AT the turn of the last century of the old millennium, F Howard Grose and W Pethybridge, both former pupils of Dunheved College in Launceston, Cornwall, shared rooms in the newly-built Argyll Terrace (sometimes known as Argyle Terrace) while working in Plymouth.

Now shown on maps with Sutherland Terrace, the street in Mutley dates back to the 1880s, when the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were stationed in Plymouth.

The two men wanted to pursue their interest in football and it was suggested that it might be possible to form a new club by inviting old boys from local public schools to form a team. In those days, public schools and the services were the spawning-grounds of footballers

A meeting took place in the Borough Arms Coffee Tavern, Bedford Street, in the centre of Plymouth.

During a discussion on the name for the new club, Grose suggested that the aim of the club should be to emulate the style of play used by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, whose team-work in winning the Army Cup had greatly impressed him.

So the name Plymouth Argyle was born - and Argyle's first strip of green and black quarters is reminiscent of the S&A's tartan of large green and navy check overlaid with a few thin lines of white

The name Argyll itself derives from the Gaelic Earraghaidheal meaning "the boundary of the Gaels".

But why are Argyle nicknamed The Pilgrims?

The Pilgrims were English separatists who, in the first years of the 17th century, broke away from the Church of England because they felt that it had not completed the work of the Reformation and committed themselves to a life based on the Bible.

One of the separatist congregations was led by William Brewster and the Rev. Richard Clifton in the village of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire. The Scrooby group emigrated to Amsterdam in 1608 to escape harassment and religious persecution, and then moved to Leiden, where, enjoying full religious freedom, they remained for almost 12 years.

In 1617, discouraged by economic difficulties, the pervasive Dutch influence on their children, and their inability to secure civil autonomy, the congregation voted to emigrate to America.

A small ship, the Speedwell, carried them to Southampton, England, where they were to join another group of Separatists and pick up a second ship. After some delays and disputes, the voyagers regrouped at Plymouth aboard the 180-ton Mayflower. It began its historic voyage on Sept. 16, 1620, with about 102 passengers, and, after a 65-day journey, the Pilgrims sighted Cape Cod on November 19.

Because they had no legal right to settle in the region, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, creating their own government. The settlers soon discovered PlymouthHarbor, on the western side of Cape CodBay and made their historic landing on December 21; the main body of settlers followed on December 26.

The term 'Pilgrim' was first used by William Bradford to describe the Leiden Separatists who were leaving Holland. The Mayflower's passengers were first described as the Pilgrim Fathers in 1799.