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Upham, National Barred Rock Journal, 1915

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your valued favor of Oct. 29th. While I am very sorry to have been the occasion of occupying so much of your time, still I am very glad to have you express yourself so fully on the present status of the Grand Old Barred Plymouth Rock, and I can stand naturally, too, by your side, and defend it to the last ditch. However we seem to be just a bit at variance in this defense, but a little explanation may create a platform on which we both can stand with perfect unanimity.

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William Charles Denny, Standard-Bred Plymouth Rocks, 1911

It has become no rare thing for American-made breeds of fowls to enjoy that favor abroad which has been accorded American achievement in all phases of human advancement; and the Plymouth Rock, a breed distinctively American in its origin, will retain an enviable position in the history of standard-bred fowl as the earliest breed to win extended popularity in every clime and among all civilized peoples. The Plymouth Rock, in place of being the creation of a group of fanciers during the third quarter of the last century that we are fain to regard it, was in reality the unstudied product of practical breeders, and its makeup perpetuates the history of a century of poultry-keeping upon American farm. Like many a son of the soil that ultimately bloomed into a hero when some timely emergency demonstrated an unsuspected phase of greatness, this disregarded farm-yard fowl, too rustic-appearing and dependably useful to pose as a celebrity — a true ugly duckling, until the age produced a fancier with the insight to recognize the great of the swan — when lo, the breed was revealed in all its deserving quality. When we come to consider all the facts and conditions we shall agree that those who filled the chief role in the origin of the Plymouth Rock were the importers of the Dorking, Spanish and Asiatic fowls. Nevertheless, we celebrate the achievement of its introducer — a man gifted with the essential foresight and initiative to recognize merit in homespun, to snatch this breed from its rustic environment and bring it forward to the appreciation of the fancier. As the daisy under the poet’s magic touch straightway ceased to be a weed, so our eyes only wanted the proper focus of sentiment in order to perceive and appreciate the simple beauty of the Plymouth Rock.

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Samuel Adams Drake, On Plymouth Rock, 1897

There are some things which the young people of this country should know by heart. Foremost among them is the simple, yet noble, story of the Pilgrim Fathers. How much this story transcends all others was lately emphasized by the high honors paid to the ancient manuscript history of Plymouth Colony, written by Governor Bradford, upon its return to its rightful owners, in this country. Nobody can read it without being deeply moved. It takes us back, along the deep-flowing river of time, to the very fountain-head of our national life. It is a story to be proud of. Not to the book alone, but to the grand heroism it tells us of, the sterling character it reveals, were these high honors paid. To the faint-hearted there is a strengthening power in its pages. To the strong it is a splendid example of serene fortitude, of high resolve. Holding these views, I have given as much of Bradford’s own story as possible in the following pages, interwoven with the relations of Mourt and Winslow, to which Bradford himself makes frequent reference. Regarded merely as showing the steps by which our first New England colony was founded, it is both valuable and instructive. I do not try to go beyond the reach of young minds. My chief object has been to infuse the true spirit of the ancient narratives into my own. But let the story speak for itself. July, 1897. …… In a certain barren corner of New England, on a bleak November day of the year 1620, a little weather-beaten ship gently rose and fell on the long ground swell that swept on past her to the shores beyond. Her rusty anchor was down, her stiffening sails furled. Like some solitary sea bird, blown to a strange coast, she, too, had silently folded her weary wings, and gladly settled down upon the quiet waters of a thrice-welcome haven of rest. But why has the strange ship battled with storm and tempest to reach this distant coast? What seeks she in this lonely spot? Why comes she here?

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American Tariffs from Plymouth Rock to McKinley, 1892

Since 1620, and through our Colonial history, but especially since the Treaty of 1783, by which the Revolutionary War was closed, and our independence established, we have tried and thoroughly tested all the different phases of this economic question, from extreme free trade, under the Confederacy (1783 to 1789), to the high protective tariff, under the rule of the Republican Party, since 1861. Free Trade Under the Confederacy. — It is an historical fact, though comparatively few of our people seem to be aware of it, that during the Confederacy, the period preceding the adoption of our constitution, we made for the first and only time in our history a full and fair trial of free trade, of practically unrestricted imports. England boasts of being the great free trade nation of the world, but she has never had a free trade system that approaches the one we “enjoyed” from 1783 to 1789. How much we enjoyed it appears hereafter. Congress Under the Confederacy. — Under the Confederacy, the States were held together by a rope of sand. The powers of Congress were exceedingly limited, especially on this question. It had no authority to enact a general tariff on imports without the consent of every one of the thirteen States, and such consent was never given. The States thought that they were, individually, competent to manage those matters for themselves, and that they could protect their separate rights better than Congress could do it for them. Each State had the right to regulate its own trade, and each imposed upon foreign products, and upon the products of the other States, such duties as it deemed best. Each strove to secure trade for itself, without regard to the interests of any other State.

Jealousy of the States. — Jealousy of each other seems to have been the underlying motive of their unfortunate actions.

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Standard Varieties of Chickens, 1889

