DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Duke University Press DUKE • UNIVERSITY • PUBLICATIONS The Frank C. Brown Collection of NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE IIOTO: BLANK *: STOLLl:R DR. FRANK C. BROWN The FRANK C. BROWN COLLECTION of NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The Folklore of North Carolina collected by Dr. Frank C. Brown DURING THE YeARS I912 TO 1943 IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NORTH CARO- LINA Folklore Society of \vhich he was Secretary-Treasurer 1913-1943 IN FIVE VOLUMES General Editor NEWMAN IVEY WHITE Associate Editors HENRY M. BELDEN PAUL G. BREWSTER WAYLAND D. HAND ARTHUR PALMER HUDSON JAN P. SCHINHAN ARCHER TAYLOR STITH THOMPSON BARTLETT JERE WHITING GEORGE P. WILSON PAULL F. BAUM Wood Erjgravings by CLARE LEIGHTON DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS Volume I GAMES AND RHYMES • BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS • RIDDLES PROVERBS • SPEECH • TALES AND LEGENDS Edited by Paul G. Brkwster, Archer Taylor, Bartlett Jere Whiting, George P. Wilson, Stith Thompson Volume II FOLK BALLADS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Henry M. Belden and Arthur Palmer Hudson Volume III FOLK SONGS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Henry M. Belden and Arthur Palmer Hudson Volume IV THE MUSIC OF THE BALLADS AND SONGS Edited by Jan P. Schinhan Volume V SUPERSTITIONS FROM NORTH CAROLINA Edited by Wayland D. Hand IN MEMORIAM Frank Clyde IJrDvvn was horn at liarri.sonl)urg, Viri^inia. lO October 1870 and died at Durham. North Carohna, 3 June 1943. He was graduated with the A.li. degree from the University of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1893 and began at once his long career as a teacher. In the same year he married Miss Ola Mar- guerite Hollis, of Covington. Georgia. She died in 1928, and in 1932 he married Mrs. Mary Henkle Wadsworth. In iqoj he received from the University of Chicago the M.A. degree, and in 1908 the Ph.D. degree, with a dissertation on Elkanah Settle. In 1909 Dr. Brown came to Trinity Ctjllege, Durham, as Professor of English. He was then already interested in folk- lore, and a few years later organized the North Carolina Folklore Society. At the same time he was actively concerned with the affairs of the college: he was chairman of his depart- ment and as Marshal he superintended for many years all its public ceremonies. After the college became Duke University he was made Comptroller and was continuously occupied with the plans and appointments of the new buildings on both cam- puses. Though he left his mark on Trinity College and Duke University, his most enduring monument is this Collection of North Carolina Folklore, which was made mainly through his personal efforts and the enthusiasm he inspired in others. 617127 The FRANK C. BROWN COLLECTION of NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE VOLUME ONE GAMES AND RHYMES • BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS- RIDDLES- PROVERBS • SPEECH • TALES AND LEGENDS Edited by PAUL G. BREWSTER ARCHER TAYLOR KARTLETT JERE WHITING GEORGE P. WILSON STITH THOMPSON DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS 952 COPYRIGHT, 1952, BY THE DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge Uniz'crsity Press, London, N.Jf. i, England PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE SEEMAN PRINTERY, INC., DURHAM, N. C. PAGE V CONTENTS In Memoriam — Frank Clyde Brown Foreword by Paull F. Baum xi General Introduction by Newman I. White i Folklore : Its Meaning and Significance 3 — The Frank C. Brown Collection: Its History, Nature, and Growth 12 Children's Games and Rhymes Edited by Paul G. Brewster 29 Introduction 31 — Ball Games 36 — Hiding Games 37 — Jumping and Hopping Games 39 — Practical Jokes 41— Battle Games 43— Dramatic Games 44 — Guessing Games 57 — Forfeit and Penalty Games 63— Games of Chase 72— Games of Dexterity 83— Imita- tive Games 84 — Courtship and Marriage Games 89 — Teasing Games 133 — Tug-of-War and Similar Games 137 — Games of Smaller Children 144— Elimination Games 153— Dancing Games 154 — Miscellaneous Games 157 Counting-Out Rhymes 160 — Game Rhymes 169 — Rope-Skipping Rhymes 170 — Catches or Sells 172 — Teasing Rhymes 175 — De- risive Rhymes 178 — Divination Rhymes 179 — Charms 181 — Lulla- bies 183 — Finger Rhymes 184 — Tickling Rhymes 188 — Assevera- tions 190 — Recitations 190 — "Smart Aleck'" Rhymes 195 — Friend- ship Verses 197 — Tongue-Twisters 197 — Miscellaneous Rhymes 198 — Bibliography 207 — Indexes 215 Beliefs and Customs Edited by Paul G. Brewster 221 Introduction 223 — Childhood 225 — Folk-Toys 232 — Courtship and Marriage 235— Holidays and "Get-Togethers" 239— Household Superstitions 247 — Plants and Animals 252 — Death and Burial 254— Miscellaneous Items 261 — Quilt Patterns 263 — Dyeing 266— Cooking and Preserving 270 — Beverage Making 274 — Bibliography 276 Riddles Edited by Archer Taylor 283 Introduction 285 — Comparisons to Living Creatures 288 — to an Animal or Animals 292 — to a Person 294 — to a Plant 297 — to a Thing 297 — Enumerations of Comparisons 299 — Description of the Parts of an Object 303 — Description in Terms of Colors 304 — in Terms of Acts or a Scene 305 — Neck-Riddles 307 — Genealog- ical Riddles 310— Arithmetical Riddles 311— Biblical Riddles 313— Spelling and Letter Riddles 314— "How" Riddle 316— "What" Riddles 316— "When" Riddles 318— "Where" Riddles 319— "Who" Riddle 319— "Why" Riddles 320 — Miscellaneous Puns 322— Catches 324 — Miscellaneous 325 — Bibliography 326 [ix] 61712? CONTENTS Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings Edited by B. J. Whiting 329 Introduction 331— Bibliography 355— Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings 360 Folk Speech Edited by George P. Wilson 503 Glossary 505 — Salutations and Replies 611 — Bibliography 615 Folk Tales and Legends Edited by Stith Thompson 619 Introduction 621— Origin Legends 631— Queer Tales about Ani- mals 636 — Tales of Magic 639 — Witches and their Deviltry 643— Ghosts and Hants 669— Other Mysteries 686— Buried Treas- ure 691 — Numskulls and Fools 697 — Jokers 700 — Anecdotes 702 — Animal Tales 703 — Bibliography 705 List of Contributors to This Volume 709 ILLUSTRATIONS Dr. Frank C. Brown frontispiece Wood Engravings by Clare Leighton Corn Shucking in the Mountains facing page 126 The Baptizing facing page 226 Fish Caught page 354 Washing Clothes facing page 456 Dragging Nets facing page 632 FOREWORD One of my earliest memories of North Carolina is that of a chilly ride to Raleigh, in February 1923, in an open Ford, to attend a meeting of the North Carolina Folklore Society. This was my first acquaintance with the Collection which is now at long last being published. Since then I have had occasional and casual glimpses of its progress, but until the present no actual connection with it. In April 1949, however, I was asked by a committee reporting to President Edens and Vice-President Gross to take over the task, left unfinished at Dr. White's sudden death, of seeing the Brown Folklore Collection through the press. Much had been done; much remained to be done. The manuscript of the present volume and that of the Ballads and Songs (nearly two thousand pages) were ready and wait- ing for the final editing. The problems of handling the music were far from clear or settled. Later I learned of more mate- rial, some of it not even yet in writing, for which apparently no provision had been made in the plans for publication. What had at first seemed plain sailing presently ran into heavy going ; but now the haven is in sight and I can honestly express my gratitude to the Associate Editors for their long patience and firm forebearing. Some of the delaying difficulties are readily accounted for. Dr. Brown was an enthusiastic and indefatigable collector ; and when one collects one collects everything — what may or may not belong. Then only a Briarseus with the strength of a Hercules can winnow and discard. It might be argued (suc- cessfully) that a more highly selective representation of Dr. Brown's Collection would have met the requirements; but the gods have thought otherwise, and the gods not only have the last word, they are often right. Nevertheless, it should be stated clearly that though much is given, much remains, and that the editors have omitted a great deal. In fact, a tabulation of their rejections was once planned, but has been suppressed; for the complete Collection, with multiple indexes, is now acces- sible in the Duke University Library, [xi] XU FOREWORD Moreover, as Dr. White's Introduction explains, the Collec- tion was made over a large number of years in a great variety of circumstances by various methods and from miscellaneous sources. Some of the learned annotations betray this — an un- evenness or incompleteness or similar irregularity. Much of this was natural and inevitable ; but some of it also has been aggra\ated by the lapse of time and of memory and the separa- tion both among Dr. Brown's contributors and between them and his later editors. It is hardly possible to exaggerate the difficulties faced and so skilfully overcome by Dr. \\ bite when he undertook to sort and copy, to arrange and index, the mass of more or less unarranged papers. And after the happy selec- tion of specialists as Associate Editors most suited to handle the separate groups of folklore materials, each Associate Editor had in turn to sort and arrange the materials he had received ; had to consult with the General Editor and with his colleagues about overlapping and interrelating details ; and finally each according to his own lights and according to the special requirements of his particular subject had to organize his matter into suitable shape for publication. It is no wonder then that signs of un- evenness and irregularity remain. It will be a wonder if many errors do not remain — errors which the General Editor would have caught and removed but which a late