Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-10-17
For the Nashville Daily Patriot.
The He'd Plume.
by L. VIRGINIA FRENCH.

No particular locality is, or ought to be,
assigned to the Following LEGEND. 1t is of
very general application, and one of many
which accounts for the origin of two of Amer
ica's great productions.
'Onee on a time, $50 runs the olden story ~
There lived a great magician, known to fame
By deeds OF magic, and Of warike glory
MAS WEN IsI his mighty name,
And that his body hadn't persisted under
Such weight Of name was always deemed a wonder.
He lived alone-we cannot tell the wherefore;
A want Of taste 1t argues, it is true,
But must not be CRITICAL and therefore
We murmur meekiy sschueun a son gout,"
Men have lived So perhaps because they wouldn't
Help it, and many more because they cotsidn C.
We dom insinuate present hero
Was one among the latter hopeless clan
Though wise Solomon, and great as Nero -
In all accomplishments, he was a man
Mateless Adam before sweet Eve
Was taken from his side, -without "byr leave"
He spent the "season" as they say is common
With youthful bachelors who've nought to do;
But unlike them lie Stunned the gaze of woman,
And neither dyed his whisfers black nor blue,
To rival ladies' eyes, as do the many,
The might have been - he hadn't anyi -
He carried arms-though not the modern terror
OF a s'six shooter or Bowie Knife; rsf
He studied arts-but not before a Mirror,
Nor vowed champagne the ''richest thing in life -
He practced magic too, but not the graces,
And dned-whene'er becoud all times and places.
One day our hero thought he'd go a hunting,
And very like moderns seemed TO be, D.
His "run Of luck - for not a single bunting,
Much less a snipe, or pheasan: did he see
To home returning at the sunset, slowly,
Perhaps he said ''conround it l''-rather lowly.
The sun sinking to his nightly pillow,
GAS is his habit of an evening late)
And though we think his choice Of oceans billow
For couch and counterpart is queer the great
Are "bothered' so with duty's multiplicities,
We pardon all their little eccentricities
MAS wA-wE-IyI NI--don't lett forget him,
For he too takes a rank among the great -
Well-on as fast as weary limbs could let him
He marched across the plain in solemn state
little "blue,'' or. rather melancholy,
Deep moralizing the mornings folly.
Ha ! up before him suddenly there bounded,
man scarce higher than the blue bells bloom,
The charge to mortal combat quick he sounded
little Pukwud jinnnee@ the creature.
Still seemed as comicai in form and feature.
The strife was long and doubtful, for the Fairy,
Though small of stature proved himself foe
Extremely SLIPPERY, )" well-braced and airy,
Which made him very difficult to "throw -
At length our hero painting cried TO t'other,
"Knock under, Mr.. Plume, and kiss your mother.'+
The Red Plume answered not-"Hs wounded feeling
Has made him sulky now" our hero thought,
So down upon the green sward kindly kneeling,
To raise his IA lien foe he vainly sought;
No trace there of fair Tiiania's vasssI,
But one great ear Of corn, with crimson tassell
Amazed at this unwonted sight, and wondering,
Most likely, what the deuce the thing might mean,
He started-listened-in unearthly laundering
A voice stole upward from the prairie green
Commanding him two trenches there to burrow,
And scatter seed, and tassel in the furrow.
Our hero did it-but that haunted prairie,
lie chose throughout the summer months to shun
Al length one autumn evening quite unwary
Returning homeward with his dog, and none
To see, he passed, ''uncar ng consequences"
And what sight can he believe his sensesf
10 two tall ranks of golden canes-still bearing
At every joint the Fairy's crimson plume,
While on the ground, the Orient's glory wearing,
Great globes Of amber glttered through the gloom
Revere our hero's name, Columbias pumpkins,
To him we owe those treasures-corn and pun pkins
Puk-wud. jim -ni-nee, the Indian fairy.
Earth.