Celebrating Independence Day!

A Lovely 4th of July on the Lawn at Corgyncombe!

Bridget, Emma, and Eliza celebrate Independence Day out on the lawn at Corgyncombe!
Emma is a Cousin of Bridget and Eliza. Emma is holding, as the girls call her, the "Little Dear One".

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They have their own small size vasculum and have collected a rose and some lavender that always bloom at Corgyncombe about the time of the 4th of July!

Bridget reads from their book "Child's Life of Washington".

The old fashioned likeness of the girls is surrounded by a fancy tintype frame.

Eliza holds a small bouquet of lavender and roses.
What a lovely fragrance!

You can see how small their vasculum is!
Moss is placed inside and the flowers can stay fresh for several days within the vasculum.

A special treat for Independence Tea, Corgyncombe Dairy Goat Carmella Lucille's Vanilla Ice Cream, made using the receipt for "Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream" in "The Tasha Tudor Cookbook". It was made in my old White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer. Tasha Tudor describes her ice cream as delectable and she is so right! The receipt for "Washington Pie" is also in "The Tasha Tudor Cookbook". The design on the "Washington Pie", made by dusting confectioner's sugar over a doily and then taking the doily off, reminds one of spectacular fireworks! The "Washington Pie", made at the Corgyncombe Bakery, has raspberry jam filling and is delicious with Carmella Lucille's Vanilla Ice Cream! The old fashioned roses on the table are from my garden. A scene showing George Washington gathered with his family is on the teapot.

Cranking the old White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer.

The above scene took place in the winter of 2007. We traversed around on snowbanks gathering icicles for ice for the churning of the ice cream.  This photograph is especially refreshing on this 4th of July week, when the temperatures have been in the mid-90s.

Bridget shows Emma and the "Dear Little One" the picture of George Washington in the book.

I told the Izannah girls how my 4th great grandfather Elias Taylor served under Gen'l George Washington and how my 6th great grandfather Nehemiah Lyon represented the Woodstock, Connecticut area in the protest of the Stamp Act.

My 5th great grandmother Martha (Lyon) May, daughter of Nehemiah Lyon, was reported in 1766 by The Hartford Courant (The Connecticut Courant), to have "spun 194 knots of good linen yarn in one day." It was considered patriotic during this time to boycott British products and to spin their own threads and yarns. Spinning and knitting bees were very popular.

William Scott (my 4th great grandfather) was born during the Revolutionary War at Fort Ticonderoga as it says in his obituary: "in Ticonderoga Fort, in the dark days of the revolutionary struggle. The men were called into the army and the women and children had to flee to the Fort for safety. They remained there till the surrender of Burgoyne, when they returned to Bennington, Vermont." William Scott's father William Scott was a Revolutionary War soldier.

My 6th great grandfather, Revolutionary War soldier John Hale was 2nd Cousin to the great American patriot Nathan Hale.

My 4th great grandfather Stephen Harrington was at the battle when Cornwallis surrendered.

My 6th great grandfather was Corporal Ephraim Harrindeen of Rhode Island.
Eliphel McGee stated about Ephraim Harrindeen:
"Ephraim Harrindeen came to warn my Brother in a General Alarm, I recollect that he appeared to be very resolute, and went away upon a run to perform his duty in warning the men belonging to his company."

The girls are sitting on a lovely old quilt of red, white, and blue!

The white areas of the quilt are made of different fabrics with small festive prints predominantly of blue and red against the white. The quilt has been tied off with blue and white threads. The small prints and the ties give a splendid fireworks appearance! We thought of Independence Day the moment we saw it!

We at the Corgyncombe Courant love how Tasha Tudor illustrates Independence Day in "Around The Year" and "A Time to Keep". Tasha shows picnics, flying and displaying the American flag, firecrackers, and fireworks. In "Around the Year" the page with the eagle, stars, and flags catches the eye of the Corgyncombe Courant.

Some of the Corgyncombe Courant reporters' Revolutionary War soldier direct ancestors were:

Levi Adams Sr.
Serg. Levi Adams Jr.
Asahel Booth
John Clothier
Benjamin Eggleston
Benjamite Greene
John Hale
Ephraim Harrindeen
Stephen Harrington
Henry Head
Elias Jones
Cyprian Keyes
Nehemiah Lyon
Eliakim May
Joseph Peters
Jared Robinson
Ziba Robinson
William Scott
Capt. David Shepard
Stephen Smith
Nathan Standish
Nathaniel Swift
Elias Taylor
Nicholas Teachout
Amos Towne
Thomas Weaver
Daniel Wood

There are several other Revolutionary War soldiers that The Corgyncombe Courant Genealogy Department are researching, also.

Lucy with a flag celebrating Independence Day!
She is carrying the Grand Union flag, an early American flag, whilst walking about the gardens at Corgyncombe.
A progression of self sown flowers blooms here under the little old apple tree from spring until autumn.

