SLEEPY HOLLOWThe story is set in a Dutch settlement called Tarrytown, New York, in the lonely, secluded valley of Sleepy

Hollow.

Old Dutch Church and Burying Grounds

Headless Horseman Bridge

Written by Washington Irving, published in 1820. When he wrote the story,

Irving was living in Birmingham, England, but he had visited Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow which

are villages that sit beside the Hudson River in New

York.

Irving also wrote “Rip Van Winkle” which is a famous story that takes place in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

There is even a stamp commemorating the story.

He was the first American writer to become famous. He wrote the first

history of New York, but is best known for his short stories, like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle. He

was also a lawyer, a journalist and a diplomat in Madrid and London. He

loved adventure books and travelling. In fact, he travelled from Seville to

Granada (visiting Malaga, too). After that, in London, he wrote “Tales of the

Alhambra”. He lived in his home “Sunnyside” in Tarrytown, near New

York.

The original story which inspired Washington Irving, “The Headless Horseman” or “The Galloping Hessian of the Hollow”, tells us

about a Dutchman who left a tavern in Tarrytown on a cold winter night. On his way

home, he passed near the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where a headless Hessian (German) soldier was buried. People told stories about a galloping ghost at the tavern, so he was very

nervous and frightened...

...In the darkness, he saw a light in the cemetery and a white mist coming from a grave forming into a horse with a headless

rider! Screaming because the horse was after him, the Dutchman run towards the bridge, as he knew ghosts could not cross running water.

He fell on the snow and the ghost left him behind. The horseman was wearing the

Hessian uniform. The Dutchman waited for an hour hidden in the bushes. Then he went

back home.

Early in the 17th century, the Mayflower reached the coast of north America and established the first colony: Plymouth (Massachussets). The settlers were British and Dutch. The Dutch people came from Holland and years later settled in the area around the Hudson River (New Jersey) and founded New Amsterdam (later New York).

Two centuries later, when the story of Rip van Winkle takes place, the area was a British colony. Settlers had to pay a lot of taxes to the British government. They got tired and protested. For example, in Boston they threw many boxes of tea to the ocean. It made the British very angry and soldiers killed many workers. The settlers wanted to live in an independent country and fought against the British in the War of Independence (1775–1783). The story of Sleepy Hollow takes place after the war. The first president of the new country was George Washington.

In the story, Ichabod Crane was very popular among the ladies

because he was a “man of letters.” He was the school

teacher. Education in this time was a luxury, so many men

envied him. He would often walk with “country ladies” along the

banks of the river.

The men of the town, especially Brom Bones, disliked Ichabod because the women found him very interesting and attractive.

The climax of the story begins when Ichabod leaves a party at the Van

Tassels’ home. He is upset because he has discovered that Katrina danced with

him to make Brom Bones jealous. As he rides home, he is suddenly

pursued by what is supposedly the headless ghost of a Hessian soldier.

(Hessian soldiers were from German states and fought in the American

Revolution.)

The next day Ichabod’s horse was found wandering in a pasture, but Ichabod was never seen again. Some said that he was dead; others said he was too terrified to

return to Sleepy Hollow.Brom Bones smiled when the story of

Ichabod’s disappearance was told. Did that mean he disguised as the headless

horseman to get rid of his only competitor for the love of Katrina?

We will never know.