1746-08-25August ’twas the twenty-fifth,
Seventeen hundred forty-six;
The Indians did in ambush lay,
Some very valiant men to slay,
The names of whom I’ll not leave out.
Samuel Allen like a hero fout.
And though he was so brave and bold,
His face no more shall we behold.
Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,
Before he had time to fight,—
Before he did the Indians see,
Was shot and killed immediately.
Oliver Amsden he was slain,
Which caused his friends much grief and pain.
Simeon Amsden they found dead,
Not many rods distant from his head.
Adonijah Gillett we do hear
Did lose his life which was so dear.
John Sadler fled across the water,
And thus escaped the dreadful slaughter.
Eunice Allen see the Indians coming,
And hopes to save herself by running,
And not her petticoats stopped her,
The awful creatures had not catched her,
Not tommy hawked her on her head,
And left her on the ground for dead.
Young Samuel Allen, Oh lack-a-day!
Was taken and carried to Canada.
Annotations
WWP note 1
Lucy Terry Prince’s Bars Fight was written in the eighteenth century and preserved orally. The poem was first published in print in 1855, in the History of Western Massachusetts by (Vol. II, page 360). Holland provides the following context for the poem:
“One of the most noteworthy characters in the early history of Deerfield was a colored woman, known as Luce Bijah. She was the slave of Ebenezer Wells, and was noted for her wit and shrewdness. Her house was the constant resort of the boys, to hear her talk. She removed with her husband and children to Vermont, and purchased a tract of land, the title to which proved imperfect. A suit was brought to dispossess her, and she argued her case against Stephen R. Bradley and Royal Tyler, (afterwards Chief Justice of Vermont.) Judge Chase, who held the court, said that Luce made a better argument than he had heard at the bar of Vermont. Luce was a poetess, and commemorated in verse the event of the Bars Fight, [See Vol. 1, pp. 175–6.] as follows:”Go to WWP note 1 in context.