The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1908-10-15
Indian Summer.

AuuldH 0uumCls
Then past the yellow regiments OF corn
There came an Indian maiden, autu ~ IL born,
And June returned and held her by the
hand,
And led Times smiling Ruth through all the
land;
A veil of golden hair was o er her flung,
The South winds whispe ed and the robins
sung.
Thus the poet describes that de-
lightful season which comes to us as
the year wanes, and after the frosts of
October, and which we call Indian
Summer. In Maine, we Yankees,
who wish to know the limits of
everything, reckon the season from
the 25th of October to the 25th OF No
vember. In England various names
are given to this brief revival of
summer. The mild, hazy weather is
termed Halloween summer (Oct. 81 },
and when it is still later, st. Martins
summer Nov. IL. SHAKESPEARE relers
to "All- hallow summer-thou latter
springl" and bestows the name on
genial Falstaff. St. Martins summer
is also mentioned in Henry VI, as a
time of good fortune, after adversely
and disaster, thus:
This night the siege assuredly I'll raise:
Expect ST. Martins summer, halcyon
days"
The poets by chanting the praises
and dwelling on the charms of this
mellow autumn time, have rendered
it dearer to us, and the love they
evince meets with a response in the
breast of every devotee of nature.
The actual date of our Indian Summer
is not settled. 1t may occur any time
between the last of September, when
the sun has retired below the equator,
and the early part of December, If
mild, dry, hazy weather prevails
during this period
The haze in the air at such times is
only the dust and smoke which float
near the surface of the earth, and are
not blown away by the wind. Among
the American Indians there is n
superstition which is less prosaic to
account for this misty, navy atmos-
phere. They say that their sun god i,
Michabo, sleeps through the winter
months, and when the leaves begin to
fall, by way of composing himself for
his long nap, he fills his great pipe
and divinely smokes; the blue clouds
which gently float over the land
scape fill the air with the haze of
Indian summer.
Various explanations are given as
to the origin of the term Indian
summer. A practical one is that the
phenomena of the season are much
more plainly marked in the country
chiefly occupied by the Indians at the
time the name became current, than
in the more easterly regions where
the white man lived There is ira
dition that the prevalence OF south
west winds at that time, which the
Indians supposed to be sent by their
good deity and southwestern god
Contantowit, gave rise to the name.
School craft gives a more poetic
version of the legend. "Shawondasee
was an affiuent, plethoric red man,
who lived in the south, kept his eyes
steadfastly on the north, and whose
signs in autumn produced the de-
lightful Indian summer" Long
fellow alludes TO this in Hiawatha:
"Shawondasee, fat and lazy,
Had his dwelling far to southwark,
In the drowsy, dreamy sunshine,
In the never-ending summer.
From his pipe the smoke ascending
Filled the sky with haze and vapor,
Filled the air with dreamy softness,
Gave a twinkle to the water,
Touched the rugged hills with smooth
ness,
Brought the tender Indian summer
To the melancholy northland,
In the dreary moon of snow-shoes."
What more beautiful description
could be given of our Indian summer?
Probably as the grain and fruit had
ripened, the Indian occupied himself,
in this calm weather (or his squaw
did in laying by his winter stores.
But, whatever the reason, we can but
feel that it is most appropriately
named, and will ever be associated
with these jewellers of the forest. Let
us all enjoy it as the glorious after
math of a magnificent summer.