It was just after midnight (a half hour ago) that I first heard the fife and drum corps marching on Main Street to the green in Monument Square (where I live).
Only in Concord, Massachusetts might a parade pass by your home at midnight!
But it's Patriots Day weekend and tonight was the Patriots Ball, an affair that ends with everyone marching from the armory to First Parish (across the street from my church and rectory) where the folks greet "Dr. Samuel Prescott" who arrives to announce that the Regulars (the British) are on the move!
Michael Ryan tells the story here - and it's one worth reading if you want to get the story behind the story.
It occurs to me that I must invite my sister (history teacher and lover of all things Revolutionary) to come and spend a Patriots Day weekend in Monument Square!
Well, the fifes and drums have gone silent and I'm going to get some sleep...
-ConcordPastor
Enjoyed Michael Ryan's story of Lydia and Samuel. I was awakened at 6 AM Saturday morning by the cannon being fired at the hill above the North Bridge. Several years ago I went to this event which is part of the Patriot's Day celebrations. "Dr. Samuel Prescott" actually rides by on his horse shouting, "the Regulars are out...the Regulars are out," which is what was actually said not as we have heard, "the British are coming...the British are coming." I didn't go to the reenactment later in the morning of the skirmish at the North Bridge between the Minutemen and the British soldiers (I have gone a number of times in the past.) Instead I watched the pope's mass at St. Patrick's! Monday will be the Concord Patriot's Parade, always fun to watch. Later in the day is the Boston Marathon. By all means I think you should have your sister come for Patriot's Day weekend. I think she would thoroughly enjoy it especially if she is a history buff. The Minuteman Visitor Center in Lexington has an excellent multi-media show. The Concord Museum, Orchard House and the Manse could round out the historic weekend!
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