IN CONCLUSION OF AN OLD TALE - THE HAUNTED SHIP; A MUSKOKA HOMESTEAD READER
TO SOME OF MY FAITHFUL BLOG READERS, IT MAY BE SOMEWHAT PERPLEXING, THAT I HAVE USED A STORY WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR, TO ILLUSTRATE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE, OF FOLK TALES AND LOCAL LORE, AS TOLD AND WRITTEN BY EARLY SETTLERS, WHO HOMESTEADED IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. THE ONLY REAL PARALLEL, YOU MIGHT KNOW OF, IS THAT THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE WAS NAMED AFTER A WASHINGTON IRVING BOOK, KNOWN AS "BRACEBRIDGE HALL." THIS BECAME HISTORIC FACT IN 1864, WHEN POSTAL AUTHORITY BY DAY, LITERARY CRITIC BY NIGHT, WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR, CAST OUT THE CITIZENS' CHOICE OF "NORTH FALLS," AS THE NAME OF THE NEW HAMLET POST OFFICE, IN FAVOR OF THE TITLE "BRACEBRIDGE," AFTER A BOOK, AND AUTHOR HE GREATLY ADMIRED. BRACEBRIDGE HAS NEVER FULLY EMBRACED THE CONNECTEDNESS TO ONE OF THE FINEST NAMES IN LITERATURE, IN PART, BECAUSE OF THE REFUSAL OF LESUEUR TO ADOPT THE GRUDGE. I HAVE THIS ON SOME AUTHORITY, THAT SOME CITIZENS ACTUALLY WANTED THE DECISION REVERSED.....AND IT HAS BEEN MAINTAINED AS A REGISTERED NAME TO THIS TIME IN HISTORY.
WHETHER THEY LIKE THE IDEA OR NOT, I PLAN TO WRITE A SPECIAL HALLOWE'EN SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW," AND THE FACT THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE HAS A RIGHT, WITH ITS WASHINGTON IRVING CONNECTION, TO CELEBRATE THE AUTHOR'S MILESTONES. SLEEPY HOLLOW WAS A SUBSTANTIAL WRITING ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND IT'S ONE OF THE STORIES MOST OF KNOW BEST......PARTLY DUE, YES INDEED, BECAUSE OF WALT DISNEY'S CARTOON, AND JOHNNY DEPP'S HOLLYWOOD DEPICTION OF AN INVESTIGATOR INTO THE SLEEPY HOLLOW MURDERS, COURTESY THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN. OF COURSE, MY PRESENTATION WILL DEAL WITH THE GENUINE ARTICLE AS WRITTEN.....NOT AS INTERPRETED BY OTHERS. MANY COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE A LITERARY LINK TO WASHINGTON IRVING, ARE KEEN TO CELEBRATE THE AUTHOR'S WORK. LOCALLY, IT IS TRUE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN "BRACEBRIDGE HALL" CHRISTMAS DINNERS, OVER THE DECADES, AS PROFILED IN IRVING'S "SKETCHES," BUT NOTHING THAT HAS BECOME A TRADITION OR ANNUAL EVENT. WHAT A SHAME. WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN'T ADD A LITTLE SPICE FOR HALLOWE'EN......BY ADDING A HEADLESS HORSEMAN TO THE MIX.
