Batcheller's Cave is a small cave in Roxbury, New Hampshire, United States, said to be the hiding place of Breed Batcheller, a town founder who failed to support the rebellion of the colonies against England in the Revolutionary War.[1][2]
The cave was immortalized in the poem "The Tory's Cave" by F.H. Meloon, Jr:
THE TORY'S CAVE
(The legend is of Roxbury, N.H., early founded by the Buckminsters [perhaps sic], and now practically deserted.)
By Roxbury's deserted town,
Not a full mile outside,
Where oaks in rude defiance frown,
A Tory once did hide.
The mad rebellion 'gainst the king
Was little shared by him,
And so he dwelt, a hunted thing,
Within a cavern dim.
By Roxbury's deserted town
The trav'ler still decries
A rocky cave, half tumbled down,
Before his wond'ring eyes.
'Twas there the Tory dwelt of old,
'Twas there they found him dead,
'Twas there they laid him 'neath the mould
Within his lonely bed.
By Roxbury's deserted town
The summers come and go,
The sun's successive smile or frown
Above the winter snow.
Go ask Buckminster, if you will,
Who is that ghost-like knave?
He'll bid you hold your speech until
You've trod the Tory's Cave.
References
edit- ^ "History of Roxbury". Town of Roxbury - A good dam town. Town of Roxbury. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
- ^ Frank, Carolyn (2004). "The "Hated Tory of Roxbury" stood up for what he believed in". Keene Sentinel. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ Meloon, F.H. (1903). "The Tory's Cave". The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine Devoted to ... 34: 315. Retrieved 27 October 2015.