PATRIOTIC PLAYS AND PAGEANTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
BY
CONSTANCE D'ARCY MACKAY
Author of "The House of the Heart and Other Plays for Children" and "The Silver Thread and Other Folk Plays for Young People"
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1912,
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
—
Published March, 1912
No performance of these plays may be given without full acknowledgment of the author and publishers. Acknowledgment should be made to read as follows: "By Constance D'Arcy Mackay; from Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People; Copyright, 1912, by Henry Holt and Company; Produced by arrangement with the publishers."
Amateurs may produce the plays in this volume without charge. Professional actors must apply for acting rights to the author, in care of the publishers.
PREFACE
THE one-act plays for young people contained in this volume can be produced separately, or may be used as links in the chain of episodes which go to make up outdoor or indoor pageants. There are full directions for simple costumes, dances, and music. Each play deals with the youth of some American hero, so that the lad who plays George Washington or Benjamin Franklin will be in touch with the emotions of a patriot of his own years, instead of incongruously portraying an adult. Much of the dialogue contains the actual words of Lincoln, Washington, and Franklin, so that in learning their lines the youthful players may grasp something of the hardihood and sagacity of Washington, the perseverance of Franklin, and the honesty and dauntlessness of Lincoln, and of those salient virtues that went to the up-building of America—a heritage from the time "when all the land was young."
The plays are suitable for schools, summer camps, boys' clubs, historic festivals, patriotic societies, and social settlements and playgrounds. The outdoor plays are especially adapted for a "Safe and Sane Fourth." All the plays have stood the test of production.
"The Pageant of Patriots"—the first children's patriotic pageant ever given in America—was produced in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y., under the auspices of Brooklyn's ten Social Settlements, May, 1911. The Hawthorne Pageant was first produced on Arbor Day, May, 1911, by the Wadleigh High School, New York City; Pocahontas was given as a separate play at Franklin Park, Boston, by Lincoln House, and some of the other plays have been given at various schools in New York City.
Thanks are due to The Woman's Home Companion, The Delineator, The Designer, The Normal Instructor, and The Popular Educator for their kind permission to reprint these plays.
CONTENTS
PATRIOTIC PLAYS: THEIR USE AND VALUE
PAGEANTS
PAGEANTS OF PATRIOTISM
The outdoor arrangement can be produced by a whole school or group of schools, by groups of social settlements, communities, and cities, in parks, armories, woodland spaces or meadows on such occasions as the Fourth of July, Decoration Day, Bunker Hill Day, Labor Day, during Old Home Week, or for any special city or town celebration. The indoor arrangement of the same pageant is also suitable for whole schools, or groups of schools, groups of settlements, communities, villages, cities: in armories, school halls, assembly rooms, or small theaters on Columbus Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, or some day of special celebration.
PAGEANT OF PATRIOTS (Outdoor)
Prologue by the Spirit of Patriotism
Princess Pocahontas
Pilgrim Interlude
Ferry Farm Episode
George Washington's Fortune
Daniel Boone: Patriot
Benjamin Franklin Episode
Abraham Lincoln Episode
Liberty Dance
Pageant Directions
PAGEANT OF PATRIOTS (Indoor)
Prologue by the Spirit of Patriotism
Dramatic Silhouette: Lords of the Forest
The Coming of the White Man: Tableau
Princess Pocahontas
Priscilla Mullins Spinning: Tableau
Benjamin Franklin: Journeyman
George Washington's Fortune
The Boston Tea Party
Dramatic Silhouette: The Spirit of '76
Abraham Lincoln: Rail-Splitter
Directions for Indoor Arrangement
THE HAWTHORNE PAGEANT
Can be produced in park or woodland in its outdoor arrangement. Is suitable for co-educational schools, girls' schools, girls' Summer camps. Is appropriate for Hawthorne's Birthday (July 4), Arbor Day, May Day, or any day during Spring and Summer. In its indoor form it can be given in school halls or in a small theater. In this form it is appropriate for co-educational schools, girls' schools, settlements. It can be given any time during the Autumn, Winter, or Spring.
HAWTHORNE PAGEANT (For Outdoor or Indoor Production)
Chorus of Spirits of the Old Manse
Prologue by the Muse of Hawthorne
In Witchcraft Days (First Episode)
Dance Interlude
Merrymount (Second Episode)
Pageant Directions
LIST OF SEPARATE ONE-ACT PLAYS
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: RAIL-SPLITTER (Indoor)
Can be produced in school, home, or small theater. Is suitable for schools, settlements, clubs, patriotic societies, and debating societies. Can be appropriately produced any time between September and March. Is especially appropriate for Lincoln's Birthday.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: JOURNEYMAN (Indoor)
Can be produced in a school, home, or small theater. Is suitable for schools, clubs, settlements, patriotic societies and clubs. Can appropriately be produced any time between September and June. Is particularly suited to Franklin's Birthday.
