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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Vanishing of hunters ends era”
was originally published in the Nov. 7, 1996 edition of The Monroe Journal in
Monroeville, Ala.)
There was a time, not too long ago, that this time of year
was the beginning of the fox hunting season. The full moon and cool winds,
which gave a slight chill to the early autumn evenings, would give warning to
the sly old fox that the hunters moon now hung in the heavens.
But the time of the old fox hunters, as some of us once knew
them, has slowly slipped from the scene. The nights of the chases across open
pastures and across the freshly harvested fields and the fireside gatherings
have almost disappeared. No more do the night winds of autumn carry the
laughter of the fox hunters as they gather together for a hunt and the many
stories of the great fox hounds that used to be. Such names like Danny Boy, Old
Bottom, Dixie Darling and many, many more are no longer. This was truly a breed
of special people; people who are fast vanishing from the scene and from a
special place within the countryside.
No more does the smell of wonderful hot coffee, brewed over
an open fire, ride the night winds of our autumn. And, having a glorious full
moon overhead while feeling the warmth of an open campfire has almost been
forgotten.
What is the reason for the end of such a wonderful era? Why
has the beauty of the chase and the music of the faithful foxhounds, as they
trail the crafty old fox across the meadows, have lost their calling? Is it the
lack of love for the outdoors? Has the bloob tube (television) captured all of
our interests? Have we become so weak and lazy until we no longer have the
strength to go forth on a chilly autumn evening and be a part of the Creation?
Whatever the reason, a time in our history has almost
disappeared from among us that will never be recaptured again. The beauty and
the romance of the fox hunters moon will soon be no more. The campfire tales
have disappeared from the scenes, never to return. Those few of us that
remember have lost a beautiful portion of our lives.
What will we tell our children? Will they pass through life
without the pleasures of hearing the music of a pack of fox hounds as they give
chase to wise of gray fox? How will they know the feeling and satisfaction of
hearing the tall tales of the fox hunters as they sat around the glowing fires?
And, as they sat there, listening to sounds of the chasing hounds, deep in
their hearts, each hoped that the hounds never caught up with the sly old fox.
And, are we depriving them of knowing the love of an open campfire under a full
harvest moon? Truly, we should never let this happen. If our trend of life
continues on its present course, these wonderful times of our past has just
about disappeared into the darkness of oblivion.
As Southerners, we are now at the time in history when we desperately
need some of the old forms of entertainment and some of the pastimes of
yesterday. I believe that we must have a knowledge of these if we are to
identify ourselves with our past. Laugh if you must, but the time has come when
we have separated ourselves almost completely from our upbringing. We have
become so absorbed in our lives of fantasy, in a world of make believe, we have
forgotten what has made us great.
I know that many of you smile, and many wonder just how,
perhaps foolish to some, this form of entertainment could be of value in our
today’s way of life. But, today our world is a finer place to live because of
the ways of the generations before us. I do not wish to sound like the voice of
doom, but I think the time is at hand when we need to share all the knowledge
and know-how we can extract from our past so our youth of today may live a sane
and more useful lives into tomorrow.
This does not mean that one has to be a dyed-in-wood fox
hunter to survive the coming years. But, the peace and contentment of such a
pastime will be a great plus in the minds of our youth when facing the coming
tomorrows. It seems that we try very hard to separate ourselves from our
history of the past. But, we should so whatever we can to pass our experiences,
both good and bad, to our youth of today. I have a saying that a person, a
family, a community or a nation does not know where they are going unless they
know where they have been. This, I believe with all my heart.
Many of the problems of the day was talked about and
discussed around those evening campfires and things looked much better with the
coming of the new day. I know that honor, respect and decency were common words
of the old fox hunters. These men put great faith in the words of others. Their
word was law; that’s all they had. This practice could be of great use in today’s
society.
Today, as we push deeper and deeper into the age of the
computer, we are less inclined to give much honor and respect to the word of
our neighbor. We turn to the machine for much of our thinking and advice. We
cannot see the rising of a glorious full moon on our computers or televisions;
we cannot sit in our dens and living rooms and feel the wonders of our
surroundings and know that somewhere up there a loving and caring God is
watching.
We must be a part of our creation; we must smell the
campfires and taste the crisp evening air. And, as we feel the chill of the
evening and listen to the lullaby of the autumn winds across the hills, we will
know that our God is forever present and all is well within our souls. And, as
the fox hounds race in the distance, you will know that peace of mind is at
hand.
(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of
Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A
longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo
County, graduated from Sweet Water High School, served in the Korean War, lived
for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County in June 1964 (some
sources say 1961) and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National
Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. For years, Singleton’s column “Somewhere in Time”
appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about
Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. Some of his earlier
columns also appeared under the heading of “Monroe County History: Did You
Know?” He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and
all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the
microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville.
Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship
purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)
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