Go on, dream on ...: A place of great bones...

'A place of great bones'... apparently it's what Siasconset means in Wampanoag Algonquian. I suppose it's a reference to whaling, which appears to have been an activity with a long tradition on Nantucket island. The island itself was called Canopache by the Wampanoags, which means 'a place of peace'. As for the current name, it might mean far away land, but it's not certain.

Why am talking about this? Well, because I'm still stuck on Nantucket, so to speak, and on a little house in particular. As I said before, my introduction to Nantucket was through this little fishing cottage known as Auld Lang Syne. I just love this little cottage!

It's the oldest house on the Siasconset bank and it's considered the oldest structure on the island. It was built around 1675, but not necessarily where it stands now. It is thought that it was first built in Sesachacha, about mile and a half north of Sconset.

Siasconset and Sesachacha pond, where Auld Lang Syne was presumably first built.

The cottage started out as a rough fishing shack, a rectangular structure divided in three: a great hall and two chambers. At this stage, it probably had no proper floor, windows or fireplace, and the walls were just rough board. The first owner, Micah Coffin, used it as his fishing headquarters.While native servants went out to fish, he would stay on shore to cook. The shack served as shelter from the weather and storage.

As time went by, the shack suffered many alterations: floors were laid, walls plastered, windows installed, fireplaces built and lean-tos added. Eventually, it became the cottage that is known today.

Just as a curiosity, here are some maps of Sconset with Auld Lang Syne in them:


Siasconset, 1797.

Auld Lang Syne could be any of the shacks on the right. It would have been known as the Capt. Henry Coleman house, who lived there many years at the end of the 18th century.