comer, who is hardly more than a repair man, has not even recognized. It is often hard to know where editing leaves oflf and inter- fering begins. But inasmuch as the manuscripts came to me — those which have come — in the state already described I could not allow myself the presumptuous pleasure of 'editing' beyond the requirements of formal consistency ; and even in these, such is the variety of matter and such the necessary latitude (and corresponding responsibility) which the General Editor had given his Associate Editors, I have fallen far short of satis- faction and should have fallen still lower without the expert aid of Mr. Brice, of the Duke University Press. Different branches of the general subject, and even parts of the same when a division of labor was necessary, had to be treated by different and not always consistent methods, and each specialist left to his own ways and means. In this first volume, particularly, each section should be regarded as a separate monograph, and what- ever keys and clues are proper for an understanding of the text should be sought in their normal places. Moreover, owing to the multiple authorship and the variety of sources, a certain amount of repetition could not be avoided; some of the Asso- FOREWORD xni ciate Editors have been handicapped Ijy an unfaniiharity with the local background (it may be noted that of all the persons named on the title page. Dr. White alone is a native of the state) ; and many contributors, owing to the long period of time over which their notes were accumulated, have changed address and even their names, by marriage. We cannot hope to have escaped frequent error in this respect ; we can only hope, under the circumstances, to be forgiven. The list of contributors, at the end of this volume, was prepared by the General Editor. It is both a record and an expression of gratitude for their interest and co-operation ; and the same gratitude is due to all those whose contributions are, for one reason or another, not here included. Special mention should be made of Dr. Brown's enthusiastic and indefatigable collaborator from 1921 until her death in 1936, Miss Maude M. Minish, who in 1924 became Mrs. Dennis H. Sutton; and of Paul and Elizabeth Green, of Chapel Hill. In 1926-29 Mr. and Mrs. Green made a collection of "Folk Beliefs and Practices in Central and Eastern North Carolina." which they generously presented to the Brown Collection in 1945. The items in this collection have been severally distributed through the present volume in their appropriate places and are generally indicated as the Paul and Elizabeth Green Collection. It was Dr. White's hope, I believe, that this body of folklore coming from the folk now all about us and assembled by one of our contemporaries could be presented somehow in its natural state, in some fashion to hold its position as 'popular.' But it was a forlorn hope ; and for an obvious reason. The collections of Dr. Brown and of the North Carolina Folklore Society had become so large and miscellaneous that drastic simplification and sorting, the regular work of scholars, was a necessary final step — a process to be followed (in Jamesian phrase) without mitigation of rigor. It is still an ironical paradox that such interests as these, springing from the folk, in the narrow sense of that word, the unlettered members of the community, their tales and songs and beliefs and their wisdom — grave and gay, trivial and otherwise, cynical, tragical, comical, and nonsensical — should fall into the hands of scholars, who have their own non-popular ways of doing things. But it is inescapable. Das Volk dichtet: the people make, the scholars codify and edit. When studies of folk wisdom and habits are concerned with the prehistoric past or the interpretation of 'savage' customs to explain what would XIV FOREWORD Otherwise have been lost to us, the paradox is extenuated ; for folklore then takes its place with archaeology, anthropology, and the other disciplines whose work it is to penetrate beyond the barriers of recorded history. But the irony is intensified when the records are contemporary and the results are an exhibit of survival, of that persistence of racial instincts and uncultured practices into our own civilized environment ; are a proof that the race remains in so many ways what it was a thousand or ten thousand years ago and progress appears to be a superficial boast. Here our undeveloped past mingles with our advanced present. Not only is there the juxtaposition of stages of grow^th (if that is the word for it), but also the conflict of methods: the mind of the scholar operating with the most unscholarly of all subject-matters. They may cleave, as Bacon would say. but they will not incorporate. What results thus is something not only anathema but in- comprehensible to the generality of the folk. Yet there is some- where, if we can recognize it, a middle ground. For the language, feelings, and beliefs of the people, their 'folkways,' though they reveal often with uncomfortable poignancy the lamentable limitations of our poor humanity, represent also our fundamental and persistent vulgarity (in every best sense of that word, bicn ctitcndu), our wholesome grossness and too too solid earthiness, that part of us which remains free from the taints of delicate culture and effeminating sensibility, or what has come to be known as civilization. When the scholar, having his own share of this commonness, records and analyzes by his sophisticated techniques these many variations on the folk theme, makes of them a spectacle and a sort of Athenian holiday, there is of course no condescension, no affectionate patronizing; and it is therefore pleasant to witness, with due detachment, the two alien parties agreeing for the moment to co-operate more or less, each a little amused and misunder- standing, but both amenable and concessive to the oddities of the other. It is pleasant and in its way enlightening. There could be no better illustration of how such opposite elements can be harmonized than in the wood engravings of Miss Leighton in this volume and in the volumes to follow. With an extraordinary blend of subtle comprehension and skil- ful technique Miss Leighton has caught and reflected the North Carolina folk-spirit in its many forms. Her pictures are not meant to illustrate particular details of these volumes, but rather to be a parallel record of the same phenomena. GENERAL INTRODUCTION By Newman I. White GENERAL INTRODUCTION Folklore: Its Meaning and Significance THE first spot on the earth's surface witli which folklore is con- nected by a written record was the Garden of Eden. Why did Satan assume the form of a serpent, and why has the serpent borne such an evil reputation in tradition ever since ? The answer in both cases is folklore. As for Satan afterwards, what except folklore has transformed that scriptural Prince of Darkness into the mali- cious, but somewhat familiar and companionable Auld Nick or Clootie of Burns's 'Address to the Deil,' and the eternal, spell- casting seducer of Ralph Hodgson's 'Eve'? Whose version of the serpent is more potent today, that of science, when it tells us that most snakes are harmless and beneficial, or that of folklore, when it tells us that all snakes are our mortal enemies? Wlien and where folklore began, and where will it end, nobody knows. The word folklore was unknown in English previous to 1846, but the congeries of beliefs and practices that the word de- notes was the law of all primitive societies and of family life even before tribes came into existence. Archaeological investigations of the most ancient civilization yet uncovered show that in Ur of the Chaldees a princess collected antiques — which is a form of conscious interest in what we call folklore. Thus the Chaldeans probably had a word for it. If, as Sir Thomas Browne suggested, "what song the syrens sang" is "not beyond conjecture," the nearest approach to an answer will surely be made by folklore. Today we celebrate Easter and Christmas and enjoy our mince pies, gift-giving, holly and mistletoe, without thinking that they are all pagan folklore survivals taken over and adapted by Christianity. Divinities of two pagan folklores that have been "dead" nearly two thousand years receive unconscious tribute from us when we daily mention the names of months and weekdays. Adolf Hitler followed soothsayers to his final catastrophe, just as Julius Caesar met his death, as some thought, by not following them. Less than seventy years ago a Negro magistrate in W^ilmington, North Caro- lina, subjected a white man accused of murder to one of the most primitive of all trials by making him touch the dead man to see if the corpse would pronounce him guilty by bleeding afresh. As these words were written a religious sect in Virginia was defying the Governor of that state by persevering in snake rites which in one form or another are older than history. Two years later, as these N.C.F., Vol, I, (2) 4 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE words are being revised for publication, tlie same sect is repeating the same defiance, and newspapers in Durham, North Carohna, are publishing photographs of the use of snakes by a white congregation in Durham, in defiance of a local ordinance hastily passed to end the practice. These are sporadic cases, but the number of people assaulted on account of witchcraft spells in various parts of the United States is much greater in the records of various petty courts than the newspaper reader knows, and much greater in fact than the courts know. George Lyman Kittredge, the great authority on witchcraft in old and New England, w^as convinced that in the twentieth cen- tury more than half the people in the world still believe in witch- craft. Mr. G. C. Norman, the professional magician, says that in his professional career he is often asked to counteract spells and sometimes to impose them, and that he has probably encountered a thousand such cases in the southeastern states. In 1907 the Uni- versity of California published a report by Mr. Fletcher B. Dressier, based upon an examination of nearly nine hundred normal school students who had stated their belief, partial belief, or disbelief in a number of current superstitions. The report indicated 44.9 per cent belief. i\Ir. H. Addington Bruce, in an article in the Outlook (August 26, 1911) concluded on the basis of a similar test of the Harvard faculty that three-fourths of those tested were not immune to superstitious beliefs. In both these tests "partial belief" was counted as "belief." Very few confessed to being superstitious: they were simply treating superstition with traditional, cautious respect. All of our arts and many of our present laws and beliefs orig- inated in folklore many centuries before modern scholarship found a name for it. Medicine originated mainly in tribal magic and folk-tradition. So did chemistry. Astronomy was first the hand- maiden of Chaldean soothsayers ; music served first the traditional folk song and folk dance; painting and sculpture were closely re- lated to magic and traditional beliefs and tales. In the Cro-Magnon cave paintings, where surviving pictorial art began, the surprisingly realistic representations of animals are supposed to have been efforts to produce the animals themselves by sympathetic magic. History and biography began with folk legends ; some bilious critics assert that historians and biographers still occasionally mistake legend for fact. Homer, the first great poet, merely assembled and touched with his individual genius the various legends and beliefs long cur- rent among the Hellenic folk. Aesop did the same for animal fables. All arts and sciences were first transmitted by oral tradi- tion, the common hallmark of all folklore. The arts have continued to the present day to depend largely on G E N E R A I, I N T R O D l^ C T I O N 5 folklore. The great medieval sources for theme, plot, and incident — such works as the Gcsia RoiiianoriDii, the bestiaries, fabliaux, and saints' legends — were largely folklore. Chaucer, one of the most urbane of Englishmen, used folklore for some of his best talcs. Shakespeare would hardly be Shakespeare without his mid- summer night's fairies, his ghosts of Caesar and Hamlet's father, his weird sisters, his Caliban, and his Ariel. The full extent to which the greatest English poet drew upon folklore can be learned only by recourse to T. F. Thiselton Dyer's Folk-Lorc of Shake- speare, a book of over 550 pages. One of the most popular nar- ratives of recent years, Franz Werfel's Song of Beniadettc, is a medieval saint's legend revived. The music of many national songs originated in folk songs — including the state song of North Caro- lina, which is an old Swiss folk tune preserved in the Frank C. Brown Collection. All artists in all times and places who have drawn upon ancient mythologies for theme or ornament have thereby become debtors to folklore. The modern sciences have been less affected, but there is still more folklore in science than all except the most thoughtful and candid perceive. Our common law is traditional practice regularized by legal recognition, and some statute laws are much the same. Thus the adoption of children was practiced in England from the earliest times, though the first .statute regularizing it was passed in 1819. Previous to the end of the sixth century there was no written Anglo-Saxon law, although laws, clearly recognized as sucn, had long been in existence in the form of traditional custom. A number of primitive races today have no laws at all except certain clearly defined traditions that have never been written or stated by any court or assembly. Our acknowledged obligations to folklore are great, but our un- recognized debts are probably greater. Folklore in its many forms is by nature so nmch a part of our habitual lives that we are no more conscious of it than we are of many other habits. The partial consciousness that we have achieved is itself an evidence that we are less close than formerly to the thing itself. And yet. once we stop to think, we are surprised at the extent to which it still oi)erates in our lives. Our very language is influenced by it. not only by the thousands of folk proverbs and similes that we easily recognize as such because they are still current, but by hundreds of words that bear no immediately obvious evidence of folk origin. Thus the very word influence preserves the primitive superstition that men's lives were governed by some essence which flowed in from stars, and the adjective recalcitrant pompously embalms a humorous folk im- age of an animal kicking back while being urged forward. When a Negro wants his wire screen repaired, not to keep out the flies, but the ghosts, it is not merely current Negro imagination NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE that Speaks, but millions of primitive people in the past who con- trived various ghost barriers. The Algonquin Indians (who were in contact with Negroes and whites in Colonial Virginia) used nets as a protection against evil spirits; the Louisiana Cajuns (who were in contact with slaves imported from Virginia) still use sieves as a protection against the supernatural loitp garou. When a boisterous mob hangs an unpopular person in effigy, it is unconsciously con- forming to the age-old and still extant belief that a person may be injured by mutilating an image made to represent him. Modern court eti(|uette is a survival of the primitive taboos by which chief- tains were hedged about and protected. Similarly the modern cus- toms of throwing old shoes after a newly married couple and carrying a bride across the threshold both originated in primitive taboos. When Joseph interpreted dreams in Egypt, he proceeded upon the theory, current today, that dreams are symbolic. Dr. Freud himself testifies that the dream which caused Alexander the Great to resume his attack on Tyre was interpreted correctly and according to Freudian principles. Dr. Freud also notes that the theory of dreams as wish-fulfilment was anticipated by various folk- proverbs, such as "The pig dreams of acorns," and "The hen dreams of millet." Folklore which today may be scientifically worthless has in the past formed the lasting foundations of some of our most stable institutions. Thus Sir James G. Frazer, in The Devil's Advocate (1909, 1913), shows that marriage, private property, respect for life, and respect for governmental authority all rest largely on wide- spread primitive taboos mainly illogical in themselves. The same author, in his The Scope of Social Anthropology (1908), has also given eloquent testimony to the fact that even the crudest super- stitions are anything but trifling today : The reason why the higher forms of superstition or religion (for the religion of one generation is apt to become the superstition of the next) are less permanent than the lower is simply that the higher beliefs, being a creation of superior intelligence, have little hold on the minds of the vulgar, who nominally profess them for a time in conformity with the will of their betters, but readily shed and forget them as soon as these beliefs have gone out of fashion with the educated classes. But while they dismiss without a pang or an effort articles of faith which were only superficially imprinted on their minds by the weight of cultured opinion, the ignorant and foolish multitude cling with a sullen determina- tion to far grosser beliefs which really answer to the coarser texture of their undeveloped intellect. Thus while the avowed creed of the en- lightened minority is constantly changing under the influence of reflection and enquiry, the real, though unavowed. creed of the mass of mankind appears to be almost stationary, and the reason why it alters so little is that in the majority of men, whether they are savages or outwardly civilized beings, intellectual progress is so slow as to be hardly per- CIENKRAL INTRODUCTION 7 ceptible. The surface of society, like that of the sea, is in perpetual motion ; its depths, like those of the ocean, remain almost unmoved. jNIany of our common daily practices still depend more upon folk tradition than upon the printing press, which has done so much to supplant oral tradition. How many have learned from books how to row a boat, dress a baby, milk a cow, lire a g-un, bait a hook, tie a knot, or drive a nail ? Soapmaking and spinning may have been largely captured by science and industry, but despite hundreds of cookbooks, cooking is still largely a traditional art, and so, perhaps (if we include the wliole world), are husbandry and all the domestic arts. The extensive claims I have just made for the importance of folklore are reasonable enough when one comes to consider its accepted definitions. These have been well summarized in a state- ment often made by Dr. Frank C. Brown to his folklore classes and lecture audiences : The term folklore may be said to include in its definition everything which makes up the body of knowledge and of material things possessed by the simple illiterate people, created by them, and inherited from past generations : the language in large measure ; the social customs ; the out- ward forms of religion and the folk-explanations of the phenomena of nature ; how to farm and raise cattle and sheep and hogs and horses ; how to hunt and fish successfully ; how and when to cut and cure grain, handle woods, cook meats, fruits, vegetables ; how to build houses and boats and implements for farming or hunting or warfare ; how to make clothing and hats and shoes ; how to foretell the weather or the promise of good crops or good and bad luck; how to become skilled in the use of powers other than human or to defeat another's skill in the use of magical powers. All legends and stories, songs, sayings, games, toys, cures, charms, implements of war or of the chase, designs of lace, car- pets, rugs, quilts go to make up the body of folklore, which