> Dear Laurel,
>
> Sunday 1 October was a glorious Indian Summer day in
> New England. Mary Selver had borrowed her daughter's
> larger car in case Laura did not want to leave the two
> dogs alone all day in Newburyport. We found the Seven
> Roses by its flag of St. Andrew drooping from the
> mast, as there was not the breath of a breeze. It had
> a broken pipe and so Jack was mopping up, and as Laura
> came up to meet us, she saw her father walking along
> the dock opposite! He had planned to meet her in Nova
> Scotia, but Al Italia had cancelled that flight and he
> had flown into Boston on Saturday and taken the train.
>
> After all the excitement, we were late reaching the
> Westford Museum where about thirty people were
> waiting, including Jeff Hall, State Representative for
> Middlesex County in Massachusetts; the Town Moderator
> of Westford; the Board of Selectmen, The Historical
> Commission and The Historical Society, The Westford
> Knight Committee, and members of Clans Gunn and
> Sinclair.
>
> Refreshments were being served and a video was on
> about the History of Westford. It showed an interview
> with Norman Biggart of Clan Gunn and he and Derek Gunn
> discussed the effigy at the site, as well as Brad
> Parker speaking about Edgar Allan Poe who spent
> considerable time in Westford; he thought it
> beautiful.
>
> Ken Tebbetts, the President of the Historical Society
> introduced me; I introduced Mary Selver, who needed a
> lot less introduction than I, and Laura Zolo, who
> needed no further introduction as everyone had by then
> had time to see the exhibition of the Prince Henry
> Sinclair Expedition of 1398 upstairs, which included
> Laura's retracing of the voyages of the Zeno Brothers.
>
> Laura spoke briefly, but the Westford Knight Committee
> at the back of the room apparently could not hear her,
> so Ken asked if she would be prepared to answer a few
> questions. The three members moved to the front row,
> and she answered their questions clearly and
> concisely. She was everything and more that we had
> heard and hoped for.
>
> Mary presented her with a commemorative plate from the
> 600th Anniversary (no time to get a plaque made up)
> and Laura presented a tile of the Zeno map and a gold
> medallion from the Venice Municipal Office of Tourism
> to the Museum. Norman Biggart gave Laura a carton of
> food for the rest of the journey.
>
> Roger McLeod of the University of Massachusetts at
> Lowell, who has done considerable research into the
> similarities between the Norse and Mik'maq languages
> also spoke.
>
> Virginia Moore, the historian in the Reference
> Department of the J.V. Fletcher Library had opened it
> to coincide with the Museum, and we walked there
> across the village green to show Laura the "Boat
> Stone" with its punched outline of a ship which is
> thought to be Prince Henry's, an arrow and the numbers
> 184. There was a smaller group there for a very
> lively discussion.
>
> From there we walked about ten minutes down Depot
> Street to see the Westford Knight effigy, which sadly
> is becoming more eroded each year. Before leaving
> Westford Mary drove us down to Stony Brook up which
> the Expedition is supposed to have come to climb
> Prospect Hill, the highest point between the coast and
> the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Although a mere
> trickle nowadays, it is obvious that Stony Brook was
> once a much bigger river and navigable by small boat.
>
>
> We were very impressed with Laura and hope that her
> visit will make many more people aware of the
> priceless relic we have in Westford and that they will
> join us in helping to preserve it before another
> winter damages it still more.
>
> That's it Laurel; I have given you far more than you
> need. Do with it what you will, but please help me to
> take advantage of this great opportunity to make as
> many people as possible aware of the Westford Knight
> in the hope that someone may come up with a way of
> preserving it for posterity. I feel we need more than
> expertise; only someone who cares will give it the
> time and attention it so desperately needs. So far
> Niven is the only one who seems to get any action,
> and, much as we might like to see him, he can't keep
> popping across the pond.
> >
> Sincerely,
> > Elizabeth Lane.
=================
NOTE from Laurel: Mary Selver says that she has been invited to sit on the
Westford Knight Committee. They are planning to put up a temporary shelter
before winter over the Knight carving until they can figure out how to put
permanent protection. Any ideas, any helpers out there???
Laurel
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