Gertrude of Wyoming
Encyclopedia
The setting of the poem is the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania
Wyoming Valley
Wyoming Valley is a region of northeastern Pennsylvania. As a metropolitan area, it is also known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, after its principal cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre....
and the massacre
Wyoming Valley massacre
The Battle of Wyoming was an encounter during the American Revolutionary War between American Patriots and Loyalists accompanied by Iroquois raiders that took place in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania on July 3, 1778...
that occurred there on July 3, 1778. On that day, more than three hundred American Revolutionaries died at the hands of Loyalist
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
s and their Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
allies. At the time, it was widely believed that the attack was led by Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. He was perhaps the most well-known American Indian of his generation...
; in the poem, Brant is described as the "Monster Brant" because of the atrocities committed, although it was later determined that Brant had not actually been present. The poem has been criticized for other historical inaccuracies.
The poem begins:
- On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!
- Although the wild-flower on thy ruin'd wall,
- And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring,
- Of what thy gentle people did befall;
- Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all
- That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore.
- Sweet land! may I thy lost delights recall,
- And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore,
- Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's shore!
The popularity of the poem may have led to the state of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
being named after the valley, and Wyoming
Wyoming, New South Wales
Wyoming is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located northeast of Gosford's central business district. It is part of the City of Gosford local government area....
, a suburb north of Gosford, New South Wales
Gosford, New South Wales
Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 76 km north of the Sydney central business district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is said to have been given the name Wyoming by Frederick Augustus Hely
Frederick Augustus Hely
Frederick Augustus Hely , a public servant and settler of colonial Australia, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland...
because Gertrude of Wyoming was his favourite poem.
External links
- Gertrude of Wyoming; A Pennsylvanian Tale. And Other Poems. By Thomas Campbell. Author of "The Pleasures of Hope," &c. London: Printed by T. Berkeley, Bolt Court. Published for the Author, by Longman, Hurst, Reed, and Orme, Paternoster Row. 1809.
- Gertrude of Wyoming;, or The Pennsylvanian Cottage. By Thomas Campbell. With Thirty-Five Illustrations, Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. New York: D. Appleton & Co 346 and 348, Broadway. 1858.