Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

by Washington Irving

  100.25 doomsday book] Properly Domesday Book. The great survey of England, ordered by William the Conqueror.

  100.33 An ancient picture] Apparently of John Williams (1582-1650), dean of Westminster and a key political figure before the Puritan Revolution.

  102.40 Robert Grosteste of Lincoln] Usually spelled Grosseteste (ca. 1175-1253). He was bishop of Lincoln, and wrote many works on theology, philosophy, and husbandry.

  103.2-3 Gyraldus Cambrensis] Gerald of Wales (1146-1220?). A turbulent churchman and topographer who wrote a number of works on various subjects.

  103.5-6 Henry of Huntingdon] (1084?-1155), archdeacon. He wrote a Historia Anglorum and De Contemptu Mundi.

  103.8 Joseph of Exeter] (ca. 1190). Author of a Latin poem in six books, De Bello Trojano, and a number of other works in Latin. Some of the writings with which he is credited may never have existed.

  103.13 John Wallis, the Franciscan] John Waleys or Wallensis, regent master of the Franciscan schools at Oxford before 1260, and author of theological works. He also taught in Paris, where he was known as “Arbor Vitae” (“The Tree of Life”).

  103.14 William of Malmsbury] (ca. 1090-1143). Librarian of Malmesbury Abbey. His Gesta Regum Anglorum is based on ballads which he collected.

  103.14 Simeon of Durham] (ca. 1130), precentor of Durham. He wrote a history of Durham Cathedral and other compilations.

  103.14-15 Benedict of Peterborough] (d. 1193), abbot of Peterborough. He wrote histories of the Passion, and of the miracles of St. Thomas à Becket.

  103.15 John Hanvill of St. Albans] Born probably before 1180, and known as John of St. Giles, John Giles, or John of St. Albans. He was a Dominican monk and physician, and archdeacon of Oxford. His only extant work is Experimenta Joannis de S. Aegideo.

  103.20 Wynkyn de Worde] (d. 1534). He was a Belgian pupil of William Caxton, and became the second printer in London.

  103.32 Robert of Gloucester] (ca. 1260-1300). Known only from the metrical Chronicle of England (to 1270) which bears his name.

  103.37 Chaucer’s Testament of Love] The Testament of Love was actually written by Thomas Usk, a contemporary of Chaucer.

  103.38 Holinshed] Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580) published his Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1577. The passage is unlocated.

  103.40 John Scogan] (ca. 1480). Fool at the court of Edward IV. “It is not improbable that his biography, which is supplied in his ‘Jests,’ said to have been compiled by Andrew Boorde ... is apocryphal and that Scogan is a fictitious hero” (Dictionary of National Biography).

  103.40 John Lydgate, monke of Berrie] (ca. 1370-1449). He wrote well over 100,000 lines of poetry, much of it justly forgotten. At the age of fifteen he became a monk at the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds.

  103.42 John Jewell, Bishop of Sarum] John Jewel (1522-1571) was bishop of Salisbury (formerly Sarum). Hooker was among his protégés, and Fuller edited his works.

  103.42-43 John Fox] John Foxe wrote The Acts and Monuments of the Church (1563), better known as “The Book of Martyrs.”

  104.1 ... Spenser’s ‘well of pure English undefiled,’] See note 62.23.

  104.18 As unintelligible ... as an Egyptian obelisk] Champollion’s discovery of the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphics was not made public until 1822, at least three years after Irving wrote the sketch.

  104.22 Xerxes] See Herodotus, The Histories, bk. 7, par. 44-46.

  104.28-29 Sackville’s stately plays, and Mirror for Magistrates] Thomas Sackville, earl of Dorset (1536-1608), wrote an “Induction” and one of the stories for the second edition of the collection of rhymed narratives called A Mirror for Magistrates (1563). The “Induction” is one of the best English poems between the Canterbury Tales and The Faerie Queen. He also collaborated in the first blank verse tragedy, Gorboduc, later entitled Ferrex and Porrex.

  104.30 “unparalelled John Lyly.”] In 1632 Edward Blount collected six of Lyly’s plays, and published them as Sixe Court Comedies ... Written By the onely Rare Poet of that Time, The Witie, Comicall, Facetiously-Quicke and Unparalelld: John Lilly, Master of Arts. See note 8.8.

  104.42 Bellona] Roman goddess of war.

  104.42 Suada] Roman goddess of persuasion.

  104.43 Harvey’s Pierces’s Supererogation] Gabriel Harvey (1545?-1630), fellow of Cambridge, friend of Spenser, lecturer, rhetorician. Pierce’s Supererogation (1593) was one of his contributions to a long and vicious pamphlet war between Gabriel and his brother Richard on one side, and Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe on the other.

