Old Style New Style

The Friday of the First Encounter was also the day that the 16 Pilgrims in their shallop were blown into Plymouth Harbor (Clark’s Island). They spent Saturday doing repairs to the shallop and Sunday in prayer. On Monday, the shallop brought these 16 to their famous landing at Plymouth.

OLD STYLE + NEW STYLE DATES

In 1620 and for many years, Catholic countries used a new “Gregorian” calendar, and Protestant countries kept the old “Julian” calendar. They were 10 days apart.

For centuries, Plymouth MA has celebrated the landing as Forefathers Day on Dec 21 and 22 (new style). Meanwhile, many historians and P’town planners and our Eastham 400 are using old style dates which put the arrival in Plymouth harbor as Dec 8 and the shallop landing on Plymouth’s shore at Dec 11.

Using “old style” dates (P’town & Eastham 2020), the First Encounter and Transition to Plymouth Harbor were Dec. 8. Thus the shallop landing (Plymouth Rock) was Dec. 11.

When using “new style” dates (as Plymouth UK 2020, and Plymouth MA “Forefathers Day” for centuries), the first encounter & transition were Dec 18, the shallop landing (Plymouth Rock) – and “Forefathers Day” ever since – was December 21 (or 22).

The separate treatments of the Cape explorations and the Plymouth Landing obscured the same-day transition. Confusion between old style and new style dates allowed the mistake of thinking that the First Encounter was 10 days before being blown to Clark’s Island and 13 days before the Plymouth Landing. That would have been plenty of time for the shallop men to get the Mayflower and go together to the “Rock”. In reality, though, the famous landing at Plymouth Rock was in a shallop, with the Mayflower many miles away, at the other side of Cape Cod Bay.

By: Tom Ryan