Page 5: The American class includes the following standard breeds and varieties: Breeds: Plymouth Rock: Barred, White, Buff, Silver, Penciled, Partridge, Columbian. Wyandotte: White, Buff, Silver, Golden, Partridge, Silver Pencilled, Columbian, Black. Java: Black, Mottled. Dominique. Rhode Island Red: Single Comb, Rose Comb. Buckeye. …… The Plymouth Rock has been for years the most popular breed in the United States. The Barred Plymouth Rock was the original variety and was developed in the United States, various liens of blood being used in the making. It is probable that the Dominique, the Black Cochin, the Black Java, the Brahma, and the Pit Game were used for this purpose. The size and type or shape of all the varieties of Plymouth Rocks are supposed to be identical. In general the breed may be described as a good-sized, rather long-bodied chicken, with fairly prominent breast and good depth of body, showing when dressed a well-rounded, compact carcass. This breed has a single comb and yellow legs, bill, and skin. The standard weight of cocks is 9 1/2 pounds; of hens, 7 1/2 pounds; cockerels, 8 pounds; pullets, 6 pounds. They are layers of good-sized, brown-shelled eggs, and are reputed especially as winter layers. Page 6: The Barred Plymouth Rock … is by far the most popular general-purpose or farm fowl. This variety has so long been a favorite with the general public that the barred color is generally associated with quality in table fowls. The Barred Plymouth Rock plumage is a grayish white, each feather of which is crossed by dark bars which are almost black. It is desired that these bars should be as even in width, as parallel, as straight, and as well carried down to the skin as possible. Each feather should end with a narrow, dark tip. The barring in the hackle and saddle is narrower than in other sections. The alternating dark and light bars give a bluish cast or shade to the general color, which should be even throughout the surface. It is common for solid black feathers or feathers which are partly black to occur in practically all strains in this variety, but this should not be taken as a sign of impure breeding. Black spots are also common occurrences on the shanks, particularly in females, but this does not indicate impurity. Page 9: The White Plymouth Rock (see illustration on title page) is the second most popular variety of this breed. All the characteristics of the White Plymouth Rock are supposed to be identical with those of the Barred Plymouth Rock except color. As a matter of fact the White Plymouth Rock tends to run somewhat larger in size, and the type is a little more uniform and a little better than that of the Barred Plymouth Rock. In color the White Plymouth Rock should be a pure white throughout, free from black ticking and from any brassiness or creaminess. The Buff Plymouth Rock is distinguished from the other Rocks by the color alone, which should be an even shade of golden buff throughout. Shafting, or the presence of features having a shaft of different color from the rest of the feather, and mealiness, or the presence of features sprinkled with lighter color as though powdered with meal, are undesirable. As deep an underfloor of buff as it is possible to obtain is desirable. There is a great difference of opinion as to what constitutes desirable buff color, some favoring the lighter color, approaching lemon, while others favor a much darker buff, approaching red. The important point is to have the shade as even as possible over the entire surface. Page 10: The Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock is one of the new varieties. Its plumage is distinctive and very beautiful. In general, the plumage of the male consists of a silver white top color, extending over the shoulders and back, the hackle and saddle striped with black. The rest of the body plumage, including the main tail feathers and sickles, is black. The wings when folded show a bar of black extending across below the shoulder. Below this the wing shows white, due to the white on the outside of the secondaries. In the female the general trend of color is gray, with delicate, distinct, concentric penciling of dark on each feather except the hackle, each feather of which is silvery white with a black center, showing a light gray penciling, and the main tail feathers, which are black, with the two top feathers showing some penciling. The color of the plumage is practically the same as that of the Dark Brahma. The Partridge Plymouth Rock is also one of the newer varieties of this breed. The coloring of this variety is very attractive and is practically the same as that of the Partridge Cochin and also of the Silver Penciled Plymouth Rock, except that the white of the Silver Penciled is replaced by red or reddish brown. Page 11: The Colombian Plymouth Rock a variety of comparatively recent origin, is very attractive in coloring and has proved quite popular. In general the color is white, the hackle features being black with a narrow edging of white, and the main tail feathers black, the tail coverts being black with a distinct white lacing. The wings also carry some black on the primary and secondary feathers, which is almost hidden when the wings are folded. The color of this variety is practically the same as that of the Light Brahma. The Wyandotte is a rose-comb breed and is characterized as a bred of curves. The body is comparatively round and set somewhat lower on the legs than the Plymouth Rock. It is inclined to be a looser feathered breed, and its general shape and character of feathering gives it an appearance of being somewhat short backed and short bodied. The Wyandotte is a breed which also was developed in the United States, and has become very popular. Page 12: The Silver Wyandotte was the original variety, and it is generally believed that the Dark Brahma, the Silver-Spangled Hamburg, and the Buff Cochin played a part in its origin. It is somewhat smaller than the Plymouth Rock, the standard weight being, for the cock, 8 1/2 pounds; hen, 6 1/2 pounds; cockerel, 7 1/2 pounds; pullet, 5 1/2 pounds. The hens are fairly prolific layers of brown eggs, are reputed to be good winter layers, and the breed as a whole makes a fine table fowl. The young chickens do not tend to have the same leggy stage which is characteristic of the Rocks and most of the other general-purpose breeds, and the breed its therefore well suited for the production of broilers. Like the Plymouth Rock, all the varieties of this breed are yellow legged and yellow skinned, which adds to their market popularity. Page 13: In the Buff Wyandotte the color should be an even shade of buff throughout, being identical with that of the Buff Plymouth Rock. Page 14: In the Partridge Wyandotte the color is the same as in the Partridge Plymouth Rock. In the Silver-Penciled and Columbian Wyandottes … the color is the same as in the corresponding varieties of the Plymouth Rocks. Page 15: The Dominique … is also one of the oldest of the American breeds. The Dominique color is associated in the minds of people throughout the country with the barnyard fowl and is frequently confused with the Barred Plymouth Rock color. The Dominique is somewhat smaller and somewhat slighter in body, with a tail somewhat longer and sickles more prominent, than the other American breeds. This breed has a rose comb and yellow legs and skin. The hens lay brown-shelled eggs and are good table fowls, although somewhat smaller than the other general-purpose breeds. Page 16: In color of plumage the Dominique has a general bluish or slaty cast, the feathers in all sections being barred throughout with alternate, rather irregular, dark and light bars. The markings somewhat resemble those of the Barred Plymouth Rock, but are less distinct, and lack the clean-cut character of the Plymouth Rock barring. Like the Barred Plymouth Rock, each feather should end with a dark tip. The Dominique male may be, and often is, one or two shades lighter than the female. Slate undercolor occurs throughout. Page 17: In type the Rhode Island Red has a rather long, rectangular body and is somewhat rangier in appearance than the Plymouth Rock or the Wyandotte. The hens are prolific layers of brown-shelled eggs, and the breed makes a very suitable table fowls, having yellow legs and yellow skin. The Rhode Island Reds have enjoyed an excellent reputation for hardiness, which, in the main, they have well deserved. The standard weights for this breed are; Cock, 8 1/2 pounds; hen, 6 1/2 pounds; cockerel, 7 1/2 pounds; pullet, 5 pounds.

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Frederick H. Ayres, The Plymouth Rock as the Fowl for General Use, 1878