"GRAVENHURST," ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS NAMED AFTER THE BOOK BY BRITISH POET, PHILOSOPHER, WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, WHO WASN'T KNOWN FOR HIS GHOST STORIES......JUST GOOD PHILOSOPHY AND OUTSTANDING COMPOSITIONS ON THE WORLD'S LITERARY STAGE. LESUEUR BORROWED THE NAME "GRAVENHURST" IN THE YEAR 1862. SO EVEN HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, BEFORE THERE WERE MORE THAN SEVERAL HUNDRED RESIDENTS, TRYING TO SURVIVE IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT, THE FIRST TWO HAMLETS HAD LITERARY PROVENANCE ATTACHED, TWO YEARS APART. WHAT A SHAME LESUEUR DIDN'T SPEND SOME TIME, DETAILING THE REASONS HE HAD GIVEN TWO ONTARIO COMMUNITIES THESE SPECIAL CONNECTIONS TO THE LITERARY WORLD. A BRILLIANT WRITER AND HISTORIAN, LESUEUR UNFORTUNATELY, LEFT US HANGING.......WITHOUT TELLING US HOW PROUD WE SHOULD BE, TO HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE LITERARY PROVENANCE WITH TWO WELL KNOWN AUTHORS. IT HAS LED TO CENTURIES OF INDIFFERENCE, WHICH LORD KNOWS, I HAVE TRIED TO CHANGE......WITH NARY A DIFFERENCE TO THE TWO TOWNS IN QUESTION.
WHEN I LOOK AT THE WAY OUR EARLY AUTHORS, WERE INFLUENCED BY WRITERS LIKE DICKENS, IRVING, AND DOZENS MORE, IT IS NECESSARY TO FOOTNOTE THIS PROVENANCE, BECAUSE IT MANIFESTS SUBTLY IN THEIR WORK......IN CLEAR EVIDENCE, WHEN THEIR STORIES ARE ANALYZED. THEY BECAME THE FIRST STORY-TELLERS OF THE DISTRICT, AND ALTHOUGH THEY DIDN'T BORROW THE WORK OF THEIR FAVORITE AUTHORS COMPLETELY, THEY DID TAKE INSPIRATION AS THEY FOUND IT......AND THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF ORAL AND PRINTED RECOLLECTIONS AND ANECDOTES OF HISTORY, THAT HAVE THEIR CHARACTER FLAVOR, IN THE STORIES WRITTEN BY SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN AUTHORS AND POETS OF THE PAST. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS, BUT IT IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN OR DISCOUNTED ENTIRELY, WHEN NON-HISTORIANS AND HOBBY GHOST HUNTERS, SURFACE-HARVEST THE STORIES THEY WANT, BUT WITHOUT AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING, OF WHAT MANY OF THESE FOLK TALES ARE BUILT UPON. AND SOME OF THAT LITERARY TIMBER, HOLDING UP EVERYTHING ELSE, HAD GRAINING FROM THESE GREAT AUTHORS, LIKE CHARLES DICKENS AND WASHINGTON IRVING.......AND I HAVE FOUND HUNDREDS OF THESE WELL READ BOOKS, AT HOMESTEADS ACROSS THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA; OBVIOUSLY USED FOR ENTERTAINMENT, BUT IT'S NOT HARD TO IMAGINE, HOW THE STORY OF "THE STORM SHIP," MIGHT HAVE INFLUENCED A NEW RESPECT FOR AN AUTUMN MIST DRIFTING OVER A MUSKOKA LAKE......POSSIBLY CONCEALING ENCHANTMENTS; HOBGOBLINS IN LEAKY SKOWS.....PHANTOM LOGGERS, MORE OF FICTION THAN FACT.
MUSKOKA WAS A FORBODING, FRIGHTENING PLACE, IN THOSE EARLY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT, AND MANY HOMESTEADERS PERISHED AS A RESULT OF THE HARSH ENVIRONS, AND OF COURSE STARVATION FROM FAILED FARMSTEADS. TO IMAGINE THEY WERE NOT IN SOME WAY INFLUENCED BY THESE LEGENDARY FICTIONS, WOULD BE FOOLISH; AND WITH THEM, OF COURSE, CAME THE FEAR OF THE PARANORMAL BROUGHT FROM THEIR PREVIOUS HOMELAND. AS BEAUTIFUL AS MUSKOKA SEEMS THROUGHOUT THE FOUR SEASONS, IT LOOKED LIKE A SPOOKY PRIMEVAL PLACE FROM THE LATE 1850'S, WHEN THE FIRST FEW HOMESTEADS WERE BEING HACKED OUT OF THE BUSH, IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. BY THE DIM LIGHT OF THE OIL LAMP, DID THAT SOOT COVERED COPY OF MR. IRVING'S SKETCHES, RAISE TENSIONS, OR ENTERTAIN? WHAT WE KNOW THEY DID, WAS SET A TEMPLATE FOR HUNDREDS OF MUSKOKA STORIES YET TO COME....PENNED BY OUR HOME GROWN WRITER - HISTORIANS, WHO NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF TELLING A GOOD STORY. NOW, I'D LIKE TO RESUME OUR VISIT TO THE HAUNTED HUDSON VALLEY, TO FINISH OFF OUR TALE OF "THE STORM SHIP," AS SO BRILLIANTLY PENNED BY MR. IRVING.
THE GHOST HOUSE, AND A DREAM THAT BECAME REALITY
WHETHER THEY LIKE THE IDEA OR NOT, I PLAN TO WRITE A SPECIAL HALLOWE'EN SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW," AND THE FACT THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE HAS A RIGHT, WITH ITS WASHINGTON IRVING CONNECTION, TO CELEBRATE THE AUTHOR'S MILESTONES. SLEEPY HOLLOW WAS A SUBSTANTIAL WRITING ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND IT'S ONE OF THE STORIES MOST OF KNOW BEST......PARTLY DUE, YES INDEED, BECAUSE OF WALT DISNEY'S CARTOON, AND JOHNNY DEPP'S HOLLYWOOD DEPICTION OF AN INVESTIGATOR INTO THE SLEEPY HOLLOW MURDERS, COURTESY THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN. OF COURSE, MY PRESENTATION WILL DEAL WITH THE GENUINE ARTICLE AS WRITTEN.....NOT AS INTERPRETED BY OTHERS. MANY COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE A LITERARY LINK TO WASHINGTON IRVING, ARE KEEN TO CELEBRATE THE AUTHOR'S WORK. LOCALLY, IT IS TRUE THAT THERE HAVE BEEN "BRACEBRIDGE HALL" CHRISTMAS DINNERS, OVER THE DECADES, AS PROFILED IN IRVING'S "SKETCHES," BUT NOTHING THAT HAS BECOME A TRADITION OR ANNUAL EVENT. WHAT A SHAME. WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN'T ADD A LITTLE SPICE FOR HALLOWE'EN......BY ADDING A HEADLESS HORSEMAN TO THE MIX.
"GRAVENHURST," ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS NAMED AFTER THE BOOK BY BRITISH POET, PHILOSOPHER, WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, WHO WASN'T KNOWN FOR HIS GHOST STORIES......JUST GOOD PHILOSOPHY AND OUTSTANDING COMPOSITIONS ON THE WORLD'S LITERARY STAGE. LESUEUR BORROWED THE NAME "GRAVENHURST" IN THE YEAR 1862. SO EVEN HERE IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, BEFORE THERE WERE MORE THAN SEVERAL HUNDRED RESIDENTS, TRYING TO SURVIVE IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT, THE FIRST TWO HAMLETS HAD LITERARY PROVENANCE ATTACHED, TWO YEARS APART. WHAT A SHAME LESUEUR DIDN'T SPEND SOME TIME, DETAILING THE REASONS HE HAD GIVEN TWO ONTARIO COMMUNITIES THESE SPECIAL CONNECTIONS TO THE LITERARY WORLD. A BRILLIANT WRITER AND HISTORIAN, LESUEUR UNFORTUNATELY, LEFT US HANGING.......WITHOUT TELLING US HOW PROUD WE SHOULD BE, TO HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE LITERARY PROVENANCE WITH TWO WELL KNOWN AUTHORS. IT HAS LED TO CENTURIES OF INDIFFERENCE, WHICH LORD KNOWS, I HAVE TRIED TO CHANGE......WITH NARY A DIFFERENCE TO THE TWO TOWNS IN QUESTION.