The Grand Union flag flying o'er my 7th great grandparents' (David and Hepzibah Howe) house, the Howe Tavern in Massachusetts.

The Howe Tavern is also known as the Wayside Inn, made famous in Longfellow's poem.

David and Hepzibah Howe's daughter Hepzibah was my 6th great grandmother.

In "Tales of a Wayside Inn" by Longfellow, he speaks of Hepzibah's brother Lieut. Col. Ezekiel Howe and the sword he used "In the rebellious days of yore, Down there at Concord in the fight."

"Paul Revere's Ride" is included in "The Landlord's Tale" in "Tales of a Wayside Inn" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The Corgyncombe Courant reports on an article found in an 1901 issue of "The Otsego Farmer":
The Otsego Farmer, January 11, 1901
Gilbertsville
"The firemen have much improved their hall by repainting and papering it and covering the floor with matting. Last Saturday evening, at the regular monthly meeting, there was an unusually large attendance. After the business meeting the veteran fireman, O. E. Taylor, by invitation, recited Paul Revere's ride, rendering that grand old poem with a zeal and fervor which elicited much applause."

Oh, how The Corgyncombe Courant reporters wish we had been there to hear the poem recited with "zeal and fervor" by a grandson of Revolutionary War soldier Elias Taylor and great grandson of Revolutionary War Soldiers Joseph Peters and Nathaniel Swift. O. E. Taylor was a great great uncle of mine and Elias Taylor was my 4th great grandfather. Elias Taylor served under Gen'l George Washington. Joseph Peters and Nathaniel Swift were both 5th great grandfathers of mine.

 
The Corgyncombe Courant is sure that many others in attendance at the firemen's hall were also descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers and one can imagine the roar of applause in response to such "zeal and fervor".

Carolina holds an early apple that has fallen from the Astrachan apple tree.

Bridget, Eliza, Emma, Lucy, and Carolina and their wonderful clothing were made by Margaret Flavin.

 A Guide to the Wild Flowers", written by Alice Lounsberry and illustrated by Mrs. Ellis Rowan.
The well worn book was originally owned by Mrs. T. B. Shepherd.

There are many handwritten notes by previous owners on the pages of the book noting the date and location that they found the particular wild flower. Although the book was written at a later date, the earliest date in the handwritten notations is an 1848 sighting.

Oswego-Tea, also called Bee Balm: in the book is written, "Found in Grandmother's garden, near her bee house when a child - West Martinsburg"

In Revolutionary times some folks would use Oswego Tea as an alternative to the imported tea taxed by the British.

We hope our Dear Readers have a lovely Independence Day!

Some of the photographs and some of the writings on this post are from previous Corgyncombe Courant posts that can be found here on the Corgyncombe Courant and from our web site and our previous postings elsewhere on the internet.

Please do not "Pin" our photographs.
Please do not post our photographs on facebook.

Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com
If you receive an email you think is from me from this email, please make sure it is atthecottagegate@yahoo.com, and not just something that sounds similar.

Photographs, images, and text copyright © 2000-2018 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson. All rights reserved. Photographs, images, and/or text may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson.

http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2018/07/celebrating-independence-day.html
copyright © 2018 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
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Wild Strawberries About Meadow and Lawn!

Susan Fenimore Cooper's "Rural Hours"

Lydia went out and about Corgyncombe picking wild strawberries.

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Corgyncombe Wild Strawberries

"Thursday, 21st June - Both raspberries and strawberries grow wild here in such profusion that few persons cultivate them." 

~ "Rural Hours" by Susan Fenimore Cooper

Susan Fenimore Cooper wrote the book "Rural Hours" as a journal of her frequent nature walks out and about the countryside. It was published in 1850.

Susan Fenimore Cooper was the daughter of James Fenimore Cooper, author of the "Leatherstocking Tales".

"Tuesday, 9th June - Fine strawberries from the fields this evening for tea. Warm, bright weather; thermometer 85 - lovely evening, but too warm for much exercise. Strolled in the lane, enjoying the fragrant meadows, and the waving corn-fields on the skirts of the village."

~ Rural Hours" by Susan Fenimore Cooper

The Turret at Castle Corgyncombe with heirloom sweet peas.

"Tuesday, 26th June - It was a pretty sight, coming home, to see the women and children scattered about the meadows, gathering wild strawberries. This delightful fruit is very abundant here, growing everywhere, in the woods, along the road-sides, and in every meadow. Happily for us, the wild strawberries rather increase than diminish in cultivated lands; they are even more common among the foreign grasses of the meadows than within the woods. The two varieties marked by our botanists are both found about our lake."

