"The Headless Horseman" by Steve Doyle

The Headless Horseman

The legend itself I'm sure you know;

The story of Ichabod Crane

The school teacher of Sleepy Hollow

Who was never seen again.

When the Headless Horseman chased him down

Through the dark woods they crashed

And all that was ever found

Was his hat and a pumpkin, smashed.

But do you know the Horseman's history?

Or from whence he came?

He was Sleepy Hollow's mystery;

The Headless Horseman without a name.

A mercenary hired by the King

To fight in the Revolutionary War

Found himself at Gowanus Creek

In colonial New York.

Against Sterling's men near Hollow's Way

The Hessian troops were led.

One who would never leave that place

Had a cannonball take his head.

Buried near a little church

The German body lies.

But every night on its endless search

To the old battlefield it rides.

In search of its head the ghost goes

Riding through the night;

The galloping Hessian of the Hollow

That gave Ichabod a fright.

So now you know the story

Of the Headless Horseman's ghost

Who rides an eternal journey

In the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.