  105.15 groan with rank and excessive vegetation] See Comus, lines 720- 31.

  105.31 fountains of thought ... broken up] See Gen. 7:11.

  106.3 checks on population ... economists] Thomas Malthus published his much discussed Essay on Population in 1798.

  106.17 knew little of Latin, and nothing of Greek] See Ben Jonson’s poem, “To the Memory of Mr. W. Shakespeare,” which was prefaced to the First Folio.

  107.7 faithful portrayer of nature] See Hamlet, III, ii: “to hold, as ’t were, the mirror up to nature.”

  107.44 CHURCHYARD] Thomas Churchyard (1520?-1604), soldier and minor poet. The quotation is unidentified.

  RURAL FUNERALS

  109.7 CYMBELINE] IV, ii.

  109.23-27 White his shroud ....] Hamlet, IV, v (inaccurately quoted).

  110.1 says Bourne] in Antiquitates Vulgares, chap. 3. Henry Bourne (1696-1733), divine and antiquary. See Acts 20:24.

  110.25 Sir Thomas Overbury] (1581-1613). The brief description in prose of different character types which were appended to Overbury’s didactic poem, A Wife, were known as “characters,” and were written by a number of other authors as well as by Overbury. The sketch of “the faire and happy milkmaid” is most likely by John Webster, the dramatist.

  110.30 “The Maid’s Tragedy,”] First published in 1619. The lines quoted are in I, i. The maid cannot marry her lover and so laments.

  110.38 Herrick] Robert Herrick (1591-1674), major Cavalier poet and apparently one of Irving’s favorite authors. The passage is stanza 2 of “The Dirge of Jephthah’s Daughter,” Number 83 in Noble Numbers.

  111.4 says Evelyn, in his Sylva] John Evelyn (1620-1706), famous for the Diary which bears his name. His Sylva (1664) is a plea for reforestation in England.

  111.31 “Corydon’s Doleful Knell,”] Stanzas 5 to 7. See Percy’s Reliques. vol. II, bk. 2, song 27.

  112.14 Camden ... Britannia] William Camden (1551-1623), antiquary, historian, and teacher of Ben Jonson. The Britannia is a Latin survey of the British Isles. The passage quoted by Irving was apparently added by Bishop Gibson in his edition of the Britannia (1772).

  112.21 Thomas Stanley, Esq.] (1625-1678), lyric poet.

  112. 29 “The Maid’s Tragedy,”] The passage is in II, i.

  113.13-16 “Lay her i’ the earth,” ... violets spring!] Hamlet, V, i.

  113.17 “Dirge of Jephtha,”] “The Dirge of jephtha’s Daughter,” stanzas 11 and 13. See note 110.38.

  114.3-9 With fairest flowers....] Cymbeline, IV, ii.

  114.27 Jeremy Taylor] (1613-1667). Bishop and author of Holy Living, Holy Dying, The Liberty of Prophesying, and some outstanding sermons. The quotation is from his Funeral Sermon on the Countess of Carbery.

  115.9-12 Each lonely place shall him restore....] A free rendering of the last stanza of a poem by William Collins (1721-1759), entitled “Dirge in Cymbeline.”

  117.32 Bright, in his travels in Lower Hungary] Richard Bright, M.D. (1789-1858), discoverer of Bright’s disease, and physician to Queen Victoria, author of Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary (Edinburgh, 1818).

  118.1 Iffland] August Wilhelm Iffland (1759-1814). German actor and dramatist.

  THE INN KITCHEN

  119.2 Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?] Henry IV, Part I, III, iii. See also 209.19—20.

  119.5 Pomme d’Or] Golden Apple.

  119.6 table d’hote] A fixed-price meal at a specified time.

  120.24
écume de mer] meerschaum.

  THE SPECTRE BRIDGEGROOM

  121.8 SIR EGER, SIR GRAHAME, AND SIR GRAY-STEEL] The story appears in Early Metrical Tales, &c. (Edinburgh: W. and D. Laing, 1826). Irving’s source is unknown.

  122.12 the Heldenbuch] Collection of thirteenth century German epic poetry. Its literary value is not great.

  122.18 Minne-lieders] Irving means Minnesingers, the German troubadours of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries who sang Minnelieder, or love songs.

  122.32 wasting their sweetness] See Gray’s “Elegy Written in A Country Church-Yard,” line 56.

  124.14 the fatted calf had been killed] An allusion to Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son.

  124.16 Rhein-wein] Rhein wine.

  124.17 Ferne-wein] Properly Firne-wein, old but inferior wine, tasting of the barrel. Irving apparently mistook the meaning of the term.