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY (Indoor)
Can be produced in school, home, or small theater. Is suitable for boys' schools, Boy Scouts, settlements, clubs, and patriotic societies. Can be produced on any holiday. Is particularly appropriate for Fall and Winter months—especially the month of December.
DANIEL BOONE: PATRIOT (Outdoor)
Can be produced in park, woodland, or village green. Can be given by boys' schools, clubs, settlements, and patriotic societies. Also by the "Sons of Daniel Boone" and the Boy Scouts. Is appropriate for any day during Spring, Summer, or Autumn. Can be given on the Fourth of July.
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FORTUNE (Outdoor)
Can be produced in park, lawn, or woodland. Is suitable for schools, clubs, patriotic societies, and settlements. Is appropriate for any day during Spring, Summer, or Autumn, and is particularly appropriate for the Fourth of July. An indoor arrangement can easily be made for George Washington's Birthday.
IN WITCHCRAFT DAYS (Outdoor)
Can be given in park, lawn, or village green or woodland. Suitable for co-educational schools, girls' schools, girls' Summer camps, patriotic societies, settlements, and clubs. Appropriate for Arbor Day, May Day, or any day during Spring, Summer, or early Autumn. An indoor arrangement can be given for Thanksgiving in school halls.
MERRYMOUNT (Outdoor)
Can be produced in park or woodland. Is suitable for co-educational schools, girls' schools, girls' Summer camps, and for clubs, settlements, and patriotic societies. Is appropriate for Arbor Day, May Day, or any day in Spring and Summer. An indoor version of it can also be given.
PRINCESS POCAHONTAS (Outdoor)
Can be given in park, in woodland, or on lawn. Is suitable for schools, clubs, and patriotic societies. Can be given on the Fourth of July, or any day during Spring and Summer. Indoor production is also possible.
PATRIOTIC PLAYS AND PAGEANTS
PATRIOTIC PLAYS: THEIR USE AND VALUE
THE primary value of the patriotic play lies in its appeal to the love of country, and its power to revitalize the past. The Youth of To-Day is put in touch with the Patriots of Yesterday. Historic personages become actual, vivid figures. The costumes, speech, manners, and ideas of bygone days take on new significance. The life of trail and wigwam, of colonial homestead and pioneer camp, is made tangible and realistic. And the spirit of those days—the integrity, courage, and vigor of the Nation's heroes, their meager opportunities, their struggle against desperate odds, their slow yet triumphant upward climb—can be illumined by the acted word as in no other way. To read of the home life of America's beginnings is one thing; to portray it or see it portrayed is another. And of the two experiences the latter is the less likely to be forgotten. To the youthful participants in a scene which centers about the campfire, the tavern table, or the Puritan hearthstone will come an intimate knowledge of the folk they represent: they will find the old sayings and maxims of the Nation-Builders as pungent and applicable to the life of to-day as when they were first spoken.
The patriotic play has manifold uses. It combines both pleasure and education. It is both stimulating and instructive. In its indoor form it may be the basis of a winter afternoon's or evening's entertainment, in its outdoor form it may take whole communities and schools into the freedom of the open. It should rouse patriotic ardor, and be of benefit ethically, esthetically, and physically. It should wake in its participants a sense of rhythm, freedom, poise, and plastic grace. It should bear its part in developing clear enunciation and erectness of carriage. To those taking part it should bring the exercise of memory, patience, and inventiveness. It should kindle enthusiasm for the things of America's past. In what way can national hero-days and festivals be more fittingly commemorated than by giving a glimpse of the hero for whom the day is named? Thus the patriotic play is equally adaptable for Fourth of July, Washington's Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Columbus Day, and the hundreds of other days—not holidays—that lie in between.
If the patriotic play is produced in the right way it should contain the very essence of democracy—efficient team-work, a striving together for the good of the whole. It should lead to the ransacking of books and libraries; the planning of scene-setting, whether indoor or outdoor; the fashioning of simple and accurate costumes by the young people taking part; the collecting of suitable stage properties such as hearthbrooms, Indian pipes, and dishes of pewter. The greater the research, the keener the stimulus for imagination and ingenuity, two things that go to the making of every successful production. Fortunately, the patriotic play is inherently simple, its appeal is along broad general lines, so that it requires no great amount of money or energy to adequately produce it. And, as history is made up not of one event, but of a series of events, so an historical pageant is a logical sequence of one-act patriotic plays or episodes. The one-act patriotic play shows one hero or one event; the pageant shows, through one-act plays used in chronological order, the development and upbuilding of America through the lives of her heroes.
In its pageant form, the patriotic play, with dances, songs, pantomime, and spoken speech, lends itself to schools, communities, and city use, in park, in armory, and on village green: in its one-act form it lends itself to both indoor and outdoor production by schools, patriotic societies, clubs and settlements, and, last, but not least, the home circle. And in the hope of assisting teachers and producers to fit appropriate plays to appropriate occasions notes on the subject have been added to the individual plays in the table of contents.
THE PAGEANT OF PATRIOTS
(Outdoor)
THE PAGEANT OF PATRIOTS
EPISODES
1. PROLOGUE BY THE SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM
2. PRINCESS POCAHONTAS
3. PILGRIM INTERLUDE
4. FERRY FARM EPISODE
5. GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FORTUNE
6. DANIEL BOONE: PATRIOT
7. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN EPISODE
Scene 1. Benjamin Franklin and the Crystal Gazer (1720)
The Dream Begins
Scene 2.Benjamin Franklin at the Court of France (1781)
The Dream Ends
8. ABRAHAM LINCOLN EPISODE
9. FINAL TABLEAU
10. MARCH OF PLAYERS
Spoken by The Spirit of Patriotism
People of ————, ye who come to see
Enacted here some hours of Pageantry,
Lend us your patience for each simple truth,
And see portrayed for you the Nation's Youth.
Spirit of Patriotism I. Behold
How at my word time's curtain is uprolled,
And all the past years live, unvanquished
As are the laurels of the mighty dead.
I am the spirit of the hearth and home!
For me are flags unfurled and bugles blown.
For me have countless thousands fought and died;
For me the name of "Liberty" is cried!
I am the leader where the battle swings,
I bring the memory of all high things.
And so to-day I come to bid you look
At scenes deep-written in the Nation's book.
The youth of all the heroes you shall see—
What lads they were, what men they grew to be.
How honor, thrift, and courage made them rise
By steps that you can learn if you be wise.
First, Pocahontas in a woodland green;
Then life among the Pilgrim folk is seen—
Thrifty Priscilla, Maid o' Plymouth Town,
In Puritanic cap and somber gown!
For the next scene comes life in Southern climes—
The Ferry Farm of past Colonial times.
Then Washington encamped before a blaze
O' fagots, swiftly learning woodland ways.
Then Boone with Rigdon in the wilderness
Dauntlessly facing times of strife and stress.
Crossing the Common in the morning sun
Young Benjamin Franklin comes: about him hung
Symbols of trade and hope—kite, candles, book.
The crystal gazer enters, bids him look
At all the guerdon that the years will bring.
The Vision next: Trianon in the Spring,
And Franklin honored by the Queen of France
With courtly minuet and festal dance.
Lastly, a cabin clearing in the West,
Where on a holiday with mirth and zest
Lincoln's companions take their simple cheer.
These are the scenes to be enacted here,
Shown to you straightway in a simple guise.
Youthful the scenes that we shall here devise
On which the beads of history are strung.
Remember that our players, too, are young.
All critic-knowledge, then, behind you leave,
And in the spirit of the day receive
What we would give, and let there come to you
The Joy of Youth, with purpose high and true.
COSTUME
THE SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM. The Spirit of Patriotism should wear a long white robe, with flowing Grecian lines, made either of white cheesecloth, or white cashmere. It should fall from a rounded neck. Hair worn flowing, and chapleted with a circlet of gold stars. White stockings and sandals. Carries a staff from which floats the Stars and Stripes.
CHARACTERS
PRINCESS POCAHONTAS
CHIEF POWHATAN
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
Eight Young Indian Braves
Eight Young Indian Maidens
Two Indian Women
Two old and withered Squaws
Six or seven little Indian children
Other followers of Powhatan
TIME: Mid-afternoon on a mild day in 1609.
PLACE: Virginia.
SCENE: An open glade showing a small Indian encampment.
At the opening of the scene the glade is deserted, the men of the tribe being engaged in a skirmish with the white men, while the women and children have gone foraging. There are two teepees, one at right, and one at left, their doors closed. By the side of teepee at left a pile of fagots, and a wooden block.
Further front, facing audience, a great war-drum, gaily painted. A skin-covered drum-stick. At right, towards front, the smoldering remains of a fire. The whole appearance of the camp shows that it is not permanent—a mere pausing-place.
The space between the teepees is absolutely unobstructed, but there are trees and bushes at the back and sides.
