'Twas nigh unto Pigwacket on the eight day of May,
          They spied a rebel Indian soon after break of day;
          He on a bank was walking, upon a neck of land,
          Which leads into a pond as we're made to understand.
  
                  "Lovewell's Fight," 
  

Written by Ben Franklin's uncle, Ben Franklin, but passed rapidly into tradition. See The Ballad Index & Mac Leach, The Ballad Book.

The battle between the colonists under Captain John Lovewell and the Indians at Pigwacket (near
Fryeburg, Maine) was actually 5/9/1725. There is good evidence that the facts in the song were
deliberately altered by Parson Symmes as a cover-up. Seems Lovewell and his men were scal-
phunters -- receiving one hundred pounds for each trophy they brought in and had earned 1200
pounds in the previous three months.

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved