Tonight, on New Hampshire Crossroads, listen to a fiddler from Pittsburg, New Hampshire, who is passing this tradition on to a new generation.

No matter what, I forget.

Then I follow in the footsteps of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to tell the story of New Hampshire's royal Governor, Benning Wentworth, whose life was certainly colorful and not always so dignified.

And we make our way to one of those tiny islands that dot Lake Winnipesaukee to visit Ralph Kershner, a year-round Islander.

There are 1 million stories in the naked state of New Hampshire.

Mine is just one of them.

Hi, I'm Fritz Wetherbee, and this is New Hampshire Crossroads.

Theme Music Presentation of New Hampshire Crossroads is made possible by grants from Shaw’s Supermarkets, providing quality and service in all their stores located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

First NH Banks, serving the financial needs of individuals, corporations, and local governments throughout New Hampshire.

Continental Cablevision, providing quality cable service and community programing throughout New Hampshire.

And the Union Leader Corporation, publisher of New Hampshire's statewide newspapers.

We're right for New Hampshire.

In our first story this evening, we're going to travel up to the beautiful North Country, up to Pittsburg, New Hampshire, where we will meet two fiddlers with a very special friendship.

Paul Amey has been playing the fiddle for about 20 years now.

And Leo Brooks, well, Leo's been playing about 60 years now.

Paul was a teenager when Leo first taught him to play the fiddle by ear.

And back then he also taught him hundreds of old fiddle tunes so that now Paul is one of the few fiddlers left able to pass on these beautiful old tunes to the next generation.

And.

Music The old ways are the best ways sometimes.

You know it's, nothing wrong with high tech, but this is a lot more fun.

I'd like to have my kids learn how to play the fiddle, too, maybe, or their kids.

And the only way we're going to do that is, is keep the old tunes alive.

Music Yeah!

(motor starting) Paul Amey is a native of Pittsburg.

He works on his family's dairy farm here, and like most folks up here, he does a few other things to get by as well.

He does roadside mowing for the town and the paper mill.

He makes maple syrup.

He harvests firewood, and he runs this old style custom saw mill in the summertime.

By the way, this is his dog, Foxy.

And Foxy is quite used to spending lots of time here at the home of Leo Brooks.

Leo is also a native of Pittsburg, and he used to run a sawmill, and Leo plays the fiddle.

As a matter of fact, Leo Brooks introduced Paul to the fiddle.

Paul was just 16, and since then, Leo has taught him hundreds of old time fiddle tunes.

Music Just a matter of the repetition.

And then after you get a couple of tunes down, the rest of them come easier.

I mean, the more you learn, the easier they come.

Music He used to come down the little hall, you know, and stay til 1, 2:00 in the morning.

Keep me up We’d play.

Didn't take him too long.

He pretty ingenious.

Captured on pretty quick.

Nobody really knows who wrote them or where they came from.

You know, it was the people that were traveling around.

The fiddle was the only instrument they had, and they made them up as they went along.

And, I try to I remember more tunes than I do names.

I forget the names quick.

It's like I forget names of people, but, the the tunes stay with you.

But if you forget the names after a while, you you know what you're playing, so.

That’s part of that (inaudible) Music That’s just a little touch of it.

It’s ain’t perfect.

But that’s something the way he played.

(inaudible) Music You know, I learned a lot.

And then I was able to take what he, what he taught me and use it with the bluegrass and the country and the things that, the other things I do.

Who put me on the floor The game is nearly up, and the hounds are at my door She walks through the corn, leading down by the river Her hair shone like gold in the hot morning sun She took all the love that her poor boy could give her And left me to die like a fox on the run Like a fox (like a fox, like a fox, like a fox) on the run Like a fox (like a fox, like a fox, like a fox) on the run Like a fox (like a fox, like a fox, like a fox) Like a fox (like a fox, like a fox, like a fox) on the run My sister played piano, I played fiddle.

Oh, I think Vernon Hall they used to play trumpet with us.

We used to play down at (inaudible), the other side of Beecher Falls.

It’s all gone (inaudible).

And we played there, I don’t know, 4 or 5 years I guess, every Saturday night.

But anyway, we played down there and she got religion, black stockings, and she she wouldn't have it anymore.

So that ended that.

Well, when we went playing around different other places, played Colebrook, Greens Hall, played the (inaudible).

They had a hall out there, that’s gone.

Music Rock and roll, they get to go in and they get up and they got these (inaudible) and they show off too much, certainly.

I don't like it.

Then some of them get by unseen and you don't know the scene.

They’re just crude.

No matter what crowd you're playing in, there’s always, I feel, old timers in it that used to hear the old people play, and they'll come up and they'll say, you know so and so waltz, or such and such a waltz, or can you (inaudible) polka.

Oh, let me hear you play Irish Washerwoman and I'll put the word out there, you know, and they love it.

(engine running) In that piece, you saw Paul playing with a group of his friends over in Jefferson, New Hampshire, at the home of guitarist Mark Bechtold.

And also in that band were Jack Thomas on banjo, Peter Bill on guitar and Nick Mike on mandolin.

