Virginia Dare
Encyclopedia
Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Americas
to English
parents, Eleanor
(or Ellinor/Elyonor) and Ananias Dare
. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony
in what is now North Carolina
, USA
. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known because the governor of the settlement, Virginia Dare's grandfather, John White, returned to England in 1587 to seek fresh supplies. When White eventually returned three years later, Virginia and the other colonists were gone.
During the past four hundred years, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American myth and folklore, symbolizing different things to different groups of people. She has been featured as a main character in books, poems, songs, comic books, television programs and films. Her name has been used to sell different types of goods, from vanilla
products to wine
and spirits
. Many places in North Carolina
and elsewhere in the Southern United States
have been named in her honor.
in what is now North Carolina on August 18, 1587, the first child of English parents born in the New World. "Elenora, daughter to the governour and wife to Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, was delivered of a daughter in Roanoke". The child was healthy and "was christened there the Sunday following, and because this childe was the first Christian borne in Virginia, she was named Virginia".
Little is known of the lives of either of her parents. Her mother Eleanor
was born in London
around 1563, and was the daughter of John White, the governor of the ill-fated Roanoke Colony. Eleanor married Ananias Dare
(born c. 1560), a London tiler and bricklayer
, at St Bride's Church
in Fleet Street
, City of London
. He too was part of the Roanoke expedition. Virginia Dare was one of two infants born to the colonists in 1587 and the only female child born to the settlers.
Little else is known of Virginia Dare's presumably short life, as the Roanoke Colony did not endure. At the end of 1587, having established his colony, Virginia's grandfather John White sailed for England for fresh supplies. Due to England's war with Spain, and the pressing need for ships to defend against the Spanish Armada
, he was unable to return to Roanoke until August 18, 1590, Virginia Dare's third birthday, by which time he found the settlement had been long deserted. The buildings had collapsed and "the houses [were] taken downe". Worse, White was unable find any trace of his daughter or granddaughter, or indeed any of the 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children who made up the "Lost Colony".
on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. As there was no cross, White took this to mean they had moved to Croatoan Island (now known as Hatteras Island
), but he was unable to conduct a search.
There are a number of theories regarding the fate of the colonists, the most widely accepted one being that they sought shelter with local Indian tribes, and either intermarried with the natives or were killed. In 1607, John Smith
and other members of the successful Jamestown Colony
sought information about the fate of the Roanoke colonists. One report indicated that the survivors had taken refuge with friendly Chesapeake Indians
, but Chief Powhatan
claimed his tribe had attacked the group and killed most of the colonists. Powhatan showed Smith certain artifacts he said had belonged to the colonists, including a musket
barrel and a brass
mortar
. However, no archaeological evidence exists to support this claim. The Jamestown Colony received reports of some survivors of the Lost Colony and sent out search parties, but none was successful. Eventually they determined they were all dead.
In her 2000 book Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony, historian Lee Miller surmised that some of the Lost Colony survivors sought shelter with a neighboring Indian tribe, the Chowanoc
, that was attacked by another tribe, identified by the Jamestown Colony as the "Mandoag", who may have been either Tuscarora or Eno
, also known as the Wainoke. William Strachey
, a secretary of the Jamestown Colony, wrote in The History of Travel Into Virginia Britannia in 1612 that, at the Indian settlements of Peccarecanick and Ochanahoen, there were reportedly two-story houses with stone walls. The Indians supposedly learned how to build them from the Roanoake settlers. There were also reported sightings of European captives at various Indian settlements during the same time period. Strachey also wrote that four English men, two boys, and one maid had been sighted at the Eno settlement of Ritanoc, under the protection of a chief called Eyanoco. The captives were forced to beat copper
. The captives, he reported, had escaped the attack on the other colonists and fled up the Chaonoke river, the present-day Chowan River
in Bertie County, North Carolina
. For four hundred years, various authors have speculated that the captive girl was Virginia Dare.
myth and folklore
, representing different things to different people. A 2000 article in the Piedmont Triad, North Carolina News and Record noted that, for many Americans, particularly Southerners, she symbolizes innocence
and purity
, "new beginnings, promise, and hope
" as well as "adventure
and bravery" in a new land. She also symbolizes mystery because of her mysterious fate.
