The Holly chieftain., 1898-05-06
MYTH AID IBBalD.
There II . DlGerenes 1Stweea the
TerAs-.Growth efthe

The word legend comes from l root
which means to gather, tosay, to mar
rate. Before written history came le-
gend. The father told the son and
so ON from generation to gsneation.
Little by little the story In passing
from lip to lip End ear to ear gathered
many rnhistorical additions and em-
lbeii;silments. 1t is the task Of histori-
cal criticism to get at the grain OF
truth which lies embedded in the legend
and myth which characterize the be-
ginnings Of history everywhere. The
words myth and legend are sometimes
used as If they were only synonyms.
The myth, however, is moro particular
Iiy q narrative of events in which the
powers of nature, the gods, or God are
Represented as actors in the events mar
rated.
Naturally therefore the myth is char
scteristic only of q very rude and primi-
tive state of civilization. We have
legends of our late civil war; but NO
myths. We have utterly unhistorical
narratives of thrilling adventure, but
SO far as know, there is no instance
of story of our late war in which
either the powers Of nature or super.
natural beings are represented as ac-
lively participating in the events mar
rated. This Is because we have, passed
that stage of civilization in which the
rise of the myth is q possibility. We
have from time to time, however, very
interesting illustrations of the growth
If the legend.
On the side OF Talcott mountain look
ing toward Simsbury there is shall
low cave piercing the steep side Of the
| ,liff, to which adventurous boys climb
at imminent peril to life and limb.
This cave has its legend. Simsbury
was burned by the Indians in 1876, and
there is story that King Philip gave
this piece of gratuitous deviltry the
honor of a very particular supervision
from out the aforementioned cave. The
story is utterly without historical basis,
a legend pure and simple; nevertheless
1t is believed by many persons in Sims
bury to-day. and adds romantic interest
to the locality. 1t plays precisely the
same part here that the marvellous
legend of William Tell does In Svitzer-
land.
In former manual OF the First Con-
gregational church in Simsbury there
appeared the following statement con-
cerning the original membership of
that historic body: "Therew were 43mem-
bers of the church-17 women and 26
men. including one Indian" In the list
of names we find the word 'Maskalin"
(an Indian). So there has been for
years a legend that one Of the original
members OF the Simsbury church was
an Indian named "Masknlin." This in
teresting legend owes its origin to the
| following circumstance: When Mr..
Noah Phelps undertook the work OF
writing his history of Simsbury, on ex-
amining the list of names of those who
were the original members Of the
church he found last among those who
were males the following: ''Maskalin. .
Now, no English1nan was ever named
''Maskalin," and consequently this
saint must have been an Indian. As q
matter of fact, "maskalin" was the way
In which the sex of the aforementioned
individuals WINS signifled in the original
record. John Slater, Nathaniel Hol
comb, Joseph Strickland, jeremiah Gil
lit, Maskalin," (or males). Imagine the
establishment of the honest soul who
made this record If it could have been
revealed to him that his -maskalin'
would have been served up for future
generations as q converted savage!-
Rev. c. E. Stowe, in Hartford Courant