John Alden’s Choice

Other names

  • The Mayflower Tercentenary
  • The Southampton Pageant

Pageant type

Jump to Summary

Performances

Place: West Quay (Southampton) (Southampton, Hampshire, England)

Year: 1920

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 4

Notes

24–28 July 1920

24 July at 2.45pm, 26, 27, and 28 July at 6.30pm

Name of pageant master and other named staff

  • Pageant Master: Lovett, Neville

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Executive Committee:

  • President: Alderman S.G. Kimber, Mayor
  • General Hon. Secretary: A.W. Pearce, JP
  • General Hon. Secretary: W. Bulpitt, J.P.
  • General Hon. Secretary: JM Malerbi
  • Hon. Treasurer: A.G. Thomson
  • John M. Savage (American Consul)

Finance:

  • Chairman: Dr R. Bencraft, JP
  • Hon. Secretary: George Gear

Literary:

  • Chairman: Rev. Prof. E.S. Lyttel, MA
  • Vice-Chairman: W. Dale, FSA
  • Hon. Secretary: J. Maher
  • Hon. Secretary: F. Woodward, FJI

Pageant:

  • Chairman: Rev. Canon Neville Lovett, RD
  • Vice-Chairman: Rev. H.T. Spencer, MA
  • Hon. Secretary: Harold B. Lankester

'Mayflower':

  • Chairman: S.W. Barnaby
  • Hon. Secretary: W. Nelson

Sports:

  • Chairman: Lieut-Col. Sir. G.A.E. Hussey
  • Hon. Secretary: F. Murray
  • Hon. Secretary: H.C. Sait

Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)

  • Lovett, Myra

Names of composers

  • Whitehill, Zenie
  • Russell, Rev. C.F.
  • Gotch, Mary

Numbers of performers

444


Financial information

Object of any funds raised

n/a

Linked occasion

Tercentenary of the voyage of the Mayflower

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Yes
  • Grandstand capacity: 700
  • Total audience: n/a

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

15s.–2s.4d.

Opening day: Reserved and Numbered seats 15s., 12s., 10s.6d., 5s.9d., 3s.6d., 2s.4d.

All other days: Reserved and Numbered seats 10s.6d., 8s.6d., 5s.9d., 3s.6d., 2s.4d.

Associated events

Opening Day Programme (24 July):
  • 12.30pm Public Luncheon, Pier Pavilion. Speeches by distinguished Americans and others. 400 guests at Luncheon, including prominent persons in American and British official life and the heads of various Anglo-American societies.
  • 2.45pm Pageant Play.
  • 5.45pm Grand Water Carnival and aquatic sports (swimming races, exhibition of diving, mop fight, greasy pole, grand water polo match, rowing, etc).

Pageant outline

Prologue

The prologue begins by exhorting the spectator to watch the Mayflower on its way out to sea, since it carried ‘Alden, of our Town’—a man who saw ‘within a vision clear… what should be’. The prologue goes on to state:

Within a kinder, wider age
Two folks together turn the page,
Two nations hold it as a trust
To keep her memory from the dust,
The Mayflower.

