The Cecil Whig., 1875-08-21

4 PURITAN COURTsHlP-OR THE TRUE
STORY OF REYNALD MARVIN AND BETTY
LEE.
More than two hundred years ago,
One Summer afternoon,
When bird, and bee, and spinning wheel,
Nj hummcd drowsy tune,
And butterflies, on idle wing,
We're floating i'll the air,
And not a zephyr, to disturb
The stiffness, everywhere;
Leaning on the half opened door,
-Comely aud fair TO see
Bathcd in the yellow sunlight,
Stood blue-eycd Betty Lee.
In short gowns and petticoats.
Were dressed New Eng land girls,
For called unseemly vanities,'
Were all loose sleeves and curls.
They wore no gems, no golden gauds,
What use were gems-iorSooth-
When most esteemed were jewels, such
As Purity and Truth.
Then, riding quickly to the gate
Came neynald Marvin-bold;
CaiIcd unto her to come to him,
And thus his story told:
"Betty-in vision hath the Lord
JeCtttltu HIS WI W ule,
That l should take myself a wife,
And sent me hereto thee
She calmly listened while he spoke,
Then, quantity, one by one,
Forth from her lips there dropped these
words:
Reynald-His will be done"
She quietly retraced her steps,
lie turned-and rode away;
The spinning wheel still droning on,
That calm, sweet Summer day.
Her parents gave their glad consent
When they the suit had heard,
No Puritan would ever dare
Rebel against His word.
Her mother, too, from out her chests
With kindly words of love,
That Betty must not set her heart
On these, but things above
Took quilts and blankets, linen sheets,
Of all such goodly store,
Her daughter in her lifetime
Might never want for more.
And from some old brocaded silk,
Which had come across the sea,
She fashioned out the wedding gown
OF comely Betty Lee.
When Reynald placed on Betty's hand
His mothers silver ring,
Twas in that unpretending time,
Cousidered-just the thing.
The present style had not come in
To load the bride with gifts,
Her father gave her six good sheep,
A "Lithe Wheel" and swifts
Then straightway rode they to their homo,
On Reynald's old grey mare,
And everybody said they made
A goodly looking pair.
His silver buckles shone as bright
AS ever bridegroom's could,
She covered up her wedding gear,
With brown stuff cloak, with hood.
When Reynald rode his horses,
He rode on their bare backs,
For his saddle had been taken
For an unrighteous tax.
So-though godly Puritan,
Most solemnly he swore,
That on any kind Of saddle
He never would ride more,
And on they who took it wrecked his wrath,
The names are handed DOWN
By christening them " Sabeans,"
And the place they lived "Sab Town"
She ordered we'll his household,
Fulfilled his hearts desire;
She never lost her "risin,''
She never lost her fire.
Saturday nights, she strictly kept,
Her Sabbath had begun,
But Sunday nights, she'd sit and knit
The yarn herself had spun.
All Betty's ways, were, truly, ways
Of pleasantness to him,
His cup of happiness did run
Over the very brim.
They went to meeting by the road
Which wound through Whipporwil,"
" 1t turned right in - by "Alewife Brook
And came out-on the "Hill."
And as he was the Deacon, she
Made the communion bread;
" 1t was just as nice as it could be-
The good old people said.
And when the Parson brake the loaf,
And the Deacon "passed it round,'
And Betty, shyly, took therefrom,
With eyes upon the ground;
And looked-so like an angel,
Beneath her bonnet's rim,
Satan entrapped him in his wiles;
She was all in all to him.
But Reynald lived godly life,
And served his Maker well,
And served his country, too,
For-hs epitaph doth tell
That
This Deacon, aged sixty eight,
Now freed on earth from Sarrin,
May for crown no longer wait,
Lyme's captain-Reynald Marvin"
Job Is
This epitaph may bo seen on a grave
stone in burying ground in Old Lyme.