New Jerusalem Farm

If Alexander McNutt's ghost were ever to wander along the lower road, he would surely stop to admire our new sign. It honours the old schemer and con-artist -- or perhaps visionary and dreamer -- nobody really knows for sure. He did intend, or so he told the Lords of Trade in London in 1761, to make a utopian community at Port Roseway for Ulster Irish. He named his imaginary community New Jerusalem. Maybe he meant it and maybe he didn't. Maybe a settlement of sorts happened here before the Loyalist tsunami, and maybe it didn't. Anyway, he lived at his brother Benjamin's place up the road from here for many years before he skedaddled to Virginia. So we remember him.

Greg made this sign as my Christmas present, but he only put it up last week. We didn't think we needed a sign during the winter, when there are no visitors along the lower road. 

 

According to our sign, New Jerusalem is the place where deer and lamb lie down together, where the trees are filled with apples and the seal pokes his head out of the waves and the little red boat always runs quite nicely. It's maybe another sort of utopian dream, but one Alexander might recognize.