Act I Scene 1. The Town Quay, July 1620

The scene opens with longshoremen loading boats with the cargo of the pilgrims, discussing their solemn piety, and poor singing of hymns—joking that the people of England couldn’t bear to hear them, hence their leaving to England to see if the ‘savage folk’ would instead. More seriously they criticise the pilgrims for not having learnt to respect their Bishops and betters, and wonder whether they are running to America to escape their own souls. The longshoremen then turn to discussing Sir Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake and the spirit of exploration and adventure. John Elmo, an old hard-of-hearing sailor who voyaged with Drake, enters. After prompting Elmo tells the longshoremen of his time with Drake—describing him as a ‘proper mariner’ and the model for all future admirals (as the author notes, it was a sailors’ tradition to think of all admirals as reincarnations of Drake). One man asks if they would be able to find ‘Frankie’ (Drake) if they were to ‘start fightin’ the Frenchies’, to which Elmo replies they could. Another man asks ‘What if us was to fight Garmins’, to which another answers ‘they be a set o’ land lubbers, they be’. One shoreman, John Anderson, then sings a song about Drake, and the power of the navy. After the song the men see a barrel move, causing much consternation. They debate what to do; one speculates it is possessed by the devil. John Alden, the merchant’s apprentice, enters, and is told to open the barrel. Out jumps a Frenchman, Henri Portal. The crowd still think him the devil, until the Vicar of Holyrood arrives to tell them he is almost certainly a Huguenot—who now tells them he is on the run from the L’Eglise Catholique. The Vicar accepts Portal into the vicarage until he can be found a dwelling. Portal gushes about how good the people and Church of England are. John Alden sings a song about the people and place of Hampton, and its importance in trade, as well as the sacrifice its men would make for country. A puritan minister tells Alden off for singing, but is fobbed off by Alden. The Mayor enters. The minister accuses Alden of digging a trench across a road, to which he admits—saying it was to help drainage. The Mayor commands him to be put in the stocks, which the beadle does, to the repeated complaints of Alden. Alden’s girlfriend, Prunella, enters, and expresses her shame of Alden. The Pilgrim Fathers approach and exhort Alden to leave the ‘close bonds o’ dogma’ [symbolised by the stocks] and make for the freedom of the Americas, thinking that he has been imprisoned because of religious intolerance. Alden is unsure; the fathers tell him that they will create a ‘race sturdy and strong, and full of love to men and faith to God.’ Alden reconsiders. The Beadle finally lets Alden out to make way for another criminal. Three gypsies enter and sing a song of the forests, before telling the fortunes of some maids. The Beadle argues with locals about various matters of the law, from playing bowls to flooded houses. John Alden reenters and asks a gypsy to tell him his future. The gypsy declares she cannot tell him whether it will be to his advantage, but cryptically replies:

The past is over, let it depart,
The present is passing, let it depart,
The future is coming, look thou and see,
Open thy ears that thou hear the to-be
Voices of to-day be dumb;
Years of unborn approach and come.

The following acts are presented as part of a vision given by the gypsy to Alden.

Act II Scene I. 1621

[Now in the Americas] A party of Red Indians enter, dancing and then smoking. The Pilgrims enter carrying John Carver, one of their number, on a funeral litter. He greets the Indians, and tells them that William Bradford will be ‘Chief’ now. The other pilgrims gather, lamenting the wilderness and the prospect of perishing. Massasoit, the Indian Chief, proclaims peace between the two peoples. Carver dies quoting the bible. In the general grief a woman proclaims that this will be the beginning, not the end, of the pilgrims. All exit.

Act II Scene II. 1773

A crowd of Americans enter, much excited. Proclaiming ‘No representation, no taxation’ they throw tea chests over into the quay. Members of the crowd discuss the protest, and the rightness of America declaring its independence. One old man states ‘We owe to Britain, young sir, the obedience of a loyal daughter’ to which another younger man replies ‘Lud, sir, we are not children, as His Majesty seems to think, but a people grown to full stature. The old man declares that England will ‘learn better’ and ‘deal with her lands overseas as no other nation hath or can do.’ A lady prophesises that in losing the Americas England will learn a lesson for dealing with other nations. Another gentlemen declares ‘I fear this is an end o’ a British colony’ to which another gentleman replies ‘No, sir, ‘tis the birth of a great nation.’ All exit.

Act II Scene III. 1789

The crowd re-enters, with George Washington accompanied by gentlemen on horseback. He gives his speech (taken verbatim from his speech at the Federal Hall in New York when taking the oath as President), thanking the citizens of the United States for their loyalty that has led to victory. The Gypsy, in the ‘present’, asks Alden: ‘Thus the great daughter spurns the Motherland, Breaks from her hold, her too confining hand. She is set forth, a great race to maintain As a free nation. Go you or remain?’ Faced with the prospect that the pilgrims would lead to the breaking away of the Americas from Britain, he replies ‘I remain.’

