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A Book of New England Legends and Folk Lore in Prose and Poetry

Samuel Adams Drake, A Book of New England Legends and Folk Lore in Prose and Poetry (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1884). Accessioned in full; the text below is the holding institution's own transcription, quoted without alteration.

Document

Type

book

Author

Samuel Adams Drake

Published, as stated

1884

Language

en

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text/plain; charset=utf-8

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872580 bytes

Preservation

referenced — the archive holds the metadata; the body remains at the source

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434e373493e6a735d19bb0f828b6db2d73ef4cbae6f9262e64b65e324e273f4f

Text

Extracted text, as held. Quoted without alteration.

Ill I Qass. Book- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT A BOOK New England Legends OLK Lore In f rojse ant) foctrn BY SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE AUTHOR OF " NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE NEW ENGLAND COAST,' "old LANDMARKS OF BOSTON," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY F. T. MERRILL /^^^^^^'^^'^^f'^^it^^ BOSTON ROBERTS BROTHERS "5" J/' Copyright, 1883, By Samuel Adams Drake. Cambrittgf : PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, UNIVERSITY PRESS. INTKODUCTION. THE recovery of many scattered legendary waifs that not only have a really important bearing upon the early history of our country, but that also shed much light upon the spirit of its ancient laws and upon the domestic lives of its people, has seemed to me a laudable undertaking. This purpose has now taken form in the following collection of New-England Legends. As in a majority of instances these tales go far beyond the time when the interior was settled, they naturally cluster about the seaboard ; and it would scarcely be overstepping the limit separating exaggeration from truth to say that every league of the New-England coast has its story or its legend. Disowned in an age of scepticism, there was once — and the time is not so far remote — no part of the body politic over which what we now vaguely term the legendary did not exer- cise the strongest influence ; so that, far from being merely a record of amusing fables, these tales, which are largely founded on fact, disclose the secret springs by which society was moved and history made. One looks beneath every mechanical con- trivance for the true origin of power. That is to assume that the beliefs of a people are the key to its social and political movements, and that history, taken in its broadest sense, cannot be truly written without having regard to such beliefs. Had the conviction that witches existed not been universal, public sentiment would never have countenanced the executions that took place in New England. vi INTRODUCTION. It may be said, then, that while History has its truth, the Legend has its own ; both taking for their end the portrayal of Man as he has existed in every age, — a creature in whom the imagination is supreme, and who performs deeds terrible or heroic according as it may be aroused into action. No apology need be made for the prevalence of superstition among our ancestors. Our century is not the judge of its prede- cessors. It was a superstitious age. King Charles I. inherited all the popular beliefs. He kept, as an attache of his court, an astrologer, whom he was accustomed to consult before enter- ing upon any important or hazardous undertaking. Laud, the highest prelate in England, the implacable persecutor of our Puritan ancestors, was a man haunted by the fear of omens. Indeed the most exalted personages in Church and State yielded full credence to all those marvels, the bare mention of which now calls up a smile of incredulity or of pity. New England was the child of a superstitious mother. Since the assertion is so often made that this is a practical age, owing no allegiance whatever to the degrading thraldom of ancient superstition, but coldly rejecting everything that cannot be fully accounted for upon rational grounds, I have thought it worth while to cite a few of those popular beliefs which neither the sceptical tendencies of the age we live in, nor its wonder-working achievements, have been able to eradica

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urn:lemay:boston:document:drake-new-england-legends-1884

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1 · last changed 2 September 2026