With Arrows, Historians Hit Their Mark for Md.'s Birthday

Group Commemorates Colonies' Gift to Crown

In the charter that established Maryland, colonists were required to send an annual tribute of "two Indian Arrows of these Parts" to the "Castle of Windsor."

So as Historic St. Mary's City historians tried to think of a way to kick off the celebration of the state's 375th anniversary, which officially begins next year, they decided to make the same gesture during a trip to Europe to see historic sites connected to Maryland.

"I took a blind sort of jump to write to Her Majesty and see if she would accept the arrows," said Henry M. Miller, director of research at Historic St. Mary's City.

When the group received a reply of "yes," someone else wrote and asked for an audience with the queen, perhaps at Windsor Palace. "That reply was, 'No way,' " Miller said. "They wondered if Buckingham Palace would do instead, so we agreed to that."

Last week, nine historians and history lovers from Historic St. Mary's City, the Society of the Ark and the Dove and St. Mary's College of Maryland dressed up in their finest outfits, sauntered past the palace guards and ventured into a "very elegantly appointed room."

Miller had two replica arrows on hand, because extras were made for a similar presentation to a British ambassador when he visited Historic St. Mary's City in the 1990s. The wooden arrows have flint spears and are adorned with turkey feathers. They were attached to a polished plank of Maryland walnut, along with a brass plaque and metal Maryland flags.

The group, which included some descendants of the original settlers, presented the arrows to the palace's comptroller, who promised he would pass them along to Queen Elizabeth II when she returns from Scotland this month. The visitors also extended a formal invitation to Her Majesty to visit St. Mary's City and join the celebration next year.

For the rest of the trip, the group is traveling across England, seeing places that have connections to Maryland's history, such as the home of Lord Baltimore and Trinity College at Oxford University, which several of Maryland's early leaders attended.

They also traveled to the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, where they saw the official departure port of the Ark and Dove vessels, which transported the first English inhabitants to Maryland. They saw the Port of Bristol, where Maryland tobacco was unloaded. The group also visited Kensington Palace to be briefed on the work of the Prince's Regeneration Trust, which promotes the conservation and re-use of historic buildings in economically troubled areas.

A "high point" of the trip for many, Miller said, was a lunch and tour of Hook Manor, a former home of Cecilius Calvert that is occupied by descendants of Anne Arundell. The home features original paintings of Charles Calvert and a plaster ceiling decorated with a painting of two ships, which are thought to be the Ark and the Dove.