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Down Ryton Water
An authentic portrait of the Pilgrims' lives, travels and tribulations from England to the Netherlands and finally to New England. A 1942 Newberry Honor Winner.
369 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1941
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About the author
Eva Roe Gaggin
4 booksEva Roe Gaggin was an author of children's novels. She was born in 1879 in Massachusetts and later attended Syracuse University, graduating in 1905. She died in 1966.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 13, 2016
One of my favorite historial fiction books! Absolutely amazing, this is a story a will always treasure! I love reading it around Thanksgiving, but it is appropriate for all time! A must read, and a great read aloud!
December 2, 2016
Newbery Honor and Medal books through the years have been set in a wide variety of historical timeframes, but there definitely was an available niche for one about the separatist Pilgrims of 1600s England and their flight from King James I to America, where they hoped to find religious freedom. In 1941, Down Ryton Water delivered that Newbery Honor-worthy recounting of the Pilgrims' travels, told from the perspective of not-quite-five-year-old Matt Over in his little English hamlet of Scrooby. The good people of Scrooby loved their home and had no desire to be civil agitators, but the King's strict stance on public manner of worship was a serious matter, and the Over family and their neighbors knew they could not remain in Scrooby and avoid confrontation with their ruler. They forsook their ancestral home in hopes of finding friendlier accommodations elsewhere, pushing off the shores of England in search of a place where a group of farmers and merchants could worship God in the way they chose. Theirs would not be an odyssey of merely years, but the bulk of that generation's lifetime, to earn their freedom and the same for their descendants for as long as they would wish to keep it. Down Ryton Water is a record of those decades the Pilgrims spent wandering the earth for a new home, the undeterrable focus of the Over family and their fellow Scrooby refugees who would not yield what mattered to them most. This is the legacy of America's founding fathers.
"Oh, what is the use of spreading dreams before the eyes of those who will not see!"
—John Brode, Down Ryton Water, P. 190
A visit from the suave, well-dressed representative of the King is the first sign of serious trouble to Young Matt and his mother, Orris. The man intends to capture William Brewster, who dares trumpet the idea that commoners should be free to conduct religious ceremonies as they wish, which directly defies King James's policy. Though Matt and his mother collude to put one over on the King's emissary and send him galloping for the hills, it's clear the time has arrived to vacate Scrooby for the relative safety of the Netherlands, where James's soldiers will have a hard time pinpointing a band of Pilgrims and forcing their compliance with English law. Packing up only what they can least afford to leave behind—in particular, Orris's medicinal herbs—the six Overs are joined by William and John Bradford, little Giles Kerry and family, William Brewster, and a few dozen others in a coordinated escape by sea. Orris and Matthew Over (Young Matt's father) are themselves youthful, but they have an abundance of children to care for, as well. Matt, of course; his newly adopted sister Winover (age seven); his baby sister 'Memby; and Orris's own much younger brother, John Brode (age eight). They're a growing family without a home, but so are many among the Pilgrims, and they settle in the low lands nicely and adapt to Dutch culture more readily than some other Scrooby transplants would like. It's admirable to make the most of a bad situation, but they're English citizens first and foremost, and the day may come when they can return to Scrooby without fear of legal repercussion. God willing, they won't live in the Netherlands for the rest of their lives.
"But I'm one to suspicion my radish until I have examined all sides for worms."
—Goodwife Hughes, Down Ryton Water, P. 84
Young Matt forges lifelong relationships among the Dutch and even gains a baby brother while there, the dear rapscallion Nicolas, but after many years during which Matt grows into a brawny, hardworking teenager, William Bradford announces that the party from Scrooby need flee again to avoid the tyrannical reach of King James. The monarch has caught wind of their whereabouts due to a steady stream of subversive pamphlets printed and distributed by William Brewster, and it is not advisable for the Pilgrims to tarry where the King can get at them. The only logical place left to seek asylum is the New World across the Atlantic Ocean, where unclaimed land is available in such large quantities that the Pilgrims' lack of a royal charter should be no issue. And it is not, though more significant obstacles hinder the Pilgrims on their way to religious liberty. Of the two ships designated for the transatlantic voyage, at the last minute only one is judged seaworthy. Matt Over and his father are aboard that ship, the Mayflower, but Orris and Nicolas must wait many months to join them in New England. There's much work that needs to be completed rapidly under monstrous winter conditions, but the Pilgrims knowingly chose this hardship rather than capitulate to government oversight of their religion, and nary is a complaint heard among the stouthearted separatists as they labor through a winter that thins their ranks and sorely tries their conviction. The Indians help, too; without these generous red men, the Pilgrims perhaps could not have survived to establish an unchartered colony in America. Orris, Nicolas (now almost a teenager), and the rest of the Scrooby separatists whose trip to New England was delayed eventually join their loved ones in the New World, a shore of unlimited opportunity for all who desire to work together as a community and with the Indians who lived there first to discover its vast potential. The Pilgrims had freedom at last, but the task of building the New World was only beginning. Where it would lead is a grander adventure than this book could possibly hold.