WHEN I LOOK AT THE WAY OUR EARLY AUTHORS, WERE INFLUENCED BY WRITERS LIKE DICKENS, IRVING, AND DOZENS MORE, IT IS NECESSARY TO FOOTNOTE THIS PROVENANCE, BECAUSE IT MANIFESTS SUBTLY IN THEIR WORK......IN CLEAR EVIDENCE, WHEN THEIR STORIES ARE ANALYZED. THEY BECAME THE FIRST STORY-TELLERS OF THE DISTRICT, AND ALTHOUGH THEY DIDN'T BORROW THE WORK OF THEIR FAVORITE AUTHORS COMPLETELY, THEY DID TAKE INSPIRATION AS THEY FOUND IT......AND THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF ORAL AND PRINTED RECOLLECTIONS AND ANECDOTES OF HISTORY, THAT HAVE THEIR CHARACTER FLAVOR, IN THE STORIES WRITTEN BY SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN AUTHORS AND POETS OF THE PAST. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS, BUT IT IS OFTEN FORGOTTEN OR DISCOUNTED ENTIRELY, WHEN NON-HISTORIANS AND HOBBY GHOST HUNTERS, SURFACE-HARVEST THE STORIES THEY WANT, BUT WITHOUT AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING, OF WHAT MANY OF THESE FOLK TALES ARE BUILT UPON. AND SOME OF THAT LITERARY TIMBER, HOLDING UP EVERYTHING ELSE, HAD GRAINING FROM THESE GREAT AUTHORS, LIKE CHARLES DICKENS AND WASHINGTON IRVING.......AND I HAVE FOUND HUNDREDS OF THESE WELL READ BOOKS, AT HOMESTEADS ACROSS THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA; OBVIOUSLY USED FOR ENTERTAINMENT, BUT IT'S NOT HARD TO IMAGINE, HOW THE STORY OF "THE STORM SHIP," MIGHT HAVE INFLUENCED A NEW RESPECT FOR AN AUTUMN MIST DRIFTING OVER A MUSKOKA LAKE......POSSIBLY CONCEALING ENCHANTMENTS; HOBGOBLINS IN LEAKY SKOWS.....PHANTOM LOGGERS, MORE OF FICTION THAN FACT.
MUSKOKA WAS A FORBODING, FRIGHTENING PLACE, IN THOSE EARLY YEARS OF SETTLEMENT, AND MANY HOMESTEADERS PERISHED AS A RESULT OF THE HARSH ENVIRONS, AND OF COURSE STARVATION FROM FAILED FARMSTEADS. TO IMAGINE THEY WERE NOT IN SOME WAY INFLUENCED BY THESE LEGENDARY FICTIONS, WOULD BE FOOLISH; AND WITH THEM, OF COURSE, CAME THE FEAR OF THE PARANORMAL BROUGHT FROM THEIR PREVIOUS HOMELAND. AS BEAUTIFUL AS MUSKOKA SEEMS THROUGHOUT THE FOUR SEASONS, IT LOOKED LIKE A SPOOKY PRIMEVAL PLACE FROM THE LATE 1850'S, WHEN THE FIRST FEW HOMESTEADS WERE BEING HACKED OUT OF THE BUSH, IN SOUTH MUSKOKA. BY THE DIM LIGHT OF THE OIL LAMP, DID THAT SOOT COVERED COPY OF MR. IRVING'S SKETCHES, RAISE TENSIONS, OR ENTERTAIN? WHAT WE KNOW THEY DID, WAS SET A TEMPLATE FOR HUNDREDS OF MUSKOKA STORIES YET TO COME....PENNED BY OUR HOME GROWN WRITER - HISTORIANS, WHO NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF TELLING A GOOD STORY. NOW, I'D LIKE TO RESUME OUR VISIT TO THE HAUNTED HUDSON VALLEY, TO FINISH OFF OUR TALE OF "THE STORM SHIP," AS SO BRILLIANTLY PENNED BY MR. IRVING.
