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Quote of the Day: The Devil and Daniel Webster
“The Devil and Daniel Webster” is a wonderful short story by Stephen Vincent Benét which was made into an excellent film with Walter Huston as Mr. Scratch. It starts out:
It’s a story they tell in the border country, where Massachusetts joins Vermont and New Hampshire.
Yes, Dan’l Webster’s dead—or, at least, they buried him. But every time there’s a thunderstorm around Marshfield, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the hollows of the sky. And they say that if you go to his grave and speak loud and clear, “Dan’l Webster—Dan’l Webster!” the ground’ll begin to shiver and the trees begin to shake. And after a while you’ll hear a deep voice saying, “Neighbor, how stands the Union?” Then you better answer the Union stands as she stood, rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible, or he’s liable to rear right out of the ground. At least, that’s what I was told when I was a youngster…
Benet’s story centers on a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the Devil and is successfully defended by Daniel Webster. It ends:
But they say whenever the devil comes near Marshfield, even now, he gives it a wide berth. And he hasn’t been seen in the state of New Hampshire from that day to this. I’m not talking about Massachusetts or Vermont.
I especially like the last sentence.
Published in General
That’s for certain, ayuh!
The concept of the jury, including Edward Teach (Blackbeard), was a great angle.
I love this quote and story. However, I know this area well, and even I had to look up the geography. :-)
Just to clarify for people who don’t know New England: Marshfield, where Daniel Webster is buried, is on Boston’s south shore. It’s a hundred miles away from the “border country.”
It’s a great quote and story. :-)
I looked at the origins of these two words. and found that copper sheathing was used keep worms from eating the wood in boats. For rock-bottom it shows an 1884 origin, yet Daniel Webster was dead by 1852. Of course, if spirits exist, they can learn new words.
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His son Fletcher, a Civil War colonel, is buried there as well. Fletcher’s Massachusetts regiment was known as “The Webster Regiment.” I have fond memories of Mahshfield from going to the fair there as a kid.
Excellent film is right! Walter Huston shines as the Devil.
Me, I like The Devil And Daniel Mouse :
We love this story here at Toad Hall. We also memorize Benet’s poetry as part of school.
Possibly my favorite is his George Washington that he wrote with his wife Rosemary:
Sing hey! for bold George Washington,
That jolly British tar,
King George’s famous admiral
From Hull to Zanzibar!
No – wait a minute – something’s wrong –
George wished to sail the foam.
But, when his mother thought, aghast,
Of Georgie shinning up a mast,
Her tears and protests flowed so fast
That George remained at home.
Sing ho! for grave Washington,
The staid Virginia squire,
Who farms his fields and hunts his hounds
And aims at nothing higher!
Stop, stop, it’s going wrong again!
George liked to live on farms,
But, when the Colonies agreed
They could and should and would be freed,
They called on George to do the deed
And George cried ―Shoulder arms!
Sing ha! for Emperor Washington,
That hero of renown,
Who freed his land from Britain’s rule
To win a golden crown!
No, no, that’s what George might have won
But didn’t, for he said,
There’s not much point about a king,
They’re pretty but they’re apt to sting
And, as for crowns – the heavy thing
Would only hurt my head.
Sing ho! for our George Washington!
(At last I’ve got it straight.)
The first in war, the first in peace,
The goodly and the great.
But, when you think about him now,
From here to Valley Forge,
Remember this – he might have been
A highly different specimen,
And, where on earth would we be, then?
I’m glad that George was George.
Northfield, MA is the modern equivalent of the wild border country between MA, VT and NH. My oldest kids went to summer camp there with their cousins for a couple of years. I’ll have to drive up and check out the scenery some stormy summer day, which could be today if the weather holds.
Two years ago I testified in a MedMal case at the Essex County Courthouse, Newburyport MA, built in 1805. Daniel Webster and John Quincy Adams are said to have represented clients there. It was very, very cool for me to give testimony in a courtroom where these two giants had appeared.
Super cool. Thanks.
What does the last sentence mean, and being given a wide berth, meaning his stomping grounds have been expanded?
I think it means that the devil has not been seen in New Hampshire, but the author is refusing to say anything about whether the devil has been seen in Massachusetts or Vermont, humorously implying that of course the devil has been seen in both of those places.
Love the movie.