Act II Scene IV. 1863

The scene opens at Gettysburg, where Lincoln is opening a cemetery. Two sisters, Mrs Carey and Mrs Drayton, are discussing the civil war and their husbands, one already dead, who were on different sides. Drayton declares that they are still family and nothing can change their closeness. A ‘Negro’ enters, and approaches Drayton, who asks him ‘Why, Mr Jackman, what do you want with me?’ Carey expresses astonishment, saying ‘…what a way to speak to a nigger!’ Drayton shushes Carey. Jackman tells her he has brought a wreath for the grave of her dead son, John, his ‘Massa’. Jackman describes how he is grateful to John who, in fighting for the North, is helping free his people. He tells Drayton: ‘My peoples ignorant, stupid, frightened peoples, but dey very grateful to de white women; dey do dis to the white women who hab saved dere little childers’ liberty with dere childers’ lives’. Carey interjects, saying, ‘Well, I am sure the nigger’s a good sort of creature really, but he can’t possibly be worth all this terrible slaughter, I’m sure. After all, the Almighty never intended him to be anything but an inferior or he wouldn’t have made him black.’ Drayton replies ‘Oh, you’re wrong there, Susan, that’s where we’ve all been wrong… The Almighty isn’t to blame for this, Susan; tis we ourselves, in first taking these poor souls from their home in Africa. We took them away from their parents, for generations, to serve us, and now we must give up our children to serve them, and right a great wrong.’ Carey disagrees, but at that moment President Lincoln enters, and greets Drayton. She tells him that her boy lies in the cemetery. Carey again interjects, telling Lincoln her husband died for the South and that she has no wish to attend Northern ceremonies. Lincoln replies that ‘I should like to think that folk will say one day of your husband and Mrs Drayton’s son, as for all the others who lie here at Gettysburg, that they died not for North or South, but for a free, united America.’ Lincoln promises Drayton that the war will count for something—the birth of freedom. Drayton sings a song, and ends by telling Lucy that the war is worth it. Back in the ‘present’ Alden still declares that he will remain. The Gypsy declares the beginning of the final dream.

Act II Scene V

‘Britannnia’ enters, and speaks to the waterway, describing its role in taking her children to war (strongly implied to be the First World War), and bringing them back broken and torn. She further describes how the waterways enable her children to go to countries like Canada, Australia, and Africa, declaring ‘my children, years cannot change us nor can time estrange; none greater or none less, we hold together, hold through all storms, all stress, all joy, all pain, one!’ She declares that their shared pride in England’s past will give hope for the future. From the sea enters the Spirit of America, who declares ‘Oh, Britannia, when thou numberest thy children one dost thou count not, being no more thine; when thou dost joy and glory in thy daughters, who, free and equal, still by thine house hold, one thou no more extolleth, knowing she rules in her own house now, mighty and lone, America!’ Britannia replies, telling America that it was through Britannia’s ‘own deed’ that they had been split apart. America replies, ‘ Far across the sea I heard faint voices calling, and they waked old longings, old forgotten memories, old ties of blood, and friendships of the past, and I remembered I was born of England, born of the men who sailed from this far port… all the long past, and love, and the close tie which bound us once together, turned me and came again whence sailed the Mayflower.’ Britannia now welcomes America, and declares ‘daughter, in losing I gain a might friend, we now together will drive and bind and break a bitter foe.’ Auld Lang Syne is sung as soldiers, British and Americans, cross the stage. Back in the ‘present’, a shocked Alden declares that he must now go since ‘I heard one say that help should come to England in great need from the forth-going of the Mayflower’.

