Tag Archives: mysteries

More about the Friendship

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In 1783 The Grand Turk, a merchant vessel not unlike the Friendship, set sail for the East When it returned with a cargo of pepper from Sumatra, Derby (the owner of The Grand Turk) made a profit of 700%.

After that, merchant ships began sailing back and forth to Turkey, India and finally China. Before the War for Independence, Great Britain had a lock on this trade, and they continued to try and maintain their hold. They stopped American vessels, impressed the seamen, blockaded the coast and otherwise made nuisances of themselves. Needless to say, all it really did was inflame passions and set the stage for the War of 1812.

By the time Will Rees visits Salem, it is sixth largest city in the US and the richest. And all that wealth rested on the backs of the sailors.

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Crews quarters. And a sailor didn’t ‘t ‘own’ your bunk either, but took whatever was available. The first mate’s quarters and captain’s quarters were marginally better. At least they had a whole room, not a large one but something to themselves.

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captain's quarters

 

 

 The captain had windows.

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the hold was designed for cargo but it was put below – where the crew slept – as well.

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Honestly, I felt claustrophobic the first few minutes I was down there.

More about American music

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When my husband and I were in Greece this past summer and went down to breakfast that first morning, a woman at a nearby table suddenly burst into a James Brown song. No lyrics, just the hook, bookended by a flood of Greek.

Although we haven’t had members of the native populations bursting into song in other countries, we have heard American music everywhere. Perhaps I should say American/British since the Stones and Led Zeppelin are well represented. As tourists, we hear plenty of the native Greek or Peruvian or other local music but the pop music is all the music we grew up with. And even the Stones and other British Bands we hear have been heavily influenced by the Blues, R and B and so on.

American music is one of our greatest exports, along with our movies.

And the interesting thing is that the ‘melting pot’ of the United States is really obvious in the music. From the Chansons Profanes of the French trappers, to the work songs (the sea shanties and field hollers), the drums of the Native Americans and of course the rhythmic music of the black slaves, American music is a combination that has really gone everywhere. (Think the popularity of Metallica in Japan!)

The history of rock from its beginnings in Blues is well documented but of course there have been other important influences, all ending up in James Brown sung by a Greek.

Shakers and the Simple Life

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The Shakers formed in the middle of the 1700’s and moved to the United States in 1774. So, at the time of  “The Simple Murder” in 1795 they were already established and rapidly growing. During the mid- nineteenth century the Shakers numbered between 4,000 and 5,000 members living in 19 communities that stretched from Maine to Kentucky. Several of these remain as museums. The converted community in Hancock, Mass has  interpretive guides after the Williamsburg model:  www.hancockshakervillage.org. Today, there are still three living Shakers residing in the Sabbathday Lake community near Auburn, Maine.

The more formal name for the Shakers, which they gave themselves, was United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or the Believers for short, but they were called The Shaking Quakers for the dancing, singing and twirling in their services. They also called their Church the Millennium Church since they expected their Church to last a thousand years.

            From the very beginning women played a significant role in the formation and shape of the sect. Ann Lee, who joined in 1758, claimed revelations regarding the fall of Adam and Eve, and preached celibacy. She became a highly influential and revered leader, called Mother Ann by her followers.  Many of her admonitions became part of the Shaker canon.

               “Good spirits will not live where there is dirt.”

            “Do your work as though you had a thousand years to live and as if you were to die tomorrow.”