Elizabeth peered out of the small one-room cottage window and saw Samuel, her oldest of 5, sitting on the flat rocks in the meadow down from their cabin. It was early and the rest of the children were asleep. Still in her bed gown, she went to the hearth, plucked the disc from in between two rocks high above a little hands’ reach, donned her cape and slippers and quietly walked out into the crisp spring morning.
As she began to walk through the dew-sprinkled grass, she felt her heart grow heavy. Elizabeth began to recollect the prior weeks’ events. She was like so many mothers in centuries gone by who had to have the painstaking and heart wrenching discussion with her children concerning the premature death of their father. She had to peer into the souls of 3 sets of eyes who understood all too well what it meant that their father would not be returning home. She delicately told them that the Lord had called him home because his ship, the HMS Royal Ann, sank off of Lizard Point in England.
She had been married for only 10 short years and was now a widow at the tender age of 26. She had been blessed with 5 beautiful children from her marriage, and it was with this thought that Williams face surfaced in her memory and her eyes began to water. She tried desperately to fight back the urge to sob herself as she approached Samuel who was within a stones’ throw to the Jakes. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, in 70 years, this side of the field would later an apple orchard owned by the famous General Reid of the Revolutionary War.
Samuel did not look up but must have known she was near, for he hurriedly began to wipe fresh tears from his face. She bit back her own sadness and tears and sat down next to her eldest and sighed.
Elizabeth peered out across the field at the walnuts and oaks gently swaying in the morning breeze. It was a true picturesque view that she and her husband fell in love with when they decided to move to this small settlement of Londonderry, NH.
She looked down at her son who needed some words of encouragement but she wasn’t sure which ones to offer. “'elp me me Lord. Take me son’s 'eavy 'eart for jist a short while please, oi ask dis av yer.”, she prayed in her mind.
“Oi miss 'imself too pure much Samuel.” Elizabeth said softly in her thick Irish accent.
Samuel did not look up, but instead buried his head into his knees. She was empathetic to how hard this was on all of her children, especially Samuel who was only ten and now the man of the house.
A peace slowly came upon her and she put her arm around his shoulders and she whispered, “Oi 'av somethin' for yer from yisser owl lad.”
Samuel looked up into her eyes, his cheeks puffy and crimson from sobbing.
“Yisser owl lad wanted yer ter 'av dis Samuel.” And she delicately took her sons hand and placed the coin in it. “Yisser grandfather fought under Sir William Lockhart in de Battle av de Dunes an' saved a frenchman’s life. De frenchman thanked 'imself an' gave 'imself dis coin. Yer grandfather den gave it ter yisser owl lad before yer man went ter de lord an' towl 'imself ter pass it down ter 'is eldest someday.”
The boy looked at the coin and his eyes welled with fresh new tears. He sat for a long while as memories of his father flooded into his mind. “I don’t want to lose it, so may I leave it here upon this rock Mother?” he asked lovingly.
She knew this was the only place that he and his father spent alone together, and she knew this is why he came here this morning. This flat rock would be forever his special place. “If dat is waaat yisser 'eart is tellin' yer samuel, den yer nade ter trust yisser 'eart.,” she said with a smile.
Samuel nodded in approval and picked a smooth section at the base of the rock formation where it met the ground. He peeled back some of the lichen moss near the base and slipped the keepsake under it…
….”I think I found a coin hon!,” I said with excitement to my wife as I carefully pulled the brown disc from the ground. It was only 4” down and resting on a piece of flat granite under the soil. As I gazed down at the find in my hand, I could only imagine how much history was buried with this coin. The front of the coin was completely eroded, but on the back I could see the faint words “-RANC”…
The events surrounding this story are true, along with me finding the 1650’s French Liard “C” coin in an apple orchard in Londonderry NH, however the characters of the story, well, I’d like to think it happened that way. I’ll never know, but I am grateful to have unearthed a piece of early American history from a time long forgotten, thanks to your incredible metal detector. Thank you Minelab for inventing the Explorer XS, and thank you “Samuel”; may you rest in peace.
Greg - NC, USA
