Year: 1875

An Episode of the Revolution


Among the many interesting places il
the State of Massachusetts. none is NOR,
picturesque alike in its situation and tn,
peculiar character of its people than The
Town of Marblehead.


From the infancy of the town, the Mar


blehead mon have cast their nets into the
sea, or anchored d their stanch crafts faI
away from land on the fishing banks, anc
spent at least half of the year on the deep
At the time of the revolution it was the
second town in the State for size. number.
ing at least five thousand inhabitants
The standard of resistance to British
tyranny was raised, and the fishermen OF
Marblehead responded to the call with a
stern enthusiasm. When a navy was
created, their tastes found an outlet OF q
more congenial nature, but at the outset
they were obliged to serve on land, and
no more fierce and valiant fishers were
found among the continental troops than
the brOnZed and stalWart recruits who
thronged to the front from the leading
fishing towns of Massachusetts, colony.
At the close of the protracted struggle
more than one-half of the inhabitants of
Marblehead were widows and orphans.
What iOre eloquent testimony than this
could there be to courage and self>devo-
ton?


Ahner Taft was a man remarkable, even
among his hardy and athletic townsmen,
for gigantic strength and cOura. G, traits
which shine out in his descendants. from
one of whom the writer heard a rem9rl a.
BILE exploit of his ancestor. gilmore than
six feet in statue, and otherwise herculean
proportions, he was feared and admired
by those who knew him. Though gentle
and kindly in his ordinary moods, his
wrath was terrible when aroused by in
suit or injustice, and had something OF
that Berserker tierceness which gives such
a strong coloring to the songs of the old
Morse sc9lds and Saga-men. He had been
a leader amoIg his fellows in the per.lous
adventures of the deep and the no less
pressing dangers of the shore.


His fair wife, but few years married,
idoliZed her hero, and her heart beat with
terror at each parting, though in her. too.
burned something of the fiery spirit which
has ever animated the Marblehead women,
and gave occasion for Whittier to write his
picturesque Skipper lresOn's Ride. -
She knew, when he sailed away the king
of the fishing fleet, or marche to join the
continental armies, that her husband
would be in the forefront of every dam
ger.


The soldier-tishcrman cannot linger
long in the sweet idlenesS of home, and
rest in the clinging arms OF wives and
babes. There is pl OYisiOn to be made for
the long, hard winter which would shut
down on them for five dreary months. and
the mackerel catching fleet is ready to
start. Abner Taft's tishing-smack is
moOred out in the bay, every thing taut
and ready for the two months OF Spoliation
OF the deep, and his two hardy comrades
have completed their final preparations.
Let us fancy the scene of dep ,Iture on a
bright September morning. as the waves
smile and laugh under the CLINT Of the
beams of the just risen sun. The air is
full of perfume-sweet clover, the dainty
aftermath Of the upland meadows, the
fragrant breath Of kline, the delicate scent
of sea-weed, and fresh. wet sand. Martha
Taft kisses her husband for the last time
as he leaps from the low jetty at the cliff
into his yawl, followed by his men.


Thee must keep good heart, my lass"
he shouts as the oars glisten in the sun.
Wen, come back again before thou'st
all the apples strung. It's not like goin'
of TO fight the red-coats."


Martha thinks of other sadder partings,
and smiles gaily in retnrn as she waves
her red 'kerchiet TO the stalwart fisher
man, whose huge figure looms up in
sharp proportions, as he stands in his
boat against the level rays of the sun,
anxious TO catch the last view of his
wife.


After all, it was only, as he said, a short
absence, and there was no danger that a
fisherman's daughter, herself bred among
all the hardy associations of the sea.
should dread. Had she herself not sailed
away once to the mackerel grounds, and
time after time been rocked on the bosom
of the storm and the deep? Far from her
thoughts was any such mischance as that
which was TO inspire her husband TO per
form deed. one of the most remarkable
in the chronicles of the times.


Tt would be worth a special article TO
paint in words, with the same spirited and
picturesque touch with which Norton and
De Haas put similar scenes on canvas. life
on board the fishing-fleet off the ceast of
Maine or Massachusetts. The same now
as il was one hundred years ago, we can
easily fancy the scene so realistic, yet so
poetic-the stanch smacks riding at an
chor looming up like phantoms through
the gray mist as they rock on the long.
lazy swell, or dancing on waves that leap
aud exult un6er the flaSh of noontide, the
nodtSe Ctlce llAe pass from CO3I 20 DOaI,
the wild life of the seas tanned down into
a shy bondage and sympathy with the hui
man life. which builds brief village over
its treacheI Gus foam.


But Abner TAFT and his sturdy mates,
though deeply and dumbly conscious of
the beauty and terror of the ocean, as all
men of the sea are. had other thoughts to
absorb them. To perform their work
speedily, TO catch and pack their boat-losd
Of the finny food, which meant comfort
and content for those they loved. was the
thing TO be done, that they might return
and make matters snug at home for the
cold weather. There was then no pairi-
otic commissions that laviShed money
home, while stalwart men fought IN the
field, TO give timely assistance 10 the fami-
lies of absent soldiers. So the fishermen
worked on day after day and week after