Myths & Legends of Our Own Land

Front Cover
Cosimo, Inc., Jan 1, 2005 - Fiction - 328 pages
It is unthinkingly said and often, that America is not old enough to have developed a legendary era... Yet the record of our country's progress is of deep import, and as time goes on the figures seen against the morning twilight of our history will rise to more commanding stature, and the mists of legend will invest them with a softness or glory that shall make reverence for them spontaneous and deep.-Charles M. Skinner, in the PrefaceHere in two concise volumes are the complete writings of folklorist Charles Skinner, originally published in nine books in 1896, and considered a primary source by generations of researchers and readers of American cultural history and literature.Volume 1 includes the supernatural and spooky stories of the Hudson Valley-including the "best known of American legends," that of Rip Van Winkle-and Manhattan Island, the Delaware region and New England. With such evocative titles as "Father Moody's Black Veil," "The Lost Grave of Paine," "The Devil's Stepping Stones," and "The Dead Ship of Harpswell," these thrilling tales are as eerie as they are enlightening.AUTHOR BIO: In addition to his extensive collections of folklore, CHARLES MONTGOMERY SKINNER (1852-1907) also authored Little Gardens: How to Beautify City Yards and Small Country Spaces (1904).
 

Contents

Rip Van Winkle
17
The Revenge of Shandaken
24
The Devils DanceChamber
31
Dunderberg
37
The Vanderdecken of Tappan
46
The Ramapo Salamander
53
Niagara
61
The Drop Star
69
The Snoring of Swunksus
188
Mogg Megone
194
The Partridge Witch
201
Tales of Puritan LandContinued PAGE
205
Passaconaways Ride to Heaven
212
The Vision on Mount Adams
220
Salem and other Witchcraft
226
The Gloucester Leaguers
238

The Monster Mosquito
74
The Haunted Mill
80
An Event in Indian Park
86
The Falls at Cohoes
93
The Lost Grave of Paine
103
The Isle of Manbattoes and Mearby
109
Mark of the Spirit Hand
138
On and Mear the Delaware
143
The Missing Soldier of Valley Forge
149
A Blow in the Dark
153
Saved by the Bible
160
Father and
166
The Two Rings
173
Marion
180
Peter Rugg the Missing Man
244
Edward Randolphs Portrait
251
Old Esther Dudley
259
Berkshire Tories
265
The MayPole of Merrymount
273
The Gray Champion
279
Knocking at the Tomb
287
Balanced Rock
293
Eliza Wharton
299
Aunt Rachels Curse
306
The Shrieking Woman
313
Heartbreak Hill
317
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Page 6 - It is unthinkingly said and often, that America is not old enough to have developed a legendary era, for such an era grows backward as a nation grows forward. No little of the charm of European travel is ascribed to the glamour that history and fable have flung around old churches, castles, and the favored haunts of tourists, and the Rhine and Hudson are frequently compared, to the prejudice of the latter, not because its scenery lacks in loveliness or grandeur, but that its beauty has not been humanized...

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