A Revolutionary Tea

By Sandra Scott

The sound of the fife and drum band marching down the Duke of Gloucester Street was too stirring to resist. My husband, John, and I stopped unpacking and rushed to join the parade. We arrived at the Capitol building in time to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence, so recently signed in Philadelphia. The crowd cheered and so did we. It was July 25, 1776, in Colonial Williamsburg. The rest of the day we followed the live action vignettes that took us through the colonial years to 1781.

We returned to our Williamsburg home to finish unpacking. Our “home” was Market Square Kitchen, one of many 18^th century accommodations available within Colonial Williamsburg.  Once the kitchen for the Market Square Tavern our two-floor “home” had a canopy bed, two twin beds, a fireplace, a garden, colonial furnishings, all the modern conveniences, and it was just steps off the main street. Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other notables stayed in the tavern in front of our “home.” It would have been easy to snug up in front of the fireplace in the wingback chair and never leave, but there was too much to do plus it was tea time.

In the Capitol garden we overheard Lady Dunmore sharing her impressions of the Virginia Colony with Lady Randolph over tea.  Lady Randolph tried to be as English as possible, disdaining the corn bread served with tea, while her hostess, Lady Dunmore, newly arrived from England, was trying her best to fit into the colonial way of life. Since we were not invited to have tea with the ladies we headed to Christiana’s Tavern where Christiana, the tavern owner, her daughter, Molly, and Mr. Bruce, a teacher of plantation children, welcomed us most graciously. Like all tavern owners Christiana was a font of knowledge. “My tavern is Mr. Washington’s favorite. He has stayed with us 96 times. Did you know he steps a fine minuet?  All the ladies want to dance with him.  And, he is the best horseman in Virginia,” she said.

We learned proper tea etiquette for the time. It was usually the duty of the mistress to make and pour the tea. Guests needed to know the proper way of handling a teacup and saucer while providing social chitchat. Christiana advised, “When holding the cup never put your finger through handle, and remember to raise your pinkie.”

Pouring our tea she continued, “A few months ago up Boston way they dumped the tea in the harbor so many of us are drinking coffee now, but I think it is permissible to drink tea on special occasions. You know tea is very dear (expensive) as it is brought from China.  It takes four years for the tea to make its way from China to our tea cups.” Over tea we learned what was going on in the colonies as well as in Williamsburg.  Tea concluded with Christiana reading a newly written protest poem that ended with:

“The tea was conveyed to the daughter's door, all down by the ocean side,
But the bouncing girl poured out every pound, in the dark and boiling tide.
And then she called out to the Island Queen, 'Oh mother, dear mother,' quoth she,
'Your tea you may have when 'tis steeped enough, But never a tax from me.’''

After tea we explored the Revolutionary City, had a bite to eat at Josiah Chowning’s Tavern where they had musicians playing the tunes of the day.  In the evening we walked to John Greenhow’s Lumber House for a candlelit walking tour, “Legends, Ghosts, Mysteries, and Myths,” of Williamsburg.

Walking along the gaslight-street to our “home” the only sound was the laughter and music from Chowning’s Tavern where we felt compelled to visit again.  It was a great day – a revolutionary day – it suited us to a “T” – from tea to tavern.

Visit www.colonialwilliamsburg.com.

Sandra Scott is a frequent contributor to travel publications and to Copley News Service and has co-authored two books on local history. She lives in Mexico, NY.
Images by Sandra and J. J. Scott

©TeaAtlas.com

Contact Us: Editor Webmaster