Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-05-07

hibHCSSCu lHc NJHSstI lldllOu vi
whole neighbOrhood in consequence
of few screeches of owls. An
early and correct use of this imita.
tive faculty was considered as an
indication that its possessor would
become in due time a good hunter
and valiant warrior.
Throwing the tomahawk was an
other boyish sport, in which many
acquired considerable skill. The
tomahawk, with its handle of Ger.
tain length, will make a given mum.
Der of turns in given distance
Say at five steps, it will strike with
the edge, the handle dOwnwards
at the distance Of seven and half,
it will strike with the edge, the
handle upwards and so on. A lit
tie experience enabled the BOY to
measure the distance with his eye,
when walking through the woods,
and strike tree with his tomahawk
in any way he chose.
The athletic sports Of running,
jumping and wrestling, were the
pastime of boys, in common with
the men.
A well grown boy, at the age of
twelve or thirteen years, was furn-
ished with a small rifle and shot
pouch. He then became a fort sol
dier, and had his port hole assigned
him. Hunting squirrels, turkeys
and raccoOns, soon made him ex.
pert in the use of his gun.
Dancing was the principal amuse-
ment of our young people of both
sexes. Their dances, to be sure.
were OF the simplest forms-three
and four handed reels and jigs.-
Country dances, cotiions and min
uets, were unknown. remember
to have seen, once ortwice, a dance
which was called "the Irish trot .
but have long since forgotten its
figure.
Shooting at marks was a common
diversion among the men, when
their stock of ammunition would al. |
low it, which, however, was far from
being always the case. The present
mode of shooting Of-hand was not
then in practice; it was not consid-
cred as any trial of the value Of a
gun, nor indeed as much of a test !
of the skill of marksman. Their |
shooting was from a rest, and at as
great a distance as the length and
weight of the barrel of a gun would |
throw a ball on horizontal level. |
Such was their regard TO accuracy,
in those sportive trials Of their RI
fles, and of their own skill in the |
use of them, that they often put |
moss, or some other soft substance |
on the log or stump from which |
they shot, for fear Of having the |
bullet thrown from the mark, by |
the spring 0fthe barrel. When the |
rifle was held to the side of tree |
for a rest, it was pressed against it |
as lightly as possible for the same |
reason.
Rifles Of former times were differ.
ent from those Of modern date
few of them carried more than forty
five bullets to the pound, and bull
lets of less size were not thought |
sufficiently heavy for hunting or
wal.
Dramatic variations, chiefly con-
cerning Jack and the Giant, fur
nished our young people with an
other source of amusement during
their leisure hours. Many of those
tales were lengthy, and embraced a
considerable range of Incident
Jack, always the hero of the story,
after encountering many difficulties,
and performing many great ahcieve-
ments, came off conqueror of the
Giant. Many of these stories were
tales of knight.errantry, which case
some captive virgin was released
from captivity and restored to her
lover.
Those dramatic variations con.
cernng Jack and the Giant bore a
strong resemblance to the poems Of
Ossan, the story of the Cyclops
and Ulysses in the Odyssey of Ho-
mer, and the tale of the Giant and
Great heart in the Pilgrims Pro.
gress, and were so arranged as to
the different incidents of the nara.
ton, that they were easily commit
ted to memory. They certainly
have been handed down from gen.
Grafton to generation from time
immemOrial. Civilization has in.
deed banished the use of those an.
cient tales of romantic herOism
but what then 7 1t has substituted
in their place the novel and ro-
nance.
1t is thus that in every state OF
society the Imagination of man is