REDLONS OF YORK, MAINE.
591
the early generations of the Redlon family. In his will he mentions six
sons, two of whom had deceased. (See will and inventory in this book.)
The universal tradition of the family has made Magnus Redlon the father
of seven sons, but no daughter was ever mentioned or known to the grand-
children of our ancestor; there was, however, one daughter, her mother's
namesake, who died in York, and was buried there. The same tradition
represented Magnus as settled first in Saco, and Massie Townsend as the
mother of his seven sons. Documentary evidence proves these state-
ments incorrect. Being reared among seamen, and used to the ocean from
childhood, he seemed to love the seashore ever afterwards.
He was a noted scout in the Indian wars along the New England coast.
He owned boats and spent much of his time in fishing. During the au-
tumn and winter months he followed hunting and trapping. He also fur-
nished many fine masts to the English, which were shipped to England.
He was supposed to be small of stature, from the fact that the name "little
Scotchman was handed down from father to son in all branches of the
family. It was also said that the Indians called him the "white scout
with yellow hair"; hence I presume his complexion, like all his country-
men, was light. He was a stranger to fear, and his adventures would fur-
nish materials for a volume. He must have been a man of marked traits
of character, for he has transmitted eccentric qualities to all his posterity,
since known as "Ridlon oddity."
Here on the banks of the beautiful river Saco, the Shetlander spent a
quiet and religious life after his wanderings were over; here he gathered
his grandchildren around him and told them the story of his early adven-
tures after leaving the land of his childhood; here, when the day's
work was finished, he sat down and thought of his native land, and
the dear ones left there whom he would never see again. He acquired
extensive and valuable tracts of land, which he divided amongst his
sons. Could he have lived till the present day he could have counted
nearly fourteen hundred descendants on the paternal side, who have borne
the Redlon, Ridlon, or Ridley surname, and probably as many more on
the maternal side, children of daughters whose names were changed by
marriage.
It may seem a little singular, but our ancestor was the only man known
among the early settlers of New England Christian-named Magnus, - with
the exception of some of his own descendants named in his honor,-
and we hope this grand old Norman name, derived from the ancient kings
whose subjects our remote ancestors were, may be perpetuated in our fam-
ily so long as there is one who bears the surname of our common progen-
itor. While visiting the burial-place of Magnus Redlon in 1881, the sen-
timents were awakened now embodied in the following simple lines:
"Far from ancestral graves, and his own dear native land,
Beneath the waving pines on old ocean's rugged strand,
By the Saco's verdant shore,
Near his humble cabin door,
The exiled Northman found his earthly rest.
The music of the waters floating on the evening breeze,
Mingles with the song of zephyrs heard among the trees,
And as requiems are chanted for the dead.
The wild flowers always bloom
Round our Father's lowly tomb,
While the silent stars are watching o'er his bed.
But his spirit took its flight to the world of peace and light,
Where no ocean rolls between the kindred band,