Have you noticed that all these guys have a last name that sounds like a first name?

Jack Thomas, Peter Bill, Nick Mike?

Paul, by the way, has been elected road agent up in the town of Pittsburg.

And this has been a very rough winter and he has been very busy.

He tells us that he hasn't had much time to play the fiddle this year.

When you think of scandal, chances are you don't think of colonial times, Although there was as much scandal in colonial times as there is nowadays.

To wit, Hester Prynne and the Scarlet A, or for that matter, a story that took place right in this house.

I am about to tell you a story so scandalous it will shake you to your roots, yet a story so compelling that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about it and included it in his Tales from the Wayside Inn.

This is the story of Lady Wentworth.

The scandal happened here.

This is Wentworth Hall 250 years ago, this was the home of this man.

This is Benning Wentworth, who was the first colonial governor of New Hampshire, named in 1741 by His Majesty George the Second, King of England.

Benning Wentworth was described by Longfellow as being A portly person with three cornered hat, a crimson velvet coat, head held high in air, gold-headed cane, and nicely powdered hair and diamond buckles sparkling at his knees, dignified, stately, florid, and much at ease.

He was also terribly rich, rich enough to own this beautiful house, described again by Longfellow as A goodly place where it was good to be.

It was a pleasant mansion, an abode near, yet hidden, from the great high road, sequestered among trees, a noble pile, gables and dormer windows everywhere, and stacks of chimneys rising high in air.

Within, unwonted splendors met the eye, panels and floor of oak and tapestry; carved chimney pieces, where on brazen dogs revelled and roared the Christmas fire of logs.

Okay, enough of this description.

Let's get down to the juicy stuff.

And the juicy stuff, of course, concerns a woman.

Specifically, a woman who worked here in the kitchen of this great house.

She was a cook’s assistant and her name was Martha Hilton.

There are no portraits of Martha, but Longfellow has a wonderful description of her.

He says, Barefooted, ragged, with neglected hair, eyes full of laughter, neck and shoulders bare, a thin slip of a girl like a new moon, sure to be rounded into beauty soon.

And yes, Martha was just a child, only a teenager, til that old goat get his hands on her.

The fact is, Benning Wentworth suffered greatly.

All three of his sons died.

When he was 55, his wife died, and for seven long and lonely years, he was all alone here in this great mansion.

And then in the winter of 1760, Benning Wentworth had a birthday party right here in this room.

This is the actual room.

Benning was 64 years old.

Martha Hilton, incidentally, was 20 years old.

And this is Longfellow's account of that evening.

He had invited all his friends and peers - the Pepperels, the Langdons, and the Lears, the Sparhawks, the Penhallows and the rest; For why repeat the name of every guest?

But I must mention one in bands and gown.

The rector there, the Reverend Arthur Brown.

When they had drunk the King with many a cheer, the Governor whispered in a servant's ear, who disappeared and presently there stood within the room, in perfect womanhood, a maiden, modest yet self-possessed, youthful and beautiful, and simply dressed.

Can this be Martha Hilton?

It must be!

Yes, Martha Hilton, and no other she!

Dowered with the beauty of her 20 years, how ladylike, how queenlike she appears.

Yet scarce a guest perceived that she was there until the Governor, rising from his chair, played slightly with his ruffles, and then looked down and said unto the Reverend Arthur Brown, this is my birthday: it shall likewise be my wedding day.

You shall marry me.

So the rector read the service loud and clear.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here and so forth to the end.

At his command, on the fourth finger of her fair left hand, the Governor placed the ring, and that was all.

Martha was Lady Wentworth of the Hall!

And so.

But you see, this isn't the end of the story.

Benning actually lived another ten years, and Martha, I understand, took very good care of him.

And when he died, he left her his entire fortune.

Martha remarried almost at once.

A distant cousin of Benning’s, a retired English colonel called Michael Wentworth, whom it is said needed the money more than he needed love.

Michael was a charming man.

He played the harpsichord, in fact, this harpsichord, beautifully.

The couple entertained lavishly.

Why, George Washington himself actually attended parties here.

But Michael had one major fault: he was a compulsive gambler.

He built this room just to play billiards in.

And this room was built simply for playing cards.

And this room down here, this room was also built simply for playing cards.

And before he was done, Michael managed to squander the entire fortune.

Michael lived a long life, and he died here.

And it is said that he boasted on his deathbed, I have had my cake and I have ate it.

Tell that to your children.

Let it be a lesson to them.

Music Isn't it amazing?

That story took place over 200 years ago, and it's just as scandalous today as it was back then.

And if you are interested in stories of scandal, you will be interested in a program that we will be presenting here on Channel 11 on March 1st at 9:00 in the evening.

It's entitled Scandals and Scoundrels of New Hampshire.

And it is a history of some of the naughtier people who have lived in this state.

There is a legend that says that a medicine man once saved the life of a young brave.

And later, when the medicine man was paddling his canoe on Lake Winnipesaukee, a great storm came up and the Great Spirit rose up out of the lake and said to the medicine man, because you have done good, I will give you a place to rest.

I will create for you an island.

In fact, I will create for you one island for every day of the year.

And that, the legend says, is why there are 365 islands on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Our next story takes place on one of those islands, and we will meet the person who lives there all year round.

Music Everybody, metaphorically, lives on an island.

I'm lucky enough to have a lifestyle that enables me to live out here.

And I don't make a lot of money, but it's enough to scratch by and the trade offs, to me, are worth it.

I could easily make triple what I make now by simply moving to the mainland and getting a steady job.

It's not worth it to me.

The property is valuable.

The experience is priceless.

And that's why I'm here.

Ralph Kershner lives on Wattlebury Island in Lake Winnipesaukee.

He's one of only two people to live on unbridged islands all year round.

Trained as a wildlife biologist, Ralph does some teaching and writes for and edits 4 or 5 environmental newsletters.

He also does fixit jobs around the islands, anything from plumbing to putting docks in and out.

Ralph embodies a paradox desired by many: a life of isolation and active involvement.

I hope I am not one of those back to nature Cosmic muffin, organic karma freaks from the 60s.

My politics definitely date from the 60s.

My approaches, I hope are a little more up to date.

Ralph doesn't carry signs and demonstrations anymore.

Rather, he testifies before the legislature, writes drafts of bills, or works on committees.

He's an activist on a lot of lake related issues, from jet skis to overflowing septic systems.

Up to three times a week, he comes off the island to travel across the mile of Lake Winnipesaukee that is his front yard.

Then he hops in his car and drives an hour and a half to the state capitol.

To me, New Hampshire is a great state to live in.

The State House operates like a small town.

Pretty much everybody knows everybody else.

You can be on a very friendly basis down there when you're dealing with government, whereas dealing with the federal government, you're butting your head against the wall and bureaucracy and everything else.

New Hampshire has tremendous public access.

I don't have my phone calls unreturned.

They may listen to what I say and ignore me completely, but at least they listen.

Music At the coldest times, he drives across the ice.

At the warmest, he boats through the water, and in the in-between times he gets through both ice and water with a technique he's borrowed from the Indians, pulling the canoe across the ice, paddling it through the water and pulling it back on to the ice again.

Music Ralph stays on the lake all year round while all of his neighbors, including his favorite animal neighbors, go away.

Every fall, he watches the loons fly off, and he's there in the spring when they come home.

If we lose the loons, we really lose an important warning signal in the environment that something is seriously wrong.

If something is affecting the loons, they are at the top of the food chain, very shortly it's going to be affecting the people.

So that losing 40 or 50 loons on the lake, environmentally by itself, is not a catastrophe, but it means that there is an environmental catastrophe lurking behind it.

Ralph worked as the Loon Ranger on Winnipesaukee from 1976 to 79, and he stayed involved, scouting nests, marking and roping them off and researching the problems.

In the last ten years, chick production has increased.

The work paid off.

The call of the loon is still heard in the summer on Lake Winnipesaukee.

(printer sounds) Got all my toys here, the stereo and the computer and the VCR and whatnot.

And on the other hand, and that side of the room, we've got the wood stove.

So two different types of technology and two different approaches to life.

It keeps life interesting.

Ralph is eclectic.

He thrives on contrasts.

He lives on an island and testifies in the State House.

He can sit on his front porch and listen to the loon’s voice, while his computer modem listens to information being fed from anywhere in the country.

There are 1 million stories in the naked state of New Hampshire.

Mine is just one of them.

(drilling into ice) There's a mystique about islands, you know.

There's Gilligan's Island and Fantasy Island and the vision people have of islands with a carefree, isolated paradise doesn't fit the description out here.

It's a lot of work.

It's enjoyable work, but it's work.

It's enjoyable work, but it's work.

(water pumping) There are times when you're walking across and it's 20 degrees below at night.

And the stars are crackling overhead and the ice is booming beneath your feet.

And it's just magic.

That’s the only way I can describe it.

There are those small flashes of magic, of living out on the island, that make it worth living out here.

And I'm sure people have flashes of magic on the mainland too.

But I happen to like it here because I've managed to find my own magic here.

Music We told Ralph the story of the Great Spirit and the medicine man and Lake Winnipesaukee and he said he never heard of it, he said it sounded to him like something the Chamber of Commerce made up.

Ralph continues to go to Concord, where he continues his fight for legislation concerning shoreline protection and water quality and the Clean Lakes Bill.

Well, thank you for joining us this evening.

Next week, we will symbolically stab the haggis and toast to the memory of Scotland's greatest poet as we attend Burns Night, which is a party held every year in memory of Robert Burns.

Until then, for New Hampshire Crossroads, I'm Fritz Wetherbee.

Theme Music Presentation of New Hampshire Crossroads is made possible by grants from Shaw’s Supermarkets, providing quality and service in all their stores.

Located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

First NH Banks, serving the financial needs of individuals, corporations, and local governments throughout New Hampshire.

Continental Cablevision, providing quality cable service and community programing throughout New Hampshire.

And the Union Leader Corporation, publisher of New Hampshire's statewide newspapers.

We're right for New Hampshire.

Theme Music