originated with the folk and which belongs to them. It is so extensive that it is to be found in every phase of thought and activity in which man is interested. This conception of folklore represents an evolution of two or three hundred years. In the seventeenth century men like John Aubrey, Anthony a Wood, John Selden, and Samuel Pepys collected traditional "curiosities" in the spirit of antic|uarianism rather than of philosophic scholarship. In the early eighteenth century Joseph Addison defended the traditional ballad, though rather apologeti- cally. Shortly after the middle of the century the Gothic Revival, the Ballad Revival, and the popularity of Chatterton and Ossian came into vogue almost simultaneously, all of them aided and sup- ported by that great expansion of anti(|uarian research all over England which was such a valuable foundation aid for history and biography as well as folklore. Yet Dr. Johnson ridiculed such interests, and Bishop Percy was half ashamed and "improved" his « NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE ballads, as ]\Iacpherson did his Ossian. Thomas Gray's weird sis- ters and Celtic bards are conscious revivals, smelling of anti- quarianism when compared with Shakespeare's natural use of similar materials. But by the end of the century Robert Burns was writing boldly and naturally in folk language about folk beliefs, and Words- worth was defending both as proper materials for poetry — even though neither Wordsworth nor Burns ever completely emancipated himself from the conventional tradition. The eighteenth century had made great strides toward what we now know as folklore. From the angle of scholarship, however, this interest was predominantly an antiquarian one, and from the angle of literature it was predominantly a revolt against literary fashions that were growing stale. Nevertheless, Wordsworth was soon to suggest a really philosophic sympathy for ancient myths, which several poets — himself, Keats, and Shelley — ^were to use in giving mythology a new vitality in English poetry. In the early nineteenth century Jacob and Wihelm Grimm, in Germany, gave a great additional interest to folklore through their work with folk tales and German myths. In England and in Europe, however, well into the nineteenth century, study was limited fairly generally to those branches of folklore which may be regarded as popular literature or its materials — tales, myths, ballads, etc. Not until the middle of the nineteenth century, after further expansion of the eighteenth century lines of interest, did the word folklore appear, as an indication that the interests it connoted had achieved status as a separate, recognized field of study. The first society for the study of folklore was the Folk-Lore Society, founded in London in 1878. At about the same time a broadened conception of folklore, known as the anthropological school (in contrast with the older philological school), made its appearance and found expression in England in such works as Andrew Lang's Custom and Myth (1884) and MytJi, Ritual, and Religion (1887), and E. A. Westermarck's History of Human Mar- riage (1889-1901). It culminated in J. G. Frazer's The Golden Bough (1890, 1907-15, 12 vols.), one of the great monuments of English scholarship in the present century. This approach empha- sized the importance of customs and institutions, rather than liter- ature and art. It employed commonly the comparative method and thus freed folklore from the channels of purely local or national tradition in which it had been too strictly confined. Contemporary primitive cultures received much of the attention previously re- served for the primitive stages of civilized European peoples. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries other devel- opments came more rapidly. Indifference to the significance of time and place, which had characterized most of the anthropological school (including even The Golden Bough), was corrected largely GENERAL INTRODUCTION 9 through improvements in the older historical approach. The new geographical approach, hrought to its highest fruition hy memhcrs of the so-called Finnish School with the founding of the Folklore Fellows organization in 1907, has done even more to put folklore on a scientific basis as to scope and method. After the appearance in France of the Linguistic Atlos of Edmond and Guillieron the philological approach was broadened to include not only literature but the language itself, a tendency whose most recent fruit is the Linguistic Atlas of America (1939 — ). Political, economic, psy- chological, and religious conditions have been increasingly recog- nized as influences upon folklore in different times and places. Not a little of the inspiration that went into the Atlns dcr dcntschcn Volkskundc (Leipzig, 1937 — ), a monumental cartographic treat- ment of German folklore, came from the Wrede-Wenker linguistic atlas. Many of its maps, however, go beyond the products of folk speech to include objects of material culture, showing that the con- ception of folklore in Germany, as elsewhere on the Continent, has perceptibly broadened since the golden age during the nineteenth century. It has now become fairly well recognized that material ob- jects, as w-ell as beliefs and oral traditions, are a part of folk life. Haphazard museums of local antiquities that have flourished and multiplied since the eighteenth century have been reorganized, en- riched, and studied as depositories of the folk arts and their prod- ucts. It is still true, however, that in America folk arts have yet to find their proper place beside other forms of folk expression which have always been regarded as more truly tracHtional. Both the nature of folklore and the evolution of its study show that it is fundamentally different from other recognized branches of study. It is in fact a group of all the studies necessary to understand a primitive or an illiterate society and the multifarious survivals from that society in the midst of the sophisticated culture that succeeded it. It is not merely a ghost of the past, but a ghost and a flourishing organism at the same time. It may be properly described as a stream, sometimes open, sometimes subterranean, per- haps dwindling in volume with its length, flowing through the whole history of man. The fragments of the earlier society that have been rejected by the sophisticated culture are those most easily recognized. They are generally the "worthless superstitions and beliefs" which cause some thoughtless condemnation of the whole subject as trifling. The con- siderable body of folklore which still functions actively in sophis- ticated societies is by comparison not nearly so fully recognized, but is probably more significant. From the fact that folklore is so closely related to most of the arts and sciences it follows that folklore cannot be adequately under- stood except partly through these same approaches. Anyone who lO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE would know folklore fully must, like Sir Francis Bacon, take all knowledge for his province, an ambition which was scarcely prac- ticable even in the sixteenth century. One branch of the subject, if its necessary connections are included, is about all that most schol- ars may hope to master. It also follows that tlie same arts and sciences have much to learn from folklore about themselves, once folklore is better under- stood and presented. Since a number of reputable scientists are now convinced that primitive magic charms really can cause sick- ness and death, that certain savages actually have walked barefoot over hot coals without being harmed, and that extrasensory per- ception may be a fact, perhaps the folk gifts of second sight, water-witchery, and even the removal of warts merit more serious study. If modern psychology by the study of dreams has made us recognize the ghastly power of the primitive mind underlying the sophisticated mind, then we need to know more of what the primi- tive mind thought of dreams, and we need to know vastly more, through a different and less subjective approach, about every mani- festation of the primitive mind that is recoverable. For the soci- ologist folklore is still a somewhat neglected approach to a true understanding of the group mind. Historians and biographers, con- stantly trying to separate legend from fact, would profit by a better knowledge of the nature of legend. Ethnologists, philologists, his- torical geographers, and archaeologists, who have already studied folklore to advantage, could use additional aid from a folklore better organized and better understood. The study of folklore will receive more light from allied branches of knowledge and will in return ofifer more light to them when folk- lorists modify their methods to meet these common interests more fully. The long and incomplete evolution of the study has not been matched, pari passu, by an evolution in method. Many collectors, and perhaps a few editors, still preserve too much of the common eighteenth-century attitude that folklore is primarily a mixed assort- ment of amusing oddities. An acceptable technique has been devel- oped and practiced for compact presentations. Many folklorists, however, are inclined to take refuge in this well-established con- vention and leave more intricate matters to "comparative folklore." Yet from the larger point of view present techniques constitute only an excellent foundation ; in the end all folklore is "compar- ative." Its chief value is the startling and stimulating evidence it can furnish of the kinship of the human mind in all ages and places. One thinks of the universal sweep and interest of such a book as Frazer's The Golden Bough, or of George Lyman Kittredge's Witcheraff in Old and Neiv T-mjland, which is enlivened and gen- eralized by parallel examples of almost every kind of witchcraft, first from classical history and then from recent and conremporary reports. GENERAL INTRODUCTION II Have