Page 7: In giving to a particular breeder, or a special combination of distinct bloods the credit of originating the Plymouth Rock fowls, we must speak rather of the creation of a name than of the production of a breed. That this is the case is due to the fact that the popular name of Plymouth Rock has been applied to very different classes of fowls. More than a quarter of a century ago Dr. Bennett in his “Poultry Book” gave an illustration of a fowl which he had originated by crossing a Cochin China cock and a hen, a cross of Fawn Colored Dorking, Malay and the wild India Fowl. This fowl had thus one half Cochin, one fourth Dorking, one eighth Malay, and one eighty wild Indian blood. From the Cochin they inherited feathered legs, from the Dorking a frequent fifth tow and from the other two breeds a bluish leg. From the mixed blood of the different parent stocks, this original Plymouth Rock obtained a plumage almost as diversified as Joseph’s coat. Dr. Bennett says of their plumage, that they “are usually red or speckled, and the pullets darkish brown.” Page 8: That there is much in a name is shown by the fact that the old style Plymouth Rocks, spite of their many defects, were very popular and widely known. The Modern Plymouth Rock is a very different fowl from the one we have just described, and was produced from very different stock, though, as is too well known to need comment, it is a cross-bred bird. In appearance this modern fowl very strongly resembles the Dominiques, and differs from them only in increased bulkiness, and in the comb, which is single. Unlike Dr. Bennett’s stock, which originated in one place and in one breeder’s poultry yard, the modern fowls originated in a number of places (if the apparently contradictory expression may be allowed), and in the yards of different breeders. Connecticut and Massachusetts both lay claim to the honor of their production, and both fail to show a perfectly clear record of the are from its inception to the time when the breed was admitted to the Standard, in our opinion. “Who shall decide when doctors disagree.” Whatever the merits of the Upham-Ramsdell controversy may be, the question of the rival claimants has been long since settled in the minds of all breeders, and a review of their statement is unnecessary. The Plymouth Rock is a cross of Dominique and Java blood, and this fact is of more importance in breeding than the name of the first breeder. Page 9: Without going at length into any discussion of priority, we shall take the Plymouth Rock as we find it today; undeniably the greatest favorite, as a fowl for all purposes, in the poultry yard. So great is its popularity, and so rapidly has its culture increased, that almost before its champions had fairly tested their lungs at heralding “the coming fowl” its name was known, and its merits discussed from Maine to California. Discussion was followed by trial, and trial by approval; and so rapidly did their fame increase that, although they were publicly exhibited, by Mr. D.H. Uphill, for the first time, in 1869, they now number nearly as many as any of the older favorites. Page 10: To obtain a cross of the very best sort we must breed from parent stock of full and redundant vigor on both sides. In such a case the distinct blood of each parent will struggle for generations to assert itself, and the result will be years of apparently thankless toil before a perfect union is established; but the breeder is repaid at last by the strength which his flock develops, which could never have survived the needful in-breeding had the original pair been so deficient in power as to allow of any easy amalgamation of opposing elements. From this point of view the Plymouth Rock is almost the ideal cross. Like Mr. Podsnap, commencing with a good property he has married a good property and thriven exceedingly. The Plymouth rocks are probably the most perfectly adapted to all climates and localities of any of the modern varieties of Standard fowls. Their thrift is of the greatest, and in addition to their native superabundance of strength and consequent freedom from the ordinary ailments which make such vicious attacks on the young of all domesticated creatures, they possess a perfect business suit, which covers slight discolorations due to influences of soil or atmosphere, with a very effective mantle of charity. Page 12: With regard to the Plymouth Rocks, however, we need feel no uneasiness as yet. Though the breed is Standard it has not been refined to any such degree as have the older varieties, and we do not expect to reach such perfectly symmetrical markings, or such perfection of comb as can be seen in the Light Brahma, at the cost of only a few seasons of labor and care. Eventually we shall reach our objective point; and at no distant day, if the improvement continues as rapidly as it has been doing. Meanwhile the late union of totally distinct forces, and the small amount of in-breeding which has been resorted to, make the Plymouth Rock of 1878 a bird of the strongest and best constitution, with the full share of pre-potency which insures abundant and virile reproduction. Page 14: The Plymouth Rock is, all things considered, one of the best of all the many candidates for the position of “the farmer’s fowls,” that has ever been bred in this country. The farmer’s object in keeping poultry is generally quite simple, and fixed on the two points of eggs and meat. The fowl that will give him a good supply of eggs through a great part of the year, and furnish its quota of “young roosters” for the Thanksgiving market is, and will long be the favorite. It is precisely here that this breed hit hardest and makes itself most popular. Its rapid growth, solid Dorking shaped body, and last but not least, its pure yellow legs, give it an advantage over many other perhaps as good varieties. Quite a number of years ago, before the Plymouth rock was well known even among breeders, we were at a country seaside hotel kept by a gaunt fellow, who supplied his own poultry for the season, and exhibited it to us with pride. As he opened the door of the fowl house a motley regiment, Falstaffian in everything but size, came trooping out in a manner that was too much for human gravity. Of course we apologized and praised his stock, but he was not satisfied and commenced to tell us about the old style blue fowls that were formerly so good and common. After some general remarks he described the fowls, and sure enough it was the Plymouth rock, even then the favorite fowl for the table. Page 15: In writing on this subject we expect to tread on the corns of many breeders of this variety, for the simple reason that scarce two Plymouth Rock men agree on the very first principles of mating. All are aiming at a central target represented by the perfect bird as described by the Standard, but they seem to stand as far apart as possible, when we consider that they have a common object and nearly the same materials with which to attain it. Page 17: It seems clear, to our mind, that the facts of the original cross must have escaped Mr. Felch’s attention in considering this matter. We had the Dominique, and it was a very satisfactory fowl save that it lacked size. In color it was all that was required. The only object in crossing was to gain weight. With the weight came black blood, and the next step was the attempt to retain size and expel the black taint. Had we aimed to procure a feathering midway between the two parent stocks our task would have been an easy one, but this was not what was desired. We wanted all the marks of the Dominique without any of those of the other parent. Here comes in the true stumbling block over which so many have been puzzled. It is almost as difficult to make a true Java Dominique as it would be to make a Leghorn Cochin; a Cochin in size but a true Leghorn in markings and form. Should anyone propose such a cross the task of perfecting it would seem gigantic; and yet just such a Herculean task is well nigh accomplished in the Plymouth Rocks. Page 18: The point of having the legs a pure yellow is one on which, to our thinking, much stress should be laid. How many men in a thousand dare pick out at the market a black legged and heated fowl for home consumption? Who that has tried it does not know the housewife’s protest. The meat of a black cull is just as juicy as that of his yellow-limbed brother, but there is no denying the fact that the yellow skin is more attractive at the dinner table. With this prejudice (no matter how groundless) in existence it is useless for marksmen or those who supply them to furnish any but yellow-legged birds, and so the farmer, to reach one of his objects, can have no better fowls than the Plymouth Rocks. Page 19: The dress of the Plymouth Rock is its last qualification for life on the farm, and is homespun to a dot. No matter how much hayseed this breed gets in its plumage it is none the worse in any way. What People Say. We might sum up the opinions of fanciers, both those who breed the Plymouth Rocks and those who do not, in a few words of general commendation, but we prefer letting those who have earned the right to their opinions tell them in their own language. The veteran fancier Mr. Walter F. Taber in a letter written no long ago, gives his opinion as follows: “Having visited the Centennial Poultry Exhibition, and observed the fowls of this much written and talked about class shown at Philadelphia, it occurred to my mind that those not familiar with them would have much diffculty in fixing the type of what constitutes a Plymouth Rock. Page 21: I think that I am not alone in this feeling, and I should be glad to hear from some of the veterans in the poultry cause, particularly the breeders of the American Plymouth Rocks.’ A Hint From Nature: D.D. Bishop, writes as follows: “Most of the fanciers and others who come to my yard to look at or to ask after Plymouth Rocks, seem to be all at sea in the matter of matching. They seem bound to put dark cocks and hens together, and also match the light cocks and hens by themselves. I have not succeeded so far in persuading them that the way the cocks and hens do actually come as regards the shape (compared with each other), from a pen matched to suit, should furnish a hint as to what should go together. ….. Now in breeding Plymouth Rocks, and the same is true of Dominiques, the cocks mostly run lighter than the pullets from the same pen. Page 22: Let the Plymouth Rocks up from the accusation that they do not breed true to color, until it is settled that the rule by which they throw their colors is not disregarded. Page 24: Matching in the Show-Pen. H.W.C., in a communication to the Poultry World discourses on the subject of matching in the show-pen as follows: The proper number of birds to be exhibited in a pen has been so often discussed that it would seem to require a good deal of confidence to enter the arena and attempt to say a word on the subject. The topic of disqualification has been quite thoroughly discussed likewise. Yet we venture to say a word on one of the disqualifications of Plymouth Rocks. ….. Now, to a novice in breeding — I acknowledge it — it appears that Plymouth Rocks can be matched or mated for the exhibition pen so as to correspond in symmetry or general style, and especially in the matter of color of plumage and legs. There are certain birds to which this rule cannot apply, as to color of plumage, and the Standard does not require it of them, such as Partridge Cochins, Hamburgs and Games; but with the Plymouth Rocks it can be done, the Standard requires it to be done, therefore it shall be done; and I venture to say that seventy-five percent of exhibitors and breeders will agree that this is the true interpretation to be put upon the matter. Page 25: Mated not Matched. But I hear a murmur that Plymouth Rocks thus mated are not fit for the breeding pen; that a beginner, in breeding this variety, if he purchased such a trio, would find them to produce that great bugbear of Plymouth Rocks, that great hobgoblin so often held up and croaked over by breeders of other varieties — to wit, black pullets. Page 26: I take simply this ground that, if, with the present reading of the Standard, an exhibitor enters a trio of Plymouth Rocks for competition, when the fowls are to be judged by the ‘American Standard of Excellence,’ and the cock or cockerel have lighter plumage, and legs a brighter yellow than the hens or pullets have; or, again, if one of the hens or pullets be of a different shape from its mate, or one of the females lighter in plumage than the other, then this same coop should be disqualified or thrown out of competition as not matching in the pen. However good the birds might be individually, if they were shown in pairs or trios, let them be scaled by pairs or trios.

