Eagle Feathers #210– Swashbucklers

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

It was close. The English Redcoats retreating from Lexington and Concord barely escaped to freedom. They had to wade through the swash or shallow waters of Charlestown’s Neck, which was an island during high tide. It is near the site of today’s Schrafft’s City Center at Sullivan Square.

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Since early times, swash described the low-tide waters’ edge that one could walk or splash through. Bucklers were small shields or defensive straps used by soldiers and sailors. Put the two together and swashbucklers were the adventurous, bold-spirited daredevils of their era. Some were heroes and some were rogues, and Charlestown Beyond the Neck, today’s Somerville, experienced her share.

• Captain Kidd, America’s most notorious pirate and swashbuckler, is said to have spent some of his last days before capture at Ten Hills. His treasure is rumored to be buried there.
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• The first ship built in Massachusetts was the “Blessing of the Bay.” The first Governor of Massachusetts Bay, John Winthrop, built it. It was christened and slid into the swash of the Mystic River on the 4th of July, 1631.
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• In the fall of 1774, the British attacked our Powder House from the sea via the Mystic River. Eight months later in 1775, the British marched onto Lexington via Cambridge and Somerville from the sea, swashing from the Charles River into Union Square.
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• One of our heroic naval officers and swashbucklers who gave his life in America’s war with Tripoli was Captain Richard Somers, Somerville’s namesake. He planned his last mission on September 4, 1804, while on board the U.S.S. Constitution. Regrettably, he never survived to return to her deck. To this day, his remains lie beneath the swash on the edge of Tripoli’s harbor.
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• Swashbuckling Patriot Paul Revere rode hard through the swash of Charlestown Neck on his midnight ride. First riding toward Cambridge until intercepted by British Cavalry, he had to reverse his direction and do it again. This time he rode over Winter Hill to Medford, through today’s Arlington and onto Lexington.
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• The Amelia Earhart Dam honors the aviator swashbuckler and Queen of the Air and Oceans. So who was Amelia Earhart and what did she do? What didn’t she do in the aviation world would be the more appropriate question. She personified aviatrix.
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• Another Somerville patriot was award-winning Hollywood actress and member of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Olympia Dukakis. She spent part of her life growing up in Union Square and won the New England Fencing Championship three years in a row. Laurels to a Somerville swashbuckler. Olympia is her name, acting is her fame, and fencing was her game.