[UA] Bangor, Maine (was: UA with OTE (was Fudge ?))

[Josh Harrison]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fabrice Gdak" <fab0666 at hotmail.com>
> I guess we agree on the compatibility thing. For my game, I envision to
> begin in the US (well, for me it's exotic, as I'm french) in a town very
> much like Bangor, in Maine.

As a resident of said city, I have to ask where you pulled that from? I 
think it's cool and all, but we don't exactly ping on the list of "eerie 
locales" (especially when you start looking at global influence). I would 
hazard a guess that our resident Famous Person (tm) Stephen King may have 
something to do with it, but you never know. (Bit of trivial chest-thumping, 
Steve's house is literally a block and a half from my own.)

If you like, I can set you up with a some interesting info about our little 
burg. I had to do a bunch of research to set up the background for our local 
World of Darkness LARP, and came across quite a few interesting bits. Here's 
one I think you folks would get a kick out of:

=How Bangor Got Its Name=
In 1791 the settlers in the area decided to incorporate themselves as a 
town. Because Maine was part of Massachusetts at the time, the settlers had 
to petition the Massachusetts General Court. The Rev. Seth Noble, who had 
arrived in 1786 from Wakefield, Mass., convinced his neighbors they should 
call their town Sunbury. Noble's neighbors gave him the task of going to 
Boston to deliver the town's petition.

While waiting to present the petition in Boston, Noble -- an organist and 
composer -- began whistling one of his favorite tunes: "Bangor," a Welsh 
hymn written by Tans'ur. In Welsh, "Bangor" means "high choir." In Celtic, 
"Bangor" means "the white choir."

When a court official asked Noble what his town wanted to be called, Noble 
was caught off guard. Daydreaming, perhaps, Noble thought he'd been asked 
the name of the tune he'd been whistling. So instead of saying "Sunbury," he 
said "Bangor." And Bangor it was. On Feb. 25, 1791, the General Court 
approved Bangor, not Sunbury, for incorporation. Historians don't know why 
Noble didn't correct the court. Perhaps he decided the name of one of his 
favorite tunes sounded better than Sunbury.
==

Not terribly interesting... until you read the lyrics of the hymn in 
question:

==
Hark! From the tomb a doleful sound;
My ears attend the cry.
"Ye living men, come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie."

Princes, this clay must be your bed,
In spite of all your towers;
The tall, the wise, the reverend head,
Must lie as low as ours.

Great God! Is this our certain doom?
And are we still secure?
Still walking downward toward the tomb,
And yet prepare no more.

Grant us the power of quickening grace
To fit our souls to fly;
Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.
==

Very moody and appropriate for a horror/supernatural theme, isn't it? I'm 
curious to see what sort of ideas you guys spin out of this one.

-- Josh Harrison -- mataxes at verizon.net --
The Lore Merchant: http://www.lore-merchant.org