we really studied ancient and medieval medicine, herbals, bestiaries, household recipes, and works on needlecraft — not to mention travel books and diaries — from the point of view of folk- lore's deeper significance? It ought to mean more to us than it has meant that the evil eye we have heard Negroes speak of is dreaded not only by savages today, but was feared as an evil in- fluence by Gaius Valerius Catullus, who was not afraid to lampoon Julius Caesar; that the mythical hoop snake of current legend may be some sort of collateral descendant of that more terrifying snake reported by Caesar's troops which launched itself through the air and penetrated trees and shields ; that the same veterans were more nervous about the witches swarming over Thrace than about Pom- pey's soldiers ; that the grain sacks used in Joseph's Egyptian granaries (to judge by ancient models in the Metropolitan Museum) were scarcely distinguishable from those used today ; that a gold chain from Ur of the Chaldees is very like specimens of nineteenth- century German goldsmiths' craft ; that one or two conventionalized architectural decorations seem to be just about the same in ancient Greek and ancient Mayan buildings ; that a spider has been credited with saving, and in the same manner, the lives of King David, Jesus, Mahomet, Robert Bruce, and a Revolutionary hero of New York state named Tim Murphy; that some children's games being played today in North Carolina are descendants of some games played in the sand-lots and alleys of Athens and Rome. Comparative folklore has indeed brought us a long step toward fuller understanding of our dimly recognized, vastly complicated human heritage. In the field of the folk tale, for example, we have the five-volume Bolte-Polivka Amncrkungen zu den Kinder- iind Hausmdrchen der Briider Grimm (Leipzig, 1913-32), which is the cornerstone of all fairy-tale scholarship. An even broader approach to narrative forms is Professor Stith Thompson's six- volume Motif -Index of Folk-Literature (Helsinki and Bloomington, Indiana, 1933-36), which classifies twenty-three main divisions and nearly two hundred and fifty subdivisions of narrative motifs, with bibliographical references, including as nearly as possible all avail- able materials in all languages from folk tales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jestbooks, and local legends. As yet, however, there has appeared no interpreter to use it on a scale commensurate with its scope and value, or to con- nect its wealth of materials with other arts and sciences. These opinions are expressed only as those of the General Editor of these volumes. The associate editors are bound by them only to the extent of their own convictions. A technique of study and presentation which would realize fully the possibilities of folklore could only be a gradual evolution. Nor could any one scholar ever hope very reasonably to be able to apply it fully to more than one 12 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE branch of folklore. It would cut across the highly compartmented view of knowledge encouraged by our modern age of specialization and would require an attitude and a training possessed by few scholars educated under the methods of this century. It might be a beginning, however, if editors kept themselves and readers azvare of the larger implications of folklore, even if they can attempt no explanations beyond the immediately practicable. Even a beginning would go far toward redeeming folklore scholarship from current charges of mere antiquarianism, when presented for scholars, and mere sentimental dilettantism, when presented for the general reader. A slight and inadequate contribution toward this end is all that these volumes can claim. In devoting one volume to music alone they recognize the claim of musicologists that folk songs as tradi- tionally edited have always made music too subservient to text. Folk music can be more adequately presented if presented independently, as folk music. In the illustrations by Clare Leighton it is hoped that the association of graphic arts with folklore has been made closer and more evident, with mutual advantages. Miss Leighton has not sought to illustrate any single story, song, or belief, but has tried to present an artist's interpretation of the life and environ- ment of the people of North Carolina who are the principal cus- todians of its folklore; and she has Hved and worked with them in order to do so. The Frank C. Brozvn Collection: Its History, Nature, and Grozvth The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore originated through the efforts of Dr. Frank C. Brown and the North Carolina Folklore Society. It grew steadily over a period of more than thirty years. During all but five of those years I was in personal association with Dr. Brown, first as student, and later as a faculty colleague ; and during a part of that time I was also a member of the Society. The following account of the Society and of Dr. Brown's labors as its Secretary and collector-in-chief is based upon personal memory, therefore, as well as upon written records. In 1912 Professor John A. Lomax, then a vigorous collector of cowboy songs, was president of the American Folklore Society. Desiring to stimulate collection of other forms of folklore in the Southern states, he wrote to all North Carolina professors of Eng- lish who were listed as members of the Modern Language Asso- ciation of America, urging the formation of a North Carolina folklore society. Answers arrived expressing various degrees of C E N K R A L I N T R O D U C T I N I3 willingness and ability to co-operate. It was soon agreed among the various professors interested that the lead had best be taken by Professor Frank C. Brown, who had come to Trinity College (now Duke University) just three years before as Professor of English. Dr. Brown had already shown himself to be an energetic organizer, and he w-as probably already interested in folklore, for his collection contains a manuscript of "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet" in his hand, dated 1898-99. Dr. Brown began work at once, with the encouragement and assistance of Professor Maurice G. Fulton, of Davidson College, Professor George Summey, of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and Professors Tom Peete Cross, James F. Royster, and John M. Booker, of the University of North Carolina. By Novem- ber 2^, 1912, Professor Summey was reporting to Professor Lomax that Dr. Brown "seems to be going at things in a vigorous way." On the recommendation of Professor Lomax a copy of the Mis- souri Folklore Society's constitution was obtained from Professor H. AL Belden, who over forty years later was to become one of the associate editors of the collection at whose birth-throes he had aided. Favorable publicity was promised by the newspapers, and influential people all over the state were invited to become sponsors. On December 4, 1913, a committee of English teachers met in Raleigh, and Professors Brown, Royster, and Cross issued a printed statement announcing the first meeting of the Society for March 24, 1913, in the Senate Chamber at Raleigh. Dues were set (and still remain) at one dollar, and all persons interested were invited to join. Purposes were set forth and ten classifications of folklore were listed. Forty leading citizens, most of them from the various colleges and universities of the state, were named as a Committee on Organization. Of this original committee the following are still active in North Carolina education : R. D. W. Connor, R. L. Flow- ers, Archibald Henderson, J. B. Hubbell, H. E. Spence, and W. H. Wannamaker. The state newspapers gave generous publicity to this announce- ment : the Fayetteville Observer for March 18 even printed it entire on the editorial page. Eighty members joined, thirty of whom attended the first meeting at Raleigh on March 24. At this meeting a constitution was adopted, otificers were elected, and talks were made by Dr. Brown, Col. T. AL Pitman, and Professors Benjamin Sledd, Tom Peete Cross, and Collier Cobb. Dr. James F. Royster was elected President and Dr. Frank C. Brown Secretary-Treasurer. The second annual meeting, held in Raleigh some time before March 12, 1914, instructed the Publications Committee to begin raising funds for the publication of a volume of folklore; and on March 12, the committee issued a printed appeal, stating that enough material had already been collected for a volume of 125 pages. At 14 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE about the same time it issued a printed circular of directions and suggestions for collectors. Not content with exhorting his students at Trinity College to contribute, Dr. Brown made efforts to interest other colleges and groups. The Charlotte Observer for November 28, 1914, carried an account of a ballad concert and lecture given by him in Charlotte before the State Teachers' Association. At this meeting it was reported that 17 of the 305 old ballads in the Child collection had already been found in North Carolina. The Durham Sun for December 19 of the same year described a folk- lore lecture by Dr. Brown at the Durham High School, assisted with music by Mrs. T. E. Cheek and Miss Alice Hundley, both of whom continued to help him in such matters for a number of years. As a student at Trinity College at this time I was aware of all these activities, though not particularly interested ; but it was their influence that caused me later, as a teacher in Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1915-17, to begin my own collection of Negro folk songs, finished in North Carolina and published in 1928. This was only the beginning of Dr. Brown's stimulating influence on other collectors. In the early 1920's Miss Maude Minish (later Mrs. Denis H. Sutton), a childhood friend of mine, gave me for Dr. Brown copies of a number of traditional ballads that she had been collecting for several years. This began Dr. Brown's