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TheMaypoleThatInfuriatedthePuritans.pdf
Had it not been for his May Day party with a giant Maypole, Thomas Morton might have
established a New England colony more tolerant, easygoing and fun than the one his
dour Puritan neighbors created at Plymouth Plantation.
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THE MAYPOLE THAT INFURIATED THE PURITANS New England might have been different if they hadn't chopped it down
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A well-educated, well-connected, free-thinking Englishman, Morton came to America
for business reasons. He held a senior partnership in a trading venture sponsored by
the Crown. In 1624, he sailed aboard the Unity with Capt. Wollaston and 30 indentured
A traditional Maypole
Pumpkin Is A Squash
servants. They arrived safely, settled in the future Quincy, Mass., and then began
trading with the Indians for furs.
Morton wrote that he found two sorts of people in New England: the Christians and the
In�dels. The In�dels he found ‘most full of humanity, and more friendly than the other.’
Morton would battle the Puritans over the next two decades using his wit, his pen, his
political connections and his legal expertise. He even managed to get the royal charter
for the Massachusetts Bay Colony revoked.
Unfortunately for Morton, he tied his fortunes to the Crown. When the Puritan
Roundheads gained the ascendancy over Royalists in 1643, Massachusetts o�cials
arrested him. They called him a Royalist agitator and threw him into prison. Today
people might call him America’s �rst hippie.
Nathaniel Hawthorne best described Morton’s struggles with his neighbors in his short
story, The Maypole of Merrymount:
Pagan Past
Thomas Morton was born in 1576 in Devonshire, England, a part of the country that still
bore remnants of Merrie Old England’s pagan past. The son of a soldier, probably a
Jollity and gloom were contending for an empire.
Illustration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, ‘The Maypole of Merrymount’
younger son, he studied law in London at the Inns of Court, the barristers’ professional
association.
Morton’s lawyering brought him the connections that brought him to New England.
After he arrived he discovered he couldn’t get along with the Puritans at Plymouth
Plantation. So he, Wollaston and the indentured servants established their own colony,
Mount Wollaston. It grew quickly and grew prosperous.
Morton then parted ways with Wollaston in 1626 when he learned Wollaston sold
indentured servants into slavery on Virginia tobacco plantations. Morton encouraged
the remaining servants to rebel against Wollaston and set up their own colony.
They didn’t need much persuading. The servants organized themselves into a free
community called Merrymount with Morton in command. He called himself the ‘host.’
Wollaston �ed to Virginia.
Merrymount was a colonial utopia in which the settlers were considered ‘consociates.’
They lived in harmony with the Algonquin Indians. The Puritans were horri�ed that the
liberal-minded Morton and his men consorted with native women. They considered
Morton an impious, drunken libertine. And they didn’t like that his easygoing colony
attracted escapees from Plymouth’s strictness.
Those Moles
For his part, Morton disdained the Puritans at Plymouth, who he called ‘those Moles.’
He complained they ‘keep ‘much ado about the tithe of mint and cumin, troubling their
brains more than reason would require about things that are indi�erent.’
Morton called the pompous John Endicott ‘that great swelling fellow, Captain
Littleworth.’ He nicknamed the short Myles Standish ‘Captain Shrimpe.’
On May 1, 1627, Merrymount decided to throw a party in the manner of Merrie Olde
England, Maypole and all. Morton hoped it would attract some Indian brides for his
bachelor followers. According to Morton,
“The inhabitants of Merrymount … did devise amongst themselves to have … Revels, and
merriment after the old English custom … & therefore brewed a barrell of excellent beer, &
Bye-bye Maypole
Gov. William Bradford was horri�ed by the ‘beastly practices of ye mad Bacchanalians.’
After a second Maypole party the next year, Myles Standish led a party of armed men to
Merrymount, seized Morton and put him in chains. Standish also took down the
o�ending Maypole.
Not a shot was �red. According to Morton, the Merrymount inhabitants didn’t want
bloodshed. According to Bradford, they’d had so much to drink they couldn’t resist.
Bradford feared executing Morton, who had too many friends in high places in London.
He did maroon him on the Isles of Shoals until September, when an English ship took
him back to England. During the next winter, an especially harsh one, John Endicott led
a raid on Merrymount’s corn supply. The Puritans then chopped down what was left of
the Maypole.
provided a case of bottles to be spent, with other good cheer, for all comers of that day. And
upon Mayday they brought the Maypole to the place appointed, with drums, guns, pistols, and
other �tting instruments, for that purpose; and there erected it with the help of Savages, that
came thither of purpose to see the manner of our Revels. A goodly pine tree of 80 foot long,
was reared up, with a pair of buckshorns nailed on, somewhat near unto the top of it; where it
stood as a fair sea mark for directions, how to �nd out the way to mine Host of Ma-re Mount.”
Capt. Littleworth
Morton returned to New England in 1629, only to �nd his friends the Indians decimated
by plague. Most of the Merrymount residents scattered and the Puritans’ strength
increased. In September 1630, the Puritans arrested Morton again. They banished him
and burned down Merrymount.
Canaan
In England, Morton plotted his revenge. Even as William Bradford was writing his
History of Plimoth Plantation, Morton wrote New English Canaan, a witty composition
that praised the wisdom and humanity of the Indians and mocked the Puritans. It
made him a celebrity in political circles.
He also began a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Bay Colony, trying to revoke their
charter. He succeeded, mostly because of King Charles’ animosity toward the Puritans.
When the court ordered the charter revoked in 1634, Morton planned to return to
Merrymount.
The Puritans, however, rejected the English court’s order. From 1637 to 1643, Morton
and Sir Ferdinando Gorges petitioned for either a charter or an enforcement action.
Unfortunately for Morton, the Crown had its own troubles – namely, the English Civil
War.
Back to Plymouth
In 1642, Morton returned to Plymouth again, and again the Puritans arrested him. Not
only did they view him as a ‘Royalist agitator,’ they blamed him for getting the charter
revoked. They then sent him to prison in Boston, but didn’t charge him. Eventually, the
Puritans granted the ill and aging Morton clemency.
Morton then spent his �nal days in York, Maine. He died in 1647.
Over the years other rebels and free-thinkers have lived in Merrymount, now
Wollaston. Anne Hutchinson, who challenged the Puritan theocracy, lived there with
her husband when they �rst arrived in New England in 1634. John Hancock was born
there, and John Quincy Adams’ great-grandfather built a house on land in Wollaston. In
1925, a man named Howard Johnson built the �rst Howard Johnson’s there.
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The Trials of Thomas Morton: An Anglican Lawyer, His Puri... by Peter C. Mancall $36.00
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This story about the maypole that infuriated the Puritans was updated in 2023. Read
more about Thomas Morton in The Trials of Thomas Morton: An Anglican Lawyer, His
Puritan Foes, and the Battle for a New England by Peter C. Mancall. You can help
independent bookstores and The New England Historical Society by buying it here.
FLASHBACK PHOTO: QUEEN OF THE MAY, 1942 AILEEN RIGGIN, RHODE ISLAND’S TINY OLYMPIC SWIMMER WHO MADE A BIG SPLASH
MATT KIVELA
May 1, 2014 - 9:27 pm
BEER BOSTON BUSINESS CIVIL WAR ENGLAND ENGLISH CIVIL WAR HISTORY INDIANS INNS
ISLES OF SHOALS JOHN ENDICOTT JOHN HANCOCK JOHN QUINCY ADAMS KING CHARLES I LAW MA
MAINE MASSACHUSETTS MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY MYLES STANDISH NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
NATIVE AMERICANS PLAGUE PLIMOTH PLANTATION PLYMOUTH PLYMOUTH COLONY PRISON PUBLISHING
PURITAN PURITANS QUINCY SLAVERY THOMAS MORTON UTOPIA UTOPIAN COMMUNITIES WAR
WILLIAM BRADFORD WINTER WOMEN WRITING YORK
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45 COMMENTS
Guys, come on — You’re the New England Historical Society and you just got a
critical and fundamental fact of our history wrong.