THE GHOST HOUSE, AND A DREAM THAT BECAME REALITY
"DOLPH SPRANG LIGHTLY ON BOARD OF THE VESSEL. THEY HOISTED SAIL; THE WIND WAS FAIR; THEY SOON LOST SIGHT OF ALBANY, AND IT ITS GREEN HILLS, AND EMBROIDERED ISLANDS," WROTE WASHINGTON IRVING IN HIS SKETCH, "THE STORM SHIP," A HAUNTING TALE OF THE HISTORIC HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, AND THE SHIPS AND SAILORS WHO PASSED THIS WAY.
THEY WERE WAFTED GAILY PAST THE KAATSKILL MOUNTAINS, WHOSE FAIR HEIGHTS WERE BRIGHT AND CLOUDLESS. THEY PASSED PROSPEROUSLY THROUGH THE HIGHLANDS, WITHOUT MOLESTATION FROM THE DUNDERBERG GOBLIN, AND HIS CREW; THEY SWEPT ON ACROSS HAVERSTRAW BAY, AND BY CROTON POINT, AND THROUGH THE TAPPAAN ZEE, AND UNDER THE PALLISADOES, UNTIL, IN THE AFTERNOON OF THE THIRD DAY, THEY SAW THE PROMONTORY OF HOBOKEN, HANGING LIKE A CLOUD IN THE AIR; AND SHORTLY AFTER, TXHE ROOFS OF THE MANHATTOES RISING OUT OF THE WATER.
"DOLPH'S FIRST CARE WAS TO REPAIR TO HIS MOTHER'S HOME; FOR HE WAS CONTINUALLY GOADED BY THE IDEA OF THE UNEASINESS SHE MUST EXPERIENCE ON THIS ACCOUNT. HE WAS PUZZLING HIS BRAINS, AS HE WENT ALONG, TO THINK HOW HE SHOULD ACCOUNT FOR HIS ABSENCE, WITHOUT BETRAYING THE SECRETS OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE. IN THE MIDST OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS, HE ENTERED THE STREET IN WHICH HIS MOTHER'S HOUSE WAS SITUATED, WHEN HE WAS THUNDERSTRUCK AT BEHOLDING IT A HEAP OF RUINS. THERE HAD EVIDENTLY BEEN A GREAT FIRE, WHICH HAD DESTROYED SEVERAL LARGE HOUSES, AND THE HUMBLE DWELLING OF POOR DAME HEYLIGER HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CONFLAGRATION. THE WALLS WERE NOT COMPLETELY DESTROYED, BUT THAT DOLPH COULD DISTINGUISH SOME TRACES OF THE SCENE OF HIS CHILDHOOD. THE FIRE-PLACE, ABOUT WHICH HE HAD OFTEN PLAYED, STILL REMAINED, ORNAMENTED WITH DUTCH TILES, ILLUSTRATING PASSAGES IN BIBLE HISTORY, ON WHICH HE HAD MANY A TIME GAZE WITH ADMIRATION. AMONG THE RUBBISH LAY THE WRECK OF THE GOOD DAME'S ELBOW-CHAIR, FROM WHICH SHE HAD GIVEN HIM SO MANY A WHOLESOME PRECEPT; AND HARD BY IT WAS THE FAMILY BIBLE, WITH BRASS CLASPS; NOW ALAS, REDUCED ALMOST TO A CINDER."
IRVING WRITES OF HER SURVIVAL, "THE GOOD WOMAN HAD, INDEED, LOST EVERYTHING BY THIS UNLOOKED-FOR CALAMITY; FOR THE POPULACE HAD BEEN SO INTENT UPON SAVING THE FINE FURNITURE OF HER RICH NEIGHBORS, THAT THE LITTLE TENEMENT AND THE LITTLE ALL OF POOR DAME HEYLIGER HAD BEEN SUFFERED TO CONSUME WITHOUT INTERRUPTION; NAY, HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE GALLANT ASSISTANCE OF HER OLD CRONY, PETER DE GROODT, THE WORTHY DAME AND HER CAT MIGHT HAVE SHARED THE FATE OF THEIR HABITATION."