"God bless children for their light hearts—and their faith in the morrow!...I wish I could see the day that is before us as clearly as they can."
—Goodwife Fentry, Down Ryton Water, P. 194
Down Ryton Water contains some excellent thoughts plainly spoken, especially regarding the right to and pursuit of freedom. Early in the novel, Orris Over explains to Young Matt why the King wants to keep the commoners under his thumb and micromanage their lives, and why they must not allow it. "The King would be surrounded by slaves, and the folk of Scrooby are slavish neither in their thinking nor in their acting. The Stuart claims to be divine; we know that there is only One who is divine: God!...Our first obedience, we feel, is owing to the King of heaven and earth." Only God can rightly tell a man how to worship. The most esteemed human regent in the world has no right to interfere with the proper reverence of God by his followers. Freedom is a hard-won right for the Pilgrims, but near the end of the book, Orris expresses concern over what it might mean to gift this precious right to the next generation, who did not go to drastic lengths to procure it themselves. "We who fled down Ryton Water knew the value of freedom—we suffered much for it! And now we think to hand it over...as a gift. God's mercy, that is not the way with freedom, lad! It must be constantly fought for. Somebody is always ready to steal it away." That is the nature of freedom, and never will the struggle cease on this earth. What happens when the war for liberty is never waged by the current generation, so we aren't given to appreciate it as deeply as our predecessors, who sacrificed their lives to obtain it? Will we treasure freedom and guard it from attack within and without? Will its cherished ideal gradually tarnish over the years to appear less and less comely, a prize no longer seen as worth dying for? Each generation must ask these questions of itself, for we earned our towering height by climbing atop the shoulders of giants, and enjoy our vantage point today because of their steadfast commitment to a free future for us. What will we be prepared to sacrifice when freedom is again inevitably imperiled? For the Over family, who settle down to an existence of simple satisfaction and poignant farewells as the young ones grow up, marry, and start their own families, the future is a lifetime and more away, and they aim to enjoy their lives in the New World as morning dawns on a new day in history. None can divine what that day will hold, but the Overs are content leading their quiet lives until it arrives. They worked long and hard to relax with their families without the shadow of a vengeful monarch over them, and now is the era of their lasting reward.
As Newbery Honor books go, Down Ryton Water can't compete with the likes of Garram the Hunter by Herbert Best, The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. It's a good novel, however, and you'll adjust to the speech patterns and narrative rhythm sooner or later if you don't give up. We come to care about the Over family by page last, to feel the bittersweet emotion of its members spreading out into the New World on their own and not being as close as they once were. It resonates, and almost led me to round my two-and-a-half star rating of Down Ryton Water up to three. Whether you want a topical read for the Thanksgiving holiday or just quality historical fiction, this is one of the better juvenile options from the 1940s. If you appreciate the book half as much as I do, that will be saying something.
"Oh, what is the use of spreading dreams before the eyes of those who will not see!"
—John Brode, Down Ryton Water, P. 190
A visit from the suave, well-dressed representative of the King is the first sign of serious trouble to Young Matt and his mother, Orris. The man intends to capture William Brewster, who dares trumpet the idea that commoners should be free to conduct religious ceremonies as they wish, which directly defies King James's policy. Though Matt and his mother collude to put one over on the King's emissary and send him galloping for the hills, it's clear the time has arrived to vacate Scrooby for the relative safety of the Netherlands, where James's soldiers will have a hard time pinpointing a band of Pilgrims and forcing their compliance with English law. Packing up only what they can least afford to leave behind—in particular, Orris's medicinal herbs—the six Overs are joined by William and John Bradford, little Giles Kerry and family, William Brewster, and a few dozen others in a coordinated escape by sea. Orris and Matthew Over (Young Matt's father) are themselves youthful, but they have an abundance of children to care for, as well. Matt, of course; his newly adopted sister Winover (age seven); his baby sister 'Memby; and Orris's own much younger brother, John Brode (age eight). They're a growing family without a home, but so are many among the Pilgrims, and they settle in the low lands nicely and adapt to Dutch culture more readily than some other Scrooby transplants would like. It's admirable to make the most of a bad situation, but they're English citizens first and foremost, and the day may come when they can return to Scrooby without fear of legal repercussion. God willing, they won't live in the Netherlands for the rest of their lives.