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D.D. Bishop, Development of the Plymouth Rock: or, The Plymouth Rock as a Bird and as a Breed, 1880

Page 3: The putting of the work into this present shape was suggested to my own mind by finding the first thing that I ever wrote upon the “law” of the Dominique color quoted at large in a pamphlet upon Plymouth Rocks, which I purchased at the book counter at one of our shows. If it was good enough for someone else to sell to me as a piece of sense upon that subject, there was no reason why I should be senstivie about expressing my convictions upon other points in the development of the principles. ‘Hinc illoe.’ I was contending at that time (‘Poultry World,’ March, 1876) that the black pullets were not sports, but results that would follow unskillful mating everywhere. In the Dominique color the females went dark, and that it was not confined to the Plymouth Rock. Various of my distinguished contemporaries have not always relished the positiveness of my statements, and claim to have had some difficulty in accepting the principles I have laid down. Page 5: That the bird known by the name of Plymouth Rock, should have made its appearance about that time, 1866 to 1870, was inevitable. The conditions were favorable. It was at the time of reaction from the furor for simply big birds, when farmer folk were discussing among themselves the failure of the mammoth Asiatics to fill the bill for both eggs and marketing. They consumed both too much time and feed in their growth. They failed as foragers for want of activity. They were there verse of precocious in their development. The old fashioned dung-hill was too small. There was equal dissatisfaction with both. The first result was the throwing of whatever Asiatic came to hand, Shanghais, Brahmas, Cochins — what not — at random into the barn yard flocks, to mix indiscriminately with a lot of birds that had suffered that kind of breeding, if that could be called breeding, for a generation or more. It was not exactly “diamond cut diamond,” but more like school boys cutting each others’ jack knife blades; it was “cross” cut “cross” which made has of things generally. The next step in the process was, that the more thoughtful or fanciful began to pick out the colors that suited their individual notions. Various farmers had local reputations for the excellence of their white hens, or red hens, or whatever color they might have chosen. Page 6: Perhaps the most widely diffused of what might have been called a native stock was even then known as “old fashioned,” “hawk colored” fowls. Page 9: Where the particular birds originated that first found their way to the show room, who exhibited, and who named them, are unimportant questions further than as items of interest to fanciers. Rev. H.S. Ramsdell (deceased) of West Thompson, Conn., a correspondent of mine, traced these fowls to the yard of Joseph Spaulding (deceased) of Putnam, Wyndham County, Conn. C.C. Corbett, Esq., of New London, Conn., personally known to me, was sufficiently interested in the subject at that time, 1873, to give it his individual attention. He corroborated Mr. Ramsdell’s statements, and makes affidavit to that effect. D.A. Uphill was the first exhibitor, Worcester, March 1869. It is claimed that they were named, if not by Mr. Ramsdell, by someone who was shrewd enough to appropriate the name which Dr. Bennett had done so much to popularize. It is certain that they were already known by that name in other parts of the State. As to another matter of fact: — in the Spring of 1866 when I made my first attempt at housekeeping in my first parish, Branford, New Haven County, Conn., I carried two kinds of fowls. One kind was the so called Bolton Grays. To these my father, Mark Bishop, Esq., of Cheshire, New Haven Co., Conn., added a lot of Plymouth Rock birds. Page 10: They were presented to me by that name, and they were Plymouth rocks, large, strong birds, clean legged, and with good and true color, although they were not so distinctly marked. The birds were so commonly kept and known in that neighborhood, that it cannot now be remembered where they came from. It is my belief that they were developed there, on the farm, as in other places. One of the most distinct recollections of my boyhood is of the Dominiques, so that in the interval of my absence from him, in studies, there was ample time, and, with the certainty of Asiatic infusion, the tools to work with were undoubtedly there, with all needful elements and components. That much “I know about Plymouth Rocks,” and that is how I came to know it. They were the first fowls I ever undertook to manage for myself, and the time goes back to that date. In point of fact there are three Black Java hens, which have figured in Plymouth Rock history. One of these is as imaginary as the other two were real. The first was introduced by Mrs. Flora Spaulding, to explain what was a mystery to her, namely, that some of the Plymouth Rock pullets came black. Page 12: Marcus F. Town of Thompson, Ct., with a ten years’ knowledge of whatever points the so called original Plymouth Rocks bore with them, writing in 1876, declares: “The chickens of my pair” (purchased of Spaulding) “were many of them, heavily feathered on legs. Next year with a better mating for color, there were some feather-legged.” W.H. Todd of Ohio, sets forth the statement in one of his publications that, at that time, the best would throw some feather-legged chicks. Indeed, so prevalent was this mark of an Asiatic infusion, which could not have been from the Java, that we find Mr. C.C. Corbett, who got out the first print of the Plymouth Rock (Fig. 8) that was ever made, and who went all through the question as to their origination, writing to the ‘Poultry World,’ in April, 1873, to ask: “Have you any knowledge of a stock of Plymouth Rock fowls that do not occasionally throw feather-legged chicks?” It is surprising that Mr. Corbett, getting his birds from the Spaulding stock, through Mr. Ramsdell, should have struck, so early as this, the type of bird in form and substance that was to be finally adopted so generally as to make future attempts at departure from it impossible. The difference between this and those later in the book (beyond No. 12), are chiefly those of elaboration and finish. Page 14: So that the whole basis in authentic fact for the volumes of stupid talking and writing about Javas, is narrowed down to those birds actually bred (a very small number compared with those bred entirely outside of their yards) by D.A. Uphill and (since ’74) by I.K. Felch. In both cases the Plymouth Rocks existed before they, respectively, took hold of their breeding, and presented the same peculiarities of color inherited from the Dominique, (which I have bred almost as long as I have the Plymouth Rock) and shared by the Dominique Leghorn under my own observation. The males go light the females dark. “To Mark Pitman more than any other one man is due the credit of conducting the original breeding” by which the type of the bird was fixed. Upon being satisfied of which, I have taken pains to get the history from his own lips and I have his authority, Fe.b 13, 1880, to sustain the assertion that I made some years ago, that the Plymouth Rocks always did and always will throw their colors by the same rule, the same as the Dominiques, (whose color they inherit) did and always will do the same thing. Page 15: The most important and striking characteristic that presents itself to a student of Plymouth Rocks is the peculiar difference in the color effect in the two sexes. First, last and always the males come lighter than the females. It is a thing we must never forget in dealing with this breed. It will beat us if we do but we shall never beat that. It is in the birds, it is the law of this color that the males will not only be several shades lighter in color, but the width of the bars will be about one-third of the light spaces between them. It is a very light pullet that has the space between the bars equal in width to the bars themselves, and from that the spaces grow less all the way down to no space at all, or solid color. The Dominique presents the same characteristics — in fact, the Plymouth Rock inherits this peculiarity, with its color, from the Dominique, and weaver you find the Dominique color, in Leghorns or anywhere else, you find the same law to govern. The observation of this law will be taken up in the chapter on Breeding, so that I shall not follow it further at this time, but just here I will way, that the fact must be accepted as a law and not regarded as a mere eccentricity. The color difference between the male and female is really much less in the Dominique color than in many others. As soon as you get outside of the solid colors — as white or black — the utmost diversity is manifested. The tyro refuses to credit the statement that the Partridge Cochin cock and hen are of the same breed. The Dark Brahma shows as wide a difference between the sexes, and what could be more unlike than the cocks and hens of the various Games and Pheasants, al the way to the song birds as gaily dight as the butterflies themselves. The law of variation between male and female is Nature’s law, and not an eccentricity confined to this particular breed of fowls. Page 16: These birds must always pass the chopping block on the road to the show pen, and those that stop at the block must pay you with their flesh for your trouble and outlay. Profit in poultry must come out of close calculation — the application of common sense to every item and department. The Standard is good sense, as well as strict rule. The substance of the bird in the points that are most nearly related, “size and weight” with “breast and body,” counts 24. That this shall be harmoniously distributed and present the proper form for a Plymouth Rock, instead of a squab or penguin, “symmetry” comes in for another 12 points. Other things may be mere appendages, accidents even, and it is not too much to say that more than half the points in the scale are given to practical things — the virtues of usefulness. Contrast this with the Standard for Polish, where “crest” is 25, “comb,” 10; where “ear lobe and wattles” count as much as “size and weight”; the “tail” as much as “breast and body.” Failure to follow this plan brings failure to the breeder and is the reason why so many yards show only undersized birds, and so many breeders pipe small, that they are not in favor of bringing up the Plymouth Rocks to “crowd the larger breeds.” Page 24: In contemplating the Plymouth Rock actually in the breeding yard, we are met by several very practical questions. It is not another