In the winter and the summer, Near the winding Tunxis River, Where the oxen turn the furrows, And the house-wives do the milking, Where the windy roads are drifted And the spring-time mud is deepest, When the south-wind melts the snow-banks; Where the winters are the coldest, And the summers are the hottest-- Listen to the locusts singing In the trees beside the hay-field, See the thunder-heads are rising High above the hazy mountain; See the sturdy farmers hasten With the loading of the hay-carts, Ere the coming of the shower, Lingers still this Light House Legend. Midst the forest on the hill-side Near the winding Tunxis River, Where, beside the granite boulders Indian pipes, so white and fragile, Bloom and blush in lovely silence, Safely hidden, unmolested, In the rugged Mountain County, In their shady, woodland bowers. Is the site of ancient cabins, Was the home of Molly Barber. In this Land of Wooden Nutmegs, In this Land of Steady Habits, In the rugged Mountain County, In the town of fair Barkhamsted, Near the winding Tunxis River, Where the groaning mills and presses. Flow with sweet and luscious cider, In the sunny days of autumn, Lingers yet this ancient legend, Told by fathers to their children, Gathered round the supper table, When the candle-light is feeble And the wind is in the chimney-- In this Land of toil and business, In this land of sun and shadow, On the slope beside the river, Is the place and true location, Of this ancient Light House legend. 2. DWELT A PEOPLE PARTLY INDIAN. Where the Tunxis wanders down, Twixt the mountains, rolling southward, In beauty through Barkhamsted Town, Dwelt a people partly Indian. In a narrow vale sequestered, Through which flows the winding Tunxis, North of peaceful Pleasant Valley And the grassy fields of "Moose Plain," In the gate-way to the County, Gate-way to the "Mountain County"-- Ragged Mountain to the eastward, Rugged Woodruff to the westward, Guarding well the narrow valley, In the town of fair Barkhamsted, Where now grow the birch and alder, Hardy maple, oak and walnut, Graceful hemlocks, lofty pine trees, Spreading up the shady hill-side, Hill-side stony, steep and rocky, Was a group of ragged cabins, Dwelt in by a people blended, Partly white and partly Indian, Partly from the early settlers, And the vagabonds of travel. 3. LIVED THIS PEOPLE WITHOUT SYSTEM. They dwelt beside the river's flow, Hunting, toiling through the seasons, Midst summer heat and winter snow, Living in the gloomy forest.