Blacksmithing Stories, Fact, Fiction, Myths and Legends

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=1 CELLSPACING=8 WIDTH="580"> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=2> <P> <CENTER> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000080"><B><I>The Anvilfire Story Page</I></B></FONT> </CENTER> <br> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000"> <I><FONT SIZE="5">L</FONT>ong before there was an anvilfire, I wrote the story of my first anvil. Since then I have answered two questions on anvilfire as stories about 18th century American Colonial era blacksmiths. <P> <FONT SIZE="5">N</FONT>ow we are happy to present the story <A HREF="PPW/RBindex.htm"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The Revolutionary Blacksmith</FONT></A> by Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson. Many of you know Jim as the rough old army drill Sergeant and a good ol' West Virginia country boy. Now you will get to know him as author and more than a bit of a romantic. </I></FONT> <P> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000"> <I>The Revolutionary Blacksmith</I></FONT> is being published in print by <A HREF="http://www.rubyfaire.com/" TARGET="_top"><B><I>Ruby Faire</I></B></A> as a serial. One chapter a month. Anvilfire is co-publishing this wonderful story on-line with a one month delay. </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <A NAME="StartIndex"></A> <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 WIDTH="580"> <TR> <TD VALIGN="top" WIDTH="264"><IMG SRC="images/StEligius_03.jpg" BORDER=0 HEIGHT=345 WIDTH=264 ALT="Old Woodcut, St. Eligius snaring the Devil by his nose with his tongs."> </TD> <TD VALIGN="top"> </FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000080">Myths and Legends</FONT> <DL> <DT><A HREF="PPW/anvil_ringing2.htm"> <FONT SIZE="+1">Legend of the Ringing Anvil - or -<br>Why We Ring Our Anvil</FONT></A> <DD>Whence comes the luck of the horseshoe? As told by Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson. His version of the St. Eligius / St. Dunstan myths. <P> <DT><A HREF="PPW/Jack-O-Lantern.htm"> <FONT SIZE="+1">Who is the "Jack" in "Jack-O-Lantern"?</FONT></A> <DD>As told by Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson. <P> <DT><A HREF="PPW/wedding_over_anvil.htm"> <FONT SIZE="+1">The Custom of Weddings Over Anvils</FONT></A> <DD>As told by Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson. <P> <DT><A HREF="StEligius_StDunstan.htm"> <FONT SIZE="+1">The Legends of St. Eligius and St. Dunstan</FONT></A> <DD>Article by Jock Dempsey <P> <DT><A HREF="Brighid_1.htm"> <FONT SIZE="+1">Brighid Gaelic goddess of smith craft</FONT></A> <DD> </DL> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0 WIDTH="580"> <TR> <TD> <CENTER> <hr noshade color="#000080"> <FONT FACE="New Times Roman, Times, Roman" SIZE="6" COLOR="#000080"> <B><I>Feature Stories</I></B></FONT> <hr noshade color="#000080"> </CENTER> <DL> <DT><A HREF="PPW/RBindex.htm"> <FONT SIZE="6">The Revolutionary Blacksmith</FONT></A> <DD>By Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson. Historical Fiction novella in progress. Look for a new chapter every month. Illustrated by Jock Dempsey, anvilfire guru. <P> <DT><A HREF="victor_vera.htm">  <FONT SIZE="5">Victor Vera, Man of Metal</FONT></A> <DD>Biographical sketch of Victor Vera, one time gunsmith for Pancho Villa by Frank Turley <P> <DT><A HREF="James_Nasmyth/index.htm">  <FONT SIZE="5">James Nasmyth : Autobiography</FONT></A>   <FONT COLOR="#FF0000" SIZE="5"><B>NEW!</B></FONT> <DD>Autobiography of one the all time great inventors. Nasmyth invented the steam hammer, lathe reversing mechanism, shaper, safety ladle and more! <P> <DT><A HREF="timc/henryhaus.htm"> <FONT SIZE="5">Henry Haus Blacksmith Shop</FONT></A> <DD>Historical fiction by Tim Cisneros about the Henry Haus Blacksmith Shop, Pope, California, USA. <P> <DT> <A HREF="John_the_Blacksmith.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">John Smith and the Devil</FONT></A> <DD>A Southern Appalachian Folk Tale as told by Alan Longmire <P> <DT> <A HREF="../1776-bs.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">A Blacksmith of 1776</FONT></A> <DD> By Jock Dempsey. Historical Fiction. The inspiration for the novel by Jim Wilson. <P> <DT> <A HREF="../a_day_in.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">A Day in the Life of a Blacksmith's Apprentice </FONT></A> <DD> By Jock Dempsey. Historical Fiction <P> <DT> <A HREF="../firstanv.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">My First Anvil - On becoming a blacksmith</FONT></A> <DD> By Jock Dempsey. A true story. <P> <DT><A HREF="PPW/paw-paws_rules.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">THE TWELVE RULES of PAW PAW'S FORGE</FONT></A> <DD>Adopted from the rules of Bruce "Atli" Blackistone, Oakley Forge. <P> <DT><A HREF="Longfellow.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">The Village Blacksmith</FONT></A> <DD>The classic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow <P> <DT><A HREF="King_of_Crafts.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">The King of Craftsmen</FONT></A> <DD>An old story defining the King of Crafts. From the collection of Jim Paw-Paw Wilson. <P> <DT><A HREF="12_days_xmas.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">The Blacksmith's 12 Days of Christmas</FONT></A> <DD>Humor? Annonymous on request. . <P> <DT><A HREF="blacksmiths_xmas.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">The Blacksmith's Christmas Gift</FONT></A> <DD>Mike Hricziscse, 2001, CSI <P> <DT><A HREF="blacksmith_duel.htm"> <FONT SIZE="4">The Blacksmith Duel</FONT></A> <DD>Southern folklore about honor and humor. <P> <DT> <FONT SIZE="4"></FONT> <DD> </DL> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <P> </P> <hr noshade color="#000000" width="580"> Do you tell a good blacksmith story? Have a version of one of the blacksmith myths? Send it to us and we will publish it here. <hr noshade color="#000000" width="580"> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P> </P> <CENTER><IMG SRC="/graphics/pinkflm3.gif" HEIGHT=82 WIDTH=139 BORDER=0 ALT="anvilfire graphic (c) 1998 Patrick Dempsey"> <br> <B><A HREF="../af_copyr.htm" TARGET="_blank">Copyright</A> © 2001 Jock Dempsey</B> <P> <img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?ft=0|istrip=Y|dd=cd|trgb=ffffff|comma=T|df=story_page.dat|st=1" ALT="Page Counter"> <img src="/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?ft=0|sh=0|df=afsite.dat|st=540000" ALT="General Site Counter"> </CENTER> </BODY>