By degrees the Indians who have been foraging begin to return. One of the Indian women enters carrying fagots. One of the older squaws rekindles the fire. Next come the children, with merry shouts, carrying their little bows and arrows. The Indian maidens enter gaily, carrying reeds for weaving. They move silently, swiftly, gracefully. Two of their number begin to grind maize between stones. Two others plait baskets. An old medicine-man, with a bag of herbs, comes from the background, and seats himself near the drum, at left, taking an Indian flute from his deerskin belt, and fingering it lovingly. An Indian woman, arriving later than the others, unstraps from her back a small papoose, and hangs it to the limb of a tree. The Indian children stand towards the front of the greensward, shoot in a line their feathered arrows, run and pick up the arrows, and acclaim in pantomime the one who shot the best. Then they go towards background, doing a childish imitation of a war-dance. The mother of the papoose, having finished her duties in setting one of the teepees to rights, now takes down the papoose from the tree where it swings, and seating herself in the center of the greensward, croons an Indian lullaby. The Indian maidens group themselves about her, seated in a semicircle on the ground, swaying rhythmically. At the back of the stage one of the little Indian boys sees an Indian maiden approaching, clad in white doeskin. Cries aloud delightedly: "Pocahontas!"
The Indian maidens and the squaws rise and fall back before the entrance of Pocahontas with gestures of salutation and respect.
ALL
(clearly and enthusiastically).
Pocahontas!
[Pocahontas comes down center with a basket filled with branches that bear small red berries. The children and two of the maidens gather about her, and then fall back as she begins speaking, so that she has the center of the stage. Greatest interest is evinced in all she does.
POCAHONTAS
(speaking slowly, as one does in an unfamiliar tongue, yet clearly and deliberately).
I—Pocahontas—daughter of Powhatan, great chief,—speak—language of—paleface. Powhatan teach me. (Points to way from which she has come.) Yonder—I—went. Prayed to River God.
[Makes gesture of worship, raising basket above her head. The semicircle about her widens respectfully. A maiden then approaches and takes basket. Pocahontas smiles in sudden childlike delight, and holding out chain of beads that fall from her neck to her waist, says with pretty intonation:
Beads. Jamestown.
[Watches them for a moment as they glimmer in the sun. Then with sudden laugh seizes the Indian maiden nearest her, and by gesture summons the other Indian maidens. One of the very old squaws with a half-wry, half-kindly smile begins a swift tapping on the drum that has in it the rhythm of dance music. The Indian children withdraw to the doors of the teepees, and Pocahontas and the Indian maidens dance. The old medicine-man adds his flute-notes to the rhythm of the war-drum.
The Indians being a notably silent people, this scene must be given mostly in pantomime.
From the forest at right comes the faint sound of a crackling branch. Instant attention on the part of all. The dance stops. The Indian maidens stand poised, listening. The women shade their eyes with their hands. A small Indian boy lays his ear to the ground, and then cries: "Powhatan!" Two expectant semicircles are formed. All look to wards right. Powhatan enters, Pocahontas runs to meet him. Tableau.
Powhatan then indicates that others are coming from right. Young braves enter with John Smith in their midst. His hands are bound behind him, his face is white and drawn. Children at sight of him scamper to teepees. The rest show signs of curiosity. Pocahontas stands with clasped hands and startled eyes, regarding Smith most earnestly. A brave bears Smith's weapons. Smith is led to right foreground. Block of wood is brought him for a seat.
The Indian women, maidens, and children retreat to the extreme background, where they sit in a semicircle, watching. Then Powhatan and braves withdraw to left, where they form a circle and confer, one brave at a time addressing the rest in pantomime, with many gestures, some towards Smith, some towards the path by which they brought him. Occasionally the words "Algonquin," "Chickahominy," "Jamestown," "Opeckankano," "W'ashunsunakok" are spoken. When Powhatan speaks in pantomime the others listen with occasional grunts of satisfaction and approval. It is evident that the prisoner and the fate awaiting him are under discussion.
Pocahontas alone remains near the center of interest. She glances first at her father and the braves, sees they are deep in discussion, and then crosses to John Smith, with every sign of interest and awakening pity. She brings him water in a wooden bowl. He drinks thirstily. She then goes to one of the teepees, and brings him a cup of milk. This she holds for him to drink from, as his hands are bound.
POCAHONTAS
(gravely, as she puts down the cup).
How!
SMITH
(with equal gravity).
How!
POCAHONTAS
(touching herself lightly).
Pocahontas. Daughter of Powhatan.
[Touches Smith questioningly.
SMITH
(answering her).
Smith. John Smith.
POCAHONTAS
(repeating it after him).
John Smith.
SMITH.
From Jamestown.
POCAHONTAS
(nods, says slowly).
Pocahontas likes paleface.
[Meantime the pantomimic discussion held by Powhatan and his braves is drawing near its close. There comes a shout of triumphant acclaim "Wah! Wah! Wah!" hoarse and loud. Powhatan, having in pantomime rendered his decision, now stands with arms folded, at left. Braves to right, and take Smith to center. Powhatan stands at the extreme left. The braves form a semicircle about Smith. The women and children in the background rise silently, and peer forward. Smith is forced to one knee. A brave holds aloft the hatchet.
