The Hudson . gends which were given by him to the world. One ofthese was the legend connected with the old Dutch Church ofSleepy Hollow. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang overthe land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say theplace was bewitched by a high German doctor during the earlydays of the settlement; others that an old Indian chief, thewizard of his tribe, held his pow-wows there before HendrichHudsons discovery of the river. The dominant spirit, however,that haunts this enchanted region, is the apparition of a figureon horse-back, without a head, said to be the ghost of
The Hudson . gends which were given by him to the world. One ofthese was the legend connected with the old Dutch Church ofSleepy Hollow. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang overthe land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say theplace was bewitched by a high German doctor during the earlydays of the settlement; others that an old Indian chief, thewizard of his tribe, held his pow-wows there before HendrichHudsons discovery of the river. The dominant spirit, however,that haunts this enchanted region, is the apparition of a figureon horse-back, without a head, said to be the ghost of a Hessian THE HUDSON. 91 trooper, and was known at all the country firesides as the Headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow.—The Old Dutch Church, the oldest on theHudson, is about one-half mile north from Tarrytown. It was built by Frederick Filipse and his wife Katrina VanCortland in 1690. The material is partly of stone and partly ofbrick brought from Holland. It stands as an appropriate senti-. SLEEPY HOLLOW CHURCH. nel near the entrance to the burial-yard where Irving entering- the gate our way leads past the graves of theAckers, the Van Tassels, and the Van Warts, with inscriptionsand plump Dutch cherubs on every side that often de-lighted the heart of Diedrich Knickerbocker. How many wor-shippers since that November day in 1859, have come hither 92 THE HUDSON. with reverent footsteps to read on the plain slab this simple in-scription: Washing-ton Irving, born April 3, 1783. Died No-vember 28,1859. And what a beautiful tribute from Longfellow In the churchyard at Tarry town ! Here lies the gentle humorist, who diedIn the bright Indian Summer of his simple stone, with but a date and name, Marks his secluded resting place beside The river that he loved and in the Autumn of his days he came,But the dry leaves of life were all aflame With tints that brightened and were multiplied. How sweet a life was his, how sweet a death : Liv
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