ANCIENT LANDMARKS. 



BY EDWARD T. BOUVE. 



In the following description of the ancient landmarks of Hingham and 

 Cohasset, it will be understood that the term includes both natural objects 

 which have been adopted as bounds from the earliest settlement of the 

 country, such as hills, rocks, waters, etc., and those artificial creations 

 which come in time to be recognized as landmarks, as roads, bridges, mill- 

 dams, and certain buildings. 



The sources of the information from which the facts in this chapter are 

 derived are largely traditional, although old deeds have furnished much 

 material. 



It would be improper and ungracious for the writer to omit the expres- 

 sion of his acknowledgments to those who have aided in his researches ; 

 and he takes great pleasure in owning his indebtedness to that interesting 

 and valuable work, the " History of Hingham." by the late Hon. Solomon 

 Lincoln, as well as to the "Centennial Address" and unpublished his- 

 torical notes of the same gentleman. 



At Hingham and Cohasset, on the south shore of Massachu- 

 setts Bay, the most delightful month of the year is October. 

 The heats and drought of summer are past, the blustering rain- 

 storms of September have gone, leaving as their legacy a renewed 

 greenness and freshness to the hillsides. The forests, spreading 

 far and wide, glow with the exquisite brilliancy of the American 

 autumn, and the ocean stretches in blue length along the shores 

 and up into the little bays, its ripples plashing as lazily as if they 

 would never rise into great green waves that in December will 

 shatter themselves in foam and spray on the mighty ledges of 

 Cohasset. The very winds seem to sleep, in their hammock of 

 gauzy haze, that hangs, thin and graceful, over sea and shore. 

 Nature is taking a siesta, in restful preparation for her grim 

 struggle with winter's tempests, fierce and furious as they are on 

 this coast. 



I invite you to spend a few of these bright October days in 

 seeking out the ancient landmarks of this old Puritan town of 



