Dark Origins – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Posted: April 28, 2021 Filed under: Dark Fantasy, Dark Origins, Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes | Tags: Dark Fantasy, Dark Origins, Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Writing to be Read 34 Comments
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a gothic story by American author, Washington Irving, and is included in a collection of 34 essays and short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
The plot
The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York. Sleepy Hollow is a secluded glen which is famous for its ghosts and haunting atmosphere.
Ichabod Crane moves to Sleepy Hollow to be the schoolmaster of the village. As was customary at the time, Ichabod earns practically no money, but is provided with lodgings and food on a rotational basis by the local farmers who are also the fathers of the boys he teachers. This arrangement, and the singing lessons he gives on the side, keeps him employed and also gives him numerous opportunities to listen to the many tales about ghosts, haunted spots and twilight superstitions shared by the farmers wives.
Ichabod is most fascinated by the story of the ghost of the Headless Horseman who is believed to be a Hessian soldier who lost his head when he was hit by a cannon ball during the Revolutionary War. The ghost has been seen riding near the church where he is believed to have been buried.
Katrina Van Tassel is one of Ichabod’s students and the beautiful daughter of one of the most successful of the farmers in the area. Ichabod comes to believe himself in love with her. He sets out to woo her but crosses swords with one of the other men in the village, Brom Van Brunt or Brom Bones. In order to scare off Ichabod, Brom resorts to trying to prank him.
One evening, Ichabod is travelling home late after a party at Katrina’s home. He is confronted by a rider with no head on his shoulders. The head is sitting on the saddle in front of the shadowy man. Ichabod tries to run away and ends up near the church. Ichabod makes a dash for the bridge where the ghost is said to disappear and not follow, but when he looks back, the Horseman throws his detached head at him. It knocks Ichabod off his horse.
Ichabod disappeared leaving nothing behind but hoof prints and a smashed pumpkin. He is never heard from again in Sleepy Hollow.
Origins of the story
Although one of America’s most famous tales and one the resurfaces every Halloween, Irving did not invent the idea of a headless rider. Tales of headless riders existed in Europe during the Middle Ages, including stories by the Grimm Brothers and the Dutch and Irish legend of the “Dullahan” or “Gan Ceann”, a Grim Reaper-like rider who carries his head.
One theory is that Irving’s headless horseman is derived from Sir Walter Scott’s ballad, The Chase, which is a translation of the German author Burger’s The Wild Huntsman.
Another popular theory is that Irving was inspired by the story of the actual Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannon ball during the Battle of White Plains around Halloween 1776.
As a teenager, Irving moved with his family to the Tarry Town area due to an outbreak of yellow fever in New York City. The character of Ichabod Crane may have been inspired by Jesse Merwin, a teacher from upstate New York and who was a mutual friend of Irving and Martin van Burden, America’s eighth president. An alternative theory is that Ichabod was based on Samuel Youngs, a lieutenant from Tarry Town and a friend of the Van Tassel family.
The name Ichabod Crane belonged to a real army officer, Colonel Ichabod B. Crane who served at Fort Pike during the British-American war of 1812. Irving was also stationed at Fort Pike but there is no evidence that he knew Colonel Crane.
Katrina Van Tassel is also believed to be loosely inspired by Eleanor Van Tassel Brush and, possibly, another woman Irving knew.
About Roberta Eaton Cheadle
I am a South African writer specialising in historical, paranormal and horror novels and short stories. I am an avid reader in these genres and my writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, the Bronte sisters, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
I was educated at the University of South Africa where I achieved a Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1996 and a Honours Bachelor of Accounting Science in 1997. I was admitted as a member of The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2000.
I have worked in corporate finance from 2001 until the present date and have written seven publications relating to investing in Africa. I have won several awards over my twenty year career in the category of Transactional Support Services.
I have been published a number of anthologies and have two published YA books, While the Bombs Fell and Through the Nethergate. I have recently published my first adult novel called A Ghost and His Gold which is partly set in South Africa during the Second Anglo Boer War.
Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5
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Writing to be Read 
Hi Kaye, thank you for hosting this post today. I thought this history was very interesting. This story is not as well known in Europe as it is in the USA.
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I learned something new today, Robbie. I never knew there really was an Ichabod Crane. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is, of course, a classic. I might have to read it again after seeing this post.
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Yes, I know it is an American classic, Joan. That is why I picked it, I thought it would be fun to investigate an American tale. I am glad you enjoyed this post.
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I was always fascinated by this story. Thanks for sharing the details about it here.
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My pleasure, Staci. I always remember that Ichabod was depicted in rather an unflattering light.
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thanks for the background; I’m familiar with the tale, so it was nice to have the story placed in some context…
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Hi Jim, I also think it is interesting to know how these stories came about. This is a great tale.
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it is a great tale…
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Fascinating history about this tale. I wonder if he ever imagined how famous/popular this story would become, considering its macabre theme.
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He wrote it while he was living in Europe, Jacqui, and he was influenced by the headless horseman myths of Europe. I imagine he was targeting a European audience at the time. His other famous story is Rip van Winkel.
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Good thing about the European audience. Americans tend to be more conservative–and still, we love that story!
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Fascinating, Robbie! I remember this story well, but learned so much more about it today… Thanks!
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It seems to be a very popular and well know story in the USA, Bette. I have read it, but it isn’t well known here in South Africa.
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This is one of my favorite Halloween stories, Robbie. ❤
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Hi Colleen, I am so pleased to know that. Halloween is not big here but I had read this tale many years ago [and been scared silly].
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It’s a great tale steeped in early America history. ❤️
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Fascinating story Robbie, and while I have seen the film some time ago, had no idea of its origins…. I thought it purely fictional and not based around some facts…
Loved reading… Thank you ❤
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Hi Sue, lovely to see you. I also thought it was purely fictional, but I am learning from the research for these posts that most writers based their stories on some or other real event or report.
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You often find truth is stranger than fiction… lol… and many myths have their cores deeply hidden in some kind of truth long lost and forgotten ❤
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Like others, I had heard parts of this story before. I’m somewhat amused by the lengths that the competitor went to get rid of Ichabod. Perhaps he was never the wiser. Or maybe, it happened again when Ichabod was pursuing another woman. “No, not the old headless horsemen routine again!”🤣
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Poor Ichabod, I hope not, Pete. Although, I always found the depiction of his character rather creepy, especially as he was a teacher.
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Yes, he always seemed to be portrayed as a creepy character.
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I didn’t realize that Ichabod Crane was the name of an actual Army officer. It’s such a great name! My niece lives in the next town over from Tarry Town in New York. The town make a very big deal of it Sleepy Hollow connection to attract the tourists. 😉
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I am sure they do, Liz. It is a very famous tale and I’m sure people are interested in the town and its surrounds.
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This was such a fascinating post, Robbie. Much of this I knew but other parts were true eye-openers. I loved how you delved into the origins of this story.
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Hi Mae, I am pleased you enjoyed this bit of history and information about this story. I was quite intrigued that there was a real person called Ichabod Crane.
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It makes sense that the inspiration came from both legend and the authors experience. The headless horseman is a motif I’ve seen in other paintings of the time, often combined with th grim reaper.
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HI Kerfe, yes, the two would go together. Both have always fascinated me.
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Bowling for Cranes… Yes, ma’am death gets everyone one way or another.
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Hi Annette, yes, that is the one certainty in life.
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I was always fascinated by this macabre tale, but I had no idea it originated in Europe. But that’s no real surprise.
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Hi Mark, the origins of tales and nursery rhymes are often quite obscure and very interesting. Thanks for visiting.
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