Search Results for “May Day ” | Page 4

“Once upon a time, only the other day …”

July 20, 2022 No Comments

“Hawaii is the home of shanghaied men and women, and of the descendants of shanghaied men and women. They never intended to be here at all.” “You will have loved your way there, and you will find it the abode of love.” “Hawaii and the Hawaiians are a land and a people loving and lovable. By their Ianguage may ye know them, and in what other land save this one is the commonest form of greeting, not ‘Good day,’ nor ‘How d’ye do,’ but ‘Love?’” “That greeting is Aloha – love, I love you, my love to you.”

“Good day – what is it more than an impersonal remark about the weather? How do you do- it is personal in a merely casual interrogative sort of a way.” “But Aloha! It is a positive affirmation of the warmth of one’s own heart-giving. My love to you ! I love you! Aloha!” “Well, then, try to imagine a land that is as lovely and loving as such a people.” “Hawaii is all of this.” “Indeed, Hawaii is a loving land.” “Hawaii has been most generous in her hospitality, most promiscuous in her loving. Her welcome has been impartial.” (This is Jack London’s view of the Islands.)

1620 … 1820 … Today

March 30, 2022 1 Comment

The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620 with 102 passengers and about 25 carefully selected crew, arriving in the New World 67 days later. She was a ‘sweet’ ship in that she had been engaged in the wine trade in the Mediterranean since 1616. She had also been engaged in fur trade with Norway and had experienced the storms of the North Sea, a most treacherous body of water. Most of the passengers were of English origin seeking a new home free from religious persecution where they might retain their English identity and customs. Myles Standish had been hired by the Separatists specifically for their expertise in certain areas. Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as a military advisor for Plymouth Colony for military professional; he did not travel for religious reasons.

The roots of Congregational churches in America go back to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620 and founded the Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims came from England to the New World seeking religious freedom at the time of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The churches they established in New England became known as Congregational churches. The coming of Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia awakened a deep Christian sympathy in the churches and moved the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to establish a Foreign Mission School and a mission to the Hawaiian Islands, ked by Hiram Bingham – they arrived at Kawaihae on March 30, 1820. I am a direct descendant of Myles Standish. I am a direct descendant of Hiram Bingham. I wonder … What’s up for today?

Lord Mayor of London

February 18, 2022 No Comments

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks. The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach. Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; the first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. It was said to be carrying a “cargo of liquors” and “became a total wreck.”

Well, maybe the liquor was lost, but the ship’s figurehead was saved … “The ship Alderman Wood was named after its owner, who was a London alderman in the latter part of the eighteenth century and Mark Robinson is of the opinion that he also became Lord Mayor of London.” “The figurehead wears a long cape, caught over the breast with a buckle. Around the neck is a chain, hanging from this against the breast is what appears to be a large medal, but which really was the symbol of one of the highest offices in England – that of Lord Mayor of London.” Thrum noted that in 1911 as a “Disappearing Landmark”, “The old Robinson warehouse with its seaward-end adornment of the figure-head of Alderman Wood, from an English ship of that name which was wrecked on the Island of Lanai in 1824 and has, as it were, welcomed the incoming and sped the outgoing shipping of Honolulu ever since the erection of the building a few years later, has fallen in decay.” It is not known where the figurehead is now.

Morton and the Maypole at Merrymount

December 27, 2021 No Comments

The Pilgrims arrived on these shores in 1620 in hopes of making a better life for themselves and their children while being able to worship freely and in peace. Their perseverance laid the cornerstone of a new Nation. The Pilgrims were Separatists. They believed that membership in the Church of England violated the biblical precepts for true Christians, and they had to break away and form independent congregations that adhered more strictly to divine requirements. They rejected Christmas, Easter and the various Saint’s Days because they had no scriptural justification, and in their worship services, they rejected hymns, the recitations of the Lord’s Prayer and creeds for the same reason. As Pastor Robinson expressed it, even two or three “gathered in the name of Christ by a covenant [and] made to walk in all the ways of God known unto them is a church.”

Then, Thomas Morton arrived. He established a small colony of Mount Wollaston; Morton renamed the village Mare Mount (Merrymount) “[T]hey fell to great licenciousnes, and led a dissolute life, powering out them selves into all profanenes.” “And Morton became lord of misrule, and maintained (as it were) a schoole of Athisme. And after they had gott some good into their hands, and gott much by trading with ye Indeans, they spent it as vainly, in quaffing & drinking both wine & strong waters in great exsess, and, as some reported, 10li. worth in a morning.” “They allso set up a May-pole, drinking and dancing aboute it many days togeather, inviting the Indean women, for their consorts, dancing and frisking togither, (like so many fairies, or furies rather,) and worse practises.” “As if they had anew revived & celebrated the feasts of ye Roman Goddes Flora, or ye beasly practieses of ye madd Bacchinalians.” The Pilgrims sent Myles Standish to take Morton by force. Morton was then sent to England. This event is also recounted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Maypole of Merrymount.’ It was first published in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836.

Veterans Day

November 11, 2021 No Comments

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.” An Act approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day dedicated to world peace and known as “Armistice Day.” With the approval of subsequent legislation, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. To all who served, Thank You.