LOVE & LEGEND :
THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH
by Frances D. Leach
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In The Courtship of Miles
Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized the
legend of the love triangle between John Alden, Miles Standish, and Priscilla Mullins.
Longfellow, an Alden descendent, wove the narrative around
an old family tradition. The earliest time the story appears in print is
in Timothy Alden’s A Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions with
Occasional Notes, published in 1814.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was a scholar, a
Harvard professor, and a poet. His poems were immensely popular both at
home and abroad. He provided the Victorians with poetry, drama and romance --
enabling them to escape the drab cities of the Industrial Revolution or the loneliness of
the isolated farmhouse. Longfellow’s vivid verbal imagery, wrapped in the gentle
cadences of his verse, bring each scene to life. His narrative poems include
Evangeline (1847), Hiawatha (1855), and The Courtship of Miles Standish
(1858). |
Generations of schoolchildren grew up
with Longfellow’s poetry. In The Courtship of Miles Standish,
they discovered an exciting human dimension in the textbook story of the Pilgrims. It is
evident that the poet had access to historical records, but he did not feel constrained to
follow the literal course of events. For dramatic effect, he compressed several years of
incidents into a very short time frame in 1621.
Longfellow used his imagination to flesh out
the characters in his love triangle. Miles Standish appears as a swash-buckling hero,
brave but inarticulate and somewhat peevish. Handsome young John Alden is torn between his
devotion to the Captain and his love for the Pilgrim maiden. Priscilla, despite her
domestic virtues, speaks her mind in the manner of a modern feminist. Longfellow could
tell a romantic tale, and in so doing, he made the names of these three Pilgrims household
words across the nation.
From Timothy Alden’s A Collection of American
Epitaphs and Inscriptions with Occasional Notes (New York : 1814) :
"It is well known, that, of the first company consisting of one hundred and one,
about one half died in six months after landing, in consequence of the hardships they were
called to encounter. Mrs. Rose Standish, consort of captain Standish, departed this life
on the 29 of January 1621. This circumstance is mentioned as an introduction to the
following anecdote, which has been carefully handed down by tradition.
"In a very short time after the decease of mrs. Standish, the captain was led to
think, that, if he could obtain miss Priscilla Mullins, a daughter of mr. William Mullins,
the breach in his family would be happily repaired. He, therefore, according to the custom
of those times, sent to ask mr. Mullins’ permission to visit his daughter. John
Alden, the messenger, went and faithfully communicated the wishes of the captain. The old
gentleman did not object, as he might have done, on account of the recency of captain
Standish’s bereavement. He said it was perfectly agreeable to him, but the young lady
must also be consulted. The damsel was then called into the room, and John Aden, who is
said to have been a man of most excellent form with a fair and ruddy complexion, arose,
and, in a very courteous and prepossessing manner, delivered his errand. Miss Mullins
listened with respectful attention, and at last, after a considerable pause, fixing her
eyes upon him, with an open and pleasant countenance, said, "prithee, John, why do
you not speak for yourself?" He blushed, and bowed, and took his leave, but with a
look, which indicated more, than his diffidence would permit him otherwise to express.
However, he soon renewed his visit, and it was not long before their nuptials were
celebrated in ample form. From then are descended all of the name, Alden, in the United
States. What report he made to his constituent, after the first interview, tradition does
not unfold; but it is said, how true the writer knows not, that the captain never forgave
him to the day of his death."
The only facts known from the Records of Plymouth Colony and
other primary source materials are :
Rose Standish (wife of Myles Standish) died January 29, 1621. William Mullins (father of
Priscilla Mullins) died in February of 1621. Priscilla Mullins married John Alden, but we
do not know the date or even the year of their marriage. It is probable that they were
married before 1623. By 1627, John and Priscilla were not only married but the parents of
two children. Miles Standish married Barbara Standish in 1623 or 1624. John Alden and
Miles Standish were both among the founders of the town of Duxbury, across the bay from
the original Plymouth settlement. Alexander Standish, the second child of seven born to
Miles and Barbara, married Sarah Alden, the fourth child of ten born to John and
Priscilla.
For more information about John Alden, click HERE.
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