POCAHONTAS
(looking from Smith to her father, and then running towards the latter with a cry).
No! No!
[Powhatan regards his daughter gravely, yet unrelentingly. Pocahontas, center, stretches out her arms in pleading. Powhatan shakes his head. Pocahontas then goes towards Smith, and again with animated pantomime, indicating first Smith and then the way by which he has come, pleads for him. Powhatan shakes his head. He is obdurate. Pocahontas bows her head dejectedly. Turns to go back to where she has been standing. Then changes her mind, runs to her father, and with every evidence of pleading and humility, falls on her knees before him, arms outstretched. For a moment they are still as statues. Then Pocahontas takes from her neck her string of beads, and, by gesture, offers it as a ransom for Smith.
POCAHONTAS
(speaking slowly).
Pocahontas, daughter of Great Chief, asks of Great Chief John Smith's life.
[Tense pause. Powhatan, with arms folded, considers deeply. Then makes sign of assent, but gives back necklace to Pocahontas, who rises with pantomime of joy. Powhatan makes sign to braves to release Smith. Smith is unbound. His weapons are given back to him. He chafes his wrists and presents his compass to Powhatan.
SMITH.
Great Chief! (Turns first to Powhatan, and then to Pocahontas.) Great Princess! John Smith grateful!
[Powhatan touches him on shoulder.
POWHATAN
(grunting).
Umph!
[Indicates by gesture peace-pipe which has been lit at fire. All braves sit in semicircle facing audience, and pass it (not too slowly!) from one to another, including Smith and Powhatan. Then all rise.
SMITH
(standing center).
John Smith goes to Jamestown. John Smith friend of great chief, Powhatan. Palefaces always remember Powhatan! Always remember Pocahontas!
BRAVES
(all together).
Wah! Wah! Wah!
[Exit Smith, right. Smith is watched by the Indians in silence deep and respectful.
POCAHONTAS
(to Powhatan).
Great Chief safely returned. Captive set free. Shall we go yonder? (Points.) Pray to River God?
[Powhatan nods gravely. He and Pocahontas exeunt left. The braves follow next. The Indian maidens, women, and children form the end of the procession. The stage is thus left empty, and the scene ends.
COSTUMES
POCAHONTAS. Pocahontas should wear the traditional costume of "white doeskin with a scarlet mantle flecked with gold sequins." A great chain of pearls should be about her neck. Another chain which reaches to her waist should be of white and blue beads—large beads that will catch glitter from the sun. About her head a band of tan, and a white quill. The embroidery about the neck of her Indian robe is of pearls. The basket which she carries should be white, with a motif of rich blue and scarlet. She wears a tan (dressed deerskin) girdle, heavily embroidered in red beads. Her stockings and moccasins are tan-colored also, the moccasins embroidered in scarlet. The ends of her braids are bound in scarlet and gold. White canton flannel, skilfully slashed for fringing, will make the Indian dress, which should fall in straight lines from a square neck. It should reach to about three inches above the ankle, and should be heavily fringed. The robe, worn fastened at the shoulders, should be of scarlet cloth. The deerskin belt is of cotton khaki. The moccasins can be made of the same material, cut sandal fashion. Or low canvas ties without heels, bead-embroidered.
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. Tan-colored costume of the seventeenth century. The coat of tattered, weather-stained brown velvet, the puffed sleeves slashed with tan satin that is soiled and frayed. Great tan boots coming to the knee. A white lace collar at neck, much the worse for wear. A brown leather girdle.
POWHATAN. Indian dress of tan (dressed deerskin), the neck and breast of it gorgeously painted with blue, green, and scarlet. Great chains of shells and beads. A huge head-dress of black feathers that hangs down his back almost to his knees. It should be the largest and most magnificent of all the Indian head-dresses, as it is the insignia of chiefdom. Tan stockings and tan moccasins. The material of his costume may be cotton khaki. (The imitation khaki is best, as the real material is too heavy.)
THE MEDICINE-MAN. The medicine-man is old. He wears a wig of long, white, coarse hair. His costume is of cotton khaki, decorated with beads, bits of looking-glass, and feathers. He wears no feathers on his head. A piece of fur is fastened to his shoulders. His blanket is black, with white cabalistic signs. It can be made of canton flannel.
INDIAN BRAVES. The braves who follow Powhatan should wear costumes resembling those of the chief, save that they are less gorgeously painted, and wear fewer strings of beads and shells. Their head-dresses, too, are shorter. They should be of gray, black, and brown feathers. Their faces are, of course, stained brown, their arms and necks likewise. Red and black warpaint should also be on their faces. Unless wigs of long hair are to be worn, the boys wearing the feathered head-dresses should be careful to see that their lack of long hair is concealed from view. Often the Indian braves wore their long matted locks braided; and black cheesecloth cut into strips and then braided and fastened to a tight black cap will make a splendid wig of this sort—the braids of hair should hang in front of the ears. The Indian braves should carry bows, arrows, and tomahawks.
