The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Part I

Location: eastern shore of the Hudson, at the broad river expanse called the Tappan Zee; a small market town (Greensburgh), more generally known as Tarry Town.
Nearby feature: about $2$ miles from the village lies a quiet valley; a brook runs through it, with only soft sounds (quail, woodpecker) breaking the stillness.
Sleepy Hollow: the valley and its inhabitants are known as Sleepy Hollow and the Sleepy Hollow Boys; a drowsy, dreamy atmosphere pervades the land.
Landscape and habitus: the region is a secluded Dutch settlement area, preserving population, manners, and customs while migratory changes sweep by elsewhere.
Superstitions: legends of witching powers, with many marvels, visions, and sounds in the air; the area is famed for tales and twilight superstitions.
The dominant phantom: the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, a headless rider linked to local lore; the spectre becomes a general emblem of the region’s mystery.

The spectre is said to be a Hessian trooper whose head was carried away by a cannon-ball in a Revolutionary War battle, seen at night roaming the roads and near a church.
Some historians claim the body was buried in the churchyard, yet the ghost rides forth in nightly quest of his head; his speed is blamed on being belated and eager to return to the churchyard before daybreak.
This legend has supplied material for many wild stories in that shadowed region; the spectre is widely known by the name Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
The belief in visionary phenomena extends beyond original inhabitants; visitors soon become imaginative, dreamlike, and prone to apparitions.

The peaceful, retired Dutch valleys are described as places where population and customs stay fixed while the larger country evolves around them.
They resemble still-water nooks along a rapid stream, preserving quiet life amid external change.
The valley is famed for its atmospheric power: stars, meteors, and dreams are said to be more common here than elsewhere, fueling legendary belief.
The region’s dominant spirit (besides the Headless Horseman) embodies a general witching influence that lures minds toward reverie.
The place is a repository of tradition, where the senses are easily persuaded to imagine and see.

Ichabod Crane is a Connecticut native, a State that supplies pioneers for the mind and forest; he comes to Sleepy Hollow to instruct local children.
Physical description: tall and exceedingly lank, narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangle, feet like shovels, a loosely hung frame; head small and flat-topped with huge ears and a long snipe nose; green glassy eyes; profile often like a weather-cock on a wind-blown neck.
Appearance on a windy day: his clothing flaps and billows, making him resemble a famine-genius or a scarecrow from a cornfield.
His schoolhouse: a single large-room log building, partly glazed windows, patched with old copybook leaves; secure at vacant hours by a withe twisted in the door-handles and stakes against shutters (a design echoing an eelpot).
Setting: the school stands at the foot of a woody hill, near a brook, with a birch tree nearby; the interior carries a beehive-like murmur of studying pupils.
Character: conscientious and justice-minded; uses a golden maxim: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” He judges with leniency toward the weak, and punishes the stronger with a double portion when needed.
Social role: not a cruel tyrant; he is a capable instructor who balances firmness with goodwill toward his pupils.
Economic position: the school yields little income; he is kept afloat by boarding and lodging at farmers’ houses during weekly rotations, his worldly goods tied in a cotton handkerchief.

He broadens his usefulness beyond teaching: helps farmers with lighter farm labor (hay, fences, watering livestock, moving cows, cutting wood).
Social demeanor: sheds his tyrannical schoolmaster persona when among neighbors; becomes gentle and ingratiating, winning favor with mothers by fondling the children and even rocking a cradle for long periods.
Patronage and status: as the neighborhood’s singing-master, he leads a group of singers on Sundays and regularly competes for church prestige.
Musical influence: his singing voice is powerful and carries above the congregation; lore attributes distinctive quirks to his nose that supposedly affect his singing.
Daily life: through a mix of instructional duties, social duties, and musical leadership, he secures a modest, albeit precarious, livelihood “by hook and by crook.”