Washington Journal., 1943-03-26
GLIMPSES OF SOME CONTEMPORARIES
My Cousin Lloyd
My Cousin Lloyd
by EDwIN EMERSON

hOQI1du QllO 1OunSCl OiotCl L uloe VII tHC
lawn of Dolobran, their ZONE near Haverford
III Pennsylvania. |, too, took a hand at the
game, but did none too well.
That evening my Mother and / dined with
Lloyd's folks at Dolobran. Their talk was
all about our Quaker relatives. OF course
we said 'sthee" to one another. / was over
awed by a butler III livery. Anyway Mother
had told me to mind my table manners. II III
doubt, | was to watch my elders and do just
as they did.
For the first time in my life | had to cope
with a broiled lobster. The implements there
for, a fiat fork and tiny pick, the like of which
| had never seen before, baffied me. The
lobster's shell was very hard, and it slid
around my plate every time | tackled it. AT
last | made a brave stab at it, whereupon
its pesky claw shot out from under my fork
and flew across the table into the lap OF
Lloyd's mother, Mrs. Griscom. The whole
table round looked at me in silence, broken
only by the giggles of Pansy and Lloyd. |
blushed so hard that my ears tingled.
LIoyd's father gave a new turn to our
thoughts by talking about one Of our com
mon forebears, Gregory Clement, who very
long ago was hanged, drawn and quartered
for having voted with other judges for the
death Of King Charles | Of England. We
ali knew that Lloyd's father and Oldest
brother had been named after that forebear.
A Boyhood Escapade
The next time Lloyd and | met was at
lSalem on the Delaware River. Together we
had been invited to spendsa few midsummer
holidays with two of our Quaker cousins,
both Of them prim spinsters well along III
Years.
On a hot Saturday we came by train from
lHaverford to Salem. Both Of us knew the
little town well, having already visited there
with other Quaker cousins of our age. We
were aware that their elders had come to
Hook upon us as worldly and fast. Yet now
our cousins Hannah and Rebecca were very
gentle with us and helped us unpack our few
duds in the upstairs room we were to share
together. On the morrow, it being First Day,
we were told we would go to Meeting with
them, so we were to be sure to wash our
Hands and necks well before breakfast and
we were not to wear the gaudy neckties we
then were sporting.
Lloyd said he had not brought another
necktie. "Then I will lend thee one'', said
Cousin Hannah. "Anythink will be better
than thy Haunting ribband.'
Lloyd and / awoke early next morning.
Breakfast was so far in the offing that we
planned to stroll down to the river bank to
watch the ships passing up and down the
Delaware. At the waters edge we found a
skiff with a pair of oars i nlher. Nobody was
there to say us nay. So we unmoored the
skiff, stepped aboard her and took turns at
rowing into the gentle current Of the wide
river.
It was a pleasant pastime while the cool
of the morning lasted; but after sun-up it
grew so warm that we shed our jackets and
then our shirts. Why not pull off our shoes
and stockings and breaches, as well, SO we
might take a dip in the river? We could
lget dried by the hot sun, while rowing back
to shore for breakfast with Cousins Hannah
and Rebecca.
So we stripped and dived overheard. This
was sport, indeed, and was enlivened by much
splashing and trying to duck each other.
Hauling ourselves over the gunwale into
the skiff was not SO easy. To keep from
overturning her we had to Chamber into her,
one from either side, each of us bringing his
weight onto the gunwale at the same time.
During the struggle one Of our oars went
overheard. We were not aware Of this at
the time, being too busy with baling water
from our skiff. Meanwhile the lost oar had
drifted into midstream, where it vas caught
by a stronger current and foated out Of sight.
There was nothing to be done, but to SOUL
the skiff by means Of our single oar from
the stern, or using it p~addlewise, now on
one side and then on the other, to give her
a zig-zag Roadway toward the Salem shore.
Farewell to Clothes
While I swung the oar blade across the
skiff | had the mishap to knock overheard one
of Lloyd's shoes from the forward thwart,
where he had left them with his stockings
tucked inside. Instead Of diving overheard
after his drowning shoe and stocking, Lloyd
picked up one Of my shoes from the cockpit
and threw it overheard. With it went one
Of my stockings. Forthwith / threw his
other shoe and stocking after the first, and