science, but the same with a different application. The science is modified here by circumstances, surroundings and conditions. The leading question is: — with what chances in his favor, or against what, do you expect the Plymouth rock to do his best? It is answered by a consideration of the nature and disposition of the bird himself, and also by your own ultimate objects in his cultivation. For as those objects are clearly defined before your own mind, and the more intelligently you shape to those ends the influences within your power, so much more perfectly will the bird respond. For as you can develop all that is good in him by generosity, so, by meanness, you can kill out even what is best in him. And the ignorance which allows you to pursue a mistaken policy is his own and your worst enemy. So we will lay out our work something like this: — First — Habit. Second — Food. Third — Handling. Page 25: The Cochins — true Celestials — are humped up in fluffy contentment alongside the fence. It is wonderful how much comfort they can get out of the side of the house! The American by distinction, in fact, the Connecticut Yankee (I refer to the Plymouth Rock gentleman) with his business suit on, is just out in the fair open, his observing eye can see what is going on, and where his thirty family can catch every turn of his knowing head. He talks to them as I have heard farmers talk to their boys, — “Come, now! Don’t let the grass grow under your feet.” And they don’t. They are as industrious as that farmer’s boy in digging out a rabbit. They are scratching, not furiously, but earnestly, picking, stretching, pluming themselves, their minds me up to shell out such a dividend upon every tit-bit they find in that hay seed as shall round up the egg-basket pretty well before supper time. The expression that the domestic fowl is “the true bird of freedom” cannot be insisted upon too urgently. By just so much as you do violence to Nature, you are placing the birds at a disadvantage, and inviting the failure of your plans and labors. The Leghorn will exist in a small pen, and keep itself in exercise by its perpetual chase in search of an impossible knot-hole — in which it still believes. The Cochin might not delight in the exercise if it had full liberty, but the Plymouth Rock would. If enclosed at all, the Plymouth Rock should be subjected to a barely nominal confinement. My own yards are almost as many rods as most are feet. It is notorious that the ordinary enclosures — so-called “runs” — would not allow the bird to get much delight from his promenade unless he could amuse himself by a “run” against the fence. The poor Plymouth Rock has to “exercise” his imagination a good deal to indulge his naturally active disposition. HIs is expected to combine all the good qualities of both the Dominique and Asiatic; and in the matter of personal habit should be humored. If he does not always get out when he can, he should not on that account be cooped up in a little pen. It is too much like imposing upon a fellow because he is good-natured. If the Asiatic is the most quiet fowl that we have, the Dominique is the very sharpest forager that ever I saw. If you let out the Cochin he will go back into his house after a short breathing spell; he does not like “wind and weather.” The Plymouth Rock will go a hunting as soon as let out, and he will stay out, too, all day. Page 28: Breeding. And to emphasize by every means the answer to another “why,” I say, in view of your ultimate object in breeding the Plymouth Rock, the nature of these exciting compounds is bad. You must pay for them out of the vital resources of your pets, just as certainly as getting drunk today is paid for with tomorrow’s headache. They dry up the blood of the bird. Ask any doctor as to the excessive use of pepper and spices upon your own blood, and then give them up. A cutting off of fruits and greens that will induce the scurvy as a human disease is equally bad for the fowl. You are not simply trying to get eggs from the Plymouth Rock, but you want to hatch strong and vigorous chicks for the table, and to do this you must retain such full, exuberant health in the parent stock as will ensure rapid growth in the young, and tend to improvement from year to year, which you will never get, but deterioration from chicks hatched out of eggs from fevered, shrinking stock, whose blood and secretions you are drying up with so-called medicinal foods. Page 29: Handling. I hope to bring this subject up into the prominence it deserves. There are so many who fail just here. Many Plymouth Rock breeders have good stock and good theories of breeding, and have well-mated fowls, who gain only disappointment for want of a practical knowledge of those things that certainly fall within the limits of wisdom, skill and experience in the regulation of various matters inside the yard. Page 30: A disorder can be easily rectified if discovered and taken promptly in hand. A settled disease almost always kills the bird. The same watchfulness will teach you when to hold up on soft food, or when you are feeding too much beef scrap; the looseness of their bowels will show you when your fowls are weakening. Fowls can no more do their best at breeding with their systems all relaxed, than they can hold their own in the show room in a similar condition. And when you discover that they are in this condition, remove the cause. Cut off soft food; withhold corn entirely; a little sulphate of iron in the water pans will do them good. But don’t rush off for a lot of alum, nor any other astringent, while you keep on feeding them what caused the derangement. The astringent is only to be used as the last resort, and it will never be needed if the birds receive intelligent care. Again, this goes far to answer another question, the repetition of which in the poultry papers is so tiresome: how to prevent sterility in Plymouth Rock fowls. Remove the causes of sterility. Keep up the health of the birds and their eggs will hatch well enough. Another question is entwined with this, namely: how many hens should be placed with a male bird? I have never heard nor seen an intelligent answer to that question. Page 33: The days when premiums could be won by ignorant and careless exhibitors have gone past. The scores have advanced wonderfully within a few years. To refer to my own experience through the campaigns of 1877 and ’78, meeting the best birds with such men as C.H. Crosby and A.M. Halstead for judges. I have the cards to show the repeated awards of 1st and 2nd on Plymouth Rock fowls and chicks, and all possible specials upon birds, no one of which could score above 91 unless by extra weight. This season of ’80, my Partridge Cochins and Rocks hardly win at 95, and I can turn out in show condition a certified score of 97. Page 34: In the first place, high color and low condition are not found in the same bird. To have color at its best, the bird must be at his best. If I should venture to designate the one department in the whole culture of Plymouth Rocks as to which the general notions were most crude and unconsidered, I should be compelled to say that it is upon this very point. Chiefly this is so, because the general laws of color are unknown, or disregarded, in their application to the plumage of the domestic fowl, and, finally, because there have been various theories and confusing terms used in talking and writing about the colors of the Plymouth Rock. Page 36: The sharpness of definition between the colors upon a Plymouth Rock cock, which we only see at its best in high condition, begins to diminish as soon as the bird is allowed to breed, whether the light strikes it or not. By the same law, that whatever exhausts the system drains out the color principle, the colors upon a Plymouth Rock pullet or hen, after they begin laying, are never what they were before, and can never be made what they were by any possible process. Life has passed its ripeness, and Nature takes in her sign by reducing the brilliancy of the color, just as surely as she begins to shrink the comb and blanc the face. Page 37: Even if there could be such a thing as keeping the plumage fresh for a long time, there would still be the serious damage to the bird’s appearance, which is an important matter in case of a bird barred like the Plymouth Rock, that would be brought about by the fact that the markings on the feathers that and not gained their full length would not match in the plumage with the other and longer feathers. Nature calculates to a nicety just exactly how far every feather shall lap over every other, and so cunningly arranges the bars in their relation to each other that the charm of that perfect beauty which is a chief attraction of the Plymouth Rock, only appears when every feather is perfectly in its place and fully grown. Page 42: Birds not matching in show pen. This is a general disqualification, i.e. it is not confined to this particular breed. It may as well be understood that this does not relate at all to the breeding of the Plymouth Rock; it signifies nothing as to whether or not they are bred, or will naturally breed, in this way. Dark Brahmas, Light Brahmas, Partridge Cochins, will none of them breed as they are matched for show. Their being matched for show is no indication as to how they should be mated for breeding; it is only required on the ground of general fitness. The show, taken altogether, is vastly improved by having the birds mated as to uniformity of appearance, the same as a company of soldiers makes a better appearance in “uniform,” and graded as to the height of the men. Page 44: Take a bird that runs, and whose ear lobe seems perfectly red, pull the skin a little so as to smooth out the wrinkles, and you will find frequently whitish spots in the depths of every fold. A Plymouth Rock’s ear lobe is no better and no worse. This is why I advise, in preparing specimens for show, that after the plumage is sufficiently seasoned, the bird shall be turned out to give him a good ruddy face and a firmly set comb. Nature secretes that opaque matter in the ear lobe. You will scarcely find a bird of any breed in which it is entirely absent, although it may not show in the case of a bird in high condition, running where sun and wind can touch him up with a regular out-of-doors complexion. A white ear lobe should clearly disqualify, as a red ear lobe would a Leghorn, but a pale face may be simply the result of confinement or low condition, and should receive its punishment under the head of what caused it. Many a Plymouth Rock has been thrown out for a pale ear lobe, or for even having noticeable whitish spots in its texture, when two weeks of sunshine, with generous food, would