90


Martin called them “froward and waspish, discontented people”; he would not “hear them, nor suffer them to go ashore, lest they should run away”. Cushman concluded: “Friend, if ever we make a plan- tation, God works a miracle, especially considering how scant we shall be of victuals, and most of all ununited amongst ourselves…” Bradford gives no dates for the time spent in Dartmouth, but it is usually taken from Cushman’s letter to be seven to ten days, starting 13th August. Where and by whom the repairs were done, we don’t know. There were carpenters among the ships’ crews; but Brad- ford’s reference to “work- men” and the “great charge” of the repairs suggests use of external shipwrights. A maritime survey of 1619


for the Duke of Buckingham shows that the shipbuilding industry in south Devon was concentrated in Dart- mouth and Plymouth. It lists 40 named shipwrights and 14 “coopers for the sea” in Dartmouth, and 5 shipwrights in Kingswear. By 1620, the shipbuilding yards in Dartmouth already extended from the centre of the town northwards along the Hardness shore of the river, round into Coombe creek. The map of the town drawn in 1619 by Nicholas Townsend shows several, with their yards stretching down to the river. Exactly where the Speed-


People in Dartmouth were hostile to the Pilgrims, fearing their religious radicalism.


uing problems in the Speedwell. But Bradford himself tells us that there were two causes: the Speedwell was “overmasted and too much pressed with sails … But more especially, by the cunning and deceit of the master and his company, who were hired to stay a whole year in the country, and now fancying dislike and fearing want of victuals, they plotted this stratagem to free themselves …” So Dartmouth’s shipwrights are exonerated! Another tradition is that people


The River Dart below “The Wilderness”. In the late 19thC it was thought that the ships anchored below a house called The Wilderness, towards Warfleet; but in


the 20thC, Bayards Cove became the favoured location.


well “lay a-mending” we don’t know, nor does Bradford mention where in the harbour the Mayflower was moored. In the late 19thC it was thought that the ships anchored below a house called The Wilderness, towards Warfleet; but in the 20thC, Bayards Cove became the favoured location. One oddly persistent myth is that it was Dartmouth shipwrights’ poor workmanship which caused contin-


in Dartmouth were hostile to the Pilgrims, fearing their religious rad- icalism. So, it is said the May- flower went up-river while the Speedwell was being repaired, and the company worshipped in a field to the north of Old Mill Creek, outside the town’s bounda- ries, before they once more departed for America. If so, Bradford makes no mention of it. Even if Christopher Martin’s objections to people going ashore were overcome, Cushman’s letter indicates that the problems experienced in Dartmouth had nothing to do with antagonism from people in the town. More positively, the Baptist community retains a tradition of assistance to the Pilgrims. It is possible that there was a Baptist commu- nity in Dartmouth as early as 1620; and possible, if so, that they helped. But again, if they did, Bradford says nothing about it. Why other


local traditions have developed showing Dartmouth in an unfavourable light, one can only speculate.


*Note: All dates are those in Bradford’s history, which


follows the Julian calendar, in use in England at this peri- od. For the modern equivalent, add ten days.


© Gail Ham, Dartmouth History Research Group The DHRG is working with Dartmouth Mayflower400 on a new Heritage Trail marking the visit of the Pilgrims to Dartmouth. For further information about the group, see our website www.dartmouth-history.org.uk or our many publications (available in the Community Bookshop, the Museum, or directly from the DHRG). New members are always welcome, and membership is free.


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