Priscilla Donham Priscilla Donham displays the hidden treasures found in her uncle's barn in Walpole - gift from her father left for her to complete. (Photo Barbara Martin)

It's been a long time since anyone struck gold in this country, but when Alna resident Priscilla Donham opened boxes belonging to her father that were stored in her uncle's barn in Walpole since the 1940s, she hit the mother lode.

Donham's father, Aaron Moore Bagg, was a well-known ornithologist in Massachusetts, who often published the results of his studies. But few members of the family knew that around the time of his daughter's birth, he was taken with the idea of writing a novel based on the travels of a commercial sailing vessel, christened the Forfarshire, built in 1885 in England. Its homeport was Glasgow, Scotland.

When Donham opened the boxes sent by her cousin, she was dazzled by her find. With the persistence and precision of a scholar, her father had searched tirelessly to contact men who had sailed on the ship and pan for information needed to assemble a detailed history of the vessel.

"My mother remembers that he was writing a novel, but no one knows how his research ended up in his brother's barn." Donham said. Her cousin Allen Meyers found the boxes when sifting through his father Edward's barn. Edward Meyers was a pioneer in the still evolving world of aquaculture, raising mussels in the Damariscotta River.

Donham and her husband Brett share their time between their homes in Head Tide Village and Cambridge, Mass. They have four children and nine grandchildren and their Maine home boasts a table large enough to seat their large family on holidays.

When I visited, the table was filled with a startling collection that dated from 1938 to 1941 of over 200 old letters, 35 pictures, ship's logs, trade newspapers, the names of all who captained the ship and many crewmen; along with where it traveled, what it carried and a first draft manuscript whose central character is called "the Nipper," after a 15-year-old apprentice who sailed on the ship.

The Forfarshire was a three-masted barque, 240 feet in length, with a 36-foot beam and 21.5 foot draft. Postcards in the collection showing her flying all sails would stir the blood of seafarers of any era.

The only hint that the ship had captured her father's fancy was a print of the Forfarshire, in all her glory that hung in her parents' home. That print is now hanging in her Head Tide home.

The fruits of Bagg's work include correspondence with several of the seaman that shipped aboard the vessel and with Captain Purdy, who plotted the ship's course for several years. Remarkably, he was also able to correspond with Henry Earp, who sailed on the ship as a young apprentice and may be the inspiration for the central character in Bagg's manuscript.

The letters and logs show that the ship journeyed to far-off ports in Hong Kong, Australia, the Falklands, Java, Hawaii and more. There are complete lists of how many days it took the Forfarshire to travel from one port to the next. Responses from Lloyd's of London that insured the boat, include detailed lists of the cargo.

Letters also include details of many of the hair-raising adventures that the sailors endured. There are descriptions of encounters with icebergs, natives on far off islands, typhoons and on-board hi-jinx.

Donham was touched by a letter from a man in England that suggests her father had sent a picture of his wife and newborn daughter, Priscilla.

"Thank you for the study of Mrs. Baggs and Priscilla," the writer responded. "Your pardonable pride is amply justified… I am certain that your daughter will grow up to be a sturdy example of American womanhood."

The pictures collected show Captain Purdy in Hong Kong, dressed in the eastern finery of the day. There are scenes that show the crew with jaunty hats set at rakish angles, symbolizing their daring choice of careers. Many photos show crowded harbors around the world filled with tall ships of all kinds waiting to take on cargo. There is even a picture of the Forfarshire after it has weathered a punishing storm and appears to be limping back to port.

The Forfarshire was sold in June of 1911 to a Norwegian company and renamed The Alexandra. Shortly after that time, she disappeared from the roles of those vessels insured by Lloyd's of London. It is believed that she collided with a ship called the Segura in 1925 and sank.

Donham is a Harvard graduate who has had two careers, as she says. She taught pre-school at M.I.T. and then was a Therapeutic Riding Instructor at Windrush Farms in Massachusetts, where she still helps train horses for inclusion in the program. In timely fashion, she is now co-authoring her first book.

The legacy that Donham has inherited from her father is impressive. The mystery behind his interest in this project may never be known, and the treasure may not have a monetary value attached at present. However, the vast collection of artifacts coupled with the original manuscript is a treasure nonetheless… a gift from a youthful parent to be shared with the daughter he so pardonably adored.