The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-08-28
[Letter to the Cincinnati Commercial.I
"Old Man Barrett"


On the southern slope Of Megunticook Moun-
tain lives an eccentric character called "Old
Man Barrett" His life and habits and sur
roundngs are all counter to the customs of New
England. His house is built on the edge Of the
road, and his back yard slopes steeply to q
bare, perpendicular wall of rock, which towers
hundreds of feet above, and is crowned on the
summit with dark evergreen trees. This back
yard he has set full Of grape vines, and they
nourish and bear marvellously, so that "Old
Man Barrett's Grape Ranch" has become IA
nous throughout the surrounding country.
The rocks above draw the heat of the sun. and
the southern slope, protected on all sides from
chilling winds, forms an excellent situation for
. grapery. OF front yard he has little, for his
house is only a few feet from the road, but that
little strip is also full Of grape vines trained on
trellisses over the door, and hanging full Of
large punches. The side yard outrsges New
England ideas of neatness. Old Man Barrett
apologised for it as he led Us through il to his
grapery back Of the house, saying, 81 hain't
got picked up yet this summer" bur it evident
ly represented the slow accumulations of years.
There were three hen coops and Q pig stye,
which could be scented afar; o hay-rack with .
big dog chained under it, cart-bed, an old
sled, pile of lime, an old barrel full Of ashes.
a grind-stone, q broken wheel-barrow, some
fragments of homemade carpet rotting in the
sun and rain, wood-pile, several piles Of
boards and poles and heaps Of stones. Beside
the hens in the coops, several chickens and
ducks walked in and out of the house pass q
dirty baby that sat in the door, A sallow,
white-haired, ragged and dirty boy, reminding
one of Southern poor white trash" came uear
us and stared up into our faces; Q woman
came with PAINFUL Of dish-water to the fro.,t
door and threw it on the ground, although We
were made aware by sight and smell that there
were several sink-h0les near. and to complete
the family picture, an old woman in o calico
bonnet, with pipe in her mouth, came down
the road bringing bucket OF water from .
sprihg several rods distant. / had seen Just
such homes in Arkansas, excepting the grapes,
and it was strange confusion of locality to
see such place in clean, neat, orthodox New
England. Old man Barrett was q fit center
piece for such surroundings. He looked like an
Arkansas backwoodsman or a California pio-
neer who had fought grizzlies and prospected
hat, cow-hide boots and woollen shirt, turned
back from his hairy breast His pants were
fastened around his body by o leather strap.
His tangled gray hair hung to his shoulders,
his matted gray beard was festooned with
tobacco juice; one eye had been knocked out.
He talked loud; he talked down everyone else
His two hobbies were his grapes and his rocks
specimens from his lodges in the noun
tain above. These specimens lay spread
hen-ooop. "These. said he, taking some
up and turning his one eye full upon u.s.
contain gold and silver and lead and copper.
With a retort and proper drugs all these could
be extracted from them. I've got mine of
and I've got grapes that challenge anybody
to beat" Then laying down his stones, he
said: Come up here and see my grapes; you
never see such sight before" Past the pig
and up the green slopes where the grape vines
lolled along the ground, or hung on trellises,
full of punches. "Don't step on that board,'
he said; but we saw ino board. He afterward
explained that the hedgehogs troubled him,
and he set traps for them, and put boards over
them, to keep his visitors from sticking their
feet into the traps "Look thar" he said, lift
ing the vines, "Look at them grapes" We
asked the names of the different varieties. but
he said. They're good grapes to eat" with
his one eye, as If we had questioned their ex-
cellence. He had name for only one vine;
that one had attained the thickness OF q mans
arm. "This is Concord grape," he said. 81
Il grew in the woods on my fathers place, and
when came to this ranch took IL up and
moved it." and went on to tell with many says
he's and "says I's' Of talk he had with his
father about it. We asked MIN III ne bold al
his grapes to the picnickers and other visitors
who came to his ranch In the fall 81 sell .
great many to them" he said, and L keep
some to make wine" One of our party being
bred to great respect for the Maine liquor Law,
ventured some remarks about wine drinking,
but the old man, fixing his one eye on him,
roared out, "What does the good Book say? IL
says take q little wine for your stomach's
sake,'" and browbaat him into silence.
Other visitors came along just then, for this
is a fashionable drive, and every one stops to
see old man Barrett and his grapes, and few
minutes later, as we were seated at lunch
round q mossy bowlder in the clean, grassy
orchard which stretches to the lake shore Git II
the only clean place on the premises), We
heard his voice among the vines on the hill-
side saying "This is Concord vine; set IL
out when 1 was five years old, etc. Later
still, he passed through the orchard with bis
scythe on his shoulder, and one Of our party,
wishing to say something complimentary,
glanced up at the boughs laden with green
apples and said: "You have Q good crop Of
apples, Mr.. Barrett" ''Not at all" growled
the old man; 50 very poor crop" Grapes and
gold-bearng rocks were all that he was inter-
ested in, aud If one did not praise them, one
had better keep still. When we left the ranch
the beams of sunset rested on Megunticook
Mountain, and Old Man Barrett's dog, which
was chained under the hay rack, was barking
in deep, fierce tones, which echoed back from
the rocky wall.