William Foster Painting

[Drew Hause]

Bob's painting was used for the cover of the October 1938 "Outdoor Life"

The young man may have been Foster's son, illustrated here in 1926.
Foster Sr. shot a 27" barrel 20 gauge DHE Parker SN 225905.

[Dean Romig]

That was one of them Drew. His 28 gauge DHE mounts and swings like a dream.





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[Garth Gustafson]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Yes Garth, and so many others as well - Burt Spiller, Gorham "Grampa Grouse" Cross, and "Tap" Tapply to name a few.

Both of my daughters are married and live in Derry and my four grandkids attend school there. I wish they were in the part of town that would have allowed them to attend the West Running Brook School. Frost published a book of poems entitled "West Running Brook." The brook, just a short distance away, flows to the West rather than toward the sea in the East.

Truth be told, I have a small lichen-covered stone on my desk I use as a paperweight that came from that wall. That stone wall, or "fence" to use the vernacular of the day, was the catalyst to Frost to pen the words "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors."
The reason they make good neighbors is because the farmers on either side of these "fences" would make a couple of days work of "mending fences" in the springtime after the winter's frost heaves would have toppled some of the rocks. They would talk of the weather, town politics, families, iron out differences of opinion and so on while doing the mindless work.

I can recite his poem "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" word for word. It is one of my favorites - I read it as part of my mother's eulogy as it was one of her favorites too.



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Thanks for sharing that story. He sure had a way of making us feel like we were there.

[bob lyons]

JSH
Great story very jealous would have loved to see and handle the little Gun.
Bob

[Rick Roemer]

This is a great thread. I love writers and those that can take you there on a cold winter’s day when you are reading by the fire. It’s timeless.

The Little Gun is currently being taken care of by RST shells owner Morris Baker (I believe). He brought it to Haussman’s a couple years ago and was more than willing to let others enjoy it. I really thought he was a super nice guy- one of us.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Rick Roemer

The Little Gun is currently being taken care of by RST shells owner Morris Baker (I believe). He brought it to Haussman’s a couple years ago and was more than willing to let others enjoy it. I really thought he was a super nice guy- one of us.

First I've heard of Morris having permanent possession of the "Little Gun."





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[Rick Roemer]

Not sure about permanent but he had it there in 2019.

[birddogdoc]

Originally Posted by bob lyons

I thought I would share a photo of a original William Harnden Foster painting showing a Parker shotgun. He accomplished a lot in this life, the book New England Grouse Shooting was one of them and a good read.

Bob...

Do you own this painting?

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Rick Roemer

The Little Gun is currently being taken care of by RST shells owner Morris Baker (I believe). He brought it to Haussman’s a couple years ago and was more than willing to let others enjoy it. I really thought he was a super nice guy- one of us.

I know Morris owns the 20 gauge VH that was Burt Spiller’s which was auctioned at The Cobb’s Auctions in Peterboro, NH probably 13 or 14 years ago. I don’t know who dubbed it the “Little Gun” but it was a recent thing, certainly since the auction.

The original “The Little Gun” was the 16 gauge Grade-2 hammer gun written about in Foster’s “New England Grouse Shooting” and the story of it begins on page 1 of his book.
This isn’t to say the Baker/Spiller VH 20 isn’t a sweetheart with lots of history as well. It was actually made famous by Bill Tapply in his story “Burt’s Gun.”

[Bill Murphy]

First I've heard of the "Little Gun" in the possession of my friend Morris. Maybe a confusion of particular guns.