have given him a face as vividly red as the best. Take the reddest faced bird you have, shut him up in the shade, and see for yourself how soon the white will appear in the depressions and folds of the ear lobes. Let us have no more birds thrown out for pale ear lobes; or even for slight spots of white in the skin of the ear lobe, when it is plain that those spots will disappear with improved condition. Page 46: VI. Wry tails. Plymouth Rocks are not so subject to the accidents that usually cause this blemish as either the heavier and clumsy birds that are liable to fall backwards in failure to reach high perches, or the lighter beds so lively as to be sometimes caught by the tail and dislocate that appendage in struggles to get away. The judge must be careful not to confound a tail actually awry with one that droops upon either side from weakness. A tail can be awry upon only one side, and even if it is caused by a wound which shrinks in healing so as to pull the tail around, there is no help for it. Sometimes a tail can be straightened by making a wound on the slack side and pulling it around that way until it heals. Generally, our fanciers on this side of the water do not begin to practice the accomplishments in the various applications of surgery in preparing birds for show as those in which our English brethren prove themselves adepts. VII. Splashes of white in the breast or back, or reddish or brassy feathers in the hackles or saddles of cock, or in the necks of hens. The rest of the disqualifying cases can all go under one head; false feathers stand for the whole of it. Here the Standard is very weak. Why not splashes of black as well as white? If in breast or back, why not in fluff? If reddish, why not white, black, green, purple, yellow? In fat, the fowl may be decked in all the seven colors of the rainbow, except red, and I can think of no scientific reason why he should be denied the privilege of also wearing that innermost color of the secondary bow. It is not a question of what colors are most likely to appear, but what business they have there at all. A single false feather throws out a Houdan, and it ought to throw out a Plymouth Rock. There is no excuse for false feathers at this stage of breeding, and one is as bad as fifty. It springs from the blood, and there are “more where that comes from.” Page 47: So long as they are tolerated, so long we shall be afflicted by unscrupulous dealers palming off a lot of mongrels for pure-bred Plymouth Rocks; besides, the color is one of the strongest and easiest to bring up to absolute perfection. Cut off their heads, and stop the flow of such impure streams which threaten ruin to the work of years of patient breeding. I should consider it a calamity if such a bird got into my yard by any means. Page 48: You may set it down that no man is a qualified judge of one breed, who knows but one; and this rule is capable of an indefinite extension. The nearer he comes to knowing all breeds, the better judge he is of any individual. I cannot take space here to argue the case, but the most crude and unreasonable notions that I have ever seen spread before an admiring public, have come from those who “did not see how” the Standard could be applied to the Plymouth Rock, because they knew nothing of how it was or ought to be applied to other breeds. The Standard has more than a single edge; it cuts both ways. It contemplates the specimen in its relation to all other breeds, and also as an individual of the particular breed. It must be as distinctly a Plymouth Rock, as it must be a fowl at all. You cannot construe the Standards in one sense when applied to Plymouth Rocks, and in another when applied to Games. How many an arbitrary judge will chop off a Plymouth Rock’s head by disqualifying for a pale ear lobe, or for one in which the slightest whitish grains appear. There is a plausible reason for it; the bright red ear lobe gives such a finish to the head. But you cannot cut off the Leghorn’s head in that way unless its ear lobe is actually red, and a full, clear white, fine textured ear lobe is as charming and graceful upon the Leghorn, as a red one is upon the Plymouth Rock. Give the Connecticut boy fair play — the same chance for his red ear lobe as you must give the Italian with his white one; but I would give the Plymouth Rock no further allowance in that point than I would a Brahma. All Asiatics will show pale ear lobes from confinement, and most of them white specks in the folds of the skin, but not one of the Asiatics, nor Games, nor Game Bantams, nor Dorkings, nor any of the French class — al red ear lobed birds — is disqualified by the Standard for having pure white ear lobes; and an entire class — Polish, cannot be disqualified for pure red ear lobe, although the Standard calls for pure white. Page 49: The Dominique is subject to the same censure as the Plymouth Rock, for ear lobes “other than red.” The reason is at hand; it is his certificate of freedom from foreign blood. So when you take up the Plymouth Rock in his character as an American, the trace of the European cross in a white ear lobe should be condemned, keeping in mind the nature of ear lobes; while traces of the Asiatic cross in false feathers of any kind should not be tolerated, for this is to be again considered, that owing to the strength of the Dominique color, a false feather beyond the second cross is of the rarest occurrence. There is some excuse for allowance as to the ear lobe, because Asiatic breeds frequently show very pale ear lobes, but no excuse for false feathers, and such mongrels are unworthy of the name of Plymouth Rock, and also of competing in honorable company. Page 50: And you must bear in mind that in Standard for Plymouth Rocks the book deviates from its general rule in giving both cock and hen the same carriage. Page 51: It clear up the doubtful or critical spectator’s mind to have a bracket penciled on the score card, as in the case of the one printed, indicating the part of the bird for failure in which he is punished in symmetry. If in more than one part, let the line branch at the bottom to neck, or back, or wings. To confirm my assertion as to the relative importance given to this point in judging Plymouth Rocks, I have only to say, it is two points higher than in most varieties, (which give ten to symmetry), while only the Dorkings and Black Hamburgs go to fifteen. Page 52: Our hero next mounts the platform scales, to determine whether his vanities or solid qualities predominate. If the crop is stuffed full to make unlawful weight, he will have been cut for symmetry, if the judge has good spectacles, so that sort of cunning should defeat itself. Under this head there is but one common error that I need to correct. Those who do not like large Plymouth Rocks, need not have them. They have only to hatch them late and feed them sparingly, and they (such fanciers) will be happy. It is so much easier to raise small birds — anyone can do that — and then some of them want to drag the Standard down to their little birds. I do not see the sense in that, nor in their being offended if other people do not think with them, that a small Plymouth Rock is the best. I cannot escape the conviction that some of those who talk this way know better. There is another class, who honestly think that the A.P.A. has erred in placing the Plymouth Rock among the heaviest breeds, supposing (and saying) that an intermediate size of bird is wanted between the European class and the Asiatic. Such of our friends are simply mistaken, and I have only to refer them to Plate E to convince them what a noble and beautiful bird the Standard places exactly in that position. It is really a consistent graduation by which the American class comes between the European and Asiatic, and the steps go up — European, Dominique, Plymouth Rock, Asiatic. Those who choose to breed the Plymouth Rock down to the place the Standard gives to the Dominique have a perfect right to do so for their own gratification, the same as anyone has a right to breed the Light Brahma down to that size if he likes them better for his own use. If you do that, you should stand up like a man and take the punishment for deficiency in weight which you change in showing your birds. You think they are find enough to win in spite of it, or you would not exhibit. Page 55: It is a good thing for the Plymouth Rock that he has not to raise the rose-comb of the Dominique, with its fifteen points, but can devote his energies to business matters. The Standard requires him to have a good comb, but is not exacting upon this point, as will be seen by comparing with this Dorkings and Polish, ten; Black Spanish, thirteen; Andalusians and Hamburgs, fifteen, except White and Black, which are compelled to make twenty. Page 57: Wings are usually slashed severely without reflection. Standard only furnishes three points for each wing. You cannot cut primaries more than two points, and have anything left for secondaries and coverts. Bad color on coverts damages the bird certainly as much as want of bars or white in primaries. Cut either of these from one or two. You must save one point for secondaries, where want of bars in outside web should receive the extent of the penalty. If wing does not fold or set properly, you have noted that in symmetry. If not very prudent, you will use up all the ammunition the Standard furnishes before you are half through. You may even have to do something with bad color in bows. Standard attaches no such value to a Plymouth Rock’s wing as it does to that of a Spangled Hamburg, where twenty points are given to wings. Page 59: Whether you have taken the prize with your birds or not, fortify them for the homeward journey as well as you can. Always attend to them yourself, if possible, so far as this: to pack your fowls for home. The ex-committee is always in a hurry, and your pets are already in a most critical condition. Bear them home tenderly; let not the rude wind strike them; let them want no consideration that can help them to rest and comfort. Dangers dare not yet over, for contagious diseases may lurk in the feathers and call for disinfectants. But with kindness and care all will be well. In taking this leave of my subject and my readers, permit me to cherish a similar hope. As to my subject, I have reached the end of an enthusiastic study. As to my readers, if I have not cleared up for them the Plymouth Rock question, I have at least set out its proportions, and brought it within the reach of their own comprehensive philosophy. Goodbye, and good luck to you. Page 60: Score Card. Entry No. 115. Exhibition at Springfield, Mass., 1880. Plymouth Rock Chicks. (chart of body measurements.

