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Midnight Ride..for real...

Oh yeah...midnight on a chilly April night...hundreds of locals and tourists hanging out in Lexington, no less...guy in period clothing on a white horse calling out "Arise! The regulars approach!" oh yeah, it happened...

Normally when they do the reenactments of Paul Revere's midnight ride - and eventual capture - they do it during the day, so families and tourists can come out at a decent hour. The capture was actually done at the capture site in Lexington during the day on Saturday (missed that one, sadly). But it was decided that things would be done a little differently this year. This year, they did an actual midnight ride.

There is nothing like heading out to Lexington, MA on this afromentioned chilly April night and see not just the streets that were rolled up by 6pm or so, but the cars lined up on curbs for nearly a half mile and crowds of folks in their layers heading out to watch a historical reenactment.

We love our sports. We love our history (perhaps not quite as much as our sports, but close)

Even teenagers on skateboards and wearing hoodies were hanging out in the cold waiting for the sound of hoofbeats and huzzahs.

By the time my sister and I got to the Hankock/Clarke House, the parsonage where Rev. Clarke - a Son of Liberty - housed John Hancock and Sam Adams just before the "Regulars" hit town, there was already a good-sized crowd. It was just before 11:30 and the rest of Lexington was dark save for the Lexington Minuteman on the Battle Green. There had to be at least a couple hundred people clambering for a good spot across the street from the house, which was all lit up (yay! lights make it easy to find!) and ready for the show.

Just as the cold was numbing our fingers and making me feel like a citified wimp next to the teenagers wearing nothing but thin hoodies and t-shirts, a gentleman came out to tell us the story of the famous midnight ride, and how Longfellow's poem was wrong - okay not out right wrong, but there were definitely a few historical inaccuracies. The two main ones are how a) Paul Revere did not make it to Concord himself, and b) he never shouted "The British are coming! The British are coming!" (most folks still saw themselves as British subjects so that would have been...well, willy. The soldiers were called Regulars so most likely the cry was "The Regulars Approach!" or "The Lobsterbacks are coming!"...something like that.)

After he was finished, a short play began, telling the story of how word was spreading about The Regulars and how Sam Adams, John Hancock and Rev. Clarke were making plans for defending themselves against them. Soon enough, from down the street, you heard the urgent gallop of a horse and the cry 'Arise! Arise! The Regulars approach! Arise! Arise! the Regulars approach!" In comes Paul Revere, on a lovely white horse who only got mildly freaked out by the digital cameras and phones flashing from the darkness. We are told how Dr. Warren had send Revere out, Paul goes in, talks to the others, and a few minutes later, William Dawes comes riding down the road with the same message as his predecessor and is also allowed in to discuss the plan for the next day.

The ladies of the house are, of course, distressed and we hear talk of how the men are handling it and "will protect us". Yes, I would have like to have rewritten that section to have the ladies own up to their own plan of signaling the ladies of the town with cauldron signals or coded needlework, but most likely, what was written, is closer to what actually happened (though I am tempted to look this all up :p)

There is more talk of plans, children and house staff are seen peering out of windows or looking directly out of an open upstairs window, but soon all are shuffled back inside, made to consider what they will take when escaping, and soon Dawes and Revere are back on the horses and galloping past the crowd. Milita and camp followers slowly march out...show over.

And somehow no complaints from the neighbors...that we know about.

There may be pictures as the sister did bring her camera (I sadly remain without for the time being), but the battery was going so I haven't heard if they came out yet. Still, pictures or no, it was something very cool to see and be part of, and reminded me that I am glad to be from the area where the revolution began. It is also a reminder that no matter who is power here, we need to KEEP PAYING ATTENTION!!


Peace --Alex

posted by funkweee @ 10:29 AM