For some residents of North Carolina, she has been an important symbol of the state and the desire to keep it predominantly European-American. In the 1920s, a group that opposed suffrage
for women feared that black
women would get the vote. One group in Raleigh, North Carolina
urged "that North Carolina remain white
... in the name of Virginia Dare." Today Virginia Dare's name is used for the anti-illegal immigration group The VDARE Project
.
Some people also see her as a symbol of women's rights. In the 1980s feminists in North Carolina called for state residents to approve the Equal Rights Amendment
and "Honor Virginia Dare."
There is a memorial to Virginia Dare in St Bride's Church, Fleet St, where her parents were married prior to their journey to Roanoke.
The bronze sculpture, created by Clare Waterhouse in 1999, replaces a marble sculpture of Dare carved by Marjorie Meggit in 1957. The original has been missing since 1999.
and the Carolinas. The first bore an announcement of the death of Virginia Dare and her father, Ananias Dare, at the hands of "savages" in 1591. Later stones, brought in by various people, told a complicated tale of the fate of the Lost Colony. Later stones, each addressed to John White and signed with the name of Virginia's mother, Eleanor, called for revenge against the "savages" or gave her father the direction taken by the survivors. A stone dated 1592 indicated the survivors had reached a sanctuary in the Nachoochee Valley area and lived there in "primeval
splendor." Another stone, dated 1598, indicated that Eleanor had married the "king
" of the tribe, while another said she had borne the chief a daughter, the tribe was angry, and asked for White to send the infant girl to England. A stone dated 1599 announced Eleanor Dare's death and said she had left behind a daughter named Agnes
.
Professor Haywood Pearce Jr. of Brenau College (now Brenau University
) in Gainesville, Georgia
, believed in the stones, and his views won over some well-known historians, according to contemporary press accounts.
On April 26, 1941 an article was published in The Saturday Evening Post
by journalist Boyden Sparks, attacking the authenticity of the stones, pointing to improbabilities in their story and producing evidence that those who had claimed to discover them were in fact hoax
ers. Pearce and the other scholars were not implicated in the alleged fraud, and no legal action was ever taken, but all of them renounced belief in the authenticity of the stones. Sparks theorized that the fakery was inspired by the 1937 publicity in North Carolina surrounding the 350th anniversary of the Lost Colony.
Today, Brenau keeps the Dare Stones as a sort of 20th-century media curiosity, but generally does not display them or publicize their existence. The stones still have a few supporters, most notably Robert W. White, whose book A Witness For Eleanor Dare insists they were genuine and that criticism of them was false.
" born in British America. The fate of Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony has been the subject of many literary, film, and television adaptations, all of which have added to her myth:
for North Carolina. Many locations are named after Virginia Dare, including Dare County, North Carolina
; the Virginia Dare Trail, a section of NC 12; Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge
, the second, newest, and widest bridge spanning the Croatan Sound
connecting Roanoke Island
to Manns Harbor
. It carries US 64. Residents of Roanoke Island
celebrate Virginia Dare's birthday each year with an Elizabethan Renaissance Fair
. A statue of Virginia as a grown woman, naked and wrapped in a buffalo
skin, is on display in the Elizabethan Gardens on the island. At Smith Mountain Lake
there is an active tour boat named Virginia Dare.
Virginia Dare's name has also been used to sell a number of products. Virginia Dare was the name of the first commercial wine to sell after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. The Virginia Dare Extract Company, a maker of vanilla products, sells its products with a symbol of Virginia as a fresh-faced, blonde woman wearing a white ruffled mob cap
. The company's Web site notes that Virginia Dare symbolizes "wholesomeness and purity." In Rancho Cucamonga, California
, a now-defunct winery on the corner of Haven Avenue and Foothill Boulevard (U.S. Route 66
) is called Virginia Dare.
You can also read aobut Virginia Dare in a historical-fiction book 'Sabotaged' by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
to English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
parents, Eleanor
Eleanor Dare
Eleanor White Dare of Westminster, London, England was a member of the Roanoke Colony and the daughter of John White, the colony's governor. While little is known about her life, more is known about her than most of the sixteen other women who left England in 1587 as part of the Roanoke...
(or Ellinor/Elyonor) and Ananias Dare
Ananias Dare
Ananias Dare was the husband of Eleanor White, whom he married at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, City of London. He was father of Virginia Dare, whose birth on August 18, 1587 was the first recorded to English parents on the continent of North America.Dare was a London tiler and bricklayer...
. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...
in what is now North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known because the governor of the settlement, Virginia Dare's grandfather, John White, returned to England in 1587 to seek fresh supplies. When White eventually returned three years later, Virginia and the other colonists were gone.
During the past four hundred years, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in American myth and folklore, symbolizing different things to different groups of people. She has been featured as a main character in books, poems, songs, comic books, television programs and films. Her name has been used to sell different types of goods, from vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
products to wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
. Many places in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and elsewhere in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
have been named in her honor.
Biography
Virginia Dare was born in the Roanoke colonyRoanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...
in what is now North Carolina on August 18, 1587, the first child of English parents born in the New World. "Elenora, daughter to the governour and wife to Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, was delivered of a daughter in Roanoke". The child was healthy and "was christened there the Sunday following, and because this childe was the first Christian borne in Virginia, she was named Virginia".
Little is known of the lives of either of her parents. Her mother Eleanor
Eleanor Dare
Eleanor White Dare of Westminster, London, England was a member of the Roanoke Colony and the daughter of John White, the colony's governor. While little is known about her life, more is known about her than most of the sixteen other women who left England in 1587 as part of the Roanoke...
was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
around 1563, and was the daughter of John White, the governor of the ill-fated Roanoke Colony. Eleanor married Ananias Dare
Ananias Dare
Ananias Dare was the husband of Eleanor White, whom he married at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, City of London. He was father of Virginia Dare, whose birth on August 18, 1587 was the first recorded to English parents on the continent of North America.Dare was a London tiler and bricklayer...
(born c. 1560), a London tiler and bricklayer
Bricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
, at St Bride's Church
St Bride's Church
St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 on Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire during the London Blitz in 1940. Due to its location on...
in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. He too was part of the Roanoke expedition. Virginia Dare was one of two infants born to the colonists in 1587 and the only female child born to the settlers.
Little else is known of Virginia Dare's presumably short life, as the Roanoke Colony did not endure. At the end of 1587, having established his colony, Virginia's grandfather John White sailed for England for fresh supplies. Due to England's war with Spain, and the pressing need for ships to defend against the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
, he was unable to return to Roanoke until August 18, 1590, Virginia Dare's third birthday, by which time he found the settlement had been long deserted. The buildings had collapsed and "the houses [were] taken downe". Worse, White was unable find any trace of his daughter or granddaughter, or indeed any of the 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children who made up the "Lost Colony".
Mystery of the "Lost Colony"
Little is known for certain of the fate of Virginia Dare or her fellow colonists. Governor White found no sign of a struggle or battle. The only clue to the colonists' fate was the word "Croatoan" carved into a post of the fort, and the letters "Cro" carved into a nearby tree. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, suggesting that their departure had not been hurried. Before he had left the colony, White had instructed them that if anything happened to them, they should carve a Maltese crossMaltese cross
The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. As there was no cross, White took this to mean they had moved to Croatoan Island (now known as Hatteras Island
Hatteras Island
Hatteras Island is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks and includes the towns of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton,...
), but he was unable to conduct a search.
There are a number of theories regarding the fate of the colonists, the most widely accepted one being that they sought shelter with local Indian tribes, and either intermarried with the natives or were killed. In 1607, John Smith
John Smith of Jamestown
Captain John Smith Admiral of New England was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Bathory, Prince of Transylvania and friend Mózes Székely...
and other members of the successful Jamestown Colony
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
sought information about the fate of the Roanoke colonists. One report indicated that the survivors had taken refuge with friendly Chesapeake Indians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, but Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan
Chief Powhatan , whose proper name was Wahunsenacawh , was the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia at the time English settlers landed at Jamestown in 1607...
claimed his tribe had attacked the group and killed most of the colonists. Powhatan showed Smith certain artifacts he said had belonged to the colonists, including a musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
barrel and a brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
. However, no archaeological evidence exists to support this claim. The Jamestown Colony received reports of some survivors of the Lost Colony and sent out search parties, but none was successful. Eventually they determined they were all dead.
In her 2000 book Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony, historian Lee Miller surmised that some of the Lost Colony survivors sought shelter with a neighboring Indian tribe, the Chowanoc
Chowanoke
The Chowanoke, also spelled Chowanoc, was an Algonquian-language American Indian tribe. They were the largest and most powerful Algonquian tribe in present-day North Carolina, occupying most or all of the coastal banks of the Chowan River in the northeastern part of the state at time of the first...
