Follins Pond is a

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

, separating the towns of

Dennis, Massachusetts Dennis is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, located near the center of Cape Cod. The population was 14,674 at the 2020 census. The town encompasses five distinct villages, each of which has its own post office. These cons ...

, and

Yarmouth, Massachusetts Yarmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 23,793 at the 2010 census. The town is made up of three major villages: South Yarmouth, West Yarmou ...

. The lake is connected to

Nantucket Sound Nantucket Sound_(geography), Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on ...

via the Bass River.

Purported connection to Vinland

Follins Pond is noteworthy primarily because there has been an attempt to connect it to the semi-legendary lost Norse

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

. In the 1950s, Frederick J. Pohl investigated Follins Pond and claimed that he had located shore rocks along the pond into which were drilled holes that strongly resembled Norse mooring stones. The Norse were known to drill holes into which iron pins were inserted for the purpose of mooring their '' knarrer''. Additionally, Pohl claimed that he had uncovered the tops of posts about a foot underground, arranged in a pattern that might have been that of either a Norse

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

. Further, at about the same time a claimed "Viking horse bone" may have been unearthed at Follins Pond. Pohl was of the opinion that at least a few horses were brought from

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

by the Norse on their further voyages of exploration. Pohl published a book entitled ''The lost discovery: Uncovering the track of the Vikings in America'' (New York: Norton. 1952) which detailed this claim. The theory about a Viking connection with Follins Pond is not taken seriously by professional historians, as the evidence presented is rather scant and no archaeological finds of any significance have been made in the area since. Some of the road names around Follins Pond have however been named to reflect this theory. A ''Norsemans Beach Road'' can be found on the eastern shore of the lake, a ''Norse Road'' on the north shore of the lake, and a ''Valhalla Drive'' and ''Erik's Path'' close to the south shore. Additionally, along the shore of a smaller body of water known as Kelleys Bay joined to Follins Pond by the Bass River can be found ''

Drive'', ''

Skerry A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They a ...

Road'', ''Saga Road'', ''

Fiord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

Drive'', '' Freydis Drive'', and ''

Lief Ericson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norsemen, Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have s ...

Drive (sic)''. Further south, along the shores of the Bass River, can be found ''Lief's Lane'', ''Legend Drive'', ''Old Saga Drive'', ''Rune Stone Road'', ''Viking Rock Road'', ''Keel Cape Drive'', ''Erickson Way'', and ''Mooring Lane''. In addition, articles about the purported past of Follins Pond occasionally turn up in the
Cape Cod Times
' and other local newspapers.

References

Other sources

* Pohl, Frederick J. (1957) ''The Vikings on Cape Cod: Evidence from an Archaeological Discovery'' (Pictou, Nova Scotia: Pictou Advocate Press)

External links

{{authority control Lakes of Massachusetts Lakes of Barnstable County, Massachusetts Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Norse colonization of North America

Purported connection to Vinland

See also

References

Other sources

Further reading

External links