Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1857-05-07
NEW SERIES, NO. ~.
Legends and Tradition

man OF remote antiquity who g lived in shoe
IL was pleasant little episode from the monoto-
ny OF hie's cares, thus suddenly to stumble or
d parsonage who had occupied so prom inent
point IT the romance of the nursery In the toy,
she is surrounded by her infantile progeny. and
is seated just outside the aperture of her
u"e'llns' for the purpose, as it we're of taking
the evening air.
lhere was an old woman, she lived in a shoe.
- au 80 many children, she didn't know what To do
one gave them some broth without any bread.
anu whipped them all nicely and sent them to bed,
!" o''''uhooa, my imagination pictured the num-
'ef'aees' and names Of these highly favored
Picaninnes.. concluded that there mns, havo
'sei siine Of them and that they were band
foaeking little mad-caps giving their old dame
more trouble than their skins were worth
Sometimes fancied that | was one. of them and
mad my little trunde bed almost in the extreme
ena OF the eathery domicie, Just at. the toe.
what delightful snnggery it seemed 70 mo
In which to repose and hear the patterng of the
rain upon the roof Then, to my little brothers
anu sisters who were ranged around me in their
miniature beds, l would relate the most mar.
velous stories of genii, fairies and giants bot
In soto Uoce, lest old NANNY. who was sa,,sa
farther up the shoe, guarding the entrance.
might overhear, and administer TO oacb ona of
US dose of the oil of strap 1t did NOT
In the least detract from the nleasing n;c.
'"'e mat the young ones were fed with broth
without any bread - for, in the experience of
childhood, broth is good and savory without
bread,and bread is highly relished without broth
Neither was there anything appalling in theil
having been'' nicely whipped andsant to bed."
Conceive of anything more comical, if Won can.
than sight of that old dame chasing her ch idren
after supper, up and down the interior of the shoe,
that she may favor them with the evening chas
tlsement. Now she has one or two of them in
her clutches, and now they evade her grasp. and
are tempting to climb to the top of the heel
intercepted here, they take refuge in the very
punt OF the toe, where the roof and floor ap-
proxmale 80 closely that the old woman is de-
barred sufficiently near approach, and is
oblged to dig out her mschevous little itaps
with the end of her pipe. stem.
Trlhing as this subject may appear, it is new
ertheless, high suggestive one. Throwing
memory back to its earliest dawn, what host
of thrilling associations are connected W ith our
experience in whstmsy be oaled the word Of
4 baby romance Our childish wonder at the ex-
pIoils of Jack the Giaui-Killer." our adm ira
lion of the enchanted castle, and our sympath y
with the fair lady nhabitant, who was entranced
q by ademon, and was only waIing the return OF
her knight from the wars, that he might extri-
cate her, are subjects that we are not ashamed
to think of now. They were the first occupants
. tn the domain of fancy, and their influence upon
US has never been wholly dispelled, through al
the vicisstudes of ater-Iife.
Cotemporaneous with these myths of%baby
hood, was that of the Jolly good-natured ole
Santa Claus. What god of the whole heath
en- Pantheon was ever so loved and honored n,
ne AS tens OF thousands of dear innocent chill
dren laid their heads on their pillows on Chst-
: mas eve the glowing anticipation or v;s;,
from Santa Claus would sweeten theiI slumber.
and tinge their dreams Already they imap.
, ned he had started on his gaIlopng chase over
the roofs and down the chImneys. and in manv
little dormitory came the artless question
: from lisPing lips, Mamma do you think thai
Santa Claus will forget to come down our chin
!. ney tonight, and fill our stockingsl" A wear
or two since, just on the advent of Christmas
4 was chatting with some children about the an
=, preaching holidays, and, among other ques-
lions. asked them " if they expected a visit
from Santa Clausl" At this, the modern uti
itarians curled their lips with an air of scorn
and said shat" there was no such person al
:, Santa Claus" On a subsequent conversation
which had with their mamma, [ found tha
pleasant little images which were intended t.
adorn the chambers of childish fancy had bee
10 summarlly broken to pieces and swept out a
m rubbish. Useful books, useful talk, usefu
10 work. and even useful play, had supplante
a. them.
to In my reflections on this subject, could ne
ed but think that these little legands of the nu
at sery and the hearthstone form healthful ar
D. appropriate entertainment. Their tendency,
a the whole, is humanizing and well calculat,
fl. to subdue aid smooth those little asperities al
angles so incidental to the family compact. III
good lady to whom have alluded attempted
yer show that the recital of fabulous stories amor
leu children was apt to lead to disregard of tru
ar- in the real matters of life Bat commend n
re- to the beloved mother of my early home for
'ey disproof of so erroneous a charge. Who
ho abundant in fairy stories as she, when we we
"e- assembled around the winter evening firesid
and yet ir no family of the land was untrulh,
m. even prevaricaton, more certainly and spec
of iy visited with punishment, than in ours.
his Another interesting feature of the gener
ith subject is, that, while the reasoning facutirs
he, our maturer years reject everything that is Fl
ing uloss, we have yet a light and beautiful apa
Jug neni in the very interior of the soul, the wa
aes of which are adorned with all the pleasing p
lures of poetry. When we attire to this apa
ment, to leave the cold world of doub, and d
'"e trust; faith regns, and the human groupin
'hg in the pictures are all instinct with life.
r. Some of these pictures are rude, and tn
- characters quaint and distorted but an air
~, reality invests them all In the collection il
), certain little picture, of rough execution, a
set in a frame of old English oak. Ii was
inn of the first ornaments which graced our fanci
irst apartment and hence for sake of the olden til
1--we are never tired with looking at ii 1t