1869 · Haverhill, MA
by [Murder Broadside]
Haverhill, MA: s.i., 1869. Very Good. [Haverhill, MA: s.i., ca. 1869]. Printed broadside (30.25 x 15cm). Peacock murder ballad in two parts with 37 stanzas, printed in two columns with an ornamental border. Edgewear, creasing, and soiling; a few pricks along folds; tear to lower third at center, still Very Good and text remains legible.
A public censure of Phineas Howe for the murder of neighbor Cyrus A. Pattee's peacock, with the chorus, "I heard the Peacock, I heard the Peacock cry, Way down in old Phin's barn, That Peacock had to die." Part I is devoted to exposition of Howe's deed with a plea to Mrs. Phin to repent. Part II returns to the crime for a dramatic retelling, complete with the Peacock's lofty reply to Howe's barbarous intention, "If then on blood you are intent, Why take my life -- it's been well spent. But know that through the church you slip, You'll feel at last the devil's grip."
Further accusations are made of Howe for stealing a neighbor's hay and uncouth use of a neighbor's wall. A devastating and scarce survival with no copies in retail and OCLC showing three holdings for a larger format at 43 x 21cm. Not in McDade, though perhaps animal murder doesn't qualify. (Inventory #: 31304)
A public censure of Phineas Howe for the murder of neighbor Cyrus A. Pattee's peacock, with the chorus, "I heard the Peacock, I heard the Peacock cry, Way down in old Phin's barn, That Peacock had to die." Part I is devoted to exposition of Howe's deed with a plea to Mrs. Phin to repent. Part II returns to the crime for a dramatic retelling, complete with the Peacock's lofty reply to Howe's barbarous intention, "If then on blood you are intent, Why take my life -- it's been well spent. But know that through the church you slip, You'll feel at last the devil's grip."
Further accusations are made of Howe for stealing a neighbor's hay and uncouth use of a neighbor's wall. A devastating and scarce survival with no copies in retail and OCLC showing three holdings for a larger format at 43 x 21cm. Not in McDade, though perhaps animal murder doesn't qualify. (Inventory #: 31304)