Plymouth Colony was founded and controlled by Pilgrims. They had already
seperated from the Puritans before coming to America.
Massachusetts Bay Colony, which Quincy was in, was founded and controlled
by Puritans.
The Pilgrims, primarily, just wanted to worship in peace. The Puritans on the
other hand wanted to be, well, puritanical in their pursuit of religious purity.
LESLIE LANDRIGAN
May 2, 2014 - 7:27 am
Matt: Thank you for your interest. It’s really a matter of opinion rather
than fact about whether to call the colonists at Plymouth Plantation
‘Puritans’ or not. We choose to view them as separating Puritans and
the Massachusetts Bay colonists non-separating Puritans, as do many
historians. The two groups shared many of the same beliefs, including
the horror of paganism illustrated in this story.
Yes, Quincy was in the Massachusetts Bay Colony; that’s why Morton
wanted to revoke the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter. The Pilgrims
at Plymouth Plantation were in the neighboring colony of Plymouth.
The facts of the story suggest strongly that ‘worshiping in peace’ wasn’t
quite what Plymouth Plantation was all about, since they harassed
Morton, stole the corn at Merrymount and burned the village. ‘New
English Canaan’ describes some of their harsh and puritanical
practices.
DR JACK DEMPSEY
May 2, 2016 - 12:50 am
Actually, “Puritan” was a term of derision given generally to
those of the Protestant Reformation who wanted to “purify”
English culture of its Catholic (and by extension, pagan)
Molly Landrig
elements. So it �t both groups of Plimoth and Mass. Bay
colonists, while “Pilgrim” was a title bestowed only much later
by historians, taken from a self-descriptive remark in an early
writing by William Bradford.
MOLLY LANDRIGAN
May 2, 2014 - 11:57 am
Whatever happened to the custom of decorating May Baskets and leaving
them on your friends doorsteps on May 1st?
THELMA BARNES
May 2, 2014 - 2:16 pm
Far out!
THELMA BARNES
May 2, 2014 - 2:16 pm
Far out!
JIM COOKE
June 12, 2014 - 3:34 am
An interesting post – Thank you! Thomas Morton’s story is too much
neglected.
My favorite description of either Puritans or Pilgrims: “They came here to
worship as they saw �t – and see that everyone else did, too!”
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No one really disagreed. It just didn’t bother some people the way it did
Mather and the […]
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[…] early government. But his demeanor – ‘a mad jack in his mood,’ fellow
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started when a man named Thomas Morton arrived in the New […]
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[…] were very di�erent in the 17th century, when May Day was seen as
downright sinister. According to the New England Historical Society, it all
started when a man named Thomas Morton arrived in the New […]
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[…] him Arlo Guthrie and Richard Robbins were the culprits. O�cer Obie, who
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[…] the 1600s, Thomas Morton founded a town called Merrymount (which was
at the time an obscene slang term) and built a giant penis (a Maypole) in the
town […]
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[…] the 1600s, Thomas Morton founded a town called Merrymount (which was
at the time an obscene slang term) and built a giant penis (a Maypole) in the
town […]
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[…] and invited neighbouring Indians over to kick up their heels with beer,
poetry, and dancing under an eighty foot maypole. One of their songs included
the lines ‘Lasses in beaver coats come away, Yee shall be welcome […]
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[…] much of the Indian population died there weren’t enough left to bury the
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[…] 1629, the carousing, fun-loving colonist Thomas Morton had the e�rontery
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[…]
FRANK HADLEY MURPHY
October 27, 2017 - 10:22 pm
Great article! It’s easy to identify with Morton rather than with my 11 ancestors
on the May�ower. (My family’s still resides in the Plymouth area.) As a lifetime
member of the Massachusetts Descendants Society and being from Wollaston,
we, the descendants, sometimes forget that if it were not the Tribal,
Indigenous (Wampanoag) people of Southeastern Massachusetts we, I, would
not be here. So thank you Samoset, Squanto and Massasoit. Concerning the
religion of my foremothers and forefathers, I have concluded that Christianity
isn’t a religion but a pathology…and this is after seminary.
PAT
January 20, 2018 - 11:56 pm
Why do you say merrymount is now Wollaston? That’s not true. Merrymount is
still Merymount and Wollaston is a separate section. As a child I used to dance
around the maypole on maypole day with my fellow classmates at
merrymount School.
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[…] This story was updated in 2018. If you enjoyed it, you may also want to
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[…] a coincidence, given the men erected an 80-foot pole in the center of
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directions,” describing it as […]
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[…] a coincidence, given the men erected an 80-foot pole in the center of
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[…] a coincidence, given the men erected an 80-foot pole in the center of
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[…] banished him from America. After attempting to start a free community in
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community. In […]
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[…] baniram da América. Depois de tentar iniciar uma comunidade livre na
Nova Inglaterra, Morton foi preso e enviado de volta à Inglaterra por convidar o
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povo nativo de Alongquin para uma celebração pagã de mastro em sua nova
[…]
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[…] the 1600s, Thomas Morton founded a town called Merrymount (which was
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[…] to Roger Williams’ arguments for separation of church and state, and even
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Home Arts and Leisure Flashback Photo: Queen of the May, 1942
FLASHBACK PHOTO: QUEEN OF THE MAY, 1942 4 comments
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Fenno Jacobs took this photograph of a Queen of the May school celebration in 1942 as
part of a war propaganda campaign. He was part of a team of photographers who spent
the month in Southington, Conn., taking pictures of residents at work and at leisure.
The photos were compiled into a booklet designed to show friends and enemies in
Europe the traditions and values of typical American families. Thousands of copies
were dropped over Europe from military planes during the Nazi occupation.
Jacobs titled the photo ‘Queen of the May’ and noted, ‘Half kids polish, half Italian.’
Queen of the May, 1942. Photo courtesy Library of
Congress.
SOUTHINGTON CONN. WORLD WAR II
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Home Business and Labor Harriet Low Makes Some Fun With a Duel That Didn’t Happen
HARRIET LOW MAKES SOME FUN WITH A DUEL THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
THE MAYPOLE THAT INFURIATED THE PURITANS
ETHEN KENNEDDAY
November 11, 2018 - 1:12 pm
e charter revoked. They sent him to prison in Boston, but didn’t charge him.
The Puritans granted the ill and aging Moron clemency.
Typo
LESLIE LANDRIGAN
November 13, 2018 - 10:54 am
Oh my! Good catch. It’s been �xed.
LESLIE LANDRIGAN
November 13, 2018 - 10:58 am
Oh dear! Thanks for pointing it out. We �xed it.
DR JACK DEMPSEY
September 26, 2019 - 5:03 am
Boston had nothing (zero) with which to charge Morton under existing
law—it was a matter of pure hatred, fear and revenge. On that basis nor
did they grant him “clemency”—after Morton’s nearly freezing to death
in an unheated jail cell through the winter, Boston let the “old and
crazy” (in�rm) fellow go before he could die on their hands. By then
they had enough problems with the English government.
4 COMMENTS
Harriet Low left out an important detail in her April 30, 1832 diary entry about a duel
that almost happened: She was in love with one of the duellists.
She was a 22-year-old native of
Salem, Mass., living in the Portuguese
colony of Macao. She was keeping her
aunt Abigail Low company while her
uncle, William Low, tended to the
China trade in Canton about 60 miles
away. William W. Wood, the son of
well-known Philadelphia actors, was
her uncle’s secretary. Wood had
edited one of the �rst English-
speaking newspaper in China, The
Canton Register. The publication criticized the predatory East India Company and the
strict rules of the Chinese authorities. It didn’t sit well with the East India Company
and Wood was forced to resign. He later started the Courier, which is when he fell in
love with Harriet Low.
HARRIET LOW MAKES SOME FUN WITH A DUEL THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
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Canton in the 1850s
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Harriet agreed to marry him, but her uncle would have none of it. He forbade her to
marry the ‘penniless adventurer,’ and she broke it o�. William Wood never married.
