Simon

Simon, known as Simon the fiddler, appears briefly but memorably as both a person the travelers seek out and the center of a family life shaped by music and movement. His account links a stop on the journey with the longer story of a family performing across North Texas.

Identity and Place in the Journey

Simon is named alongside Doris Dillon as someone the traveling party visits in Wichita Falls and Spanish Fort. The stops place him within the route’s changing landscape of towns and encounters: he is not merely part of an audience gathered for news, but one of the people the travelers make a point of seeing.

Family and Musical Life

At the time of that visit, Simon and Doris Dillon have two children. The later account describes a family of six children, every one of whose names begins with D. All are musicians, and the family travels around North Texas for many years, bringing Irish jigs and cowboy ballads to barn dances and fairs. The account thus follows the family beyond the travelers’ brief visit, from a household encountered on the road to a performing group with a sustained regional presence.

Narrative Significance

Simon’s brief appearance widens the journey’s social map. The travelers move between towns, audiences, and acquaintances; Simon’s family also travels, carrying music to gatherings across the region. Their parallel itinerancy gives the narrative a recurring contrast between the passing encounter and the life that continues after the road has led elsewhere.