Swallow Barn by John Pendleton Kennedy

First published: 1832

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of plot: Early nineteenth century

Locale: Virginia

Principal characters

• Mark Littleton, the narrator
• Ned Hazard, his cousin
• Frank Meriwether, Ned’s brother-in-law
• Mr. Isaac Tracy, a gentleman farmer
• Bel Tracy, his daughter
• Harvey Riggs, a Tracy kinsman

The Story:

After receiving many invitations from his cousin Ned Hazard, Mark Littleton at last feels that he can no longer put off a visit to Virginia. He leaves his mother and his sisters in New York and begins his journey south. At Swallow Barn, his cousin’s home, Mark meets or renews acquaintance with a great many relatives and friends. Ned’s sister married Frank Meriwether, who is now the head of the family. The estate was left to Ned. It was heavily encumbered, and Frank paid off the heaviest debts and put the plantation on a paying basis. The house is filled with Meriwether and Hazard relatives, all permanent guests. Some perform small functions as a pretense of paying their own way, but their tasks are no more than token duties kindly thought up for them so that they will feel useful.

Mark finds life in Virginia restful and pleasant, for there is an unhurried rhythm about Swallow Barn that appeals to him. The plantation is filled with slaves and freed blacks who are fiercely loyal to Frank, a good master. Indeed, everyone loves Frank for his thoughtfulness and generosity. Mark’s special favorite, however, is his cousin Ned. The two young men are inseparable companions. Ned is a man of excellent spirits, always indulging in pranks and jokes. Swallow Barn will one day revert to him, but he is content to let Frank use it as his own, wanting only to have a good time without the need of responsibilities. Ned takes Mark on several excursions around the countryside and introduces him to local beauties of nature.

While Ned and Mark walk through the woods one day, they indulge in one of their favorite pastimes by singing their loudest, each trying to outdo the other. In one verse, Ned calls out the name of Bel Tracy. He is deeply chagrined when that lady, riding up unnoticed, answers him. Bel is the daughter of old Isaac Tracy, master of the neighboring estate, The Brakes. Ned’s confusion at being discovered by Bel makes Mark think that his cousin feels more than friendship for her. She teases him gently about his boisterous use of her name, leaving Ned stammering in confusion. Bel is accompanied by her sister and by Harvey Riggs, a Tracy kinsman. Harvey joins in the teasing, but Mark sees at once that it is good-natured teasing and that Harvey feels great friendship for Ned.

The two parties go back to Swallow Barn, where Harvey delivers a letter from Mr. Tracy to Frank. The subject matter is of long standing, and it affords Frank some amusement. For many years, Mr. Tracy imagined himself in possession of one hundred acres of marshlands separating The Brakes from Swallow Barn. Every court in Virginia denied his claim, but the old gentleman is adamant. Frank would long since have given him the land, for it is worthless, but he knows the old gentleman would be lost without the affair, which provides him with mental activity as he plots ways to get possession of the land. In his letter, Mr. Tracy suggests that he and Frank let their lawyers go over the matter again, the two disputants to abide by the legal decision. Frank plans to ask his lawyer to arrange matters so that Mr. Tracy will win the suit after what looks like a difficult legal maneuver.

Old Mr. Tracy is a detriment to Ned, even though Ned loves the old gentleman. He is a gentleman of the old school, dignified and sober; Ned, on the other hand, cannot repress his merry spirits. Bel, however, absorbed some of her father’s dignity and is not usually very receptive to Ned’s foolishness. The poor young man tries hard to change, but his disposition is almost as firm as Mr. Tracy’s.

After Ned admits to Mark that he loves Bel, the two friends map out a campaign to win her heart to Ned’s cause. Their plans are temporarily postponed, however, by the arrival of the lawyers who will decide the disputed land claim. The legal gentlemen afford the young men much entertainment, one being a dandy known throughout Virginia. He is pursued by two of the maiden relatives, each of whom pretends to be pursued by him. When the dandy learns of their intentions, he finishes his business and departs as quickly as possible. The settling of the suit gives everyone but old Mr. Tracy a lot of amusement. Ned is serious about the whole matter, so he loses more ground in his suit when he unwittingly makes light of the affair. It takes a great deal of clever legal terminology to fool the old man, but at last he is awarded the land and he is convinced that justice is done.