  124.17 the great Heidelburg tun] The Great Tun (20 feet high by 31 feet long, and holding 49,000 gallons) is kept in the castle of Heidelberg, the German university town. It was built in 1751, and is thus an anachronism in the story.

  124.19 Saus und Braus] revelry and riotous living.

  128.14 Hoch-heimer] Hochheimer is a famous Rhine wine.

  128.38-40 Leonora ... world] Lenore is the name of the heroine of a popular ballad by Gottfried August Burger (1747-1794), who is carried off by the ghost of her dead lover.

  129.42 the wild huntsman] See Burger’s “Der Wilde Jäger,” which was translated by Sir Walter Scott.

  WESTMINSTER ABBEY

  134.16 CHRISTOLERO’S EPIGRAMS, by T. B. 1598.] Chrestoleros: Seven Bookes of Epigrams, written by Thomas Bastard (1566-1618), depicts the manners of the time and is sometimes very bitter.

  135.14—15 Vitalis ... Gislebertus ... Laurentius ....] Vitalis was a Norman; Gislebertus (Gilbert Crispin) exhumed the body of Edward the Confessor in 1102; Laurentius obtained the canonization of Edward in 1163. “Abbas” means “Abbot.”

  136.11 Addison] Joseph Addison (1672-1719). He and Richard Steele wrote The Tatler and The Spectator.

  137.32-33 “all the brothers....”] See the full inscription on p. 146.

  137.36-37 the tomb of Mrs. Nightingale, by Roubillac] Lady Elizabeth Nightingale (d. 1731). Louis Roubillac (1695-1762) was a French sculptor, whose monument for Mrs. Nightingale was erected in 1758.

  140.33 Edward the Confessor] Edward, king of England and later a saint, ruled from 1042 to his death in 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest.

  140.40 “beds of darkness.”] See Job 17:13: “I have made my bed in the darkness.”

  142.7-9 “Our fathers,” says Sir Thomas Brown....] Hydriotaphia, Urne Buriall (1658), chap. 5. Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682), a physician, also wrote Religio Medici.

  142.16-18 “The Egyptian mummies....”] Browne, Hydriotaphia, chap. 5.

  142.17 Cambyses] Son of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. In 525 B.C. he conquered Egypt.

  142.17 Mizraim] One of the sons of Ham. See Gen. 10:6. The name signifies Egypt.

  142.28 as a tale that is told.] Ps. 90:9.

  142.30 NOTES CONCERNING WESTMINSTER ABBEY] Irving added this section in 1848.

  142.33-34 Pope Gregory the Great] Pope from 590-604. One of the four great doctors of the Western Church. He sent Augustine to England in 596.

  144.18 A curious narrative] A True and Perfect Narrative of the Strange and Unexpected Finding the Crucifix and Gold-Chain of that Pious Prince, St. Edward, the King and Confessor, which was found after 620 Years’ Interment: and Presented to His Most Sacred Majesty, King James the Second, by Charles Taylour, Gent. (London, 1688). Irving follows the narrative closely.

  144.19 Paul Pry] A busybody in a comedy of the same name by John Poole, which was produced at Haymarket on September 13, 1825.

  145.41 Malcolm. Lond. Rediv.] Londinium Redivivum, by James Peller Malcolm, 1802 (in four volumes). The quoted passage is supposedly in vol. I, p. 94.

  146.1 Inscription on a monument....] The allusion is on p. 137. The orthography and punctuation are generally modernized.

  146.29 one of the Pultneys. ] Daniel Pulteney, a lord of the Admiralty, who died in 1731.

  CHRISTMAS

  147.5 HUE AND CRY AFTER CHRISTMAS] From the anonymous pamphlet “Arraignment, Conviction and Imprisoning of Christmas: ... with An Hue and Cry after Christmas....” (London, 1645).

  148.10 OLD SONG] This is reported to be stanza 7 of “Time’s Alteration,” found in Joseph Ritson’s Select Collection of English Songs (1783).

  150.36 sherris sack] a dry white Spanish wine; sherry.

  151.21 Waits] Bands of musicians and singers who at Christmas time went from house to house.

  151.24 “when deep sleep falleth upon man,”] See Job 4:13 and 33:15.

  151.31 “telling the night watches ...”] Comus, line 34, “Count the night watches to his feathery Dames.” See note 105.15.

  151.33-39 “Some say that ever ...”] Hamlet, act I, sc. 1.