THE INDIAN MAIDENS. The Indian maidens should wear tan fringed dresses, of the same length and fashion as that of Pocahontas. Necklaces and bracelets of shells. The necks of the dresses embroidered in beads and shells. They wear their long black hair in two braids, the ends of the braids bound either with scarlet, corn-yellow, or vivid blue. They have moccasins and tan-colored stockings. Their bead' embroidered footgear should be in striking color on a tan background. But their chief glory is their blankets. These should be barbarically glowing, since it is partly in their wild flare of color that the beauty of the Blanket Dance lies. The following designs for them are taken from the Indian motifs and colorings studied from the collections in various museums of natural history, and however startling they may seem at first, their color-scheme should be faithfully carried out, as much of the success of the scene depends on them. The material used may be canton flannel throughout. They should be the size of the average, every-day blanket.
1. Blanket made of equal halves of deep royal purple and pale turquoise blue.
2. Blanket of deep cobalt blue. Fastened in the center a great oval of orange.
3. Blanket made of equal halves of pale lemon and black.
4. Blanket made of equal halves of very dark green and very pale green.
5. Blanket made of equal halves of deep violet and white.
6. White blanket with disks of scarlet at each of its four corners.
7. Blanket of equal halves of royal purple and pale lavender.
8. Blanket of very pale green, with large white disk in center.
Each Indian maiden should wear a band of gay-colored cheesecloth, red, green, or blue, bound about her forehead. This band should match the color that fastens her braids. In the back of the head-band should be fastened a quill of contrasting shade. It need hardly be added that the Indian maidens wear neither feather head-dresses nor war-paint. Their arms, necks, and faces should be stained light brown. The tan-colored stockings are to simulate bare skin.
SQUAWS. The squaws wear the same cotton khaki costumes as the Indian maidens, save that their blanket are of more somber colors, and their headgear is either omitted altogether, or consists of black, bronze, or dull green.
THE LITTLE INDIAN BOYS. They should drew in exact imitation of the older braves, save that they wear no war-paint.
PROPERTIES. For either an indoor or outdoor representation of this scene where it is impossible to have a real fire, have a pile of fagots and unionist them place large bunches of joss-sticks bound together with thread. These will burn easily and safely, and the blue smoke from them will simulate a waft from woodland embers.
The log can be made of two small vinegar barrels fastened together, covered with brown burlap, and then flecked with green and brown paint. The teepees should be of canvas, unbleached cotton, or burlap fastened over three slender, strong poles, stuck into the ground. They should be equal to bearing the weight of the canvas or burlap, and yet light enough to be removed and carried off the scene by the young Indian braves as they leave in the direction of the river when the scene ends.
DANCES. At the place indicated in the scene, the Indian maidens give one or more characteristic Indian dances. "The Blanket Dance," one of the most widely known and picturesque of the Indian dances, follows somewhat the lines of a Virginia Reel. The Indian maidens stand in a line facing each other, their blankets wrapped about them. The head couple, facing each other, spread wide their blankets behind them like great butterfly wings. Then they dance forward and back, forward and back, beckoning, retreating, gesturing, and finally dance off, with one blanket wrapped about two pairs of shoulders. Then the next couple, and so on. All sorts of fantastic steps, gestures, bendings, and swayings can be introduced. A wide space should be left between the dancers, so that all they do can be clearly seen. Dancing in great circles, like a mild war-dance, yet without the whoops and wild gestures of the latter, is another form that lends itself to the out-of-doors. Another dance is the Eagle Dance; with arms spread wide, holding their blankets at
wing-like angles, the dancers circle about each other, the dance growing wilder and wilder. Still another dance is the symbolical one of the Four Winds—North, South, East, West—done by four Indian maidens. The South Wind gentle and swaying; the West Wind fantastic, with arms upraised; the East Wind with streaming hair and rain-drops shining on finger tips; the North Wind wilder than them all, and finally driving them all before her.
MUSIC. Piano: MacDowell's "An Indian Idyl," "From an Indian Lodge." These can be had orchestrated. For a band: "Tomahawk Dance," by Andrew Herman. "Indian War Dance," by Bellstedt. "The Sun Dance," by Leo Friedman.
PILGRIM CHANT
(Tune: Oxford. To be sung off stage by the Puritan maidens before they enter to take part in the episode.)
Gone is now the sullen winter,
Gone the famine and the snow;
In the forest, like a promise,
See the first white mayflowers blow.
