card 4

Read this question answer set.

Wrestling: Good day, friends. How do you fare? I am Wrestling

Brewster, son of our town's ruling elder.

How long did it take to make your houses?

Wrestling: The first houses took a couple of months, but

that was with all of the men working on them together.

How many people slept in the cottages?

Wrestling: Chiefly, it is one family to each house. Single men,

though, are set to live with other families until the Lord sees fit to put a

woman in their life to court! It may be six or eight people living in a house.

What were your beds made out of?

Wrestling: Our beds are mostly made from straw. The master

and mistress of the house often lay a bed filled with feathers and down over the

bed of straw.

How many people lived in your colony or village?

Wrestling: There are about nine score, including the babes

and dames. We are fewer than 200 people.

Did you make your own clothes? If so, what were they made from?

Wrestling: No, we don't make our own clothes. They are

shipped over, ready-made, from England. We don't make any cloth here yet,

either.

How did you make your shoes in the 1600s?

Wrestling: We don't make shoes here in New Plymouth. In

England, a man called a cordwainer makes shoes.

What types of food do you eat?

Wrestling: We are coming into our season of fowling now, so

we eat goose, duck, and even eagle and swan. We have also begun butchering our swine (pigs) and some goats. We eat some wheat, but our chiefest grain is maize.

How did you keep your food from getting spoiled?

Wrestling: We would salt our meats to keep them from going

bad. We also would dry our grain before storing it.

How many chores did you have to do?

Wrestling: We rise with the blush of dawn and do labors

until the sun sets. In this country we will learn the art of husbandry: farming, fishing, hunting, and tending to the cattle.

What were some of the rules children had to follow?

Wrestling: Whatever rules their parents set for them, of

course. And we also follow the rules of God. To respect their elders, children will not speak unless spoken to or given permission.

What happened if you misbehaved?

Wrestling: You would be scolded, for certain. You may be

beaten if it was necessary.

Did the children have to go to school?

Wrestling: We have no schools in New Plymouth. If parents

desire their children to learn, they teach them themselves, if they are able.

What were the games that kids used to play?

Wrestling: We play at stool ball, Cobb's castle, seek and

find, nine pins, marbles, pitching the bar, quoits, running races, and such like games. When I was little, I used to like to blow bubbles!

How do you take showers in Plymouth?

Wrestling: Do you mean how do we bathe? We bathe most

commonly in the brook, a few times a year. We do wash our faces, hands, necks, and feet before the Sabbath. We don't like to submerge ourselves in water. It is most unhealthy!