  152.9 Stranger and sojourner] See Ps. 39:12. There are several similar combinations of the words, as in Lev. 25:23.

  THE STAGE COACH

  153.2-7 Omne benè ... deponendi.] Unknown origin; similar to the verses in the Carmina Burana, set to music by Carl Orff. A rendering which catches the spirit of the piece might be as follows: Every pleasure / No more pain / Now it’s time for play. / The hour has come / To set aside / Our books without delay.

  153.35 Bucephalus] Favorite horse of Alexander the Great.

  156.1-11 “Now capons and hens ... lick his fingers.”] The passage quoted is from the December section in Nicholas Breton’s The Fantasticks (1626).

  156.9-10 Dice and cards benefit the butler] It was customary for the players to give part of their winnings to the butler.

  157.8 a smoke jack] A device for turning a roasting-spit.

  157.39 Poor Robin’s Almanack, 1684] Poor Robin was one of many prophetical almanacs originating in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and differs from most in its humorous attitude toward its own prophecies.

  CHRISTMAS EVE

  159.10 CARTWRIGHT] These lines are from The Ordinary, III, i, a comedy by Cartwright. See 29.8.

  159.23 Peacham] Henry Peacham (1576-1644?). His Compleat Gentleman (1622) deals with manners, geometry, poetry, music, military arts, and other matters thought relevant to the education of a gentleman.

  159.24 Chesterfield] Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773) wrote Letters to His Son (1774) addressed to his illegitimate son, Philip. The letters, not originally intended for publication, counsel sophistication and the keeping up of appearances rather than normal behavior.

  161.3 ‘merrie disport.’] Stow’s Survey of London, 1603 edition, p. 98. See note 92.41.

  161.8 “mongrel, puppy, whelp ...”] From “An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog,” in Chapter 17 of The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), by Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774).

  161.11-12 “—The little dogs and all....”] King Lear, III, vi.

  162.9-11 the old games of hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, Bob apple, and snap dragon] Hoodman blind: Blind Man’s Buff. Shoe the wild mare: The player chosen to be the wild mare was allowed a head start, and then chased by the other players. In trying to escape, the mare probably kicked enthusiastically. In a Scottish version the player chosen had to perform stunts upon a beam strung between two ropes. If he did not fall off he successfully shod the “auld” mare. Hot cockles: One player had to kneel down blindfolded, and, being struck, had to guess who hit him. Bob apple: The player had to try to catch in his mouth an apple swinging at the end of a string. (A bob is the weight at the end of a plumb-line.) Snap dragon: The object is to snatch raisins from a tray of blazing brandy, and eat them without burning oneself.

  163.33-38 Come, bring with a noise.... ] Robert Herrick, “Ceremonies for Christmasse,” stanza 1, from Hesperides (1648).

  164.15-16 perfectly orthodox] Minced pie, also called “Christmas pie,
” was in disfavor with those of Puritan predilections, who did not observe Christmas.

  167.27-28 “no spirit dares stir abroad,”] Hamlet, I, i.

  168.1 waits] See note 151.21.

  CHRISTMAS DAY

  169.2-10 Dark and dull night....] From stanzas 1, 3, and 4 of Herrick’s “A Christmas Caroll sung to the King in his Presence at White-Hall,” Number 96 in Noble Numbers.

  169.18-19 Rejoice ... morning.] The varying refrain of a carol, “The Sunny Bank,” found in Songs of the Nativity, pp. 23-24, published without a date by J. C. Hotten.

  170.31-38 ‘Tis thou that crown’st....“] ”A Thanksgiving to God, for His House,” Noble Numbers, 47, lines 37-44. See note 110.38.

  171.36 Sir Anthony Fitzherbert] (1470-1538), judge and author. His Booke of Husbandrie is a practical manual for farmers.

  172.21 Markham’s Country Contentments] Gervase (or Jervaise) Markham (1568-1637), scholar, poet, dramatist, horsebreeder, and agriculturist. Country Contentments (1611) is a book for sportsmen.

  172.21-22 the Tretyse of Hunting, by Sir Thomas Cockayne, Knight] Sir Thomas Cokayne (1519?-1592), a country gentleman who devoted himself to hunting, published A Short Treatise of Hunting, compyled for the Delight of Noblemen and Gentlemen in 1591.

  172.22-23 Isaac Walton’s Angler] Izaak Walton (1593-1683) wrote The Compleat Angler (1653) and a collection of lives of his contemporaries. See note 264.2-10 in “The Angler,” where Walton is repeatedly cited.

  172.35 old Tusser] Thomas Tusser (ca. 1525-1580) became the poet laureate of the farm. He composed a Hundred Good Points of Husbandry Married to as Many of Good Huswifery. The verse is unlocated.

  173.4-6 ‘deep, solemn mouths,’ ...] The passage Irving quotes from concerns choosing dogs for “sweetness of cry.”