long friend- ship with Miss Minish, which resulted in the addition of many valuable songs and other items to the collection. Mr. Frank War- ner, an undergraduate at Trinity College, began by singing songs at Dr. Brown's folklore concerts and became in later years a col- lector and interpreter in his own right, visiting many out-of-the-way corners of the country and bringing out folk songs for his audi- ences. Julian P. Boyd (now Librarian of Princeton University) and Lacy W. Anderson (now principal of Warwick County High School, in Virginia) went forth from Duke University as country schoolteachers and collected a considerable number of manuscripts in eastern North Carolina. Professor W. Amos Abrams, formerly of Appalachian State Teachers College, a later president of the North Carolina Folklore Society, was similarly started on a col- lecting career while an undergraduate at Trinity. All of these disciples contributed generously to Dr. Brown's collection, as did many another student during several college generations. Throughout all the years from 1912 to the present moment the North Carolina Folklore Society has flourished. There was a suc- cession of presidents, reports, papers, and concerts. Through the years the meeting place changed back and forth in Raleigh, from the Senate Chamber to the Woman's Club to the Sir Walter Hotel, but until Dr. Brown's death, in 1943, there was only one Secretary- Treasurer. Dr. Brown made the physical arrangements for the meetings, assembled tlie ])rogram, suggested (sotto voce, to the GENERAL INTRODUCTION 15 Nominating Committee) the next year's officers, reported on tlie year's business— and went on collecting folklore. Every fall, well in advance of the November or December meeting, the secretary of the English office at Trinity College was busy with Folklore Society correspondence. In the early days, well into the 1920s, most of his English department accompanied Dr. Brown to the annual meeting of the Society at Raleigh. The other colleges of the state were also usually rather well represented at these meetings. The programs were always well balanced between the reports of certain collectors and more specialized papers by various scholars. Usuallv some folk singer appeared with guitar or banjo. One mem- ber, Professor George P. Wilson, of the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (later a President of the Society and now an associate editor of these volumes), read ten papers between 1934 and 1944. Two specimen programs may be submitted as typical examples : November i, 1929 Presidential Address : Mrs. S. Westray Battle. Asheville Lecture: Ballads and Other Songs of the Kentucky Mountains. Gilbert Reynolds Combs, Charlotte Paper: Treasure Hunting in North Carolina. Frank C. Brown, Durham Paper: Folk Customs. L. W. Anderson, Halifax, Va. Business Matters November 14, 1933 Presidential Address: Mrs. D. H. Sutton, Lenoir Social Values in Folklore and Folk Ways. Dr. Howard W. Odum, Chapel Hill Music: Folksongs. Mrs. Peyton J. Brown, Raleigh Jesse Holmes, the Fool Killer. Dr. Jay B. Hubbell, Durham The Vampire in Legend and Literature. Mr. C. W. Reeves, Durham Business Matters Everything went smoothly and briskly, thanks to Dr. Brown's thorough management. No truer words were ever spoken m the Society than those of a member renominating him to his perennial post: "Ladies and gentlemen," proclaimed this admirer (in fitting folk-metaphor), "our Secretary-Treasurer is a reg'lar steam engme in nants." . Dr. Brown himself seldom appeared on the program except in his official capacitv. In 191 5 he read a paper, afterwards printed, en- titled "Ballad Literature in North Carolina," and in 1929 he read l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE a paper on "Treasure Hunting in North Carolina," which has sub- sequently disappeared. Outside the state he appeared twice on the program of the Popular Literature group of the Modern Language Association of America (December 1923 and 1938) and once on the program of the Southeastern Folklore Society (November 1941). His last publication was a brief sketch of the North Caro- lina Folklore Society for the survey of North American folklore societies which appeared in the Journal of American Folklore in 1943- From the beginning, a principal object of the Society was the publication of its collection. A volume was planned to appear by Christmas of 1914, then was postponed until the following June. Over three hundred advance subscriptions were in hand by the beginning of 1915, and in February Dr. Brown reported himself to one of his correspondents as editing the materials for the printer. Toward the end of 1915 Thomas Smith, one of the principal con- tributors, and Professors C. Alphonso Smith and Tom Peete Cross asked the question that was to be raised again and again during the next quarter-century — when could The Book be expected? Dr. Brown thought then that by the spring of 1916 a two-hundred-page volume would be ready, with its prize exhibit a group of twenty- seven of the old ballads recorded by Professor Child. Some letters indicate that the volume was being prepared for the press in 1916, but for reasons now unknown it failed to get there. An unedited collection of dusty carbon-copies found among Dr. Brown's papers after his death seemed to the present editor to be probably the materials then meant for the press. In 1922 and again in 1925 Dr. Brown was asking publishers for estimates on publication costs. At the same time he was writing to Mrs. Reynolds (March 2"/, 1925), "It is going to require several years to erect our entire monument . . . we want to move slowly and surely. ... I am willing to put the time into it [but] I am eager to escape any possible blunder which we might make bv being too hasty." This was an attitude which he also expressed in meetings of the Society and to various individuals, in conversation. As long as there was anything more to be collected, he thought publication should wait. Had he actually published in 1925, he would have had available over two thousand song texts, one-half of them with airs, and about one thousand pages of other types of folklore. Most members of the Society interpreted this attitude to mean publication in a year or two. Tliomas Smith, encouraged, wrote that he was glad to hear that the collection would soon appear. Mrs. Sutton, who had written that she would like to publish a small volume of her own, separately, was persuaded to await publication of the whole collection. Mrs. Louise Rand Bascom Barratt, who C E N K R A L I N T R O D U C T I O N I7 had threatened to withdraw lier materials, also consented to wait. Otliers, however, were less patient. .Several out-of-state mem- bers of the Society dropped their memberships because, as they .said, they received no publications. Mrs. W. N. Reynolds and Mrs. S. Westray Battle, who had made valuable contributions to the Society both in money and as officers, urged immediate pub- lication. Both ladies finally withdrew from the Society, and Mrs. Reynolds, as a last move, withdrew in 1927 a gift of $500 con- tributed for editorial purposes. She undertook to renew it, how- ever, when publication actually began, a promise which was duly redeemed in 1945. Dr. Brown would probably not have yielded to pressure in any event, but another factor had already made it virtually impossible for him to publish in the late 1920s. From about 1924 to 1930 his time was deeply absorbed by the expansion of Trinity College into Duke University. His newly created post of Comptroller (1926) made him the liaison man between the architects, contractors, and outfitters, on the one hand, and the University administration and faculty, on the other. He gave up most of his teaching. His time was filled with interviews, business trips, and business correspond- ence; his office overflowed with blueprints, time-reports, estimates, agents, and samples of all the innumerable objects that go to equip a modern university. Several times he had to cancel folklore ex- peditions because of necessary business trips to New York or Phila- delphia. During this time also the first Mrs. Brown died after a long illness. "I have been so rushed with obligations," he wrote to R. W. Gordon (October 26, 1920), "that when I do go home, I am so thoroughly tired in my brain that I am quite content to have my mind think on practically nothing." Nevertheless, every November the English office was as busy as usual w-ith preparations for the annual December meeting of the Folklore Society. Folklore correspondence during these years was as heavy as at any other time, sometimes even heavier, as in 1927, for which over a hundred and twenty letters are extant. The col- lection was increased by many new items, including the consider- able group of songs contributed by Julian P. Boyd in 1927 and the large group of children's games contributed by Mrs. Maude Minish Sutton and Miss Mary Wilder in 1928. Meanwhile, nobody was growing any younger. Thomas Smith, who had from the first been one of the most valuable and enthu- siastic contributors to the collection, wrote from his mountain home (December 30, 1929) : "I hoped years ago to have lived to see your work of North Carolina ballads published (my heart is still with you in your work) but the weight of years and ill health has about finished my hopes." Dr. Brown himself was not quite the "steam-engine in pants" he I» NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE had once been called. His hair had grown thinner and grayer, his specially finished corncob pipe and his diamond stickpin of the early days had both long since been laid aside. He no longer barged into his work with the self-confidence that to some had seemed a little overbearing, and had long since earned him, among under- graduates, his nickname of "Bull" Brown. He had learned that energy must be conserved. But though his manner was quieter and far more patient (except with his automobile), he was as sure of himself and his