~ Rural Hours" by Susan Fenimore Cooper

Ah yes, what a beautiful sight this must have been indeed, with the ladies and children dressed in the good taste of the day, but alas and alack one cannot say the same thing today!

Lydia's chair was made by talented Seth Tudor, son of Tasha Tudor.

It was so nice talking to him again!

Lydia, a Queen Anne English wooden doll, and her wonderful clothing, sewn with tiny stitches, were made by talented dollmaker Kathy Patterson.

I remember picking small wild strawberries with a friend in the pasture behind my house. We made a delicious strawberry shortcake. That evening we spent the night in a small army tent in the pasture, studying for a history final with a flashlight. We woke up to see the lovely dew on the grass and cows and horse grazing around our tent. We had a great time that morning jumping on the horse riding bareback!

Wildflowers found around Corgyncombe and David Austin Roses in an old vasculum.

Pretty flowers decorating the outside of the vasculum.

In the book "1 is One" written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, the pages illustrating three swallows are bordered by wildflowers including strawberries and clover.

"A Basket of Herbs" illustrated by Tasha Tudor shows two children picking wild strawberries along with two corgis who look very interested in the strawberries. She also included a pencil drawing of a wild strawberry plant showing the strawberries and the blossom.

In "A Time to Keep" written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, the endpaper devoted to Summer features strawberries, clovers, roses, daisies and buttercups along with a frog. Tasha Tudor inscribed on this page "With love to Diane! Tasha Tudor"

Lovely landscapes and countryside.

Lydia found some clover at meadow's edge.

"Tuesday, 9th June - A meadow near at hand would seem to give more pleasure than a corn-field. Grain, to appear to full advantage, should be seen at a little distance, where one may note the changes in its coloring with the advancing season, where one may enjoy the play of light when the summer clouds throw their shadows there, or the breezes chase one another over the waving lawn. It is like a piece of shaded silk which the salesman throws off a little, that you may better appreciate the effect. But a meadow is a delicate embroidery in colors, which you must examine closely to understand all its merits; the nearer you are, the better. One must bend over the grass to find the blue violet in May, the red strawberry in June; one should be close at hand to mark the first appearance of the simple field-blossoms, clover, red and white, buttercup and daisy, with the later lily, and primrose, and meadow-tuft; one should be nigh to breathe the sweet and fresh perfume, which increases daily until the mowers come with their scythes."
~ "Rural Hours" by Susan Fenimore Cooper

"Rural Hours" by Susan Fenimore Cooper alongside Lydia and a strawberry and clover teacup.

 The countryside that Susan Fenimore Cooper roamed in "Rural Hours" is the same countryside that my ancestors came to during and after the Revolution, country life and landscapes that they were most fond of for generations.

My daughter Sarah wrote:
"In reading various entries in "Rural Hours" I was delighted to discover that some of Susan Fenimore Cooper's thoughts reminded me of my Mum's... not entirely put in the same way but still, similar observations, both often coming from an artistic perspective, aware of loveliness. It has been passed down to me, this tradition of appreciation of beauty in nature and landscape and old fashioned good taste. Knowing and hearing my Mum since I was a very little girl, I know her enthusiasm for such things. How I enjoyed reading pages of "Rural Hours" and as I noticed similarities, I kept thinking Mum and I have more in common with Susan than we have with much of society today."
~ Sarah E. Johnson

Some of the photographs and some of the writings on this post are from previous Corgyncombe Courant posts that can be found here on the Corgyncombe Courant and from our previous writings elsewhere on the internet.

Our email:
atthecottagegate@yahoo.com


http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2016/07/wild-strawberries-about-meadow-and-lawn.html
copyright © 2016 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson
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A Carriage Ride Along Corgi Creek!

May Day Delights!

Emma was overjoyed to have her Cousin Lucy come join her to live at Corgyncombe! The girls get along splendidly and share many of the same interests!
Lucy and Emma are Izannah Walker inspired dolls and were made by talented dollmaker Margaret Flavin, who also made their charming clothes and bonnets!

The chosen music to accompany this post is from
"Friendly Persuasion":
Click Here for Specially Chosen Delightful Music
Return Here to Read the Corgyncombe Courant.

As they take a leisurely carriage ride amongst the daffodils on the banks of Corgi Creek, Emma tells Lucy the story of Diane's grandparents courtship, that Diane had shared with the Izannah Girls.

Charming, Quaint, and Romantic!
Grandfather Goes Courtin'!

Diane's Grandfather Goin' Courtin' with horse and buggy.
Grandfather had brown eyes and red hair, which Grandmum loved!

Some of the photographs and some of the writings on this post are from previous Corgyncombe Courant posts that can be found here on the Corgyncombe Courant.

Diane's Grandmum in her wedding frock.
Grandmum had lovely light blue eyes and long dark brown hair which she put up, which Grandfather loved!

