For those who have not read the tale (or even seen the recent Tim Burton-directed film "Sleepy Hollow), Irving's story takes place in early American times, and is set in a quiet village on the banks of the Hudson River, just north of Tarrytown. The central character, schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, takes a liking to young Katrina Van Tassel, who is unfortunately also being wooed by local tough guy Brom Bones. One night, in what seems outwardly to be a bit of mischief designed to spook the timid schoolmaster, Bones relates the story of the Headless Horseman to him. Crane dismisses it as mere fancy...but on his ride home along a dark road, he is set upon by the spectre of the Horseman himself. A frantic chase ensues...and the next morning, Crane is gone, never to be seen again.
But what about the town itself?
The history of Sleepy Hollow, like so many other towns, begins with the American Indians. In the early days of its settlement, the tribes which had inhabited the lands bordering the Pocantico River (which connects to the Hudson) shared their domain with Dutch trappers and homesteaders, but before the century had ended, title to the lands about the Sleepy Haven Kill (river) had passed to Frederick Philipse. Philipse hailed from the Lowlands, but after England had taken New Netherlands from the Dutch in 1664 he demonstrated his loyalty to the British Crown. The Crown later confirmed his ownership of a great portion of Westchester County which was to be known as Philipse Manor. Sleepy Hollow, the valley of the Pocantico, was to be one of the featured places in his domain. There, during the 1680's, he built a manor house, a mill, a dam and a church, which has come to be known as "The Old Dutch Church". A historical site, it is still standing.
"From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions; and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole nine fold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols."
Eventually the town was incorporated into the village of North Tarrytown, and it was not until 1996 (!)) that the original name of Sleepy Hollow was restored.
There are a surprising number of factual names and places behind Irving's story. Many of his characters were based on real people, and the graves of Van Tassels and others whose names figure in the tale can be found in the Old Dutch Burying Ground, adjacent to the Old Dutch Church, which is itself mentioned by Irving. Also worth visiting is the "Headless Horseman Bridge", not far from the church, which is popularly regarded as the bridge over which Ichabod Crane rides in the story as he is fleeing the Horseman.
Irving himself, however, is buried not in the cemetery of the old Dutch Church, but farther down the road, on the grounds of one of the most impressive sights a visitor to Sleepy Hollow can behold: The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Covering nearly 100 acres of rolling hills, the Cemetery sits just north of the Old Dutch Church and Burial Grounds. Within its boundaries lie over forty thousand burials, dating back to the time of the Revolution. There is an Irving burial plot in the end of the cemetery that joins the Old Dutch Burying Grounds. It is within this wrought iron fence and gate that Washington Irving is buried.
The actual sources of Irving's inspiration for the tale are somewhat murky. Some biographical sources say that as a boy, Irving played among the tombstones in the Sleepy Hollow cemetery and it was there that an African-American undertaker first told him stories about a headless horseman. Other writers have suggested that Irving based his character on a German folktale. One of the more plausible explanations, however, says that while Irving was in New Jersey, doing research for his biography of George Washington, he came across a local legend dating back to the American Revolution, a legend involving a Hessian soldier who was slaughtered in what is now the "Devil's Den" area of the Great Swamp Region in Morris and Somerset Counties. The Hessian was apparently killed by the Continental Army, his head nearly severed, left hanging by a thread. The apparition of a headless soldier on horseback has been reported over the years by residents of the area, and it is this legend which Irving seems to have appropriated for his tale.
In Scotland members of the MacLaine clan from the district of Lochbuie shun the nocturnal sound of clattering hooves and a jingling bridle. They fear the sight of a spectral horse bearing a headless rider who forebodes death.
The name of the rider is Ewen of the Little Head. Ewen was the son and heir of a MacLaine chief, but the son envied the father's wealth and fell to feuding with him. There was much inconclusive bickering between the two men, and at last both parties sought to settle the matter by force of arms. In 1538 father and son led their partisans into battle, and the son was beheaded by one of his father's followers. From that time into the twentieth century, many witnesses have told how the headless Ewen rides to harvest the souls of Lochbuie MacLaines.
Ironically, this messenger of doom supposedly had a chilling omen of his own death. According to one story, on the evening before the fatal skirmish, Ewen met up with the Faery Washing-Woman, a Scottish folklore figure akin to the Irish banshee and the Welsh "Hag of the Dribble". On the eve of battles, it was her dire function to wash blood from the garments of combatants who were destined to die. Ewen was walking along a stream when he saw the old woman crouched by the water, rinsing a pile of blood-stained shirts. He asked her if his own shirt was there, and the hag replied that it was. But he might avoid his doom, she added, if the next morning his wife, with no prompting, served him butter with breakfast. Unfortunately, Ewen's wife was an indifferent cook, and no butter appeared on the table. The luckless man stoically munched his dry bread, then rode to battle that morning knowing he would not ride home that night.
