Marion County in the Making (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1917. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Chapter XI Songs and Legends The history of nations, in the sense in which I use the word, is often best studied in works not professedly historical.--Macaulay. 1 know a very wise man who believed that if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation.--Andrea Fletcher, of Saltoun. The great eventful Present hides the Past, but through the din Of its loud life hints and echoes from the life behind steal in. And the lore of home and fireside and the legendary rhyme Make the task of duty lighter which the true man owes his time. --IVhitticr. Of all the pleasant times in the old home, the evening hours around the wide chimneyplace, with the firelight dancing on the walls, throwing shadows into the dark corners of the cabin and casting a mysterious gloom over the homely furniture, must have seemed the best. There were no daily papers and popular magazines to occupy the time and minds of the household, but grandfather's great-grandfather was a famous story-teller, and his store of Indian legends and witch tales, enriched by contributions of negro folklore, was a source of endless delight. Besides, grandmother's greatgrandmother knew the ballads that had been handed down in her family since her adventurous forefathers crossed the ocean to build up a new order of things in a strange world, and these she sang to the children gathered around the hearth. The very little ones were put to sleep first, so the happy household sat quietly in the firelight while the mother rocked the cradle and softly crooned the ballad of Lord Lovel and Lady Nancy--strange personages to haunt the pioneer's rude abode--but the little frontier children heard how "Lord Lovel stood by his castle gate a-combing his milkwhite steed" before he left...