replaced the keel, sternpost, stern-knee, part of the keelson, all the floor timbers, most of the first futtocks and the garboard strake on the starboard side; but the stem and forefoot, the top timbers and deck are gone. Enough of her, however, remains to enable us to form a fair estimate of her general outline when complete. The model made by D. J. Lawlor, Esq., embodies our idea of her form and size.

Her length on the keel when complete was twenty-eight feet ten inches, and she had great rake of stem with a curved forefoot, and the rake of her sternpost is four inches to the foot. The great rake of her stem and sternpost makes her length on deck between extremes about forty feet, and her depth about nine and one-half feet. Her forward lines are convex, her after lines sharp and concave, and her midship section is almost the arc of a circle. Her breadth of beam was about twelve feet and her sheer two and one-half feet, with a lively rise at both ends. She had a square stern, and no doubt bulwarks as far forward as the waist; but the outline of the rest of her decks was probably protected by an open rail.

As ballast was found in her, she may have been deeper than we have described her, or heavily sparred, for it is not customary to put ballast in a vessel with a heavy cargo unless she is very crank. We mean such a cargo as she probably carried from England. The rig common to vessels of her size at the time she was built consisted of a single mast with a lateen yard and triangular sail. There is a hole in her keelson for the step of the mast.

No doubt her deck was flush, for trunks and houses are of modern invention, and that all her accommodations, and even her galley, were below. It is probable that she had a small permanent cabin aft, with a companion and binnacle; but we suppose, that, after the cargo was stowed, a small platform deck was laid over it for the crew. The hemp cables would be stowed forward below, with such spare cordage and sails as might be required for a passage across the Atlantic Ocean. The quarters for the crew, and the galley, would be abaft these, and the entrance to them through the main hatchway.

We notice by grooves in her floor timbers that she had limber-ropes for the purpose of keeping a clean channel for the water to flow toward the well. She unquestionably carried a small boat on deck, and this, with the anchors, we suppose, were her only incumbrances. Such we conceive to be a fair sketch of her, when she was complete. We will now give a sketch of her as she is.

Her keel is of English elm, twenty-eight feet six inches long, sided eight inches and moulded six; the floor timbers amidships are seven feet one inch long, moulded seven inches and sided six, all of oak hewn square at the corners and fastened through the keel with one-inch oak treenails wedged in both ends. The first futtocks overlap the floor-timbers about two feet, placed alongside of them, forming almost solid work on the turn of the bilge, with a glut or chock below each of them, but they were not fastened together. She has not any navel timbers. We suppose that the joints of the second futtocks overlapped in the same style as those below them. As already stated, her stem and forefoot are gone; but a part of her sternpost, and her stern-knee entire, are left. The sternpost is mortised into the keel, and has been bolted through it and the knee; but the iron has been oxidized long since. Instead of deadwood aft she has seven forked timbers, the longest four feet in the stem, with a natural branch on each side, and six inches square. Some of these were half fayed to the keel, but none of them were fastened. Through these the planking was treenailed. Part of the keelson is now in its place; it is sided ten inches and moulded eight, and was fastened to the keel with four iron bolts, driven between the floor-timbers (not through them) into the keel.

Her breadth at present, at four feet two inches depth, from the outside of the timbers, is eleven feet six inches, but when planked, as already stated, it was no doubt twelve feet. She had only three strakes of ceiling, all the rest of the timbers were bare; but she had no doubt a stout clamp for her deck-beams to rest upon and partner-beams as a support to her mast. Her planking was two inches thick, of English oak, fastened with oak treenails. Most of the planks are ten inches wide. The keel has been cut to receive the lower edges of the garboards, which had been spiked to it as well as treenailed through the timbers. The starboard garboard strake is now in its place; and this is the only planking we have put on, for the other strakes are somewhat warped. Her outline, however, is perhaps more clearly defined than if she had been planked throughout. It seems to us that after her floor-timbers were laid and planked over, that the other timbers were filled in piece by piece as the planking progressed, which is still a favorite mode of building in some ports of England, and were not jointed together and raised entire before planking. By the appearance of the planks they have been scorched on the inside and then suddenly saturated in water for the purpose of bending them into shape, as a substitute for the modern mode of steaming. The planks and treenails which have not been used by us are preserved with care, and may be seen by those who wish a more minute description of her construction. We suppose she had a heavy planksheer or covering-board, and that her deck, like her planking, was of English oak. We consider her model superior to that of many vessels of the same size and even larger, which have been recently built in Nova Scotia, and which may be seen in this port every summer.

Yours truly,

DOLLIVER & SLEEPER.

With a desire to furnish ship-builders, and others interested in naval construction, a plan of the ship, D. J. Lawlor, Esq., naval architect, has constructed a model of the hull, including the upper works, as they must have originally existed. Mr. Lawlor’s scientific attainments, of which the Government has availed itself in the construction of some of the finest ships in our navy, have enabled him to reproduce in a model the original lines of the hull,—showing perfectly the position and shape of those portions which were worn away before its complete burial in the sand. A draught from this model is on the second page of this work.

A written statement accompanies Mr. Lawlor’s model, and his views, it will be seen, coincide with those of Messrs. Dolliver and Sleeper.

The statement of Mr. Lawlor is as follows:

Chelsea, Aug. 22, 1865.

C. W. Livermore, Esq.:

Dear Sir,—I have examined the Pilgrim ship, and find her quite a curiosity in naval architecture, so different are her model and proportions from those of sea-going vessels of the present day. So much of her hull remains entire, that I did not find it a difficult task to produce the lines, and complete a perfect working model, which I send you herewith. I might furnish you with an exact list of measurements, tonnage, &c., and point out the more remarkable peculiarities of her construction; but those who may have an opportunity to see the ship will obtain a far better idea of the ancient style of building than I could hope to give by any verbal description, however minute. She must have been an easy sea-boat, and, for that early day, well adapted to the carrying of passengers. The pleasure of observing and studying so ancient and unique a specimen of ship-building has more than repaid the time and attention I have been able to bestow upon it.

Yours, resp’ly,

D. J. LAWLOR.

An inquiry naturally suggests itself, By what means has a wreck, so perfect that a “working model” could be constructed from it, been so long preserved? Ordinarily, wrecks, being exposed to the direct action of the winds and waves, soon break up and disappear. How does it happen that this wreck formed an exception? That it was preserved by being embedded and buried in the sand, has been already intimated. The causes which at first operated to bury and conceal, and, at length, by their continued action brought the wreck to light, will be considered in the following chapter.