An old photograph of Diane's Grandmum in her wedding frock along with an antique camera. Diane aspires to do portrait photography with old cameras such as this using the Corgyncombe Antique Clothing Collection.

Diane's Grandmum and Grandfather were both of early Quaker descent. Both of their families started out in Massachusetts, north of Boston in the Newbury area and south of Boston in the Dartmouth area. Their Quaker families, known as the Society of Friends, then settled in an area known as the Oblong.

The Oblong was a long, narrow strip of land whose ownership was disputed between Connecticut and New York. In this long, narrow strip, Diane's Quaker families settled and lived.

"The History of Dutchess County, New York" edited by Frank Hasbrouck, published 1909, says the following: "The Oblong Patent, covering a narrow strip along the east borders of Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties, was ceded to the State of New York by Connecticut, May 14, 1731."

The Valley in Spring.
Imagine riding in a horse and buggy along the lovely rolling hills, with the only sounds being the horses hooves and the lovely sound of the Baltimore Oriole flying from apple tree to apple tree, along with the other songbirds, and livestock to pasture, the sound of the creek, and ahhhh, the fragrance of the May apple tree...

May apple blossoms at sunrise down near Corgi Creek.
Later in May the apples trees will burst forth with lovely, fragrant blooms.

In "Tasha Tudor, The Direction of Her Dreams" by Wm John Hare and Priscilla T. Hare, Tasha Tudor's daughter Bethany Tudor speaks of how Tasha Tudor was inspired by the movie "Friendly Persuasion" to illustrate the endpapers of "Around the Year". The endpapers of "Around the Year" show a couple riding in a horse and buggy, crossing a creek, with lovely countryside round with sheep and cows to pasture.

The movie "Friendly Persuasion" was about a Quaker family amidst the Civil War. The movie's introduction song is so lovely accompanying this post.

As they continue their journey along Corgi Creek,
Emma and Lucy discuss all the fun things to do at Corgyncombe. Emma says "There will be tea parties, lots of fun playing with dollies, watching the birds and little critters, working in the herb, flower and vegetable gardens, making candles, making sweet soothing goat's milk soap and writing stories!"

"We also like reading and have a fine library with many little books! We all enjoy making tussie mussies and pressing flowers, carriage rides about the acreage, and perhaps there will be another sighting of 'Corie Combie, The Curious Carnivorous Creature of Corgyncombe's Corgi Creek'. There are other surprises that you will love, Lucy! I have seen them and I am so excited!"
Lucy says she is excited, too!

When Lucy came to Corgyncombe she brought little Pansy with her in a charming little box! Upon arrival Pansy flitted off to explore the wilderness of Corgyncombe.
Pansy nestles amongst the violas and has found her favorite flower that has pretty colours just like her!

You can see the hollow mossy log behind the carriage.

Whilst riding Lucy and Emma spied Pansy by the mossy hollow log where Miss Elsie Pricklish the Hedgehog makes her summer home.

I (Diane) learned to make May baskets like the May basket above in kindergarten from my teacher. My dear kindergarten teacher Mrs. Platt had also been my Mum's grade school teacher. We make our May baskets out of wallpaper from wallpaper sample books, lined with stiffer paper, in the shape of a cone with a handle. The wallpaper for our baskets is so much fun to pick out from all the samples! Sometimes we also make paper flowers to add to the May baskets, too! Making May baskets is a May Day family tradition at Corgyncombe!

Our dolls and animal friends also make small May baskets of their own!

The May basket above is hung on "A Time to Keep" illustrated by Tasha Tudor! Tasha Tudor has done delightful illustrations of children leaving their May baskets at the door and children dancing around the Maypole with a joyful Corgi herding the children in a circle. In the borders round, there are beautiful spring flowers, robins, barns swallows, and a bluebird.

Twinkle Toes and Pansy on an antique vasculum.
Twinkle Toes and Pansy were made by Margaret Flavin.
In the old days children would go out and about in the woods, fields, hills, and dales and gather plant specimens for studying botany and pressing. A tin vessel with a tight fitting lid would keep the flower specimens fresh. This tin vessel is called a vasculum and has a strap for carrying over your shoulder.

"Song on May Morning"

"Now the bright morning-star, day's harbinger,
Comes dancing from the east, and leads with her
The flowery May, who from her green lap throws
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.
Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire
Mirth, and youth, and warm desire;
Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.
Thus we salute thee with our early song,
And welcome thee, and wish thee long."
- John Milton

We hope all our dear readers have a lovely May Day!

Here is a link to:
Tasha Tudor and Family
There you can find "Around the Year" and "A Time to Keep", two of the Corgyncombe Library's favorite Tasha Tudor books!

http://corgyncombecourant.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-carriage-ride-along-corgi-creek.html
copyright © 2013 Diane Shepard Johnson and Sarah E. Johnson

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