"But I'm one to suspicion my radish until I have examined all sides for worms."
—Goodwife Hughes, Down Ryton Water, P. 84
Young Matt forges lifelong relationships among the Dutch and even gains a baby brother while there, the dear rapscallion Nicolas, but after many years during which Matt grows into a brawny, hardworking teenager, William Bradford announces that the party from Scrooby need flee again to avoid the tyrannical reach of King James. The monarch has caught wind of their whereabouts due to a steady stream of subversive pamphlets printed and distributed by William Brewster, and it is not advisable for the Pilgrims to tarry where the King can get at them. The only logical place left to seek asylum is the New World across the Atlantic Ocean, where unclaimed land is available in such large quantities that the Pilgrims' lack of a royal charter should be no issue. And it is not, though more significant obstacles hinder the Pilgrims on their way to religious liberty. Of the two ships designated for the transatlantic voyage, at the last minute only one is judged seaworthy. Matt Over and his father are aboard that ship, the Mayflower, but Orris and Nicolas must wait many months to join them in New England. There's much work that needs to be completed rapidly under monstrous winter conditions, but the Pilgrims knowingly chose this hardship rather than capitulate to government oversight of their religion, and nary is a complaint heard among the stouthearted separatists as they labor through a winter that thins their ranks and sorely tries their conviction. The Indians help, too; without these generous red men, the Pilgrims perhaps could not have survived to establish an unchartered colony in America. Orris, Nicolas (now almost a teenager), and the rest of the Scrooby separatists whose trip to New England was delayed eventually join their loved ones in the New World, a shore of unlimited opportunity for all who desire to work together as a community and with the Indians who lived there first to discover its vast potential. The Pilgrims had freedom at last, but the task of building the New World was only beginning. Where it would lead is a grander adventure than this book could possibly hold.
"God bless children for their light hearts—and their faith in the morrow!...I wish I could see the day that is before us as clearly as they can."
—Goodwife Fentry, Down Ryton Water, P. 194
Down Ryton Water contains some excellent thoughts plainly spoken, especially regarding the right to and pursuit of freedom. Early in the novel, Orris Over explains to Young Matt why the King wants to keep the commoners under his thumb and micromanage their lives, and why they must not allow it. "The King would be surrounded by slaves, and the folk of Scrooby are slavish neither in their thinking nor in their acting. The Stuart claims to be divine; we know that there is only One who is divine: God!...Our first obedience, we feel, is owing to the King of heaven and earth." Only God can rightly tell a man how to worship. The most esteemed human regent in the world has no right to interfere with the proper reverence of God by his followers. Freedom is a hard-won right for the Pilgrims, but near the end of the book, Orris expresses concern over what it might mean to gift this precious right to the next generation, who did not go to drastic lengths to procure it themselves. "We who fled down Ryton Water knew the value of freedom—we suffered much for it! And now we think to hand it over...as a gift. God's mercy, that is not the way with freedom, lad! It must be constantly fought for. Somebody is always ready to steal it away." That is the nature of freedom, and never will the struggle cease on this earth. What happens when the war for liberty is never waged by the current generation, so we aren't given to appreciate it as deeply as our predecessors, who sacrificed their lives to obtain it? Will we treasure freedom and guard it from attack within and without? Will its cherished ideal gradually tarnish over the years to appear less and less comely, a prize no longer seen as worth dying for? Each generation must ask these questions of itself, for we earned our towering height by climbing atop the shoulders of giants, and enjoy our vantage point today because of their steadfast commitment to a free future for us. What will we be prepared to sacrifice when freedom is again inevitably imperiled? For the Over family, who settle down to an existence of simple satisfaction and poignant farewells as the young ones grow up, marry, and start their own families, the future is a lifetime and more away, and they aim to enjoy their lives in the New World as morning dawns on a new day in history. None can divine what that day will hold, but the Overs are content leading their quiet lives until it arrives. They worked long and hard to relax with their families without the shadow of a vengeful monarch over them, and now is the era of their lasting reward.
