The Riddle of Penncroft Farm (21 page)

Everything that happens in the historical part of this book is as true as I could make it, except for the insertion of Geordie (along with his family, Sandy, the Derrys, and the Owenses) and minor liberties taken with the sequence of Revolutionary events and with George Washington's wig (he didn't wear one). In addition to the famous (and infamous) figures of the Revolution, many other minor characters are based on actual people or events involving people whose names have faded into the past. For example, a Squire Cheyney tried to warn Washington, who was then reluctantly guided by Mr. Brown. American vedettes were surprised at Welsh's tavern and had to escape on foot. Quakers carried on their regular worship service despite skirmishing outside Kennett Meetinghouse. The manager of the elegant City Tavern was a man named Daniel Smith (a Tory who left with the British). There really was an orderly book that may have helped alert the patriots about British plans to attack Whitemarsh. Philadelphia was despoiled, and American prisoners did shiver and starve in the State House. The men at Valley Forge chanted “No bread, no soldier” and joked in the face of terrible hardships while the Conway Cabal tried to get Congress to replace Washington with Gates. Spies for both sides passed back and forth between Valley Forge and British-occupied Philadelphia with astonishing ease. In addition, Sandy's letter refers to real events (although she's right to doubt the story about the Indians and the Grenadiers scaring each other off at Barren Hill).

My central aim in making up this story, however, was not to gather anecdotes about the Revolution but to show that it was, indeed, the First American Civil War. There were many people who felt the same way Geordie's parents did, and for excellent reasons. It has been said that of the people living in America at the time of the Revolution, nearly one-third were loyalist and one-third were neutral. This means only one-third were active patriots. Of these, some (like my made-up Mr. Owens and the regrettably real Benedict Arnold) embraced the Revolution for personal gain or ambition. Most patriots, however, were genuinely committed to winning freedom from England, or they would not have given up so much to achieve it. An understanding of the complexities, the risks, the terror, and the uncertainties faced by our forefathers helps us see how remarkable their achievement was. Yet they were only people, and if they could muddle through incredibly difficult times, so can we.

Penncroft Farm, Blackberry Hill Farm, and Seek-No-Further Pike cannot be found on any map. Geordie and his family lived only on these pages. But there were many families that were as divided as theirs, and there were many Tories who suffered worse fates than a partly burned barn. Most lost their property. Some lost their lives. All lost their homeland, either literally or figuratively. They were part of our national history and should be remembered. They were the losers in the First American Civil War. Thank goodness.

agog
—in a state of excited eagerness

apoplectic
—liable to have a stroke (apoplexy)

bedlamite
—insane person (Bedlam was a British insane asylum)

benighted
—stranded by nightfall

buff
—tan in color, bare skin (“in the buff” means “naked”)

bumpkin
—a hick, an ignorant person

bussing
—kissing

charity
—good will, friendship

ciphering
—arithmetic, writing in secret code

cockade
—a leather hat ornament showing political loyalty

Conestoga
—A Pennsylvania Indian tribe

Continental
—referred to the American continent, therefore applied to American soldiers, Congress, and paper money

crop
—a small whip

dab hand
—an expert

deucedly
—extremely (used in mild oath)

doleful
—unhappy

doodle
—a fool

farthing
—a small British coin, worth only half a
ha'penny

fathom
—to understand thoroughly

flying hospital
—temporary hospital

fortnight
—two weeks

furlong
—about ⅛ of a mile (a standard plowed furrow length)

gaiters
—covering for the lower part of the leg

gewgaws
—trinkets, toys

gull
—to fool

ha'penny
—a coin worth half a penny

Hessian
—person from Hesse, a kingdom of central Germany

hob
—the shelf inside a fireplace for keeping food warm

hornbook
—reading chart covered with thin layer of cow's horn

huzzlecap
—game in which players throw coins into a hat

larder
—food storage area

leading strings
—a sort of leash for toddlers

leeching
—putting leeches on the skin to suck out “bad” blood

linsey-woolsey
—coarse cloth made of linen and wool fiber

lobsterbacks
—red-uniformed British soldiers

loyalist
—a person who was loyal to the King of England

mite
—a little bit (also, a tiny insect, see
scabies
)

mobcap
—a woman's loose cap

mollycoddle
—baby, overprotect

mulled
—heated and flavored with spices

nattered
—chattered, complained

ninnyhammer
—a stupid person

nunchion
—snack, light lunch

orderly book
—a book containing battle plans

pallet
—a straw mattress

periwigged
—wearing a wig

perry
—pear cider, fermented so it contained alcohol

pioneer
—army scout

pomace
—crushed pulp of fruit pressed for juice

puddingheart
—a fearful person, a scaredycat

puncheon
—a rough wooden surface made of split logs

putrid
—infected, rotten (modern slang: “yucky”)

redcoat
—a British soldier (the uniforms were red)

redoubt
—ditch with dirt piled up to provide shelter from attack

riddle
—a word puzzle, a mystery, a coarse sieve

rucksack
—backpack

rushlights
—candles with wicks made of rushes (a grassy plant)

sapskull
—a fool

scabies
—a skin disease caused by mites burrowing into the skin and laying eggs, causing intense itching

score
—twenty

shot
—bill, account

sideboard
—a piece of dining-room furniture

slugabed
—lazy person who sleeps late

smockfaced
—baby faced

stake and rider
—colonial fence made by bracing stakes together in Xs and laying pieces of wood (called riders) across the top

stentorian
—very loud; from Stentor, a Greek herald in the Trojan War whose voice was louder than fifty men

tankard
—large drinking mug, sometimes with a lid

toadeater
—someone who always agrees with his superiors

toddy
—a hot spiced drink made of whiskey or brandy

Tory
—a loyalist

totty-headed
—silly

traces
—straps hooking an animal to the vehicle it pulls

trencher
—carved wooden platter or bowl

trice
—an instant, a moment

tricorne
—a hat with three corners

tuppence
—a coin worth two pennies

twigged
—observed, saw through

vedettes
—sentries (guards) on horseback

witcrachers
—people who made jokes

witling
—a fool

zany
—crazy (person)

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. Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1971.

Jackson, John W.
Whitemarsh 1777: Impregnable Stronghold
. Fort Washington, Pa.: Historical Society of Fort Washington, 1984.

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. University, Ala.: University of Alabama Press, 1977.

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D
OROTHEA
J
ENSEN
is a former teacher of English. After moving to Minnesota from Philadelphia, she wrote
The Riddle of Penncroft Farm
to make the American Revolution come alive for her own children. She lives in southern New Hampshire, in a colonial house built in the 1700s.

* Definitions adapted from standard dictionaries, the
O.E.D
., Eric Partridge's
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
, and from recent reissues of
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
(1755), Noah Webster's
Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
(1806), and the
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
(Capt. Francis Grose).

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