Happy Patriots Day

[letslearntogether47]

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those spirits dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

(Note: This version is from The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1904)

[Rick]

Long live the memory of Abner Hosmer and Isaac Davis.

[LowKey]

Have you ever been to the Bridge?
No one knows what happened there anymore. It's a pretty bike path. No one reads the broadsides.
The NPS is trying to fix that but they are still catering to playtime rather than the serious business that occurred there.
I actually think they want people to forget. Just today a girl told me she thought the holiday in MA was so road closures and resources could be spent on the Boston Marathon. She had no idea that Patriots day was to mark the beginning of the Revolution.
Last time I was there, people were lining up to get their picture taken or videoed under the statue and kids were climbing and playing and sliding on the stone marking the grave of the fallen British soldiers.
Sickening.
Should be a yearly trek for those in government. Just as a reminder of shaking off the yoke of a worldly power - where we came from and where we never want to go again.

[Rick]

The bridge isn't actually THE bridge. It's not even in the same location.

[LowKey]

It's a replica of the original. Might not be in the original location, heck the river probably isn't in the same location. But many of the Witness Houses are.

[Rick]

I'm sure the houses are. The original bridge was torn down around 1800 or there about. The bridge that stands there now was built in the '50s. I shouldn't say it's not in the original location. They built a new bridge to replace the old north bridge in 1800 or whenever and it was in a different spot. When they built this one in the '50s it went back where the original stood.