Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998
From: Gary Bastin
Subject: Another Rooster Tale (The Horse Story)
Resent-From: BASTIN-L@rootsweb.com
Greetings All!
Story-telling is a long-standing tradition among the residents of Kentucky. Longtime members of the BASTIN-L list no doubt remember the stories about Mallory S. 'Rooster' Bastin that have previously appeared on our mailing list. He was a son of William M. and Nancy Jane (Ennis) Bastin, and a brother of my great grandfather, James Thomas 'Tom' Bastin.
"Rooster" was born in about 1872 in Metcalfe County, KY, and the stories about him reverberate down to the present; previously told stories on our mailing list in the past have included the 'flea-powder' tale and the 'gone-fishin' tale. A rather 'free spirit', he is not known to have married, but he did disappear for a few years during the depression (the 1930's) and the family never did figure out exactly where he had been. So, there could be cousins in Illinois that we just don't know about :-)
As a bit of background before getting to today's 'Rooster Tale', a muddy one-lane dirt road separated the William M. and Nancy Jane (Ennis) BASTIN home and the David Walker and Katherine (Hardy) SMITH home. Five of the SMITH children married five of the BASTIN children. (See the photo on our website at http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/Prairie/9714/smiths.htm for a photo of the SMITH family, and the connections of who married who.) So, the family connections between the two families were rather numerous :-)
From my sister, Glenda Bastin (and our Dad, James Glen 'Glen' Bastin), comes the following 'Rooster Tale':
"I questioned Dad on another "Rooster Tale" in connection with our gg-grandpa, David Walker Smith. It seems that Rooster had quite a reputation among the locals. Everybody was about half-afraid of him. His nickname was supposedly given to him because he enjoyed fighting so much, just like a banty-rooster. He was well-known to pull a knife and threaten to use it if things weren't going quite to suit him. And, he had an affinity for quenching his thirst with lots of strong spirits.
Anyway, one particular evening he was "loaded" and was feeling rather rambunctious. He got on his horse and ran her just as hard as he could. Back and forth, up and down the road, yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs - all of this in front of David Walker Smith's house. He kept beating and running the horse until the poor old horse was about ready to drop. Folks were scared of what Rooster might do if they confronted him, so they left him alone.
Everybody that is EXCEPT David Walker Smith. David W. was not afraid of Rooster; he had built a reputation of being pretty tough himself. I guess he had learned to fight and fend for himself during Civil War Battles (such as the Battle of Atlanta). Anyway, David W. couldn't stand seeing the poor ole horse mistreated anymore. He stopped Rooster, grabbed the horse's reins, and commanded Rooster to "get off that horse and you take her home, right now! And I better not catch you back down here riding that horse again tonight!" Big, bad Rooster got off the horse, took hold of the reins, and quietly walked the horse on home. Rooster had met his match!"
Thanks, Glenda!
Cordially,
Gary Bastin
BASTIN-L List Administrator
==== BASTIN Mailing List ====
Visit the BASTIN Family Website at
http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/Prairie/9714/
Get your own Free Home Page