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HISTORY OF FALMOUTH. 37
in the raising of their crops. Fowls of the, air and creeping things innumerable threatened to devour the crops before they came to maturity. Their most troublesome enemy at this time was the black-bird, a real corn stealer; and a war of extermination was declared against them in the following vote " The 25th day of March, 1701, the Town of. Falmouth assembled and it was voted and agreed to, that every house keeper should kill six old black-birds or twelve young black-birds, or four jay birds, by the, 15th day of June next after the date hereof, anal deliver them to the selectmen of this town or some of them, and they are to keep an account of every man's birds so delivered to them, and it is further ordered every house keeper that shall fail to kill their sum of birds by that time shall pay three shillings to be added to their tax." * About this time we find frequent allusions to the Town House, -- by which it appears the town at this early period owned a house for its convenience in transacting the public business, but what was its size or form and where it stood, I have not been able to ascertain. In 1703 we find the following vote, "To pay John Robinson two shillings for nails; Thomas Basset four shillings for work about the town house." 17o5 appears to have been a year of unusual excitement with the inhabitants and party spirit raged as high probably as at any subsequent time among their descendants. It seems * -- Who were house keepers? The following was the law of the Colony under the head of town affairs: "That none be allowed to be house keepers or build any cottage or dwelling house until they have allowance from the governor, some magistrate or the selectmen of that town; and that special care be taken that no single person that is of evil conversation or that hath not arms to serve the country, be suffered to keep such house or live alone; and if upon due warning such person do not put himself into some well-governed family, it shall be in the power of the next magistrate or the selectmen of the town where he lies to put him to service."
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