, that was attacked by another tribe, identified by the Jamestown Colony as the "Mandoag", who may have been either Tuscarora or Eno
Eno (people)
The Eno or Enoke, also called Wyanoak, was an American Indian tribe located in North Carolina during the 17th and 18th centuries that was later absorbed into the Catawba and/or the Saponi tribes.-History:...
, also known as the Wainoke. William Strachey
William Strachey
William Strachey was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America...
, a secretary of the Jamestown Colony, wrote in The History of Travel Into Virginia Britannia in 1612 that, at the Indian settlements of Peccarecanick and Ochanahoen, there were reportedly two-story houses with stone walls. The Indians supposedly learned how to build them from the Roanoake settlers. There were also reported sightings of European captives at various Indian settlements during the same time period. Strachey also wrote that four English men, two boys, and one maid had been sighted at the Eno settlement of Ritanoc, under the protection of a chief called Eyanoco. The captives were forced to beat copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
. The captives, he reported, had escaped the attack on the other colonists and fled up the Chaonoke river, the present-day Chowan River
Chowan River
The Chowan River is a blackwater river formed with the merging of Virginia's Blackwater and Nottoway rivers near the stateline between Virginia and North Carolina. According to the USGS a variant name is Choan River....
in Bertie County, North Carolina
Bertie County, North Carolina
-External links:**...
. For four hundred years, various authors have speculated that the captive girl was Virginia Dare.
Modern Legacy
In the more than four hundred years since her birth, Virginia Dare has become a prominent figure in AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
myth and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, representing different things to different people. A 2000 article in the Piedmont Triad, North Carolina News and Record noted that, for many Americans, particularly Southerners, she symbolizes innocence
Innocence
Innocence is a term used to indicate a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime.-Symbolism:...
and purity
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
, "new beginnings, promise, and hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
" as well as "adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
and bravery" in a new land. She also symbolizes mystery because of her mysterious fate.
For some residents of North Carolina, she has been an important symbol of the state and the desire to keep it predominantly European-American. In the 1920s, a group that opposed suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
for women feared that black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
women would get the vote. One group in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
urged "that North Carolina remain white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
... in the name of Virginia Dare." Today Virginia Dare's name is used for the anti-illegal immigration group The VDARE Project
VDARE
VDARE.com, or VDARE, is a website that advocates reduced immigration, especially illegal immigration, into the United States. Former Forbes editor Peter Brimelow supports the site through his VDARE Foundation, also known as Lexington Research Institute Limited...
.
Some people also see her as a symbol of women's rights. In the 1980s feminists in North Carolina called for state residents to approve the Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
and "Honor Virginia Dare."
There is a memorial to Virginia Dare in St Bride's Church, Fleet St, where her parents were married prior to their journey to Roanoke.
The bronze sculpture, created by Clare Waterhouse in 1999, replaces a marble sculpture of Dare carved by Marjorie Meggit in 1957. The original has been missing since 1999.
Eleanor Dare Stones
From 1937 until 1941, the so-called "Dare Stones" were in the news. The 48 carved stones were allegedly found in northern GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and the Carolinas. The first bore an announcement of the death of Virginia Dare and her father, Ananias Dare, at the hands of "savages" in 1591. Later stones, brought in by various people, told a complicated tale of the fate of the Lost Colony. Later stones, each addressed to John White and signed with the name of Virginia's mother, Eleanor, called for revenge against the "savages" or gave her father the direction taken by the survivors. A stone dated 1592 indicated the survivors had reached a sanctuary in the Nachoochee Valley area and lived there in "primeval
Primitive culture
In older anthropology texts and discussions, the term "primitive culture" is used to refer to a society that is believed to lack cultural, technological, or economic sophistication/development...
splendor." Another stone, dated 1598, indicated that Eleanor had married the "king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
" of the tribe, while another said she had borne the chief a daughter, the tribe was angry, and asked for White to send the infant girl to England. A stone dated 1599 announced Eleanor Dare's death and said she had left behind a daughter named Agnes
Agnes (name)
Agnes is a female given name, which derives from the Greek name Ἁγνὴ hagnē, meaning "pure" or "holy". The Latinized form of the Greek name is Hagnes, the feminine form of Αγνός Hagnos, meaning "chaste" or "sacred"...
