{"id":108076,"date":"2026-04-29T08:24:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=108076"},"modified":"2026-04-29T08:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:33:09","slug":"heated-drama-over-maypole-merriment-pilgrims-vs-thomas-morton-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/heated-drama-over-maypole-merriment-pilgrims-vs-thomas-morton-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Heated Drama over Maypole Merriment: Pilgrims vs. Thomas Morton (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues describing how it wasn\u2019t all religion in early America \u2013 the pious (dour?) Pilgrims objected to the \u201clicentious\u201d festivities at Thomas Morton\u2019s Merrymount. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe old world and its inhabitants became mutually weary of each other. Men voyaged by thousands to the West: some to barter glass beads, and such-like jewels, for the furs of the Indian hunter; some to conquer virgin empires; and one stern band [the Pilgrims at Plymouth] to pray. But none of these motives had much weight with the colonists of Merry Mount.\u201d<\/p>\n

–Nathaniel Hawthorne, \u201cThe May-Pole of Merry Mount\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today I continue with my story on Merrymount, now part of Quincy, Massachusetts, the Crown-sponsored colony run by Thomas Morton (dubbed the \u201cLord of Misrule\u201d by Plymouth\u2019s William Bradford because of Morton\u2019s progressive colonization style, which contrasted with the more sober, pious lifestyle of the Pilgrims.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Merrymount drinking and dancing around a maypole. Credit: Boston Public Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To recap: Part 1<\/a> ended with Captain Myles Standish, aka \u201cCapt. Shrimpe,\u201d and his men arriving at Merrymount to clean out the corrupted colony.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: a 19th-century engraving of Capt. Miles Standish and his men observing the \u201cimmoral\u201d behavior of the Maypole festivities of 1628 at Merrymount. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before I begin with the drama of pursuit, a few other factors must be weighed regarding what motivated the need to get Morton and his merry band shut down.<\/p>\n

Here is intel from Tom Henshaw\u2019s article, \u201cThe Pilgrims\u2019 Serpent,\u201d published in several newspapers in 1960.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Bulletin (Providence, Rhode Island), 3 December 1960, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Henshaw writes:<\/p>\n

Merrymount on Plymouth\u2019s very doorstep was a bit like a dry town with a riotous roadhouse on its outskirts. It\u2019s entirely possible that a few of the Pilgrim sons liked to sneak off for an occasional evening of high living with \u201cmine host,\u201d as Morton had taken to calling himself.<\/p>\n

Worse than that, \u201cmine host\u201d also had an uncanny knack of getting along with the Indians \u2013 whom the Pilgrims never quite trusted \u2013 with the result that the lucrative beaver trade began to by-pass Plymouth in favor of Merrymount.<\/p>\n

The secret of Morton\u2019s success was simple: He had no qualms about trading guns and firewater to the red men in return for beaver, something the Pilgrims never could bring themselves to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Henshaw quotes part of William Bradford\u2019s Of Plimoth Plantation<\/em><\/a> regarding Morton not only trading guns to the Indians, but also instructing them on how to use them. Here is a passage from Bradford\u2019s own writings:<\/p>\n

\u201cMorton, thinking himself lawless, and hearing what gain ye French & fisher-men made by trading of pieces [guns], powder, & shot to ye Indians, he, as ye head of this consortship, began ye practice of ye same in these parts; and first he taught them how to use them, to charge, & discharge, and what proportion of powder to give ye piece, according to ye size or bignes of ye same; and what shot to use for foule, and what for deare. And having thus instructed them, he employed some of them to hunt & fowle for him, so they became far more active in that employment than any of ye English.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Additionally, Bradford writes about how the chiefs of other Indian tribes were so deeply concerned with Morton that they aligned with the Pilgrims to suppress \u201cmine host.\u201d The strategy was using their strength in numbers. Here are Bradford\u2019s words:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo sundry of ye chiefs of ye straggling plantations, meeting together, agreed by mutual consente to solicit those of Plimoth (who were then of more strength than them all) to join with them, to prevent ye further growth of this mischief, and suppress Morton & his consorts before they grew to further head and strength. Those that joined in this action (and after contributed to ye charge of sending him for England) were from Pascataway, Namkeake, Winisimett, Weesagascusett, Natasco, and other places where any English were seated.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is a map of the Blue Hills Indian lands, which includes some Algonquian tribes (major groups included the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Pequot, Mohegan, and Abenaki) who traded with Morton.<\/p>\n

\"Map:
Map: Blue Hills Indian lands. Credit: Massachusetts Historical Society.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Morton\u2019s New English Canaan<\/em><\/a>, a book written about his jolly colony in New England, also contains accounts of the Indians that are better than most colonial writers, and his work remains extremely valuable for those researching New England\u2019s earliest inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Myles Standish was chosen for the task of invading Merrymount and taking out Morton and his band of bawdy boys. There are various accounts about what went down. Henshaw includes both accounts in his article:<\/p>\n

It was obvious that the Pilgrims had to do something about Morton, and it was equally obvious that the man to do it was Capt. Myles Standish, the dour, hot-tempered commander of the little Pilgrim army.<\/p>\n

What followed is known jocularly as the \u201cBattle of Merrymount,\u201d which, when judged in the light of rival communiques, ranks as something less than one of the world\u2019s most decisive engagements.<\/p>\n

As Bradford tells it, \u201cmine host\u201d and his merry men locked themselves in their house and then proceeded to get so royally soused that they couldn\u2019t even defend themselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California), 20 November 1960, page 25<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bradford noted in Of Plimoth Plantation<\/em><\/a> there was no bloodshed as the \u201cLord of Misrule\u201d and his cohorts were too drunk.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: Thomas Morton of Merrymount being arrested by Captain Myles Standish, aka \u201cCaptain Shrimpe\u201d of the Plymouth Colony. Credit: \u201cRuth of Boston: A Story of the Massachusetts Bay Colony\u201d by J. Otis, 1910, page 105.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to Henshaw:<\/p>\n

Morton tells it differently.<\/p>\n

Standish and his men laid siege to Morton\u2019s house and, as time wore on, it was the Pilgrims who hit the bottle so hard that \u201cmine host\u201d and his jolly boys had to tip-toe their way out of the house among sodden, snoring bodies.<\/p>\n

Standish, wrote Morton, \u201ctook on most furiously and tore his clothes for anger to see the nest empty and their bird gone.\u201d Later, Morton claimed, he surrendered to avoid bloodshed.<\/p>\n

The Pilgrims deported Morton to England, and perhaps they held another Thanksgiving dinner, for they were certain that they had seen the last of the serpent in their Eden. They hadn\u2019t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Stay tuned\u2026<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> Mayday at Merrymount. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n

Related Article:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n