Sometimes Ned, Mark, and the others find entertainment in listening to the tales of goblins and ghosts told by old slaves on the plantation. The two families frequently give large dinner parties, when the whole community is invited to come and spend the day. Mark, thinking he will find it hard ever to return to New York and his own family, hopes to stay long enough to help Ned in his courtship of Bel. At one of the parties, Ned has a little wine and becomes more boisterous than ever, causing Bel to lose the esteem she gradually developed for him. He gains her goodwill once more by finding her pet falcon, which flew away, but later he loses her affection by engaging in a fistfight with a town bully. Harvey Riggs, joining Mark in attempts to help Ned with his suit, tells Bel that Ned fought the bully because the ruffian cast slurs on her father. Pity at last enters Bel’s heart, and she treats her suitor with more favor.

Mark at last leaves Virginia and goes home to New York. Some months later, he learns that Ned was successful; Bel married him on New Year’s Day. Ned writes, too, that it is as Frank feared. Old Mr. Tracy was sorry the land suit was settled and wishes to open it again. Without the pending suit, he feels like a man who lost an old and faithful friend.

Bibliography

Barnard, Philip. “Retold Legends: Washington Irving, James Kirke Paulding, and John Pendleton Kennedy.” In A Companion to American Fiction, 1780-1865, edited by Shirley Samuels. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2004. An overview of Kennedy’s work, placed within the context of other American literature of the period. Includes a discussion of Swallow Barn.

Bohner, Charles H. “Virginia Revisited.” In John Pendleton Kennedy: Gentleman from Baltimore. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1961. Discussion of Washington Irving’s influence upon Swallow Barn’s collection of sketches, which accurately portray early nineteenth century domestic life in Virginia. The Southern plantation romance began with Swallow Barn, but Kennedy’s partial detachment from Virginia society allowed objectivity and irony.

Hare, John L. Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Family and Sectionalism in the Virginia Novels of Kennedy, Caruthers, and Tucker, 1830-1845. New York: Routledge, 2002. Examines eight novels by Kennedy, William A. Caruthers, and Nathaniel Beverley Tucker, focusing on their connections to the social and political tensions of the mid-nineteenth century. Chapter 2, “Generational Progress in Swallow Barn,” offers an analysis of this novel.

Jones, Paul Christian. “Resisting the Romance: Genre Struggle in John Pendleton Kennedy’s Swallow Barn.” In Unwelcome Voices: Subversive Fiction in the Antebellum South. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2005. Contradicts the stereotypical view that all antebellum southern literature is propaganda for slaveholders by focusing on Kennedy and four other writers who subverted southern tradition. Describes how Swallow Barn challenges romantic images of the South with its realistic depiction of the region.

Ridgely, Joseph Vincent. John Pendleton Kennedy. New York: Twayne, 1966. A chapter on Swallow Barn discusses its structure and style, including excerpts from nineteenth century reviews. Although true to Virginia life, Swallow Barn employs stock devices and literary sources. Kennedy’s growing ambivalence toward the South precluded the possibility of a sequel.

Romine, Scott. “The Plantation Community: John Pendleton Kennedy’s Swallow Barn and Thomas Nelson Page’s In Ole Virginia.” In The Narrative Forms of Southern Community. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999. Demonstrates how Swallow Barn and several other literary works attempt to negotiate the social tensions in the antebellum south.

Tomlinson, David O. “John Pendleton Kennedy.” In Fifty Southern Writers Before 1900: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, edited by Robert Bain and Joseph M. Flora. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1987. Discusses Kennedy’s major themes and surveys criticism of his work. Argues that Kennedy was a nationalist who feared disunion and combined his intended satire with affection for his characters and with dismay at some Virginia social customs.