.
Professor Haywood Pearce Jr. of Brenau College (now Brenau University
Brenau University
Brenau University is a private university in Gainesville, Georgia, USA, that was founded in 1878 as Georgia Baptist Female Seminary, though it has never been affiliated with the Baptist Church. The total enrollment of Brenau University tops 2,500 students in its four schools...
) in Gainesville, Georgia
Gainesville, Georgia
-Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
, believed in the stones, and his views won over some well-known historians, according to contemporary press accounts.
On April 26, 1941 an article was published in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
by journalist Boyden Sparks, attacking the authenticity of the stones, pointing to improbabilities in their story and producing evidence that those who had claimed to discover them were in fact hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
ers. Pearce and the other scholars were not implicated in the alleged fraud, and no legal action was ever taken, but all of them renounced belief in the authenticity of the stones. Sparks theorized that the fakery was inspired by the 1937 publicity in North Carolina surrounding the 350th anniversary of the Lost Colony.
Today, Brenau keeps the Dare Stones as a sort of 20th-century media curiosity, but generally does not display them or publicize their existence. The stones still have a few supporters, most notably Robert W. White, whose book A Witness For Eleanor Dare insists they were genuine and that criticism of them was false.
Literary and cultural references
Virginia Dare quickly entered into folklore as the "first white childFirst white child
The birth of the first white child was a celebrated occasion across many parts of the New World. Such births are a matter of pride for many townships, and they are commemorated with plaques and monuments at the location of the event. The birth was seen as such an honor that it was at times...
" born in British America. The fate of Virginia Dare and the Lost Colony has been the subject of many literary, film, and television adaptations, all of which have added to her myth:
- One of the first was Cornelia Tuthill's 1840 novel Virginia Dare, or the Colony of Roanoke, in which Virginia marries a Jamestown settler. Virginia Dare met the Indian princess PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
in E.A.B. Shackleford's 1892 novel Virginia Dare: A Romance of the Sixteenth Century. Virginia Dare was the main character in Sallie Southall Cotten's 1901 book in verse The White Doe: The Fate of Virginia Dare. In the book, she is turned into a whiteWhiteWhite is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
doeDeerDeer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
by an Indian witch doctorShamanismShamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
after she rejects his advances. When her true love, an Indian warriorWarriorA warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
, shoots her with a silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
arrowArrowAn arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
, she turns back into a woman just before she dies in his arms. Cotten has asserted, however, that the tale of Dare as the White Doe had survived for some three centuries as part of colonial folklore. In the 1908 novel The Daughter of Virginia Dare, author Mary Virginia Wall made PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
the daughter of Virginia Dare. In Herbert Bouldin Hawes' 1930 novel The Daughter of the Blood, Virginia Dare is involved in a romantic triangle with John Smith and Pocahontas.
- Neil Gaiman has extended this story in his comic book series 1602Marvel 1602Marvel 1602 is an eight-issue comic book limited series published in 2003 by Marvel Comics. The limited series was written by Neil Gaiman, penciled by Andy Kubert, and digitally painted by Richard Isanove; Scott McKowen illustrated the distinctive scratchboard covers...
, where a Native American named RojhazCaptain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
meets Virginia Dare when she is about twelve, and an artifact of his travels causes her to transform into a series of white creatures whenever she is in danger. The storyline ends when Peter ParquaghSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
and Virginia Dare head home to her father to plot the rescue of those left in England. In later stories in the 1602 universe (much like the figure of legend), when attempting to flee in the form of a white doe, she is shot by Master Norman OsborneGreen GoblinThe Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
and reverts back to human form in front of Peter before dying.
- Other authors have given the myth a fantasy twist. In Philip José FarmerPhilip José FarmerPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
's 1965 novel Dare, Virginia and the other Lost Colonists are abducted by aliensExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
and settled on a planet called Dare. In 1969, Steve CannonSteve CannonSteve Cannon may refer to:*Steve Staley, voice actor whose stage name is Steve Cannon*Steve Cannon , Minnesota radio personality on WCCO-AM...
wrote Groove, Bang and Jive Around, in which Virginia Dare is one of two stewardesses aboard the Statecraft One who engages in a wild orgy with Annette, the foxy adolescent chick from New Orleans, and Estavanico, "Little Stevie" to some, the flight engineerFlight engineerFlight engineers work in three types of aircraft: fixed-wing , rotary wing , and space flight .As airplanes became even larger requiring more engines and complex systems to operate, the workload on the two pilots became excessive during certain critical parts of the flight regime, notably takeoffs...
