Lou’s View – Nov. 26, 2014

Hush Little Baby

by Lou Bernard

Sitting in a chair, late at night, singing to my son. Paul Matthew, five months old now. My wife and I adopted him in July. He’s already been in the newspaper, on the radio with me, and gets recognized everywhere. I can’t actually remember all the lyrics to the song—I’m not sure my dad got them right, either, which may be why I never absorbed them—So I can’t help composing articles in my head while I sing.

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word…

“Daddy’s gonna find you a Thunderbird.”

The Thunderbird was an old Native American legend that was especially prevalent in Clinton County. Some tribes believed it to be a huge bird that, if you saw it, would bring on a storm. They’ve become a sort of local mythical monster, occasionally generating reports of sightings. For some reason, many of these come from up around the Swissdale area. Maybe there are Thunderbirds still living, hidden, in the Swissdale mountains. That would be cool.

“And if that Thunderbird don’t sing,

“Daddy’s gonna get you Shoemaker’s magic ring.”

In the library’s volume,”Collection Of Papers By Henry W. Shoemaker,” he tells the story of Saul Einsich, who was working in Farrndsville. While on a job, he discovered an ancient ring with designs on it. When he knocked at the door of the Queen of Spain’s castle that once stood in Farrandsville, it was opened by the ghost of the Spanish princess. He fell in love with her and married her, though the legality of that is somewhat open to question.

 

wpid8506-lou-baby-141118.jpg

 

“And if that magic ring turns brass,

“Daddy’s gonna buy you a looking glass.”

Sort of like the one James Jefferis III used during his days as a pirate. Jefferies was one of the early settlers of Lock Haven. He’d grown up on a farm in Chester County, but signed up to be a crew member for a privateer, a kind of government-sponsored pirate. He later began a career of his own, with a ship called the Neptune, and his son Taylor stowing away to follow his father. Jefferies retired to Lock Haven, lived at 400 East Bald Eagle Street, and ran his own farm, and his son, James IV, grew up to become the mayor.

“And if that looking glass gets broke,

“Daddy’s gonna buy you Nell Burrows’s goat.”

Plenty of those were owned by Nell Burrows, the middle child of three sisters, Belle, Nell, and Ruth. While the other two became teachers, Nell went into the telegraph business, packing a gun and fixing the lines in areas that the men were afraid to go. She later bought a place up along the Renovo Road and raised goats, spoiling them. She once wrote a relative out of her will because he frightened the goats with his car horn.

“And if Nell Burrows’s goat should dally,

“Papa’s gonna buy you a dog named Sallie.”

Sallie was the mascot of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment during the Civil War. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Phaon Jarrett of Main Street, Lock Haven, and Sallie was given to the men while they were training in Chester County. She would join them on the battlefield, barking at the enemy. Sallie is depicted on the memorial to the Eleventh at Gettysburg, a small metal sculpture of a dog, sleeping at the base of the monument.

“And if that Sallie dog won’t bark,

Daddy’s gonna find you a horse and cart.”

Which was what caused chaos on Vesper Street in January, 1903, when the horses belonging to County Treasurer John R. Thompson bolted after being frightened by some children with a sled. They knocked over hitching posts, damaged storefronts, and were finally captured before they could do more damage. I was working on an article about this when we got the call to adopt little Paul, and he knows all about it because I’ve read him the article at the kitchen table.

“And if that horse and cart fall down,

“You’ll still be the most famous baby in town.”

That town would be Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. It’s my home, and it’s his home. And little Paul Matthew is going to grow up knowing all about it.

“Hush, little baby, don’t you cry…

“Daddy’s gonna sing you a lullaby.”

Check Also
Close
Back to top button