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Charles Sumner, A Finger Pointed from Plymouth Rock: Remarks at the Plymouth Festival, 1853

Page 4: From the tears and trials at Delft haven, from the deck of the “Mayflower,” from the landing at Plymouth Rock, to the Senate of the United States, is a mighty contrast, covering the whole spaces of history, hardly less than from the wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus to that Roman Senate which, on curule chairs, swayed Italy and the world. From these obscure beginnings of poverty and weakness, which you now piously commemorate, and on which all our minds naturally rest today, you bid us leap to that marble Capitol, where thirty-one powerful republics, bound in indissoluble union, a Plural Unit, are gathered together in legislative body, constituting a part of One Government, which, stretching from ocean to ocean, and counting millions of people beneath its majestic rule, surpasses far in wealth and mighty any government of the Old World when the little band of Pilgrims left it, and now promises to be a clasp between Europe and Asia, bringing the most distant places near together, so that there shall be no more Orient or Occident. It were interesting to dwell on the stages of this grand procession; but it is enough on this occasion merely to glance at them and pass on. Page 5: Sir, it is the Pilgrims that we commemorate today; not the Senate. For this moment, at least, let us tread underfoot all pride of empire, all exultation in our manifold triumphs o industry, of science, of literature, with all the crowding anticipations of the vast untold Future, that we may reverently bow before the forefathers. The day is theirs. In the contemplation of their virtue we shall derive a lesson, which, like truth, may judge us sternly; but, if we can really follow it, like truth, it shall make us free. For myself, I accept the admonitions of the day. It may teach us all never, by word or act, although we may be few in numbers or alone, to swerve from those primal principles of duty, which, from the landing at Plymouth Rock, have been the life of Massachusetts. Let me briefly unfold the lesson; though to the discerning soul it unfolds itself. Page 10: And yet these men, with such sublime endurance and such lofty faith, are among those who are sometimes called “Puritan knaves” and “knaves-Puritan,” and who were branded by King James as the “very pests in the Church and Commonwealth.” The small company of our forefathers became the jest and give of fashion and power. The phrase “men of one idea” had not been invented then; but, in equivalent language, they were styled “the pinched fanatics of Leyden.” A contemporary poet and favorite of Charles the First, Thomas Carew, lent his genius to their defamation. A masque, from his elegant and careful pen, was performed by the monarch and his courtiers, wherein the whole plantation of New England was turned to royal sport. The jeer broke forth in the exclamation, that it had “purged more virulent humors from the politic bodies than guaiacum and all the West Indian drugs from the natural bodies of the kingdom.” And these outcasts, despised in their own day by the proud and great, are the men whom we have met in this goodly number to celebrate; not for any victory of war; not for any triumph of discovery, science, learning, or eloquence; not for worldly success of any kind. How poor are all these things by the side of that divine virtue which made them, amidst the reproach, the obloquy, and the hardness of the world, hold fast to Freedom and Truth! Sir, if the honors of this day are not a mockery; if they do not expend themselves in mere selfish gratulation; if they are a sincere homage to the character of the Pilgrims, — and I cannot suppose otherwise, — then is it well for us to be here. Standing on Plymouth Rock, at their great anniversary, we cannot fail to be elevated by their example. We see clearly what it has done for the world and what it has done for their fame. No pusillanimous soul here today will declare their self-sacrifice, their deviation from received opinions, their unquenchable thirst for liberty, an error or illusion. From gushing multitudinous hearts we now thank these lowly men that they dared to be true and brave. Conformity or compromise might, perhaps, have purchased for them a profitable peace, but not peace of mind; it might have secured place and power, but not response; it might have opened a present shelter, but not a home in history and in men’s hearts till time shall be no more. All will confess the true grandeur of their example, while, in vindication of a cherished principle, they stood alone, against the madness of men, against the law of the land, against their king. Better be the despised Pilgrim, a fugitive for freedom, than the halting politician, forgetful of principle, “with a Senate at his heels.” Page 11: Such, sir, is the voice from Plymouth Rock, as it salutes my ears. Others may not hear it. But to me it comes in tones which I cannot mistake. I catch its words of noble cheer:— “New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth: Lo, before us gleam her campfires! we ourselves must Pilgrims be, Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly though the desperate winter sea.”

