Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
Everyone knows the famous nursery rhyme. But how many know that
it's a true story? Not only that, but you can visit the scene of
the crime, the very schoolhouse where the nefarious Mary brought
her illegal livestock!
There are conflicting versions of the story, but for your
consideration is the tale of one Mary Sawyer Tyler, a student of
District Number 2 on Redstone Hill in Sterling, Massachusetts. Her
lamb followed her to the Redstone schoolhouse in 1815 and the
resulting events were recorded by poet Sarah Josepha Hale and first
published in 1830 in "Poems For Our Children".
The Redstone schoolhouse was built by the town of Sterling in
1798. It was moved to Sudbury in 1927 and used again as a
schoolhouse there from 1927 to 1951 and is now a museum...which you
will visit as part of this cache.
Or maybe it didn't all happen that way. Anyway, on with the
cache.
The listed coordinates are for the Redstone schoolhouse on the
Wayside Inn property in Sudbury. Easiest parking is along the road
in front of the grist mill. Walk over to the schoolhouse and take a
look around. Knowledge of the poem and numbers found in, on and
around the schoolhouse will provide the necessary answers to these
questions:
A) The phone number to call before your visit is: (978)
44?-1776
B) This one is a freebie: the answer is 3
C) The schoolhouse was in use in Sterling until 18?6
D) Mary was born in 180?
E) The number of lambs students are allowed to have at school
F) The lamb's fleece was white as ????; number of letters in this
word
Now, fill in the answers for questions A through F in the
appropriate places in the cache coordinates:
42° 21.ABC
71° 28.DEF
Mary had a little cache,
Its box was white as snow;
And near the school where Mary went
You'll find that box, so go!
Just a little clarification: the original cache box was white
plastic but I found that those plastic boxes were not very
weather-proof so the cache is now in an ammo box.
After finding the cache, continue on for a picture tour of the
cache area...
Continue