Myths & Legends of Our Own LandIt 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
17 | |
24 | |
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...