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IN...Line: Louise u, Bassett
Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
II v
ill you let me come in for a little visit or are you
No itt-
ousy?" I asked Ella Bartlett as she opened the door, incidentally,
like a thunder cloud.
"No, no, come right in, I'm right glad to see you but !'m
not fit company for nobody, dead or alive. I'm jest regular 'mean
cross', mean as tl:o pins an' crosser then a whole paper of ',em.
Come in if you think you can stand me, I won't be nice an don't
you expect I will."
I went in, delighted to get hold of Ella Bartlett, in a
"mean-crosss frame of mind, for usually when she feels that way, she
talks. 6he is what is called a "sometimey" person, some times she
talks but more often she doesn't but if she is annoyed at anything
she is very "chattey".
Today she is evidently good and mad and something has
happened to upset her.
"Tell me, who has done 'what' to you?"
"Don't you hate to hear some one beat an' beat on a drum.
Don't it sena you nearly insane? Bobby, the lad next door, had a
drum give him for Christmas an' he beats it every one of his wakin'
seconds an' his mother never stops him, no matter if the neighbors
is goin' crazy an' that's what I'm doin' this minute.
"But what has got me riled up is, jest a while back I
heard th' thing goin' like mad. It wan't bein' played like Bobby
plays it. It was jest a kind of loud tum-tum-tum, like as if a
(2)
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
stick was beatin' on the side of th' drum you know th' wood side.
It didn't have no tune, they was no sense to it, 'twant even keepin'
time.
"I was so ragin' mad I jest fell down th' stairs, I was
goin' to spring out at Bobby an' box his eats good for him an' Ian'
sakes 'twant Bobby 'tall. It was his father, playin' soldier think
on it an' he was shoutin' out orders an' if you could tell it from
th' bark of a dog, you're pretty smart, let me tell you."
"Did you box his ears?"
"No, of course not? He said, 'Good mornin' smilin' like)
but I held onto myself. I know he was only doin' it jest to make me
mad an' th' Lord knows he succeeded."
It seemed best to change this conversation. "What you
been doing today, reading sewing?" I asked.
"No, I ben' tryin' to finish this wreath but I'm so het
up I can't work. It takes a steady hand an' I ain't got one today,
it takes a heap of patience, too. Did you ever see th' one I did
when I was a girl. This is it, kind -a pretty huh?"
It is really a very lovely thing, a wreath of delicately
colored flowers in an oval mahogany frame, which was lovely in itself.
"You see all these little flowers are made of hair. Here's
rose buds, pink, you see to harmonize with these white lillies an'
these here pansies an' here's some acorns an' along here's some ivy
an' here's some sweet alyssum.
(3)
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"I made it all out of hair that was my folks an' some of
my friends. It took a good many locks of 'em. This is some of my
great grand mother's hair pretty, wailt it? Grandmother had a lock
of her mother's hair. You know folks years ago always gave a lock of
their hair to th' ones they loved suitors most always gave it to their
girls.
"This little forgetmenot was grandmother's hair. That white
A
lil over there was th' hair of a friend's of my mother. Her hair
was a lovely white an' I wanted some awful bad an' one day I got th'
courage to ask her for a lock. I kind -a expected she might be mad but
she seemed real pleased to think I wanted it. It worked in real nice,
aon't you think?
"These acorns are Maria Stone's hair school chum of mine.
I used to color some of th' hair, I'd wet till leaves of artificial
flowers an' it dyed 'em real natural, didn't they? It's funny, but
there's only one person alive whose hair is in that wreath an' some
of 'em was two or three years younger then me.
"It was an awful sight of work but 'twarit so hard after
I got th' hang of it. Many a niglit I dreamt of makin' flowers all
night long. This oval frame is elegant, too, isn't it? Do you know I
believe I had a real knack doin' hair wreaths when I was a girl. I jest
begun this one, maybe I'll never finish it. 'Twouldn't surprise me if
I aidn't."
"Of course you'll finish it." my voice sounded abnormall;y.
cheerful. It was time to change the conversation again.
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
beaus?"
(4)
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
"Tell me, Miss Ella, how old were you when you began having
"Oh, suz, I couldn't think back that far. Let me think, well,
when I was a little girl I had a boy who liked me. Steve was his name,
he sat back of me in school, used to bring me apples an' pears an' would
pull my braids. That was a sign of affection, I can see that when I look
back now.
"We used to go to dancin' school. A dancint teacher came once
a week. I think his name was Nutt. an' yet that dcintt sound jest right
neither. He was quite fat but I never have seen any one so light on their
feet an' so graceful. I can see him now he would play his violin an' do
th' steps an' count, one -two -three-four, all at th' same time.