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C.L. Bennison, The Old Plymouth Rock, 1853

‘Mid the darkness and gloom of bigotry’s night, When terror and sadness and death were in sight, A bright gleam was seen o’er the ocean’s dark wave, And the pilgrims embarked for the land of the brave. For the old rock at Plymouth, New England’s loved spot, Which was washed by the billows, The Old Plymouth Rock.

The wild tempest raged, ‘mid the lightning’s red glare, And the roar of the thunder, heard awfully there; The rain fell in torrents, and boisterous the wave, But hope was still firm, in the hearts of the brave, As the old rock at Plymouth, New England’s loved spot, Which was washed by the billows, The Old Plymouth Rock.

But hushed was the thunder, the angry waves calmed, The forked lightning ceased, and with it the storm; A silver light gleamed o’er the dark rolling wave, And the land hove in sight, ’twas the land of the brave, ’Twas the old rock at Plymouth, New England’s loved spot, Which was washed by the billows, The Old Plymouth Rock.

They all landed safe on New England’s loved spot, That rock of the pilgrims, the Old Plymouth Rock. When danger was o’er on the dark mountain wave, Thanksgivings were offered by the hearts of the brave, On the old rock at Plymouth, New England’s loved spot, Which was washed by the billows, The Old Plymouth Rock.

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George W. Blagden, Great Principles Associated with Plymouth Rock, 1835

As, then, the practical recognition of the God of our Fathers leads us to greatness, so will it deliver us form the dangers that are connected with greatness. As it will preserve us from the miseries of despotism on the one hand, so will it save us from those of radicalism on the other. As it will lead us to meet cheerfully, and act promptly and rightly in circumstances that are new, so will it cause us to venerate, and so far as possible preserve, whatever of truth may be found in what is old. The great and fundamental principles of freedom resulting from the practical recognition of the Deity are as immutable as his own eternal nature. They may assume, in the varying circumstances of man’s existence, different forms of action; but like the providential movements of Jehovah himself, they are, in all their appearances, whether mild or severe, expressions only of the same benevolent love. In their operation, therefore, on the soul of man, they prepare him to receive right impressions, producing right actions, — form things present and past, — things new and old. In the present instance, we need their influence as we contemplate what is past. Here, then, — subject to their power, — let us gaze on these scenes, and receive the impression they are calculated to make! That rock, — that ocean, — these hills, — those grades! —‘the graves of those that cannot die!’ — to him who gazes on them in the fear of the God of our fathers, — are eloquent. They speak to us of truths immutable as Heaven, — precious as the happiness of earth! Let us open our souls to receive their hallowed influence, in all its fulness, — in all its power! Let us pray, that the spirit of the Pilgrims may be our spirit; their God, our God. And in the strength of that moral feeling which the contemplation of what is old, calculated to produce in sound minds, — let us ever venerate, and keep alive their memories and their sentiments, — let us act worthy of our sires, and the world shall yet be emancipated by the principles associated with Plymouth rock!