SOME SHORT TIME LATER, IRVING NOTES, "AT THE HOUR OF BED-TIME, THEREFORE, WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED THE RECREANT DISCIPLE WOULD SEEK HIS OLD QUARTERS, EVERY THING WAS PREPARED FOR HIS RECEPTION. DOLPH, HAVING TALKED HIS MOTHER INTO A STATE OF TRANQUILITY, SOUGHT THE MANSION OF HIS QUONDAM MASTER, AND RAISED THE KNOCKER WITH A FALTERING HAND. SCARCELY, HOWEVER, HAD IT GIVEN A DUBIOUS RAP, WHEN THE DOCTOR'S HEAD, IN A RED NIGHT CAP, POPPED OUT OF ONE WINDOW, AND A HOUSEKEEPER'S, IN A WHITE NIGHT CAP, OUT OF ANOTHER. HE WAS NOW GREETED WITH A TREMENDOUS VOLLEY OF HARD NAMES AND HARD LANGUAGE, MINGLED WITH INVALUABLE PIECES OF ADVICE, SUCH AS ARE SELDOM VENTURED TO BE GIVEN EXCEPT TO A FRIEND IN DISTRESS, OR A CULPRIT AT THE BAR. IN A FEW MOMENTS, NOT A WINDOW IN THE STREET BUT HAD ITS PARTICULAR NIGHT CAP, LISTENING TO THE SHRILL TREBLE OF FRAU ILSY, AND THE GUTTURAL CROAKING OF DR. KNIPPERHAUSEN; AND THE WORD WENT FROM WINDOW TO WINDOW, 'AH, HERE'S DOLPH HEYLIGER COME BACK, AND AT HIS OLD PRANKS AGAIN.' IN SHORT, POOR DOLPH FOUND HE WAS LIKELY TO GET NOTHING FROM THE DOCTOR BUT GOOD ADVICE; A COMMODITY SO ABUNDANT AS EVEN TO BE THROWN OUT OF THE WINDOW; SO HE WAS FAIN TO BEAT A RETREAT, AND TAKE UP HIS QUARTERS FOR THE NIGHT UNDER THE LOWLY ROOF OF HONEST PETER DE GROODT."
"THE NEXT MORNING, BRIGHT AND EARLY, DOLPH WAS OUT AT THE HAUNTED HOUSE. EVERY THING LOOKED JUST AS IT HAD APPEARED WHEN HE LEFT IT. THE FIELDS WERE GRASS-GROWN AND MATTED, AND IT APPEARED AS IF NOBODY HAD TRAVERSED THEM SINCE HIS DEPARTURE. WITH PALPITATING HEART, HE HASTENED TO THE WELL. HE LOOKED DOWN INTO IT, AND SAW THAT IT WAS OF GREAT DEPTH, WITH THE WATER AT THE BOTTOM. HE HAD PROVIDED HIMSELF WITH A STRONG LINE, SUCH AS THE FISHERMEN ON THE BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. AT THE END WAS A HEAVY PLUMMET AND A LARGE FISH-HOOK. WITH THIS HE BEGAN TO SOUND THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL, AND TO ANGLE ABOUT IN THE WATER. HE FOUND THAT THE WATER WAS OF SOME DEPTH; THERE APPEARED ALSO TO BE MUCH RUBBISH, STONES FROM THE TOP HAVING FALLEN IN. SEVERAL TIME HIS HOOK GOT ENTANGLED, AND HE HAULED UP MERE TRASH, SUCH AS THE SKULL OF A HORSE, AN IRON HOOP, AND A SHATTERED IRON-BOUND BUCKET. HE HAD NOW BEEN SEVERAL HOURS EMPLOYED WITHOUT FINDING ANYTHING TO REPAY HIS TROUBLE, OR TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO PROCEED. HE BEGAN TO THINK HIMSELF A GREAT FOOL, TO BE THUS DECOYED INTO A WILD-GOOSE CHASE BY MERE DREAMS, AND WAS ON THE POINT OF THROWING LINE AND ALL INTO THE WELL, AND GIVING UP ALL FURTHER ANGLING."
