Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland.Andrews, William
General
Curious Epitaphs, Collected from the Graveyards of Great Britain and Ireland.
Andrews, William
Epitaphs -- Great Britain
A few jottings respecting Metcalf, will probably be read with interest. At
the age of six years he lost his sight by an attack of small-pox. Three
years later he joined the boys in their bird-nesting exploits, and climbed
trees to share the plunder. When he had reached thirteen summers he was
taught music, and soon became a proficient performer; he also learned to
ride and swim, and was passionately fond of field-sports. At the age of
manhood it is said his mind possessed a self-dependence rarely enjoyed by
those who have the perfect use of their faculties; his body was well in
harmony with his mind, for when twenty-one years of age he was six feet
one and a-half inches in height, strong and robust in proportion. At the
age of twenty-five, he was engaged as a musician at Harrogate. About this
time he was frequently employed during the dark nights as a guide over the
moors and wilds, then abundant in the neighbourhood of Knaresborough. He
was a lover of horse-racing, and often rode his own animals. His horses he
so tamed that when he called them by their respective names they came to
him, thus enabling him to find his own amongst any number and without
trouble. Particulars of the marriage of this individual read like a
romance. A Miss Benson, daughter of an innkeeper, reciprocated the
affections of our hero; however, the suitor did not please the parents of
the "fair lady," and they selected a Mr. Dickinson as her future husband.
Metcalf, hearing that the object of his affection was to be married the
following day to the young man selected by her father, hastened to free
her by inducing the damsel to elope with him. Next day they were made man
and wife, to the great surprise of all who knew them, and to the
disappointment of the intended son-in-law. To all it was a matter of
wonder how a handsome woman as any in the country, the pride of the place,
could link her future with 'Blind Jack,' and, for his sake, reject the
many good offers made her. But the bride set the matter at rest by
declaring: "His actions are so singular, and his spirit so manly and
enterprising, that I could not help it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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