Go Patriots!

Paul_Revere.jpe Monday is Patriots Day, another one of those Massachusetts-only holidays that Bostonist adores. Some cynics suggest that it is no accident that two of our unique holidays, Evacuation Day and Patriots Day, fall on occasions usually celebrated with hearty amounts of drink (St. Patrick's Day and the Boston Marathon), and the third, Bunker Hill Day, saves June from being a month without time off and falls conveniently half-way between Memorial Day and July 4th. Bostonist disagrees, preferring instead to think of our city as one with a rich sense of history and an enlightened recognition of the value of leisure time.

Contributed by Josh Michtom - more after the jump

To that end, we offer you a bit of background on next week's important observance:
Listen my children and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, on the eighteenth of April in seventy-five . . . That pretty much sums up Patriots Day. The British came looking for Sam Adams and John Hancock, so Paul Revere and Billy Dawes ("who?" you ask; he was a cobbler, and he rode a hell of a lot farther than Revere, but somehow didn't make it into Longfellow's famous poem) rode to Lexington to give Adams and Hancock warning, letting folks in the towns along the way know so they could get ready to fight. The next day, the battle of Concord and Lexington (or Lexington and Concord, depending on whom you ask) took place. It was the first battle of the Revolutionary War and the good guys won (pretty much). Every year, some dedicated ( i.e. crazy) people reenact all the important goings on (except the killing), so if you're out in the middle of the night on Monday, don't be surprised to see some guys in funny costumes carrying guns. (Two years ago, Bostonist was riding our bicycle from a party when we crossed paths with a column of British Regulars in Somerville; we contemplated a mad dash to Lexington, but decided we were too drunk and went home to bed).

Lest you think that Patriots Day was established simply for marathon purposes, Bostonist will point out to you that the holiday was established in 1894, while the marathon didn't start until 1897. Anyway, before it was Patriots Day, it was a miserable observance called Fast Day, which required the entire populace to pray and fast in order to appease God and obtain favorable results on matters outside human control. Bostonist much prefers getting sloshed and watching the marathon, and a few drinks are actually quite appropriate to celebrate the holiday: it is said that while making his ride to Lexington, Billy Dawes was stopped and questioned by a British guard at the Boston city gates. Before the hurried patriot could be further detained, however, another guard, who happened to be a frequent drinking companion of Dawes, stepped in to vouch for Dawes's good character, and he was allowed to pass. The rest is history.

Contributed by Josh Michtom