Fresh hope thrills us with their coming,
They, too, braved the winter long;
Then at Springtime took new leafage,
Frail yet steadfast, small but strong.
Cling we thus to our new country,
Let us struggle and endure;
We have found a land of Freedom,
And our heritage is sure.
THE SPINNING LESSON
(A Pilgrim Interlude)
CHARACTERS
PRISCILLA MULLINS
Lads of Plymouth Town
JOHN BILLINGTON
DEGORY MARTIN
Youthful Pilgrim Maidens
RUTH
PATIENCE
MIRIAM
LETTICE
ANNE
STAR-OF-SPRING, an Indian maiden
NATIQUA, a squaw, her mother
FOREST FLOWER, another Indian maiden
HERON'S WING, a young Indian brave
SCENE: A grassy glade at Plymouth in the Spring of 1621, Trees right, left, and background. At the beginning of the scene the grassy stage is deserted. There presently enters from background Anne, a young Pilgrim maid of about fourteen, whose somber garb shows out darkly against the green background. She looks quickly about her, right and left, shielding her eyes with her hand. Then she calls back over her shoulder to her companions, Diantha and Lettice.
ANNE
(calling).
Come quickly, Diantha. Here is a fair spot for our corn-shelling, and not a prowling Indian in sight.
[Diantha, slender, dark, and somewhat older than Anne, enters with Lettice. They carry between them an Indian basket of capacious size, in which are dried ears of corn.
DIANTHA
(clearly).
Nay, we need have no fear; for on one side Captain Miles Standish keeps watch, and on the other John Alden; so as for Indians——
LETTICE
(as they come to center).
One Indian only have I seen this day, and to see him is ever a sign of good omen.
DIANTHA.
That means that Squanto is in Plymouth Town, our good, true Indian friend. He it was who taught us how to shell the corn, so many months agone; he it was who taught us, this Spring, the manner of sowing it.
LETTICE
(holding up Indian basket).
And here is one of the Indian corn-baskets that Captain Standish found buried in a strange wilderness spot when he first explored these forests.
ANNE
(drawing near to Lettice).
These forests—! Oh, my heart! As night draws on how dark and fearsome they appear! And now that Spring is in the land it sets me longing for English hedgerows.
[Sits on ground, left, and begins to shell corn.
LETTICE
(joining Anne in her work).
Do you remember the Spring in Leyden, Diantha?
DIANTHA
(looking upward as she stands).
Why, even here the Spring is very fair! Do not the sunlight, the blue sky, and the budding trees make your heart sing with joy?
ANNE.
Sit, then, Diantha, and let us have a quiet hour.
DIANTHA
(standing behind them, half-gay, half-mocking).
A quiet hour—! Hither come Patience and Miriam and Ruth, the greatest clatter-tongues in Plymouth. See! They have been gathering wild plum blossoms!
[Enter Miriam, Patience, and Ruth from background. They hasten towards Diantha. The exquisite white of the blossoms they carry makes them look like heralds of the Spring.
MIRIAM
(excitedly).
Diantha, what dost think! Priscilla Mullins hath declared herself weary of spinning in her own door-yard, and since Squanto hath told us that we need not fear the Indians she hath besought Degory Martin and John Billington to bring hither her spinning-wheel.
PATIENCE
(wide-eyed).
Was ever the like known in Plymouth!
RUTH
(as all look eagerly towards background).
Hither she comes!
PRISCILLA
(clearly in distance).
Have a care, Degory.
DEGORY.
Aye, Mistress Priscilla.
PRISCILLA
(as they emerge from background).
Stumble not, John Billington.
JOHN BILLINGTON
(sturdily).
Not while I bear such a burden.
[They set down the spinning-wheel, center.
PRISCILLA.
I thank you. Will you come for me when the shadows o' the pines grow long across my doorway?
[The Pilgrim lads nod, and exeunt, left background.
PRISCILLA
(to Pilgrim maidens).
Well, and have you no word of greeting? Why, they are dumb with astonishment! And is it so strange a thing to bring one's wheel outdoors? 'Twas out of doors that this wood first grew! (Touches wheel.) All day I have longed to be out in these wide spaces—and yet there was work to do. But see—now I weld heart's desire and work together!
[She begins to spin. Meantime Pilgrim maidens group about her. Tableau.
MIRIAM.
You are ever one to see the bright side of things, Priscilla, and———Look, Priscilla—an Indian!
[At sound of that dread word all the maidens draw near to Priscilla. From the woods in right background appears Star-of-Spring, the little Indian maiden. She carries a basket of shell-fish on her head, steadying it with her hand. She is so intent on walking carefully that she does not see the group of Pilgrims until she is nearly upon them. There ensues a period of unflagging pantomime. Star-of-Spring, upon seeing the group of dark-clad maidens, starts back, half terrified. Priscilla rises, and as an overture of peace and good-will, takes a few steps towards her. Star-of-Spring retreats still further towards right. Priscilla returns to her wheel.
