Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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The Augusta Seminary Annual. 27 O Betsy Bell an ' Mary Gray ! They were twa l)oniiie lasses — They hitjgit a luiwor on yon burn brae, All ' thcekit it ower wi ' raslies. They theekit it ower wi ' rashes green, They happit it round wi ' heather : But the pest cam ' frae the burrows-town, An ' slew them baith thegither. When a new proprietor took possession of the manor about 1781, a lieap of stone ;, ahnost covered with thorns and briars, was pointed out to him as the burial place of Betsy Bell and Mary Gray. He removed the rubbish, made the grave double, planted flowers around it, and enclosed the spot with a wall, in which he fixed a stone bearing the names of Betsy Bell and Mary Gray. The names were carried to Ireland and were applied to two mountains in the county of Tyrone. From thence they were brought by our Scotch-Irish ancestors and given to these two hills in the Yalley of Virginia, thus showing how they cherished tlie associations of their former life in the old country. Although Betsy Bell is no Pisgah, still no one will say that the view is not a recompense for the toil of climbing up her rocky sides. Let us look at the view which presented itself to a group of boys and girls seated on a large rock near her summit one bright, warm day last spring. How beautiful were the green meadows, lying around Staunton, rolling up to the hazy Blue Ridge mountains in the distance ! One pointed to an ice-pond in a meadow, which lay glistening in the sunlight like a sheet of silver. At the eastern base nestled the Bodley Wagon Works, with its settlement of neat cottages. At the western base lay the beautiful buildings and well-kept grounds of the Western Lu- natic Asylum, while to the northeast was the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institution, almost hidden by the grand, old trees which surround it. Now we turned to the northwest, and before us lay Staunton, the Queen City of the Valley, Consj)icuous in the centre were the buildings and grounds of the A. F. S. Tower- ing here and there above the roofs of tlie neighboring houses were the church-steeples. From the centre of the circle of steeples rose the tower of the Y. M. C. A., in which is the time-honored face of the town clock, and so clear was the air that, looking through our fleld-glasses, we could see the exact

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26 The Augusta Seminary Annual. Betsy Bell. ETSY BELL is the loftiest and most beautiful of the mounts by which Staunton is surrounded. Southeast of the city she towers, piloting the people from every part of the country hither. What Stauntonian, returning home after years of absence, does not look out for her familiar form, and hail her from afar with feelings of rapture ? By what attractions does Betsy Bell tempt the young to climb her rocky sides ? What school-girl does not know where to find the largest and earliest violets ? And what school-l)oy does not know where chincapins are first ripe ? Now I hear you asking, How did she get her name ? And thereby hangs a tale. Lying to the southeast of Betsy Bell, and very much resembling her, is another hill called Mary Gra} ' . The story which most of the old inhabitants of Staunton will tell you is, that on the sides of the two hills stood two cottages, one owned by Mr. Bell, who had a daughter named Betsy, and the other by Mr. Gray, whose daughter ' s name was Mary. One day Betsy and Mary, who were close friends, were sent to find the cows which had strayed off. Night came, and as the girls did not return, the fathers made up searching parties and found the lost ones dead — tomahawked by the Indians who were, at that time, quite numerous in this part of the country. This story, however, is without foundation. The names of the hills are of Scottish origin. According to tradition, Mary Gray ' s father was laird of Lednoch, and Betsy Bell ' s of Kinvaid. An intimate friendship sprang up between the two girls. Once, when Betsy was visiting Mary, a plague broke out in the neighborhood, and to escape it the girls built a bower near Lednoch House and lived there for some time. A young man, in love with both of the girls, came often to see them and brought them food. They caught the plague from him, and both died in their bower, and were buried half a mile from Lednoch House, near Perth. Their sad fate became the subject of a ballad, the first verse of which ran thus :

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28 The Augusta Seminary Annual. time. To the west, in tlie distance, lay tlie flonrisliing town of West-End, the country roads leading from it lookina; like bands of yellow ribhon. But while we were gazing on this beautiful panorama stretched out before us, the silvery chimes of a church bell came floating up the hillside, rousing us fi-om the spell by which w e were held. We slowly descended the slope, for the most part in silence, no one knowing how to give expression to his thoughts. As we I ' eached the base and looked back at Betsy Bell lighted up by the glory of the setting sun, these lines of the poet came to our minds with double force : And Day grown old, with tints of gold Perhaps may light thy face; And silvery Night may crown thy height With ornaments of grace. Mary Teottek. i Beauty. A BROWN and white spotted dog, with shaggy hair, lies stretched on a Moquet carpet at his mistress ' feet. The gas is turned low and a deep red shade softens and mellows the light. With eyes full of devotion and faitlifulness the dog looks steadily up at the lady and lie shows a pride in feeling that he is her companion and protector. Hanging on the wall is a painting of a handsome, well-built, spirited dog of Prussian Pomeranian breed — the portrait of Beauty in his younger days. The lire in the eyes, the delicate muscles, the graceful contour of figure, are several reasons for his having the name he bears. He is now twelve years old, and age has to some extent enfeebled him, yet he still lias a line spirit and on account of his faithfulness may be said truly to have a beauty in his soul. As he lies there in the dim quiet, surrounded with love and comforts, I believe he is contrasting the life he now enjoys with the very different one he led before he met his beloved mistress.