As Newbery Honor books go, Down Ryton Water can't compete with the likes of Garram the Hunter by Herbert Best, The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden, The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. It's a good novel, however, and you'll adjust to the speech patterns and narrative rhythm sooner or later if you don't give up. We come to care about the Over family by page last, to feel the bittersweet emotion of its members spreading out into the New World on their own and not being as close as they once were. It resonates, and almost led me to round my two-and-a-half star rating of Down Ryton Water up to three. Whether you want a topical read for the Thanksgiving holiday or just quality historical fiction, this is one of the better juvenile options from the 1940s. If you appreciate the book half as much as I do, that will be saying something.
November 14, 2021
This moved right along with memorable characters and minimal references to “savages”. A new look at the Pilgrims that showed some difference between them and the Puritans. All in all, I enjoyed it.
October 7, 2017
I never thought I'd enjoy reading about the Pilgrims so much! This story of the religious separatists of Scrooby's journey to New Plymouth is told through the eyes of Young Matt Over. He's just turning 5 when the King's Men come to Scrooby in search of the separatists' leader William Brewster; it's 1608 and the king is James Stuart. Matt's the son of a yeoman farmer Matthew Over and his Goodwife Orris nee Brode, herbalist, and the brother of the "damp woman child, 'Memby", short for Remember (or Remembrance?). The story follows Matt and his family as they make their way from Scrooby to Amsterdam, then Leiden, and finally to the shores of the "New World" - if I regret one thing, it's that this marvelous family is fictional. As they travel, the family grows, first before even leaving Scrooby by the adoption of Winnifret (later called Winover) an orphan of London's plagues and called a witch by the Londoners, then the Dutch boy Nicolas (born to the Overs in Leiden), and finally Wisset, a Native who was accidentally shot by Matt. I loved the interactions between Orris and her son as she bestowed herb lore and other knowledge via rhymes; she's very intelligent and isn't afraid to use her wits whether faced with a King's Man or the bailiff. In the book it's Orris who calls the people of Scrooby on the Ryton water "Pilgrims" (in fact the term isn't widely used until 1798). One of my favorite bits is Young Matt learning to write his name in a fish market in Amsterdam. The author makes an interesting distinction between the colonists of New Plymouth who were villagers and country folk/farmers (freedom to worship and not fans of the Stuarts) and the well-to-do Puritans who settle a few years later at Salem (wishing the same freedom but still loyal to the King); her Pilgrims are far more open-minded and accepting than the Puritans. Overall, this early Newbery Honor is less a product of its times than many of them; the Natives are depicted more fairly than in other books of the time period (e.g. those in The Matchlock Gun which won the Medal the same year) and the Pilgrims don't hold with the ownership of blacks -that's a Dutch and Puritan thing. I read this for my 2017 Reading Challenge "a story of an immigrant or refugee" (PopSugar) and my Newbery Challenge (Honor 1942).
November 15, 2023
This is, at its heart, a family story. From the eyes of Young Matt Over, age 5 at the beginning of the book, we see the unrest in Scrooby as the Stuart king tightens down on religious freedom, then travel to Holland, then on the Mayflower. A third of the book was spent in Holland, and this was my favorite part, as I had never read more than a sentence in a history book about the Pilgrims in Leyden. I also want aware of a difference between the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans who would come to Salem later; this book makes a significant distinction, and it makes sense with what I know of the way history continues. The characters are rich and full, and I enjoyed this more than I expected to. While there are certainly racist characters, the foolishness in their views is shown, and the main characters give the indigenous people respect and dignity after some initial fear. The family members who ends up in the Dutch colony hold slaves, and though displeasure at the idea of slavery is expressed by the Plymouth family, not enough is done to make the enslaved black people appear deserving of respect.
September 21, 2017
I found it a little tedious to get into this one, largely due to the style of its era, but ended up quite enjoying the story. Most people don't realize "The Pilgrims" didn't come straight to Plymouth from England, but had a long stop-over in the region of Holland first. While slightly patronizing (though much less so than other books from this period), this book also holds a broader picture of the Native American presence at the time of settlement than the image of a completely untamed land that many people hold in their minds. Additionally, it holds glimpses of the differences between "Pilgrim" and "Puritan," which are not synonymous, as many believe.
April 12, 2019
Follows the pilgrim journey of the Over family from England to the Netherlands, and finally to the New World on board the Mayflower and their struggles to settle there. A good enough read, with characters whom I happily followed along in their stories.
July 20, 2021
It's great
Want to read
June 14, 20251942 Newbery honor book
sony-or-android
August 9, 2025I would like to try to catch up on the more appealing oldest Newbery books.
January 22, 2012
I didn't read a description before I began the book, so I had no idea that I was going to be reading a story of the Pilgrims. I caught on pretty quickly, though, and really enjoyed this very natural telling of the Pilgrims' journeys. In the beginning, I thought Young Matt's voice was awfully sophisticated for a 5-year-old, but I still enjoyed his telling of the tale. And honestly, his voice doesn't change all that much as we follow him into his early twenties. I enjoyed seeing the Over family in Scrooby and Holland and then in America. The descriptions of Scrooby and Leyden were so lovely that I understood how hard it might have been to leave them behind.
My only major complaint with the book is that I didn't like the Native Americans being referred to as "red savages." I understand this was simply a product of the times (written in 1941), but I still don't like it. However, I thought Ms. Gaggin did a rather good job of showing that the natives weren't really savages and were very knowledgeable. I particularly liked when Wisset showed Matt the native plants and flowers and helped him choose some for his mother's garden, but there were also many other moments where the two cultures had interactions that showed they were not so different after all.
The book was maybe a bit long, but I really liked getting to know the Over family and learning more about Scrooby and the Pilgrims.
My only major complaint with the book is that I didn't like the Native Americans being referred to as "red savages." I understand this was simply a product of the times (written in 1941), but I still don't like it. However, I thought Ms. Gaggin did a rather good job of showing that the natives weren't really savages and were very knowledgeable. I particularly liked when Wisset showed Matt the native plants and flowers and helped him choose some for his mother's garden, but there were also many other moments where the two cultures had interactions that showed they were not so different after all.
The book was maybe a bit long, but I really liked getting to know the Over family and learning more about Scrooby and the Pilgrims.
April 6, 2016
This was a pretty good book. It is an interesting historical fiction from the early 1600's. It follows a Pilgrim family from Scrooby, England as they follow their spiritual leader, William Brewster, first to Leyden, Netherlands and then to start a settlement in the New World (Plymouth). It was fun and interesting.
However, there were definitely things about the book that bugged me. First, they kept calling babies 'damp.' It's okay now and then, but they just kept at it like a kid you laugh at and then keeps doing the same thing again and again because you laughed once. The author also never used the word 'animal' and rarely used the word 'beast.' Rather she used 'beastie' again and again. When referring to insects, fish, eels (very common animal in this book) or cows, they used the word 'beastie.' And lastly, the author felt the need to reminisce the whole time. And it kept getting worse. At the beginning of the story there wasn't much need for it. By about 2/3 of the way through the book, more than 15 years had passed, so every 10-15 pages we have a sort of "18 years ago I was born, 15 years ago this happened, 12 years ago this happened, etc. etc." And then the last entire chapter was one giant reminiscence. Urgh.
However, there were definitely things about the book that bugged me. First, they kept calling babies 'damp.' It's okay now and then, but they just kept at it like a kid you laugh at and then keeps doing the same thing again and again because you laughed once. The author also never used the word 'animal' and rarely used the word 'beast.' Rather she used 'beastie' again and again. When referring to insects, fish, eels (very common animal in this book) or cows, they used the word 'beastie.' And lastly, the author felt the need to reminisce the whole time. And it kept getting worse. At the beginning of the story there wasn't much need for it. By about 2/3 of the way through the book, more than 15 years had passed, so every 10-15 pages we have a sort of "18 years ago I was born, 15 years ago this happened, 12 years ago this happened, etc. etc." And then the last entire chapter was one giant reminiscence. Urgh.
December 17, 2009
Young Matt Over tells his story of how and why the Pilgrims went first to Holland and then to America. William Bradford, James Billings, and other familiar historical people appear, but the Over family gives Pilgrims a better name than the cheerless history we got as Kindergarteners.
Read for 30.9 Rachel Lee's TAsk-The Newbery Award, honor book 1942
Read for 30.9 Rachel Lee's TAsk-The Newbery Award, honor book 1942
December 11, 2014
I wasn't clear what this was about when I started reading it. It's the story of why the group of pilgrims left England for Holland and why they left there for the new world. I liked the voice and content.
November 5, 2009
I really like this author's style. A jaunty, humorous, page turning book. Recommended.
November 12, 2013
Interesting historical fiction about the Pilgrims because it gives a lot of the back story. The Mayflower doesn't even show up until 2/3rds through the book.
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October 22, 2014c875d77f-12b7-48fc-b93e-ea0ec7883e2e
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