BODY, BOOTS AND BRITCHES

An expression meaning ""the whole thing"" -- in 'York State speech. A compendium of verse and prose, of legendary figures, tall tales, tricks, place names, proverbs. There are unhackneyed yarns of pirates, Indian fighters, outlaws, bandits, ghosts, whalers, sailors, canallers, lumbermen, mountaineers, soldiers, lovers, murderers... Supplements the Carmer data, with a little closer feeling to the primitive. Background material from the founding of Albany to the beginnings of Buffalo and other frontier communities in the 19th century. There are old ballads and songs, there are anecdotes of entertaining exploits, there's a lusty picture of a period.