MARGARET
Evelyn was born and raised on a tea plantation in Savannah, Georgia. Growing up, she developed an interest in botany and agriculture and it was almost as if her future was etched in stone. She would follow in her parent’s footsteps, that is until the day she ran into a very charming sailor named John. Evelyn and John were proof of love at first site.
John then signed aboard a vessel and went to sea for four months. He told Evelyn that if she still felt the same when he returned, to tell the bartender at The Pirate’s House.
His time at sea passed and when his boat finally docked in America again, John walked nervously towards The Pirate’s House. He barely made it through the door when the large bartender ran out bellowing, “Evelyn said YES!”
But life wouldn’t be that simple for the enamoured couple, especially when Evelyn’s parents refused to accept the couple’s engagement. Feeling that their love was too great to deny, the couple decided to elope. They travelled cross country and ended up in Stocktown, California. John was a strong and driven man and found employment almost immediately, working for a businessman who had caught a case of Gold Fever. It was a tough job and John worked very long hours in search of gold, which he found and delivered to the already wealthy businessman. Despite his success in finding gold, John never really benefited from the fruits of his labour, and so one day, he decided to try his luck on his own and quit his job working for the wealthy businessman. His resignation didn’t go over very well and the couple had to leave. This time they knew exactly where to go. They’d heard many tales about Bodie, that there was so much gold in the mountains there that even the shovels shimmered golden in the sun.
When they arrived in Bodie they soon realised they weren’t the only one’s with Gold Fever, for thousands of wayward souls had already arrived and every one of them were filled with dreams of striking gold. It was a hard and tough life but their love was still going strong, and in the year 1877 their daughter Margaret was born.
But they never struck enough gold, and John began sinking deeper and deeper into the bottle. Their lives became miserable, and Margaret, already 12 years old, decided to leave home in an attempt to create a better life on her own.
Many of the townsfolk in Bodie had told Margaret about a beautiful city known as New York. It was here everyone moved after striking gold. She had become tired of hearing tall tales about the Gold Rush and striking it rich, but her ears always perked up when listening to stories about other cities and places. They felt like tales of the future.
One day a family struck gold. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her bottle gazing father that found it, but aneighbouring family that immediately began packing for their journey to New York City. Unbeknownst to Evelyn and John, Margaret had already convinced the lucky family to take her with them to New York. She would take care of the children, see to the horses and cook food everyday and in return, they would take her with them. With tears in her eyes and an aching heart, she left her family, convinced that she had made the right decision.
Arriving in New York, life was not what she expected, especially when the nouveau riche family with which she had travelled, physically and mentally, ridiculed and abused her.
Although the young Margaret was tough and thick-skinned, her life seemed to worsen with everyday that passed. Then one day, when she went to town to stock up on provisions, she laid her eyes on the Majestic, a large ship docked in the harbour. Her curiosity pulled her closer to the boat and after a while she decided to sneak aboard.
The journey across the Atlantic was not only a new beginning geographically for Margaret. A strong bond had grown between Johan and Margaret during their weeks aboard the Majestic and they had fallen in love. At night, Johan would draw pictures that told stories of his homeland Sweden. Margaret learned of great lakes, fields, forests and fauna. Finally arriving in England, Margaret was able to slip off the boat, where she could wait for Johan to sign off and take her with him across the North Sea.
The journey across the Atlantic was not only a new beginning geographically for Margaret. A strong bond had grown between Johan and Margaret during their weeks aboard the Majestic and they had fallen in love. At night, Johan would draw pictures that told stories of his homeland Sweden. Margaret learned of great lakes, fields, forests and fauna. Finally arriving in England, Margaret was able to slip off the boat, where she could wait for Johan to sign off and take her with him across the North Sea.
Margaret’s faith had taken a bad hit many times so she didn’t quite dare trust her happiness. But when the young couple finally arrived in Sweden, she felt for the first time that she had come home. As she stood there, she took in the strange harbour. She breathed as much as she could, a mixture of aromas filled with nuances of timber, tar and salt water.
Johan and Margaret began immediately looking for work and they got by working odd jobs along the west coast island communities. Margaret even worked once as a nanny in the city. They worked hard until they had saved enough to travel the long journey north to Johan’s family roots. The trip would take almost as long as it took to cross the Atlantic. Meanwhile Margaret was amazed by the changing landscape and couldn’t quite get past that it was all the same country. After a few weeks they finally arrived in northern Sweden. It was almost a religious experience for Margaret.
Johan decided to leave the sea life behind and started working in a local mine. Margaret discovered that much like her mother, she also had an interest in botany and flora. Like a sponge, she took in as much as she could from the local wives, a vast reservoir of knowledge. She quickly learned about edible plants and medicinal herbs. Back home in her their cosy little cottage, she would spend all her time experimenting and when Johan would come home from a long day’s work, he would taste all of her concoctions and beverages. Life moved forward and as the couples aged, a daughter was eventually born. But happiness was short lived when Johan died tragically in an all too common mining accident. Margaret was all alone now. Without the love of her life and bread winner, she had to find her own way to survive. She refused to marry for money, so she tried to get work at the mine. She was told right away that a mine is no place for a woman. She told them she grew up in Bodie, USA and that she had worked her but butt off her whole life. But the miners just turned their backs and laughed.
But Margaret wasn’t easily dissuaded and after a long hard think, her mind landed on a brilliant idea. Inspired by a local children’s folk tale about a woman who dresses as a man to escape prison, she grabs a pair of rusty scissors and starts cutting away her locks before dressing in her departed husband’s work clothes. The very next day Margaret tries her luck at the mine again. Her plan was surprisingly successful and she immediately began working deep in the underground mine.
Everyday after work she would hike the long trail back to her cottage. On the way, she would pick plants, flowers and berries which she used in her drinks and beverages. Most miners thought she drank liquor like the rest of them. Her faithful canteen became so worn you could see her fingerprints etched in soot. The thing was that Margaret had seen what drinking could do to a person. She had seen her own father gaze deeper and deeper into the darkness of the bottle. This was a path she would not walk. Her bottle wasn’t filled with alcohol, but with all the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the local wives. It was filled with memories of her mother and it was filled with nature itself.
No one knows for sure how the rest of Margaret’s life played out, but she did work many years in the mines and legends to this day still mention her spirit, or presence, picking herbs along the trails near her cottage in northern Sweden.
One day in the beginning of 2021, we ran into a charming old lady in the mountain village of Riksgränsen. We listened intently to the stories she told about her mother, and we even got to read through some of her mother’s diaries and journals where old drink recipes were scribbled on dusty pages. In exchange for this honour, we had to vow to spread her mother’s drink creations to the world and to tell her tale, the legend of Margaret.
We’ve vowed to do this, and we’ve kept our word, for the very next day we founded Svensk Gruvsaft AB.
Now its your turn to spread the word.
