Who knows?

Going to lunch today with my old friend Arthur Slade, a New Hampshire native and Northwood fixture, who’s full o’ stories. When I mentioned collecting New Hampshire sayings and expressions for a new book, he went straight to work. A few weeks later, he presented me with at least fifty pages, handwritten, of stories, sayings, memories, and opinions. Treasure! 

I’m still sorting through the gems. Here’s a sample. Background: A huge elm on Northwood Ridge served for years as a marker for ships at sea because it could be viewed from so far out – it was the first sign that ships were getting close to the coast.  Arthur writes:

"Northwood’s Great Impostor
In the town hall hangs a chunk of an impostor, a fake, a fraud – that claims to be the Great Elm of Northwood  ...   The location of the Great Elm was further up on the ridge, (a tree also known as) the Clark Elm on the lost town common, most likely as it had the height needed to be seen by sailing ships going into Portsmouth Harbor, and would have made a great dry-mark for navigation. Other Ridge elms may have also made claims to the title.

The death of the Clark Elm  [the true Great Elm ] is sort of odd.  One hot summer’s day, a thunderstorm blew up. The tree was hit by lightning and the core of the tree, which was rotten, burned."

Apparently, the slice of elm at Town Hall, said to be the Great Elm visible from far out to sea, is not what it claims to be. That elm burned. This lesser elm, which was cut down several years ago, is indeed a magnificent specimen but was never the Great Elm. It didn't stand on top of the Ridge, but lower on the slope. According to some. But not according to the plaque at Town Hall.  Hence: Imposter. Which speaks to the question: How accurate can any history be?  Was that big dead elm really the famed guide to sailing ships? Who says so? Is the oldest house in town really the oldest house in town? Who says so? 

The debate rages.  As a storyteller, I know how truth shifts with every telling. No problem. As Jud Hale (Yankee Magazine editor-in-chief) and other storytellers of his ilk are wont to say:  “Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.”