"ONE MORE CAST OF THE LINE,' SAID HE, 'AND THAT SHALL BE THE LAST.' AS HE SOUNDED, HE FELT THE PLUMMET SLIP, AS IT WERE, THROUGH THE INTERSTICES OF LOOSE STONES; AND AS HE DREW BACK THE LINE, HE FELT THAT THE HOOK AHD TAKEN HOLD OF SOMETHING HEAVY. HE HAD TO MANAGE HIS LINE WITH GREAT CAUTION, LEST IT SHOULD BE BROKEN BY THE STRAIN UPON IT. BY DEGREES THE RUBBISH THAT LAY UPON THE ARTICLE WHICH HE HAD HOOKED GAVE WAY; HE DREW IT TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, AND WHAT WAS HIS RAPTURE AT SEEING SOMETHING LIKE SILVER GLITTERING AT THE END OF HIS LINE. ALMOST BREATHLESS WITH ANXIETY, HE DREW IT UP TO THE MOUTH OF THE WELL, SURPRISED AT ITS GREAT WEIGHT, AND FEARING EVERY INSTANT THAT HIS HOOK WOULD SLIP FROM ITS HOLD, AND HIS PRIZE TUMBLE AGAIN TO THE BOTTOM. AT LENGTHY HE LANDED IT SAFE BESIDE THE WELL. IT WAS A GREAT SILVER PORRINGER, OF AN ANCIENT FORM, RICHLY EMBOSSED, AND WITH ARMORIAL BEARINGS, SIMILAR TO THOSE OVER HIS MOTHER'S MANTEL-PIECE, ENGRAVED ON ITS SIDE. THE LID WAS FASTENED DOWN BY SEVERAL TWISTS OF WIRE; DOLPH LOOSENED THEM WITH A TREMBLING HAND, AND, ON LIFTING THE LID, BEHOLD….THE VESSEL WAS FILLED WITH BROAD GOLD PIECES, OF A COINAGE WHICH HE HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE. IT WAS EVIDENT HE HAD LIT ON THE PLACE WHERE OLD KILLIAN VANDER SPIEGEL HAD CONCEALED HIS TREASURE."
"FEARFUL OF BEING SEEN BY SOME STRAGGLER, HE CAUTIOUSLY RETIRED, AND BURIED HIS POT OF MONEY IN A SECRET PLACE. HE NOW SPREAD TERRIBLE STORIES ABOUT THE HAUNTED HOUSE, AND DETERRED EVERY ONE FROM APPROACHING IT, WHILE HE MADE FREQUENT VISITS TO IT IN STORMY DAYS, WHEN NO ONE WAS STIRRING IN THE NEIGHBORING FIELDS; THOUGH, TO TELL THE TRUTH, HE DID NOT CARE TO VENTURE THERE IN THE DARK. FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE HE WAS DILIGENT AND INDUSTRIOUS, AND FOLLOWED UP HIS NEW TRADE OF ANGLING WITH SUCH PERSEVERANCE AND SUCCESS, THAT IN A LITTLE WHILE HE HAD HOOKED UP ENOUGH WEALTH TO MAKE HIM, IN THOSE MODERATE DAYS, A RICH BURGHER FOR LIFE."
IRVING REFLECTS OF HIS CHARACTER, IN SUMMATION: "THUS DID DOLPH HEYLIGER GO ON, CHEERILY AND PROSPEROUSLY, GROWING MERRIER HAS HE GREW OLDER, AND WISER, AND COMPLETELY FALSIFYING THE OLD PROVERB ABOUT MONEY GOT OVER THE DEVIL'S BACK; FOR HE MADE GOOD USE OF HIS WEALTH, AND BECAME A DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN, AND A VALUABLE MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY. HE WAS A GREAT PROMOTER OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, SUCH AS BEEF-STEAK SOCIETIES AND CATCH CLUBS. HE PRESIDED AT ALL PUBLIC DINNERS, AND WAS THE FIRST THAT INTRODUCED TURTLE FROM THE WEST INDIES. HE IMPROVED THE BREED OF RACE-HORSES AND GAME COCKS, AND WAS SO GREAT A PATRON OF MODEST MERIT, THAT ANY ONE, WHO COULD SING A GOOD SONG, OR TELL A GOOD STORY, WAS SURE TO FIND A PLACE AT HIS TABLE. HE WAS A MEMBER, TOO, OF THE CORPORATION, MADE SEVERAL LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF GAME AND OYSTERS, AND BEQUEATHED TO THE BOARD A LARGE SILVER PUNCH BOWL, MADE OUT OF THE IDENTICAL PORRINGER BEFORE-MENTIONED, AND WHICH IS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE CORPORATION TO THIS VERY DAY.
"FINALLY, HE DIED, IN A FLORID OLD AGE, OF AN APOPLEXY AT A CORPORATION FEAST, AND WAS BURIED WITH GREAT HONORS IN THE YARD OF THE LITTLE DUTCH CHURCH IN GARDEN-STREET, WHERE HIS TOMBSTONE MAY STILL BE SEEN, WITH A MODEST EPITAPH IN DUTCH, BY HIS FRIEND MYNHEER JUSTUS BENSON, AN ANCIENT AND EXCELLENT POET OF THE PROVINCE. THE FOREGOING TALE RESTS ON BETTER AUTHORITY THAN MOST TALES OF THE KIND, AS I HAVE IT AT SECOND HAND, FROM THE LIPES OF DOLPH HEYLIGER HIMSELF. HE NEVER RELATED IT TILL TOWARDS THE LATTER PART OF HIS LIFE, AND THEN, IN GREAT CONFIDENCE, (FOR HE WAS VERY DISCREET), TO A FEW OF HIS PARTICULAR CRONIES AT HIS OWN TABLE, OVER A SUPERNUMERARY BOWL OF PUNCH; AND, STRANGE AS THE HOBGOBLIN PARTS OF THE STORY MAY SEEM, THERE NEVER WAS A SINGLE DOUBT EXPRESSED ON THE SUBJECT BY ANY OF HIS GUESTS. IT MAY NOT BE AMISS, BEFORE CONCLUDING, TO OBSERVE THAT, IN ADDITION TO HIS OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, DOLPH HEYLIGER WAS NOTED FOR BEING THE ABLEST DRAWER OF THE LONG-BOW IN THE WHOLE PROVINCE."
THANK YOU FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. I WILL CONTINUE TO DELVE INTO THE LORE AND LEGEND OF MUSKOKA, AND PRESENT THE WORK OF SOME OF OUR GIFTED STORY TELLERS OF THE PAST, IN THE COMING WEEKS......THAT WILL IN SOME WAY, REMIND YOU OF THE WORK AND MORALS OF WASHINGTON IRVING AND OTHERS.....IN THE STORIES ABOUT THE STRUGGLE ON THE FRONTIER.....AND HOW BRAVE THEY WERE TO CARRY ON.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING TODAY'S BLOG. I WILL CONTINUE TO DELVE INTO THE LORE AND LEGEND OF MUSKOKA, AND PRESENT THE WORK OF SOME OF OUR GIFTED STORY TELLERS OF THE PAST, IN THE COMING WEEKS......THAT WILL IN SOME WAY, REMIND YOU OF THE WORK AND MORALS OF WASHINGTON IRVING AND OTHERS.....IN THE STORIES ABOUT THE STRUGGLE ON THE FRONTIER.....AND HOW BRAVE THEY WERE TO CARRY ON.
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