OCR Text |
Show MADE TIME OF GAY REUNION I "Beating tha Bounds," In Virginia, at I Least, Drew Together Neigh- I bora From Far and Near. I I "Beating the bounds" was a spa- I daily Important duty In tlio colonies, I where land surveys wero Imperfect. I land grants Irregular, and tho bound- I orlcs of each mnn's farm or plnntn- I tlon nt first very uncertain. In Vlr- I glnn this beating the bounds wan I called "processioning." Lnndmnrkn were renewed that were becoming ob- I llteratcd; blazes on a trco would bo- I Fnmcwhnt grown over they vrcro I deeply rccut; piles of (rent stone I containing n certain number for des- I Igitntlon wero sometimes scattered I the original number would bo re- I -stored, Special .trees would, be found I fallen or cut down; new' marking- I trees wogld be planted, usually pear trees, ns they wc.ro long-lived. DIs- I putcd boundaries were -decided upun. I and announced to all tha persons prcs- I cut, somo of whom at the next "pro I cesslonlng" would even be nblo to I testify no to tlio correct line. This- I processioning took placo between Raster and Whitsuntide, thnt lovely I- season nf the year In Virginia; find I must hnvo proved n plcnsnnt, reunion I of neighbors, n May-party. In Now I England this wns called "pernmbu- I luting tho bounds," nn;l tho surveyor I who toolc charge were called "pcrnm- It bulntors" or "boundsgoers." AllcV Morse Carlo In Child Life In Colonial I Days. B |