Act III. The Town Quay, July 1620

Back in the present the Beadle is transporting another man to the stocks, this time for petty theft. The jovial humour not present in the previous few scenes has returned, with the thief teasing and trying to mislead the Beadle. The Beadle comes across a man who is attempting to throw an old women into the harbour to see if she will float, declaring that she is a witch who cursed his pigs. An excited crowd gathers and watches. The Beadle tries in vain to stop him, until John Alden steps forward and offers assistance. The Mayor approaches and sends the crowd off, before asking John Alden if there is anything he can do for him after he helped the Beadle. Alden requests to be free of his apprenticeship so he can go with the pilgrims to the Americas; the Mayor assents. John joins the pilgrims and bids farewell to the crowd, as the boat sails away. The old sailor, Elmo, returns and declares that good will come of the voyage in the end. All sing O God of Bethel. End.

Key historical figures mentioned

  • Carver, John (d. 1621) colonial governor
  • Brewster, William (1566/7–1644) separatist leader
  • Standish, Myles (c.1584–1656) soldier and colonist [also known as Standish, Miles]
  • Bradford, William (1590–1657) a founder of Plymouth Colony
  • Massasoit (c.1590 -1661) Wampanoag Indian chief
  • Washington, George (1732-1799) United States President
  • Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) United States President

Musical production

  • ‘Mayflower Morning’ Ode by Miss Strode Jackson, set to music by Miss Zenie Whitehill for Band and Chorus, sang at the opening of the Pageant.
  • Rev. C.F. Russell. [Drake’s Song], words by Myra Lovett (Act I).
  • Mary Gotch. [John Alden’s Song], words by Myra Lovett (Act I).
  • Mary Gotch. [Gipsies Song], words by Myra Lovett (Act I).

Newspaper coverage of pageant

Southampton Times

Hampshire Independent

Hampshire Advertiser

The Times

The New York Times

The Chicago Tribune

Exeter and Plymouth Gazette

Derby Daily Telegraph

Dundee Courier

Evening Telegraph (Angus, Scotland)

Aberdeen Journal

The Manchester Guardian

The Observer

Book of words

Lovett, Myra. John Alden’s Choice: A Pageant Play of Southampton. Southampton, 1920. [Price 1s.]

Available in British Library and Southampton Archives Services. D/K 16.

Other primary published materials

  • Hearnshaw, F.J.C. The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers. Southampton, 1910.

References in secondary literature

  • Hebel, Udo. ‘Historical Bonding with an Expiring Heritage: Revisiting the Plymouth Tercentenary Festivities of 1920-21’ in Celebrating Ethnicity and Nation: American Festive Culture from the Revolution to the Early 20th Century, edited by Jurgen Heideking, Genevieve Fabre and Kai Drelsbach. Oxford, 2001. 257-295.

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • All at Southampton Archives Services:
  • Newspaper Cutting. D/K 18/3.
  • Newspaper Cutting. D/K 18/2.
  • John Alden’s Choice (book of words). D/K 16.
  • Members of the cast of the 1920 Mayflower Tercentenary Pageant [Large framed photo]. P236/2.
  • Album of photographs of players and scenes from the play John Alden's Choice at the 1920 Mayflower Celebrations. P.236/3 (L).
  • F.J.C. Hearnshaw, The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers. D/K 18/1.

Sources used in preparation of pageant

  • Bradford, William. [History Of Plymouth Plantation – unclear what volume or date].
  • Portal, Sir William. Memoirs of God’s House [unclear what this is].
  • Southampton Records (as edited by the Southampton Record Society – unclear which in particular).2

Summary

Taking place on Southampton’s West Quay in July 1920, ‘John Alden’s Choice’ was a pageant-play staged to celebrate the voyage of the Mayflower exactly four-hundred years earlier. It was written by Myra Lovett, with her father, Canon Neville Lovett, acting as pageant master and producer. While part of a wider celebration in the town of the Tercentenary, including sporting events like swimming and climbing a greasy pole, the pageant was billed as the main event. In many respects it was a novel spectacle: much of its story took place in the United States, it consequently receiving coverage there in newspapers like the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune; it utilised the dramatic narrative ploy of having much of the story told as part of a vision; and it mixed a heavy amount of comical farce with very serious topics like slavery, racism, and war. Perhaps most interesting now, and an aspect that garnered much attention at the time, was the way in which the pageant became an expression of Anglo-American cooperation in the context of wartime and post-war diplomacy, offering a basis for shared interests and outlook.

Both Canon Lovett and his daughter had previous experience of theatre and pageantry. The Canon, who had been involved in the Isle of Wight Pageant of 1907, first produced a historical tableau in 1909, taking the history of Farnham since Roman times as his topic, with a further pageant of Georgian Farnham taking place in 1912.3 Taking up the position of Rector at St. Mary’s Church in Southampton soon after, he established a ‘tradition in pageantry’, usually taking place at the Deanery—the successful Tudor Pageant of 1914 being perhaps the most notable.4 Myra followed in his footsteps. After playing the Spirit of the Past in the Tudor Pageant, she went on to write plays like ‘The Strong’, a missionary pageant play of the Danes at Hamble, produced at Winchester, June, 1920, and ‘The Children of Spinalung’, performed at Southampton in December 1919.5 One oral history respondent, born in the late nineteenth century, recalled in 1984 that:

Rector Lovett… he took over St. Mary’s an’ that was when ‘is daughter used to make, write the pageants… That’s how I became an’ me sisters got involved in the pageants through the Sunday School see an’ they used to like vi…err the victory parade for the first war they ‘ad err one for that an’ then they’d ‘ave w….old-fashioned pageants on ‘istory. One was called ‘The Army of Britannia’. Another one was err ‘The Pilgrim’s pro…err Fathers’ round there in the twenties… She used to write a log of pageants on err ‘istory mostly; but err I think she, she wrote about ooh at least five or six. That was Miss Myra Lovett the eldest daughter.6

The connections between past and present were made very clear in the foreword to the book of words. The choice of the pageant’s title for the protagonist, John Alden, was a simple one: whether to stay in Southampton, or leave on the Mayflower for the Americas. The visions of future tumultuous events in the US, climaxing with their entry to the First World War, sealed his choice that he had to go. According to the book of words’s foreword, ‘had any such visions been possible for any Englishman leaving this country at that time, he would have made Alden’s choice, not only from pride in the great future of the country to which he was sailing, but also from affection for that country which he was leaving.’7 The pageant thus aimed to ‘rejoice’ in the spirit of the Mayflower, and offer ‘recognition of the glory of the Past because of the greatness of the Present.’8 Vital in this was the connection, through ‘Saxon blood’, of England and the USA.9 Alden, by virtue of being a Southampton local who at one point sang of the charms and patriotism of its residents, thus linked the English city to the development of the USA, transporting the ethical outlook from the former to the latter—‘English-speaking, English-thinking peoples’, as the Southampton Times declared.10

Even before the act that showed the spirit of wartime America and Britannia, there were references to the World War. In the first act, set in 1620, the longshoremen joked about whether they would be able to find an admiral with the spirit of Drake if they were to start fighting the ‘Garmins’ [Germans], to which one replied ‘they be a set o’ land lubbers, they be’, before an old salt confirmed ‘Reckon if Garmins was ever sea-goin’ folks, which bain’t likely, Frankie ‘ud be there under some form or other and us’ll get upsides wi’ they, reckon us’ll get upsides wi’ most folks at sea, long as we’ve got Frankie, and we bain’t going to lose him, niver we bain’t.’11 This dark humour was also complemented with a more farcical approach—though only in the jovial scenes of the harbour. The French, in particular, came in for a lot of the schtick—especially in Act I where a Huguenot fleeing intolerance, complete with comedy accent, was found in a barrel. At first accused of being the devil, one man quipped, ‘Well, I bain’t no how surprised; reckon the way they Frenchies carries on a-killin’ o’ honest Protestants is worthy of the Prince o’ Darkness.’ Winchester, too, was teased as being a ‘godless place’ where the devil was more likely to be found.12 While Myra Lovett readily admitted that this incident was an anachronism, actually taking place over seventy years later, in general she strove to use factual accounts of not just important aspects of the play like the journey of the pilgrims, but also the instances of petty theft or humorous town conflict.13 The frequent appearances of the dim-witted town Beadle were also a cause for mirth, with him being mocked and misled by petty criminals.

In the middle scenes dealing with the John Carver’s death, the Civil War, and the World War, however, no humour was evident, the pageant instead becoming solemn and reflective. Slavery, in particular, was dealt with in a serious fashion. While the ‘Negro’ character, Jackman, spoke in an exaggerated and stereotyped African-American manner, and indeed was overly deferential in proclaiming his thanks to the white women who had saved African-American ‘little childers’ liberty with dere childers’ lives’, there was also some nuance. One woman, at the extreme, declared ‘Well, I am sure the nigger’s a good sort of creature really, but he can’t possibly be worth all this terrible slaughter, I’m sure. After all, the Almighty never intended him to be anything but an inferior or he wouldn’t have made him black’, to which her sister disagreed, replying ‘’Oh, you’re wrong there, Susan, that’s where we’ve all been wrong… The Almighty isn’t to blame for this, Susan; tis we ourselves, in first taking these poor souls from their home in Africa. We took them away from their parents, for generations, to serve us, and now we must give up our children to serve them, and right a great wrong.’14 Overall the Southampton Times praised the balance of ‘moments of pathos, such as in the death of Carver and in the negro’s appeal in the Gettysburg scene’ with ‘times of quite uproarious fun, such as when a Frenchman living in the town appears on the quay with a bitter complaint about the water supply.’15

Undoubtedly the most serious topic of the pageant was the First World War, as visualised in the final scene of Act II, when the Spirit of America entered in response to ‘faint voices calling’ which

waked old longings, old forgotten memories, old ties of blood, and friendships of the past, and I remembered I was born of England, born of the men who sailed from this far port… all the long past, and love, and the close tie which bound us once together, turned me and came again whence sailed the Mayflower.

Britannia then welcomed the Spirit of America, as British and American soldiers trooped across the stage.16 Before this scene, Alden still declared that he would not leave Southampton on the Mayflower; it was the part that the USA played in responding to the need of the Allied forces during the conflict that swayed his decision, and thus, according to the narrative of the pageant, set in motion the eventual defence of Europe from German aggression.

This supposed cultural superiority of the British, and thus American, way of thinking was projected forward by Lord Birkenhead when giving his speech for the pageant luncheon. During the war, he believed, ‘strange doctrines’ and ‘heresies’ abounded, with people being told that ‘democracy had met its final refutation’ and that they ‘must look to Soviets.’ On the contrary, said Birkenhead, ‘the civilisation of the world had no surer anchor than the historical traditions of the British people.’17 Only close association between Britain and America could help ‘conquer the post-war perils which menaced them.’18 The American General Sherill, in response, referring to the Anglo-Japanese treaty, stated: ‘The strongest basis for an Anglo-American alliance is being brought about in the Pacific… Australia has certain policies to which she clings, and which are on all fours with the policy of Canada and the policy of our Western States. Based on these policies will be built up an enduring Anglo-Saxon alliance which will stand against all attacks.’19 According to Birkenhead, the League of Nations, formed in 1919, was the result of this ethos and relationship.20

According to the Observer newspaper, commemoration was important. The sailing of the Mayflower was ‘the grandest achievement of the English race’, and the celebrations were thus

not antiquarian or sentimental. Were it so they would have little interest for us. Monuments and commemorative ceremonies are reminders with a purpose. They recall facts in our past not for their own sake, but for their bearing on the present. The Mayflower reminds us both of the unity in essentials which the British and American people must preserve, and of the diversity which either must allow.21

Many Americans came to watch the opening performance—some of whom had arrived on the Imperator steamship that morning.22 Among the spectators were J. Butler Wright, Counsellor of the American Embassy; General C.H. Sherill of New York; and Mr Savage the American consul at Southampton.23 The Americans were welcomed enthusiastically; the town, port, and vessels in the harbour were bedecked with American flags.24 Press coverage was positive. The Southampton Times declared it ‘good pageantry’ for its idealism and inspiration, noting that ‘All the players put their hearts into the pageant, and the result was worthy of the occasion’.25 The Observer noted that ‘though it suffered from the usual frailties of a first performance’ the pageant was nonetheless ‘a great success.’26 It was certainly an interesting and unique take on the pageantry form, with a serious message not overshadowed by the humour. According to the Observer, the world had changed; isolation had become impossible, and ‘World affairs’ could no longer ‘be allowed to conduct themselves haphazard’. A secure relationship, as was reified through this popular spectacle of past and present at Southampton, was one way to tackle the insecurity of an increasingly connected world.27

Lovett continued a close involvement with Pageants when he became the Bishop of Portsmouth, acting as President of the 1932 Portchester Pageant, in which his daughter played the starring role as the ghost of a Christian martyr.

Footnotes

  1. ^ ‘Southampton Opens 4-Day Celebration of Departure of the Pilgrim Fathers’, New York Times, 25 July 1920, 23.
  2. ^ ‘Pilgrims Pageant’, Southampton Times, 26 June 1920, 11.
  3. ^ ‘Dr Neville Lovett’, The Times, 10 September 1951, 6.
  4. ^ ‘An impression of the town pageant’, The Hampshire Advertiser and Southampton Times, 15 June 1929, 5.
  5. ^ Myra Lovett, John Alden’s Choice: A Pageant Play of Southampton (Southampton, 1920), title page.
  6. ^ Southampton Museums Oral History Archive, Interview Number: C0005, Southampton’s Local Communities (Chapel & Northam): Date of Interview: 18 October 1984; interviewer Sharon Taafe, 16-17.
  7. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, foreword.
  8. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, foreword.
  9. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, foreword.
  10. ^ ‘To-day’s Play’, Southampton Times, 24 July 1920, 1.
  11. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, 15.
  12. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, 15.
  13. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, foreword.
  14. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, 34-35.
  15. ^ ‘Pilgrims Pageant’, 11.
  16. ^ Lovett, John Alden’s Choice, 38.
  17. ^ ‘Civilisation and its Sheet Anchor’, Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 26 July 1920, 1.
  18. ^ ‘300th Anniversary of Sailing of Mayflower’, Dundee Courier, 26 July 1920, 3.
  19. ^ ‘Pilgrims Pageant at Southampton’, New York Times, 26 July 1920, 2.
  20. ^ ‘Tercentenary of the Pilgrim Fathers’, The Manchester Guardian, 26 July 1920, 14.
  21. ^ ‘The Meaning of the “Mayflower”’, The Observer, 25 July 1920, 10.
  22. ^ ‘Mayflower Pageant’, Southampton Times, 31 July 1920, 6.
  23. ^ ‘Pilgrims Pageant at Southampton’, New York Times, 26 July 1920, 2. This appears to be a reprint from Chicago Tribune the previous day.
  24. ^ ‘Tercentenary of the Pilgrim Fathers’, 14.
  25. ^ ‘Mayflower Pageant’, 6.
  26. ^ ‘The Mayflower’, The Observer, 25 July 1920, 13.
  27. ^ ‘The Meaning of the “Mayflower”’, The Observer, 25 July 1920, 10.

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘John Alden’s Choice’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1196/