icon for Home page
icon for Kid's Home page
icon for Digital Collection
icon for Activities
icon for Turns Exhibit
icon for In the Classroom
icon for Chronologies
icon for My Collection

Online Collection

Mr. BUTLER---Please to publish the following.

THERE is a word much-used at this day, which is not explained by Johnson or Bayley: perhaps some idea of its signification may be found in the following:

A CROSTICK

I nsolvent debtors, aiming ne'er to pay:
N otorious gamblers risking all at play.
S edtious whigs, who think a man should die,
U nless his sentiments with their' comply.
R evengleful tories, democracy disdain;
G reat Britain, they think ought to rule & reign.
E nlarg'd jail-birds, men with five years pay:--
N ews-men, Court members, servants run away
T the vicious ign'rant herd; for knaves fit tools
S ome may be honest, yet deluded fools.

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.



label levels:

There is currently no available "Beginner" label. The following is the default level label: A crostick is a poem that forms a vertical word from the first letters of each line. In this poem, the word "INSURGENTS" is formed with a verse that has nothing good to say about these men. The Regulators are called vengeful, seditious, jail-birds, and debtors who choose not to pay. The writer says that this word is not explained by Johnson or Bayley (Bailey). The first edition of Samuel Johnson's dictionary was published in 1755. Nathan Bailey first published his in 1736. These would have been the most commonly used dictionaries in the 1780's.

 

top of page

"A Crostick" poem published in the Hampshire Gazette

publisher   Hampshire Gazette
date   Jun 6, 1787
location   Northampton, Massachusetts
width   4.25"
height   3.5"
process/materials   printed paper, ink
accession #   #L04.108


Look Closer icon My Collection icon Document Image icon Detailed info icon


ecard icon Send an e-Postcard of this object



See Also...

Insurgents in Northfield article published in the Hampshire Gazette

Capture of Dr. Pomery by Insurgents article published in the Hampshire Gazette

Letter from Insurgent to Col. Clark and others published in the Hampshire Gazette


button for Side by Side Viewingbutton for Glossarybutton for Printing Helpbutton for How to Read Old Documents

 

Home | Online Collection | Things To Do | Turns Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My Collection
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback