LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
I have a personal interest in the story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, as I grew up in Tarrytown, NY (25 miles north of New York City, in a suburb called Westchester County), and lived there from birth until I left home at age 19. Tarrytown and the adjoining town of what is now called Sleepy Hollow are seeped in history. For example, I had my wedding reception at a mansion once owned by Mark Twain overlooking the Hudson River. My grandparents on my father’s side are buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where the alleged “Headless Horseman” in the fictional story pursued Ichabod Crane.
For a brief history of Tarrytown here is a good site:
http://www.tarrytowngov.com/pages/tarrytownny_webdocs/TarrytownHistory
I have been to the cemetery with high school friends on several occasions, including fall nights, and I can assure you it is a scary place. One that you are sure ghosts and goblins will come to torment you any minute! The name of my high school was Sleepy Hollow and our football team were called “the Horsemen.
Washington Irving, the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, not only attended, but had his own pew in the historical church I was baptized and married in, Christ Episcopal Church.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820. With Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today. Many films, videos, and such have been in circulation over the years to include Will Rogers in the silent version in 1929 to a remake with Johnny Depp in 1999. One of the favorite Halloween costumes in my hometown was to dress up as the Headless Horseman!
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: hard bound book with a flowered silk cover and gold foil lettering, printed circa 1907
For information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow
The story is set circa 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (based on Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel. As Crane leaves a party he attended at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman, who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head". Ichabod mysteriously disappears from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related". Although the nature of the Headless Horseman is left open to interpretation, the story implies that the Horseman was really Brom Bones in disguise.
Records show that the first residence in Tarrytown was built in 1645; however, the exact location is not known. The first white settlers were Dutch and that they were farmers, fur trappers, and fishermen. Tarrytown soil was light and loamy which was ideal for growing cereals; especially wheat. This led to the area being known as Wheat Town, or Terve Town, which later became mispronounced as Tarrytown. However, I prefer Washington Irving's interpretation of the origin of Tarrytown's name, in "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" which was published in the Sketch Book in 1820. Irving began his story, "In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators of the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port which by some is called Greenburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent county, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days." Washington Irving has had the distinction of being the first American writer who was recognized by the British and European community. There have been countless references, and movies made about his famous story.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was based on a German folktale, set in the Dutch culture of Post-Revolutionary War in New York State. The original folktale was recorded by Karl Musäus. An excerpt of Musäus:
The headless horseman was often seen here. An old man who did not believe in ghosts told of meeting the headless horseman coming from his trip into the Hollow. The horseman made him climb up behind. They rode over bushes, hills, and swamps. When they reached the bridge, the horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton. He threw the old man into the brook and sprang away over the treetops with a clap of thunder.
The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane (1858) by John Quidor
The dénouement of the fictional tale is set at the bridge over the Pocantico River in the area of the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow. The characters of Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel may have been based on local residents known to the author. The character of Katrina is thought to have been based upon Eleanor Van Tassel Brush, in which case her name is derived from that of Eleanor's aunt Catriena Ecker Van Tessel.
Irving, while he was an aide-de-camp to New York Gov. Daniel D. Tompkins, met an army captain named Ichabod Crane in Sackets Harbor, New York during an inspection tour of fortifications in 1814. He may have borrowed the name from the captain and patterned the character in "The Legend" after Jesse Merwin, who taught at the local schoolhouse in Kinderhook, further north along the Hudson River, where Irving spent several months in 1809.
The story was the longest one published as part of The Sketch Book, which Irving issued using the pseudonym "Geoffrey Crayon" in 1820.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" follows a tradition of folk tales and poems involving a supernatural wild chase, including Robert Burns's Tam O' Shanter (1790), and Bürger's Der wilde Jäger, translated as The Wild Huntsman (1796).
LOCAL IMPACT
• In 1997 the village of North Tarrytown, New York, where many events of the story took place, changed its name to Sleepy Hollow. The high school teams are named "The Horsemen".
• In 2006, a large statue depicting the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane was placed along Route 9 in Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown, New York.
• A not-for-profit organization Historic Hudson Valley[12] has held since 1996 Legend Weekend at Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, New York, featuring a rider portraying the headless Hessian, and a storyteller retelling The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as a historic celebration attended by thousands annually before Halloween.
• My sidenote: If you do visit the Historical Tarrytown Area, be sure to visit Philipsburg Manor, the Old Dutch Church, Tarrytown Music Hall, the place where Andre’ was captued.. and of course the Cemetery, and so many other places... Also, plan a meal at Tappan Hill, a bit pricey, but a wonderful experience.
Email: donnatrex@yahoo.com
I adore Sleepy Hollow, so I loved this post!
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