Star-of-Spring, emboldened, takes a step towards the Pilgrim maidens. Pilgrim maidens, quite as wary of Star-of-Spring as she is of them, retreat a little way to left. At this Star-of-Spring's last fears vanish. She wishes to be friends. With pretty pleading she holds out to them her basket of shell-fish. Places it on the ground and then steps back, bowing, with arms wide and outstretched palms.
PRISCILLA.
She means we should accept it. Is that not truly generous!
DIANTHA
(reassured).
It must be Star-of-Spring, the little Indian maid of whom Squanto has so often told us.
[Diantha takes up basket. Pantomime of delight on part of Star-of-Spring. She draws near to Anne, and with a quaint grace touches Anne's cap and kerchief. Tries on Anne's cap, and looks at herself in a barbaric bit of looking-glass that dangles from one of her many chains of beads. Then laughs, gives back the cap, and is in turn fascinated at the sight of Priscilla when she begins spinning. Star-of-Spring approaches the wheel with pantomime indicating awe and delighted curiosity. She first inspects it, and then begins to talk in dumbshow with quick, animated gestures. The Pilgrim maidens are somewhat bewildered.
DIANTHA
(as the meaning of the scene dawns on her).
Priscilla! She wishes to spin!
ANNE.
Thou hast done many strange things in this new land, Priscilla; but I doubt not that the strangest of all is to give an Indian maiden her first lesson in spinning!
[Priscilla rises. Star-of-Spring seats herself. Business of Priscilla's teaching her to spin. Haltingly and somewhat fumblingly she does at length manage to compass the first rudiments of her lesson. The Pilgrim maidens stand grouped about her. Tableau.
DEGORY
(from background).
The shadows of the pines lengthen across your door-sill, Priscilla!
[At sound of the new voice Star-of-Spring rises, and hastily retreats, right. Degory Martin and John Billington enter from background.
DIANTHA.
Only think, Degory, Star-of-Spring, an Indian maid, hath had a spinning lesson!
DEGORY.
The shadows are lengthening. Twilight comes apace here in the forest. 'Tis time you all came home.
[The maidens of Plymouth follow him as he and John Billington take the spinning-wheel and spinning-stool with them. They make their exit at center background. Star-of-Spring, who has lingered at edge of trees, right, steals out to look after her departing playmates. Stands at place where spinning-wheel was. Again shakes her head, as if in perplexity over the strange arts of the palefaces. Finds on grass part of a skein of flax. Tosses it lightly in the air. Catches it again as it falls. Begins a characteristic dance, swaying, tossing skein, catching it. Each step of the dance takes her further into background. Then she comes down center again, like a tossing bough or a blown flame. She does not perceive the group entering from left. Her mother (Natiqua), Forest Flower, and Heron's Wing. They also are so occupied with portage that they do not perceive Star-of-Spring until they are almost up to her. Heron's Wing and Forest Flower carry between them a birch-bark canoe. Behind them trudges Natiqua, bent beneath a double pile of fagots. They pass, in picturesque silhouette, back of the spot where Priscilla had been seated with her spinning-wheel. Then they and Star-of-Spring become aware of each other. They stop. Natiqua frowns. Star-of-Spring points to place where Priscilla sat with her spinning-wheel, and by animated gestures portrays what has taken place. But neither Natiqua, Forest Flower, nor Heron's Wing is in the least interested. Natiqua shakes her head and frowns. It is evident that the wonders of the palefaces are not to her mind. She lets slip from her back her double pile of fagots, then replaces one, and Star-of-Spring takes up the other. Then, in Indian file, they cross the scene to right, and slowly disappear from view.
COSTUMES
PILGRIM MAIDENS. The Pilgrim maidens should wear plain black dresses ankle length, with white cuffs and Puritan caps, and white kerchiefs. These dresses may be made of black cambric, worn with the glazed side turned in.
THE PILGRIM LADS. The Pilgrim lads wear black suits, with full knee-breeches, black stockings, and low black shoes with silver buckles. Their hair comes to their ears, and they have white collars turned down on their coats, and deep white cuffs on their sleeves.
THE INDIANS. The Indians wear costumes of cotton khaki, the necks gaily painted with Indian designs. Strings of beads and shells. Natiqua has a green and scarlet blanket. She and the Indian maidens wear their hair in braids. They also have a gay strip of cheesecloth—red, green, or yellow—bound about their brows, and a quill stuck upright in the back. Heron's Wing has a head-dress of blue-gray heron's feathers. All wear moccasins. (See description of Indian costumes in "Princess Pocahontas.")
