ARGYLE'S club mascot is Pilgrim Pete.
Dan McCauley, Argyle chairman in the 1990s, bought Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound for £384,000 from the Crown estate after it was surrendered by the Mayflower Adventure Centre Trust.
Dan and some friends took the boat to Drake's Island to view his new estate from close quarters. The island has a derelict military barracks and buildings from the Napoleonic era, and houses a MOD radio mast.
Pilgrim Pete was found in one of the buildings.
Pete was one of the Pilgrim Fathers that was on his way to the New World in 1620 on the Mayflower. He went to the quay to board his ship and found that it had just sailed. He jumped in the water, hoping to swim to the ship but his attempt was in vain and he washed up ashore at the first piece of land - Drake's Island, he has lived there ever since.
Pete was very grateful to Dan McCauley and pledged himself to always serve Argyle. Dan encouraged Pilgrim Pete's enthusiam. He scrubbed up well; they trimmed up his moustach; gave him a smart new Pilgrim stovepipe hat; and, of course, kitted him out in the famous Argyle strip.
They could not give him a place on the Argyle board, or on the Argyle bench, so they gave him a place on the park - Home Park, where he has been a favourite ever since.
Activities
Pilgrim Pete entered the Mascot Derby at Huntingdon racecourse last season. He wasn't too worried about winning - it's the taking part that counts - but, being a true Argyle fan, he dearly wanted to beat Argyle's bitter rival mascot Grecian the lion.
Grecian was up to all the usual tricks, saying he was going to run the race of his life, but we expected Pilgrim Pete to win by a whisker.
He did better than that, leaving Grecian the Lion standing as he out-sprinted the Exeter City mascot in the closing stages of the one-furlong race.
Pilgrim Pete also joined in the latest fundraising drive by St Luke's Hospice. The city-based charity organised a Midnight Walk, which kicked off outside the Home Park stadium.
He recently took part in an Armed Forces Day; the Home Park crowd were treated to seeing him abseil down from the roof of the stadium.
The loveable character gets up to all sorts; a few seasons ago he was hurtling down the Argyle touchline at 80 mph on a motor bike. That was a sight for sore eyes.
