The following excerpt was taken from John Stockton's "Gory stories from America's frontier". San Francisco: University of California at Berkeley Press, 1995.
"Smythetown's oldest tale tells of a Quaker family, by the name of Sylvane, that went mad one night killing the children of their three closest neighbors. Legend has it that Mrs. Sylvane was a terrible cook, and an even worse judge of edible plants. It is believed that she harvested what she thought was wild lettuce though turned out to be the notorious henbane plant, known the world over for it's life-like hallucinations and overall bad mojo. The school children in Smythetown recite to this very day the following rhyme, which clearly tells of the Sylvane trial following the murders:
Ten knives growing
toward a very tight noose.
Oak tree swinging
in the shade of afternoon.
Jury runnin' out toward a guilty older father,
obloquy was granted on the evil mother daughter."
Quite interesting tale indeed, thanks for sharing that Indra.. :)
"Oak tree swinging"
-WS