A Piece Of The Rock?
We have long been told of the "Plymouth
Rock" A few notes below!
In An Illustrated Guide to Historic Plymouth, 1921,
the rock is described
thusly:
"The Rock itself might be described as a boulder of sienitic granite, weighing some
seven tons, and the theory which has been advanced for its being upon the sand shores at
Plymouth is that it was placed there by some prehistoric upheaval or by some unusual
action of Nature."
One account suggests that the rock is, perhaps, more symbolic than not, for it is thought
that the Pilgrims may have actually first landed several miles upshore. The long held
tradition that pilgrim Mary Chilton was the first to step upon it, is perceived as
pleasant, but unsubstantiated.
It has been moved several times, splitting and breaking during its various moves and
subject to vandalism as well through the years. The first move occurred in 1775
(during high revolutionary spirit). In attempting to pry it from its foundation "a
large portion was split off . . .interpreted at the time as being prophetic of the split
between the colonies and the mother
country." It took a team of 20 oxen to drag it to a spot in town square
where it was set at the foot of a liberty pole upon which was flying a flag "Give me
liberty or give me death."
The Plymouth site below tells of its various "resting
places."
http://www.plimoth.org/
(Toward the bottom of the page is a search engine: Try "Plymouth Rock")
Other Source Information: Travels of the Rock, John McPhee, from Irons
in the Fire, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. 1997. John McPhee reveals the
history and geology of Plymouth Rock, which he researched during its restoration. Plymouth
Rock is Dedham granite from the Atlantica Terrane that was slightly deformed in a fault
zone and then eroded and deposited as a glacial erratic by the Laurentide Ice Sheet about
20,000 years ago.
