Sunday, November 2, 2008

Ripton in a Halloween Song: "The Ghost of Goshen"

Our town appears in the lyrics of this fun spooky song, "The Ghost of Goshen":
...One night he saddled his sorrel mare,
And started over to Ripton, where
He had promised to do some preaching.
Away he cantered over the hill,
Past the schoolhouse at Capen's mill;
The moon was down and the place was still,
Save the sound of a night-hawk screeching.

At last he came to a deep ravine,
He felt a kind of queer, and mean
Sensation stealing o'er him.
Old Sorrel began to travel slow,
Then gave a snort and refused to go;
The parson chucked, and he holloa'd "whoa,"
And wondered what was before him.
...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This poem appeared in "The Delsarte Speaker or Modern Elocution," which was compiled by Henry Northrop. My grandfather attended schools in Ripton in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We believe he learned the poem while in school. He recited it to the pleasure of all until he died at 80years old. We knew it as "Grandpa's Speakin' Piece."