Delete comment from: Boston 1775
I agree that the Chevy Chase thing was likely an anecdote and nothing more. The ballad (song) never caught the ear of Rev War fifers--at least, not long enough to be copied into a manuscript or otherwise preserved for future scrutiny. But it did carry a lot of denunciatory baggage (Child reports a very early text that refers to the "unhorsing" of Lord Percy at the battle of Otterbourne, 1388), making it highly suitable as a barb directed at the unfortunate Colonel Percy and thus making good copy ;-)
Worse than even Rev. Gordon was the story's adoption by none other than Charles Goodrich, of "Peter Parley" fame. Nothing guarantees the the transformation of legend-to-fact more than teaching it to children, which is exactly what the didactic, well-meaning, but misinformed "Peter Parley" did. ;-)
Haven't read Gordon in a while, but was he the one that mentioned the pre-war tar-and-feathering of a Boston farmer?(was it a man by the name of Ditson? Sorry, don't have access to my library right now)--I think it was a rather simple story that was propagandized by the press into a heinous event that, BTW, involved our favorite tune (Yankee Doodle)... ;-)
Apr 8, 2013, 10:52:52 PM
Posted to The Patriots Day Season Has Begun