"Oh, we had such good times those days. This boy who liked
me, Steve, one day at school asked me to go sleigh ridint one Saturday
mornin' an' I said I would. I told my mother an' she didn't say I could
an' I was sure she'd let me. Well, I got all ready an' waited an'
waited but no boy showed up, It was my first experience at bein' held
up an' was I mad.
"When I went to dancin' school that afternoon we had dancin'
school on Saturday afternoons he met me at th' door. I remember I
shook my fist at him an' he hurried to tell me th' horse was sick an'
he was afraid to take her out. I forgot to tell you Steve was thirteen
an' I was twelve.
"Well, of course, I tried to believe him but his mother told
my mother that he had driven up to th' house as big as life an' she
(s)
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
wouldn't let him come for me 'because we was such babies'. His mother
was in our black books for a long time after that. I remember I scarcely
spoke to her at all for at least three or four months an' when I did speak
I was, oh, very cold, which as I look back at it now must have amused her
mightily.
"Those dancin' school afternoons were such fun. It was a
class of 'dancin' an' ball room deportment' an' we had twelve lessons
for five dollars, which to some was great extravagance an' some thought
it wicked, 'ruinin' th' children', they said.
"It was fun to see th' boys come up an' put their right hand
on their heart an' make a low bow they was so awkward an' say, 'May
I have th' pleasure of this waltz' or polka or schottishe or whatever
it might be. An' if you didn't like th' boy you'd take your time gettin'
up an' you knew he'd have loved to have yanked you up but he didn't
dare.
"We danced quadrilles an' square dances an' reels such fun
an' when th' winter was over we'd finish with a grand 'ball'. Some boy
would write you a note, probably hand it to you hisself, askin' you
to go with him to th' ball an' then th' night of th' grand occasion he'd
drive up in one of th' town's hacks. We had two in town an' were they
busy that night, for even if it was only a block you had to drive up to
th' door in a hack.
"The boy an' you'd each have your shoes in a box under your
arm. Everything was very form4 an' as unlike today as it could be.
(6)
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assingment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
I can remember I always felt I was somebody else an' not th' little
devil that would be stickin' out her tongue at this same little boy at
school till next day.
"Although I was small I wasn't a very good dancer but my
mother had taught me I must dance with every one who asked me no
matter if they did walk all over my feet, an' since some of th' girls
wouldn't look at th' bad dancers, I got asked every dance. I guess I
was kind -a amiable those days, which is morein can be said for me these
days.
"I had a uncle who thought th' world of me, who used to say,
'I don't care what you all say, Ella's got the disposition of a angel.'
Goodness suz, I'm glad he can't see me now. He made some kind of a
thing for skates, made considerable money, too and left me a piece of it
but I ain't got none of it now.
"He didn't have much schoolin' but he could do most anything.
He could doctor you better'n any doctor in town. The second he looked
at you he knew if you was comin' down with measles or whoopin' cough or
scarlet fever or anything. He made medicines out of herbs, tasted good,
too.
"An' he could give you such good advice, he kept me from bein'
foolish one time. I believe that is what first started him beini inter-
ested in me. He was away for a while an' I wrote him a letter an' when
he died they found my letter among his papers carefully folded in the
portemonnaie that had his most important papers."
(7)
;Jouise Lx. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
""hat was the letter about, can you tell me?"
"Course, I don't mind, it was when I wanted to leave home.
Wait, I guess maybe I can lay my hands onto it now." After some search-
ing, the letter was produced, "Here, you can read it, no, maybe I better.
It starts, 'Uncle Mine,' that give you a idea how silly I was.
"Well, anyway, here's th' rest of it. 'A crisis has come into
my life. I have made up my mind to leave home an, live by myself. My
home circle stifles me, I cannot breathe, I cannot sleep or eat, I am
miserably unhappy an' will continue to be a wreck unless this unhappy
existence ends. I am very, very lonely. There is nothing so terrible
as aloneness, may you never have it to endure. I don't know how I come
by my artistic temperament but it is there. I am goin' to write a book,
th' family are fully cognizant of this but I receive no sympathy no
understandin'. If I am to create there must be silence in my soul an'
if I am to write truly of life in th' raw I must see life. Father has
forbidden my doin' many things that would widen my view point, so I have
decided to leave home. Will you tell me what I had better do, where I
can earn a livin' an' yet have enough time to finish my literary efforts.
"I will be largely guided by your opinion, I know you love me an'
will understand an' help he in my great need. Tell me Uncle George why
does one's family always have to fail to understand an' do not sympathize
with the family's genius? Your lovin' niece, Ella.
"I guess I stole everything I ever laid my eyes on an' put it
in that letter."
(8)
Name: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Liviiw Lore Topic: Ella bartlett
"It is certainly some letter," I remarked, "where did you gof
what did you do to earn your living and did you ever write your book?"
"I stayed at home, of course, an' was most unhappy an' enjoyed
it. I didn't smile or laugh if I could possibly help it I was so, so
sorry for myself. Uncle George came back to stay an' brought me some
of th' prettiest pink silk you ever laid your eyes onto for a dress. He
paid for havin' it made up for me, I never had anything so nice an' I
forgot all about bein' misunderstood an' all th' rest of it.
"Uncle George was awful good to me from that day till he died
an' as I said he left me considerable when he died.
"I'll show you a picture of me in that dress if you want to
see what it looked like. I got two proposals different times when I was
wearin' that dress, See, here 'tis, that's real lace in those sleeves
an' that jabot around my neck was pretty, wan't it? Th' first time I
wore it was at Easter. We had a ball, I never said a word about it
to any of th' girls an' I made Miss Slavin that was th' dressmaker
here in town she's dead now solemnly swear not to tell a livin'
soul about it an' she didn't an' when I got to th' hall, I went late
on purpose, all th' girls got around me an' we spent so much time talkin'
about th' dress, how it was made an' Uncle George an' all, that the boys
got kind -a vexed with me. An' wan't some of th' girls jealous some on
'em were real 'catty'.
"I had some awful happy times in that pink dress, I wore it till
it was a string. Makes me blue to think on it."
(9)
Name: Louise G. Bassett
Title: Living Lore
Assignment: Brookfield
Topic: Ella Bartlett
"You must have had a good time. What else did y
for fun?" I asked.
"Oh, we went skatin' in winter, though I never was much for
sports, an' sleigh ridin', things like that, an' picnics an' such in
summer. I was afraid of snakes an' spent most of my time settin' in a
buggy when I was out in th' woods, so, things like that didn't mean so
much to me.
"In th' fall we used to some times have apple parin' bees,
that's what they called 'em. We had a funny one once. Did you ever
hear of Mary E. Wilkins."*
I said I had, though I didn't know very much about her
writings.
"Well, I've been told she wrote something about that bee
but she didn't use th' right name of th' folks that give it ant she
didn't say it was here but she does say in two, three of her stories,
about 4,1 -are, so I guess she may have got some ideas from all these little
towns, though I don't say for sure."
"What was so funny about the apple paring bee?"
"Well we used to all get together, them that was invited I
mean an' th' men would pare an' th' women an' girls mostly strung. We
always had to wear aprons for it was apt to spoil what we was wearin'.
One day, th' Hales, had a parin' bee an' we was all asked to it.
They haa a big, big barn an' lots of animals cows an' horses. This
night th' barn an' stalls was all decorated up so it looked right nice."
mmwo...
(10)
Name: Louise u. Bassett Assignment: Brookfield
Title: Living Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
"Well, everything was goin' along fine when all at once some
one called fire an' sure enough one of th' stalls was a fire. It seems
one of th' lads was payin' more attention to one of th' girls then
another girl wanted him to an' this girl was dancin around an' carryin'
on tryin' to draw attention to herself. While she was dancin' she was
her apron around an' it knocked one of th' lanterns down an'
that started a fire quicker'n you could say it. The men got at it right
off an' put it out, but th' smell of smoke an' th' water an' all put a
end to th' bee.
"Mr. an' Mrs. Hale was terrible upset but pretty soon they said
'come an' have supper'. So, we filed in but all there was on that big
table was two big dishes of dried peaches, two big platters of bread
an' a pie an' nothing else come.
"Th' peaches was awful good an' so was th' bread but th' pie
didn't go far, Two, three of th' girls who liked Eugene Downs awful
well was so busy seem' that he got pie that only a few even saw it.
"Well, things was so upset that we thought we better go an'
after we all got our wraps an' was ready, Mrs. Hale said 'Why you
ain't haa any supper' an' sure enough we hadn't none of th' things she
had got ready. k) nothing would do but we had to stay an' eat so we
took off our things an' filed into supper again an' in all your born days
you never saw so much food.
"There was hot baked beans, chicken pie, cold ham an'
tongue an' corn beef, hot biscuits an' muffins, all sorts of pies an'
-14ame: Louise G. Bassett Assignment: BrookfieL
Title: Livia Lore Topic: Ella Bartlett
cakes an' tea an coffee an' pickles an' cole slaw, everything you could
think of. An' to think we almost missed it."
For some time I had been hearing a familiar sound but since
Ella was unconscious of any outside disturbance I said nothing but by
now there was no hiding the fact that the enemy was upon us. The drums
were coming our way Ella Bartlett without further ado flew down the
stairs and out the door and the last I saw and heard was, that Miss Ella
was not winning the war.