. Near the end, in the land of Oobladee, she is eventually magically transformed into a frail, old woman with a cane, who explains the reasons for which she was left to explore much darker horizons, sexually. Ultimately, she falls to the floor as a pile of ashes. Virginia Dare appears in Mark ChadbournMark ChadbournMark Chadbourn is an English fantasy, science fiction and horror author with fifteen novels published around the world.Born in the English Midlands from a long line of coal miners...
's fantasy sequence Kingdom of the Serpent, comprising the novels Jack of Ravens and The Burning Man with a third yet to be published. She is kidnapped along with the other Roanoke colonists and taken to the CelticCeltic mythologyCeltic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
OtherworldOther WorldThe Otherworld is a concept in Celtic mythology, referring to a realm of the dead, the home of the deities or spirits....
, the home of all myth and legend. She plays a key role in the final volume of the trilogy. A woman named Virginia Dare appears in Gregory KeyesGregory KeyesGregory Keyes is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names "J. Gregory Keyes" and "Greg Keyes". He is famous for his quartet The Age of Unreason, a steampunk/alchemical story starring Benjamin Franklin and Isaac...
' fantasy novel The Briar King. Keyes uses several hints and word clues to indicate this character is meant to be the historical figure. In Volume I of Tales of the SlayerTales of the SlayerTales of the Slayer are volumes containing prose short stories. Four volumes of this series have been released, all published by Pocket Books...
, a horror story collection set in the Buffy the Vampire SlayerBuffyverseThe Buffyverse, also known as the Whedonverse or Slayerverse , is the shared fictional universe in which the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are set. This term, originally coined by fans of the TV series, has since been used in the titles of published works, and adopted by Joss...
universe, Virginia Dare appears as the vampire slayer "White Doe," an English girl adopted by the CroatoanCroatanThe Croatan were a small Native American group living in the coastal areas of what is now North Carolina. They may have been a branch of the larger Roanoke people or allied with them....
Indians. She is turned into a white doe by a wizard of the tribe when she rejects his advances. Her true love, Seal of the Ocean, finds her but later kills her because he does not recognize her as a deer.
- She was the main villain in the short-lived television show FreakyLinksFreakyLinksFreakyLinks was an American television show that combined elements of horror, mystery, and comedy. It aired on the Fox Network from October 2000 until June 2001, for a total run of 13 episodes...
. Inspired by The X-FilesThe X-FilesThe X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
and The Blair Witch ProjectThe Blair Witch ProjectThe Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur footage. The film was produced by the Haxan Films production company. The film relates the story of three student filmmakers The Blair Witch Project is a 1999 American horror film pieced together from amateur...
, it followed a young man who took over his twin brother's paranormal Web site, Freakylinks, after his death. It was later found that his brother's death was related to his investigations into the lost colony of Roanoke. It was implied that Virginia Dare was a demon who destroyed the colonists, either directly or indirectly. However, the show was canceled before the end of the first season, and the mystery was never resolved.
- In the 2007 made-for-TV movie on the SciFi ChannelSyfySyfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, Wraiths of Roanoke Virginia Dare is the sole survivor after the colony is wiped out by Old Norse ghosts, or wraiths, who had died on the island centuries earlier but failed to achieve transit to Valhalla. In the movie the infant Virginia, whose innocence is needed by the wraiths, is used by her father to lure the wraiths onto a flaming raft set adrift for a Viking funeral. The last act of Ananias is to cast Virginia away from the raft in a wicker basket. She is found and adopted by the mainland Indians the next day.
- In The NecromancerThe Necromancer: The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas FlamelThe Necromancer is the fourth book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel written by Irish author Michael Scott. The novel was released in the USA on May 25, 2010, published by Delacorte Press, which is an imprint of Random House...
, the fourth book in Michael Scott'sMichael Scott (Irish author)Michael Scott is an Irish author.Michael Scott is a seasoned and prolific writer of over 100 books during his 25 plus years of writing thus far...
"Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas FlamelThe Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas FlamelThe Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel will be a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott when complete. Completion is due to be in 2012. The first book in the series, The Alchemyst was released in 2007, the sequels are scheduled to follow at the rate of one per year,...
" series, Virginia Dare was introduced as an immortal who disables her enemies with charms from a magic flute.
Tourism and advertising
Virginia Dare's name has become a tourist attractionTourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
for North Carolina. Many locations are named after Virginia Dare, including Dare County, North Carolina
Dare County, North Carolina
-National protected areas:* Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge * Cape Hatteras National Seashore * Fort Raleigh National Historic Site* Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge* Wright Brothers National Memorial-Demographics:...
; the Virginia Dare Trail, a section of NC 12; Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge
Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge
The Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge is the newest, longest, and widest bridge over the Croatan Sound. The four-lane bridge carries U.S. Highway 64 Bypass from Manns Harbor to Roanoke Island in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The bridge provides express access from the North Carolina mainland to the...
, the second, newest, and widest bridge spanning the Croatan Sound
Croatan Sound
Croatan Sound is an inlet in Dare County, North Carolina. It connects Pamlico Sound with Albemarle Sound, and is bordered to the east by Roanoke Island; Roanoke Sound is on the other side of the island. Its name comes from the Croatan Indians who once inhabited the area.The Croatan Sound is crossed...
connecting Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....
to Manns Harbor
Manns Harbor, North Carolina
Manns Harbor is an unincorporated community in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. Located east of the intersection of US 64 and US 264; it is nestled along eastern bank of the Croatan Sound. Before 1957, Manns Harbor used to harbor a ferry that traversed the Croatan Sound and provided...
. It carries US 64. Residents of Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration....
celebrate Virginia Dare's birthday each year with an Elizabethan Renaissance Fair
Renaissance Fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are...
. A statue of Virginia as a grown woman, naked and wrapped in a buffalo
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
skin, is on display in the Elizabethan Gardens on the island. At Smith Mountain Lake
Smith Mountain Lake
Smith Mountain Lake is a large reservoir in the Roanoke Region of Virginia, located southeast of the City of Roanoke and southwest of Lynchburg. The lake was created in 1963 by the Smith Mountain Dam impounding the Roanoke River. The majority of the south shore of the lake lies in Franklin County...
there is an active tour boat named Virginia Dare.
Virginia Dare's name has also been used to sell a number of products. Virginia Dare was the name of the first commercial wine to sell after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. The Virginia Dare Extract Company, a maker of vanilla products, sells its products with a symbol of Virginia as a fresh-faced, blonde woman wearing a white ruffled mob cap
Mob cap
A mob cap or mob-cap is a round, gathered or pleated cloth bonnet consisting of a caul to cover the hair, a frilled or ruffled brim, and a ribbon band, worn by married women in the Georgian period, when it was called a "bonnet"...
. The company's Web site notes that Virginia Dare symbolizes "wholesomeness and purity." In Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rancho Cucamonga is a suburban city in San Bernardino County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,269, up from 127,743 at the 2000 census. L. Dennis Michael was elected as Mayor on November 2, 2010. Jack Lam is the City Manager...
, a now-defunct winery on the corner of Haven Avenue and Foothill Boulevard (U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
) is called Virginia Dare.
External links
- Virginia Dare and The Lost Colony Retrieved March 2011
- Women in the Roanoke Colony Retrieved March 2011
- Searching for the Lost Colony Blog Retrieved March 2011
- Lost Colony Center for Science and Research Retrieved March 2011
- St Bride's Church - Virginia Dare at St Bride's Church Official Website Retrieved March 2011
- Webpage discussing authenticity of the Virginia Dare Stones Retrieved March 2011
- Article in the Saturday Evening Post discussing debunking the Dare Stones Retrieved April 2011
- Account of the Roanoke settlements Retrieved April 2011
Further reading
- Big Chief Elizabeth: How England's Adventurers Gambled and Won the New World, Giles Milton, Sceptre, 2001, ISBN 0340748826
- Virginia Dare: A Romance of the Sixteenth Century, Mrs. E. A. B. Shackelford, Published by Thomas Whittaker, New York, 1892
You can also read aobut Virginia Dare in a historical-fiction book 'Sabotaged' by Margaret Peterson Haddix.