"Quite sick of confusion, dear Dolly and I
Retired from the hubbub new pleasures to try."
Bailey's closing comment is illuminating; "from many of these indecent frolics which I have seen in these parts, I must conclude that rustics are not more innocent than citizens,"[42] and we may rest assured that country manners and customs south of the Merrimack River were no different from those north of it.
In country towns much of the population was thinly distributed and it was impossible for the housewife to run in next door for a few moments' idle chat. Frequently the nearest house was a half-mile or more distant and the feminine desire for social diversion was sadly curbed by the constant demands of farm labor for horses that otherwise might have been used in the chaise or wagon. The weekly gathering at the meetinghouse was always looked forward to with some anticipation by both old and young and the sacredness of the day did not prevent discreet conversation on purely secular topics. But the day when farmer Perkins raised the frame of his barn was made a social event in the full meaning of the word and when the "raising" of the meetinghouse took place, it certainly was a gala day, for in town meeting it was voted to buy a barrel of rum and twelve barrels of cider, with sugar, beef, pork, and brown and white bread in proportion with which to refresh the gathering. Eighty-seven pounds of cheese were eaten and the town paid one shilling and six pence for the mugs that were broken—let us hope purely by accident. But "raisings" occurred at infrequent intervals. Each fall, however, there were corn huskings in various parts of the town and afterwards always plenty to eat for the jolly workers. The women were invited to apple bees and sometimes there were spinning parties. Every winter brought its singing school in the district schoolhouse and spelling matches sometimes brought together the fathers and mothers of the district as well as their sons and daughters. But the quilting party was always welcomed by the women with the keenest relish. It was their personal affair. They were free for a time from the noisy interruptions of the children and the men were not in the way although sometimes invited to a supper. As the quilted pattern advanced over the surface "the women gossiped of neighborhood affairs, the minister, the storekeeper's latest purchases, of their dairies, and webs and linens and wools, keeping time with busy fingers to the tales they told."
CHAPTER X
Trades and Manufactures
In the new settlements on the Massachusetts Bay, one of the prime necessities was men skilled in the various trades, "an ingenious Carpenter, a cunning Joyner, a handie Cooper, such a one as can make strong ware for the use of the countrie, and a good brickmaker, a Tyler, and a Smith, a Leather dresser, a Gardner, and a Taylor; one that hath good skill in the trade of fishing, is of special use, and so is a good Fowler."[43] The Company had sent over men to govern and ministers to care for spiritual affairs and many of those who came were skilled husbandmen.
Many of the smaller towns found themselves without men skilled in the mechanic trades and this was particularly the case with blacksmiths, a very essential trade in every community. This led to grants by towns of land and buildings as inducement for smiths to settle and work their trade. Carpenters were found everywhere, and brickmakers naturally gravitated to deposits of clay while the other craftsmen became distributed in accordance with the law of supply and demand, each taking on apprentices as had been customary in their old homes in England.
The principal productions available for commerce were fish, lumber, furs and foodstuffs, but the building of shipping and the importance of the carrying trade must not be overlooked. In the way of domestic manufactures the sawmill came first. The earliest were built on or near the Piscataqua River, but wherever water power was available they soon were set up replacing the laborious saw pits. As the woodlands were cut off the sawmills moved farther up the stream or logs were brought to the mill-sites by floating down with the current. The best of the tall trees were marked with the King's broad arrow and reserved for masts for the royal navy and mast ships sailed for England from Portsmouth, N.H., at frequent intervals.