Famous then the basket-maker,
Grandson of fair Molly Barber,
And her spouse, the Honest Chaugham.
Old and weak and poor they lingered,
For a time beside the Tunxis,
Telling each who stopped to listen,
Al1 the story of brave Molly
And her spouse, the Honest Chaugham,
How he was with Spain connected
Through the Spanish Senorita,
How the Light House Village prospered
With its two and thirty cabins
On the side of Ragged Mountain,
How the people made a living,
Daily hunting, fishing, trading,
Making baskets strong and useful;
All the names of all the children
Of the hill-side generations.
Last of all he told more slowly
All the story of the graveyard,
Southward on the sandy hill-side
Where beneath the forest shadows,
"Over fifty dead were buried."
Thus the ancient basket-maker
Told the story of his people,
Legend of the famous Light House
In a paradise of beauty
Midst the hills of Litchfield County.
From his lips this ancient legend
Of the village on the hill-side.
47. MOLLY BARBER, HONEST CHAUGHAM.
To-day the place is calm and still,
Save the ripple of the Tunxis,
Or zephyrs sighing on the hill—
Voices from the Indian village.
Ye who love the ancient legends
Ye who read the ancient stories,
Ye who visit ancient places,
Linger in the Peoples' Forest
On the side of Ragged Mountain
In the town of fair Barkhamsted.
Listen as the breezes whisper,
"Molly Barber—Honest Chaugham."
Wander through the lonely graveyard
Where the silent dead are resting,
Pause beside the empty cellars;
Listen to the Tunxis flowing
Slowly southward through the forest.
Here it was on Ragged Mountain
Years ago that Molly Barber,
With her spouse, the Honest Chaugham
Built her home and reared her children.
On the river and the hill-side
Float the echoes of their voices,
In the murmur of the waters,
In the winds that sway the branches,
In the breeze that whispers sadly,
In the silence of the forest.