On April 30, 1732, Harriet Low wrote:
Home Arts and Leisure Flashback Photo: Arthur Fiedler Conducts the Boston Pops
A melancholy a�air I heard of the other day has just been made public, and what do you think
was very near taking place? A duel, yes, a duel in China, in this little family, as it were. The
two unhappy editors [Mr. W., of the Courier, and Mr. K., of the Register, both of Canton.–Ed)
have been sparring for a long time. It was begun by the Register, and the Courier, having all
the ability and talent on his side, was able to drive the Register completely from his ground.
The latter (�nding he was nearly beaten in argument) thought to put the other down by
treating him with “silent contempt,” upon which the editor of the Courier made some remarks
which caused Mr. K. to call on Mr. W. and demand an apology, which Mr. W. refused to make
unless Mr. K. would do the same to him; but no, nothing would do but an “unquali�ed
apology.” Whereupon, having refused this, Mr. W. received, and immediately accepted, a
challenge, and, as his privilege, appointed time and place. Mr. K. made divers objections to
�ghting in Canton, and �nally went o� to Lintin, where he has stayed till this time, and Mr. W.
is honorably exonerated from the duel. Everybody says that he has behaved like a gentleman,
and Mr. K. has not. Much as I hate duelling, and much as I think it should be shamed an put
down, I do think there are some cases in which a man must �ght, in the present state of
society. This is the talk of the place now, as you may suppose. As it did not end seriously, it
makes some fun.
FLASHBACK PHOTO: ARTHUR FIEDLER CONDUCTS THE BOSTON POPS
FLASHBACK PHOTO: QUEEN OF THE MAY, 1942
CHINA TRADE SALEM
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Though the Boston Pops Orchestra was founded on April 30, 1885, it didn’t come into
its own until Arthur Fiedler became its conductor in 1930. People didn’t even know it as
the Pops wasn’t even the Pops at �rst: The orchestra played “Promenade Concerts”
until 1900.
FLASHBACK PHOTO: ARTHUR FIEDLER CONDUCTS THE BOSTON POPS
2 comments
Henry Lee Higginson founded the Boston Pops four years after founding the Boston
Symphony Orchestra. A wealthy Boston philanthropist, he also gave 31 acres of land to
Harvard known as Soldiers Field in honor of his friends killed in the Civil War: Robert
Gould Shaw, Charles Russell Lowell and James Jackson Lowell.
Higginson’s father was a well-to-do stockbroker who didn’t own his own house or
horse until a few years before his death. Henry dropped out of Harvard because of eye
fatigue and became a clerk in a small shipping company. Six years later he joined the
Union Army and was wounded at the Battle of Aldie. He tried several careers but
ultimately gave up and joined his father’s �rm, Lee, Higginson & Co. By 1881 he was rich
enough to hire an orchestra as good as any in Europe.
Arthur Fiedler Arrives
Arthur Fiedler conducting for the NBC Radio program Boston
Pops Orchestra
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Higginson wrote of his desire to present “concerts of a lighter kind of music.” The Pops
got started, but it didn’t thrive. It had 17 conductors until Arthur Fiedler came along.
Fiedler made the Boston Pops into a world-famous institution. He invented the free
outdoor concert and a unique format that alternated light classics and popular music.
His showmanship and sense of fun brought twirling double basses and in�atable
sharks to the concert stage. He became Boston’s most famous resident, beloved by the
city but not by the musicians.
Fiedler wanted to broaden the appeal of classical music and insisted the orchestra play
popular tunes. He also introduced novelty numbers like Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson.
Below is a photograph of the 2008 Fourth of July concert on the Charles River
Esplanade.
This story updated in 2022.
BOSTON MUSIC PHILANTHROPY
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OLIVER ELLSWORTH: FOUNDING FATHER AND YALE DROPOUT
HARRIET LOW MAKES SOME FUN WITH A DUEL THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN
THELMA BARNES
April 30, 2014 - 11:15 am
What a man!
THELMA BARNES
April 30, 2014 - 11:15 am
What a man!
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