In Ancient Albemarle - Introduction

From the Great Swamp's mysterious depths,
Where wild beasts lurk and strange winds sough;
From ancient forests dense and dark,
Where gray moss wreathes the cypress bough:
'Mid marshes green with flowers starred,
Through fens where reeds and rushes sway,
Past fertile fields of waving grain,
'Down to the sea I take my way.

The wild swan floats upon my breast;
The sea-gulls to my waters sink:

And stealing to my low green shores,
The timid deer oft stoops to drink.
The yellow jessamine's golden bells
Ring on my banks their fairy chime:

And tall flag lilies bow and bend,
To the low music keeping time.

Between my narrow, winding banks,
For many a mile I dream along
'Mid silence deep, unbroken save
By rustling reed, or wild bird's song:

Or. murmuring of my shadowed waves
Beneath the feathery cypress trees,
Or pines, responsive to the breath
Of winds that breathe sea memories.

So far removed seem shore and stream,
From sound and sight of mart or mill,
That Kilcokonen's painted braves
Might roam my woods and marshes still.
And still, as in the days of yore,
Ere yet the white man's sail I knew,
Upon my amber waves might skim
The Indian maiden's light canoe.

Thus, half asleep, I dream along,
Till low at first, and far away,
Then louder, more insistent, calls
A voice my heart would fain obey.
And by a force resistless drawn,
The narrow banks that fetter me
I thrust apart, and onward sweep
In quiet strength toward the sea.

I leave my marshes and my fens:

I dream no more upon my way:

But forward press, a river grown,
In the great world my part to play.
Upon my wide and ample breast,
The white-winged boats go hurrying by:

And on my banks the whirring wheels
Of busy mills hum ceaselessly.

And sharing man's incessant toil,
I journey ever onward down,
With many a lovely sister stream,
With all the waters of the Sound,
To join the sea, whose billows break,
In silver spray, in wild uproar,
Upon the golden bars that guard
The lonely Carolina shore.

CONTENTS

I.	Wikacome in Weapomeiok, the Home of George Durant	1
II.	The First Albemarle Assembly—Hall's Creek, near Nixonton	13
IlI.	Enfield Farm—Where the Culpeper Rebellion Began	19
IV.	The Hecklefield Farm	31
V.	Colonial Days in Church and School on Little River, Pasquotank County	46
VI.	The Haunts of Blackbeard	54
VII.	The Old Brick House — a True History of the Historic Dwelling Reputed to be the Home of the Famous Pirate	62
VIII.	"Elmwood," the Old Swann Homestead in Pasquotank County	66
IX.	Pasquotank in Colonial Wars	72
X.	Pasquotank in Colonial Ware "The War of Jenkins' Ear"	78
XI.	A Soldier of the Revolution—The Story of a Pasquotank Boy Who Followed Washington	84
XII.	General Isaac Gregory, a Revolutionary Officer of Pasquotank,Camden	93
XIII.	Perquimans County - Land of Beautiful Women," and the Colonial Town of Hertford	114
XIV.	Currituck, the Haunt of the Wild Fowl	134
XV.	Edenton in the Revolution	153

ILLUSTRATIONS

Old Float Bridge Across the Perquimans River	Frontispiece
The Old Brick House," on Pasquotank River	62
Fairfax, the Home of General Isaac Gregory	112
The Eagle Tavern, Hertford	130
The Cupola House, Edenton	154

Chapter One