History buff searches for Lost Colony[Roanoke]

The News & Observer ^ | 25 Oct 2006 | Catherine Clabby

[Lee'sGhost]

I hadn't seen that.

There's more to the theory that goes, even if the "Croatoan" tree was located on Roanoke Island it proves little. It was the habit of the day that when excursions left the main settlement they would often establish temporary fortifications or berms for protection while in the field. It may well be that Smith found one of those. Once he did, he used it as a reason not to send out more men to be killed.

If you look at a coastal map you can easily see how if a hurricane close a channel here and opened one there, Cedar Island could have been the original site. It has been shown that such channel creation and elimination has taken place. The most compelling aspect of the theory is the accents of the "High Tiders." If you talk to the people who live there many will tell you that they don't know how their families came to be in the area.

I love the theory also because it would kill Mark Basnight to find out that his district has no real claim to the Lost Colony.

[Lee'sGhost]

LOL!

How about . . .

YRALLIH!

[LonePalm]

The word was CROATOAN.

I'm pretty sure I knew this Phil Evans. The name rings a bell. We were both undergrads in the History Dept. at UNC at the same time.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Constitution Day]

There's more to the theory that goes, even if the "Croatoan" tree was located on Roanoke Island it proves little. It was the habit of the day that when excursions left the main settlement they would often establish temporary fortifications or berms for protection while in the field. It may well be that Smith found one of those. Once he did, he used it as a reason not to send out more men to be killed.

Sounds quite probable. I had never thought of that.

If you look at a coastal map you can easily see how if a hurricane close a channel here and opened one there, Cedar Island could have been the original site. It has been shown that such channel creation and elimination has taken place.

Interestingly, the location of the inlet used on later expeditions (Port Ferdinando) is known definitively. That inlet also closed. There is a NC Historical Marker about said inlet on NC 12 near Bodie Island lighthouse.

The most compelling aspect of the theory is the accents of the "High Tiders." If you talk to the people who live there many will tell you that they don't know how their families came to be in the area.

Re: the "Hoi Toider" accent-
I read a book by two UNC linguistics professors once on the Ocracoke Island brogue. It was quite fascinating.

Another good book was Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony by Lee Miller. She has quite a unique take on the mystery.

I love the theory also because it would kill Mark Basnight to find out that his district has no real claim to the Lost Colony.

LOL! That in itself would be wonderful. He is such a tool.

[kalee]

ping

[Lee'sGhost]

Miller may well be the source of the theories I related. I know it was a female historian I got them from -- but it wasn't from that book. I read about them about 15 or 20 years ago.

As you documented, once you start putting all the pieces together it all makes perfect sense.

[Constitution Day]

The Miller book is quite recent. I am not sure if it could be her.

[Lee'sGhost]

The book is recent but I'm pretty sure I read the theory in a newspaper article. It could be a long-held theory she only recently put in a book. Or maybe Miller borrowed it from the person I (almost) recall. But I do recall that it was a female historian.

[toddlintown]

From Beer & Food: An American History by Bob Skilnik. Coming February, 2007

As far back as the period of 1584 to 1586, when a first attempt was made by English settlers to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, now a part of North Carolina, beer was foremost on their minds. What was lacking, however, was the kind of good quality malted barley that was (and still is) the foundation of the English brewing industry. Instead, multi-colored native corn, whether referred to by the settlers as pagatown, Turkie wheate, or mayze, served the purpose of not only making palatable bread, but also having produced “as good ale as was to be desired.” The Roanoke settlement, however, disappeared in a few short years, the debate is still going on today as to the fate of the original inhabitants.

Some years later, a new Virginia colony was established. Like the original English settlers, these adventurers also discovered the versatility of Indian corn and attempted to make beer from it. In a letter submitted by explorer Captain George Thorpe to the records of the Virginia Company in London, Thorpe wrote that the Virginia colonists had supposedly found a way to brew “a good drink from Indian corn...” There’s enough evidence, however, to suggest that these claims were a bit of puffery for the benefit of investors back home, and that when it came down to it, some of these same colonists who bragged about their delicious corn ale would do almost anything for a pint or two of English-brewed ale made with imported malt. On occasion, that opportunity appeared with the arrival of “ship’s beer” from England.

[SunkenCiv]

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