collection, as persistent in his purpose as he had ever been. During the late 1920s there appear to have been no active plans for immediate publication. Pressure was renewed, however, as soon as a diminution of Dr. Brown's work as Comptroller of Duke University seemed to offer an opening. On September 27, 193 1, Mrs. Sutton, probably his most loyal, and certainly his most highly valued co-worker, wrote to warn him of the danger of further delay : I know too, how you feel. It is foreign to your nature to do anything halfway, and you think there is much material yet to be collected. I do not know whether you are right there or not. I am inclined to think that your song collection is complete, and I am sure that if it is not complete, there will be a popularized collection published at the Uni- versity of North Carolina soon. The next year (November 15, 1932) she informed him that she had been receiving letters from a group of younger members of the Society who seemed to be planning a coup. "There is a group of us," she quoted from one of the letters, who greatly appreciate the fine work done for the Society by the Sec- retary, Mr. Frank C. Brown, but nevertheless should like to see the materials collected made more available than they have been up to the present time in the Secretary's possession. We believe that it would be a great stimulus of interest for those newly become interested in North Carolina folklore if they could see what already has been done in the field. ... If enough of us who are really interested are present, we should be able to accomplish something. One suggestion has been made that we can move to have a committee appointed to index the material ; also that it would be accepted under any conditions we wish to impose, by the North Carolina Historical Commission, and could be housed with their archives in Raleigh where attendants are on duty to care for and show it. As for her own attitude, Mrs. Sutton added that she wished her contributions to be made available to all (jualified scholars but was unwilling to deposit them with the Historical Commission. 'T am sorry that the editing and publication of the material has been de- layed so long, but T am not finding any fault, and I am not com- bining in the coup." GENERAL INTRODUCTION I9 A similar warning came from Dr. T. 1'. Harrington, of State College. Dr. Brown was of the opinion that the storm would blow over ; moreover, he regarded a large part of the collection as due solely to his own efforts, and therefore not public property. "I am quite sure." he informed Mrs. Sutton, "that I am not going to give up my own materials to anybody." The proposal of the rebels apparently came up for discussion in the 1932 meeting, though the minutes of that meeting are lacking. Mrs. Sutton, elected Presi- dent at this meeting, appointed a committee of three to consider placing the collection with the Historical Commission. Perhaps she smiled to herself as she named Dr. Brown chairman of this com- mittee. And there is no record that the committee ever took any action. Duke University began classes on its new campus in 1930, after which the duties of the Comptroller, which had been growing lighter for several years, became virtually negligible. President W. P. Few was willing at any time after 1930 to arrange a leave of absence so that publication might begin. Since his second mar- riage in 1932 Dr. Brown had formed the habit of spending most of his summers in Blowing Rock, with Mrs. Brown and her family. There, in the midst of a region rich in folklore, he had spent a great deal of his time touring the surrounding country by auto- mobile and recording songs. For some years, however, he still clung to his old conviction that the collection should be "completed" before it was published. He had always thought of the editing as a one-man undertaking and probably never realized that in the steady growth of the collection for a quarter of a century its editing had long since become a problem to be handled only by collaboration. A man in his sixties, though still in good health, might well shrink from undertaking such a task, alone, and in addition to other duties. In 1939, however, at the age of sixty-nine, Dr. Brown once more approached the task of publication. He began looking over his manuscripts and marking items to be copied. Most of the copying was done in the summers of 1941 and 1942, by his secretary in Durham, from manuscripts mailed to her from Blowing Rock. Even then, however, Dr. Brown's greatest interest was in collecting. During the very years in which he was sending materials to his secretary to be copied, he was riding joyously about the mountains recordings songs and getting better versions of songs recorded years before. Instead of the old Ediphone with which he had begun in 191 5 he now used a new Presto recorder provided by the Duke University Research Council in 1939. During his first summer with this machine (July-September 1940) he recorded 22^ songs and traveled 2500 miles over mountain roads, according to his report to the Research Council. A field journal, which begins July 18, N.C.F., Vol. I, (3) 20 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1939, and ends September 14, 1941, lists 365 songs as recorded between those dates. Very plainly, Dr. Brown's enthusiasm was for collecting, rather than editing. "When I try to write an article," he once wrote to Mrs. Sutton (July 24, 1930), "I almost invariably lose interest in it before I get my notes copied. My interest is at fever heat in making an outline and in making a rough draft, but as soon as this has been made, somehow my interest lags and I almost become sick when I feel that it is necessary to tear the thing to pieces and rewrite it." This feeling, which he rightly supposed to be common among scholars, could have no effect upon collecting. Nothing ever really stopped him from collecting. Since collecting was a joy forever and writing a weariness of the flesh, it is a waste of sentiment to regret for his sake that he never achieved the publication so long deferred. It is equally profit- less to speculate now as to whether or not it would have been better for the collection had it been published earlier. By delay the col- lection arrived at a degree of completeness that would otherwise have been improbable, but it lost the benefits of Dr. Brown's great knowledge of his materials, for he left few notes on his manuscripts, and most of his special information died with him. As a collector, Dr. Brown was patient, thorough, energetic, and enthusiastic. He allowed nothing to stop him. There are instances in his correspondence of his turning back and pursuing leads that had been either forgotten or laid aside for years under the pressure of other duties. He was as tenacious of his manuscripts as he was of his purpose. Few of those who considered withdrawing manu- scripts for separate publication ever persisted to the end. His principle was to collect everything of possible value, leaving rejections and eliminations to a time when fuller and more leisurely study could provide greater security against premature decisions. With beginning collectors he was inclined to stress this point even more. "I suggest," he wrote to Mr. R. F. Jarrett (January 28, 1915), "that you collect for us anything in the world that you can find in the nature of a song, whether the title or the material seems to indicate any value or not." His dragnet for materials was an extensive one. For many years he continued from time to time to give folklore concerts in various parts of the state, usually at schools and colleges or for women's clubs ; and at all these concerts he tried to stimulate collecting. Through correspondence he furnished numerous programs, liter- ature, and suggestions for other concerts and for study clubs. I-^or nearly thirty years he managed the programs of the North Carolina Folklore Society with a main eye to their stimulative effect. Dur- mg the same years he was searching the student body of Trinity College and Duke University for anyone likely to become a con- GENERAL INTRODUCTION 21 tributor of folklore. From time to time he offered courses in folk- lore for juniors, seniors, graduates, and summer-school students. A prominent feature of these courses was always the collection of local parallels to all the branches of folklore studied in the courses. Many of the students in these courses continued to add to the col- lection for years afterwards. From these students, and from every- body else, he was always alert to secure the names of local sinj^ers, raconteurs, and collectors with whom he would later open relations. Most important of all, he was personally an indefatigable col- lector. The collection contains a number of items in his hand hastily penciled on old envelopes, cards, or pages from desk memo- randum pads that were evidently taken down on the fly, without anticipation or previous plan. Most of his personal collecting, how- ever, was done on field trips which were usually carefully planned in advance. How many such trips he made between 1914 and 1942 will never be known, for he fails to mention many of them in his letters, and he usually kept no records except the materials collected. Nor did he ever talk very much about them. I was in almost daily contact with him from 1919 to 1942, sharing with him during many of these years a common office and a common interest in folklore, and yet I have learned far more about his field expeditions after his death, from his letters, than I ever learned from his conversation. Within less than twelve years after he began his collecting trips Dr. Brown had already covered most of the state. "I have per- sonally collected songs and other materials," he wrote to Henry Grady Owens (February 11, 1926), "on Roanoke Island, and at practically every one of the mountain counties along the Tennessee and Virginia lines, and we have material from practically every county in the state." In another letter he speaks of traveling twelve hundred miles while collecting in the summer of 1936, and in the summer of 1940 he traveled twenty-five hundred miles. The occasional passages in his letters in which he speaks of col- lecting trips confine themselves largely to a statement of the re- sults. To Thomas Smith he wrote (November 30, 1929) : "You will be interested to know that I made a collecting trip the first part of September, when I went to Hendersonville, Flat Rock, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Asheville, Burnsville, and Mount Mitchell. I took the Ediphone along, and I was able to get some verv inter- esting airs; one of the most interesting . . . was one to 'The British Lady.' " This trip happens to be one of those in which he was accom- panied by Mrs. Sutton, who had described it far more graphically in the Raleigh Nczvs and Observer for October 27, 1929. In her account a car slithers over steep, rutted roads of wet red clay to- wards a lonely cabin above Little Hungry Creek. Here an old woman sings 'Willie Ransome' and other ballads, while her husband 22. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE just back from the penitentiary, is skulking about in the surround- ing woods, having no truck with furriners. Mrs. Sutton's account tells also of the old women who sang at the Yancey County Home for the Aged and Infirm, and of a steep climb to Mount Mitchell to record twenty-two songs (including The British Lady') as sung by Mrs. Wilson. Seven years later Dr. Brown is writing to Dr. A. P. Hudson (December 2, 1936) : "You doubtless know that Lomax and I made a great many records of folk-songs in the mountains of this state during the summer : Lomax was with me during most of the month of July, and I worked practically all summer. ... I was able to find a good many new airs and some songs which were new to me, and I collected a rather large mass of materials on other phases of the work." During this trip Professor Lomax was describing his impressions in frequent letters to Mrs. Lomax, from which I am permitted to quote the following typical extract: We were out the entire day yesterday with a sandwich for lunch. You would have enjoyed tlie dear old ladies singing in squeaky voices, tremulous with age, about Lord Thomas a-riding his milk-white steed up yanders (to rhyme with ganders) hill. They are as placid as these mountains and make no apologies for puncheon floors or crannies in the log walls of their houses. Presently we are off to hear some mountain fiddling. Tomorrow we bring in a banjo picker, while Sunday we drive a hundred miles to the home of one Bill Hoppas, far-renowned for his singing and playing ability. Dr. W. Amos Abrams, who accompanied Dr. Brown on a num- ber of expeditions between 1939 and 1942, has described some of his experiences in a letter to Mrs. Brown (January 2~, 1945) : Through a student in one of my classes I discovered a certain ballad manuscript which belonged to an Adams family over near Dehart, North Carolina. Inasmuch as it contains what I believe to be the earliest version (certainly handwritten version) of an ancient American variant of 'The Brown Girl,' Dr. Brown, Lillian, and I set out in search of the family, hoping to discover the history of the book and someone who could sing the songs it contained. It was a rainy season and the roads were red clay. I know no adequate adjective to describe how treach- erously slick they were. We slipped from one side of the road to the other, bent the running boards on both sides of the car, and at one time we were actually careened over the side of the mountain. It was really a fearful experience. We did get the history of the t)ook hut no singers could we find. I remember that we ate dinner witli the family, and what a meal ! A copy of the songs in the book is in Dr. White's hands. I likewise recall an experience Dr. Brown and I had when we sought for and found Mrs. Nancy Prather, whose post office address has slipped out of mind at this moment. We went to Trade, Tennessee, turned right and went back into North Carolina and took a road that led cross coun- try in the direction of West Jefferson. We became stuck in a river GENERAL INTRODUCTION 23 wliich we Iiad to cross without benefit of a bridge, the motor choking down because tlie exhaust pipe was under water. We finally chugged out in some fashion and found the house of Mrs. Prather's son or grand- son with whom she was living. We drove through a meadow to a foot- log but could not get the car across ; thus we were constrained to affix the wire from the motor in the back of the car to the footlog. Mrs. Prather came out on a little rickety porch with her flap-bonnet turned down over her eyes — sharp eyes, too — but she was reluctant to sing for us because only a year or two before this time some pretended ballad collector had come through the community with this result : a few days after his visit, revenue officers had arrested some neighbors for moon- shining. Dr. Brown and I were quite naturally suspected of being revenue officers, and it is not easy to prove one is not an officer under these circumstances. I had with me a record made by Mrs. Prather's grandson and on the record was a song Mrs. Prather had taught him to sing. The boy's name, I believe, was Oliver Proffitt. Anyway, when I played that record, she recognized his voice and her song. This little incident broke the ice, and she sang eight songs for us, six of which were Child ballads. The most valuable song she sang was 'Earl Brand' ; I believe she called it 'The Old Man at the Gate.' I can see her now as I write you, sitting on that rickety porch with her sharp eyes closed under her flap-bonnet, singing a song so old that the history of it meant much to us. Her voice was not good and her diction was hardly under- standable ; so I bribed her little granddaughter to write out the words and mail them to me. She did, and I sent Dr. Brown a copy of the words. I bribed the girl by buying some flowers from her — flowers which she wanted to give us. We came through the road to West Jefiferson, I think, for we dared not try to cross the river again. . . . This trip will be of interest to you, certainly. Miss Pearl Webb (one of our students who had taught in the community we wanted to survey), Dr. Brown and I left Boone one Sunday morning. We went to Heaton, North Carolina, and drove up the Dark Ridge Road which follows No- Where Branch. We had no luck during the morning hours, but we passed by a home and Miss Pearl saw some people she knew who were visiting at this home. She went in and found out that they knew some ballads and that they would sing them when they returned home. Dr. Brown gallantly ofifered to wait and take them home. The singers were to have a part in a memorial service early in the afternoon. We waited. We went to the memorial service, and I shall never forget this experience. The cemetery was on the crest of a hill ; the wind was blowing in quite a gale ; we were told that we were looking into three states from this point. The preacher's hair blew in the wind and he did his task in an eloquent fashion. When the service ended, our sing- ers loaded in the car. I believe there were about eleven people to ride, including seven adults and four children. I remember that I sat squatted in the foot between the two seats. Miss Pearl held two kids on her knee, and the others were stacked in quite tightly, as you can imagine. We finally took a road which led down the mountain to the foot of Dark Ridge and to the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Church. The children were actually beautiful in features with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. I think it was Mrs. Janie Cliurch who sang for us, and I am sure it was 24 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE she who sang 'The Seven King's Daughters.' Dr. Brown made an ap- pointment and returned later, but I was not with him on this trip. We returned home long after dark. . . . I did not make this trip with Dr. Brown, but he told me about it. I don't even remember where it was. I do recall that he had collected songs from Aunt Becky Gordon some thirty years earlier and that he was trying to find her again inasmuch as some of her songs made thirty years ago on his wax records had been lost. I know that he chased her all over one county and finally found her "hired out" doing the ironing or washing for a family. She was to be paid fifty cents. Dr. Brown persuaded the employer to let Aunt Becky sing for him, and she sang — among the songs — 'O Lilli O,' a song he had collected nearly thirty years earlier from her. The lure of such names as Pick Breeches, Rip Shin Ridge, Little Hungry Creek, Boiling Springs, Powder Mill Creek, Upper Hin- son's Creek, Meat Camp, Mast's Gap was a strong one. "The Churches live," says a note in Dr. Brown's field book for August 5, 1939, "at foot of Dark Ridge, on End of Nowhere Branch, Beech Creek, near Pogy Mountain." To get there must have seemed worth some of the reckless driving that witnesses hint of, even if one had to keep his hosts singing until after midnight, as happened in Boone on August 24, 1939. Mountain people still remember the heavy rains of August, 1940, which caused many a wash-out and road-slip. These rains— for a while — actually immobilized Dr. Brown and his Ford, and so his frustration by them is worth recording. His field book for 1940 ends abruptly after August 18 with the following note: The floods have interfered greatly : I cannot go to Tinville, Banner Elk, Spruce Pine, N. Wilksboro, Jonas Ridge, or any of the places where I know material is to be had. I hope to get to Crossnore, Alta- mont, Hughes, Buck Hill, etc., etc., but am not sure whether roads can be opened before I must leave. This is August 18. The rains started on Friday August 9, and continued without intermission until August 15. I never heard Dr. Brown speak of either the hardships (if he thought of them as such) or the adventures of collecting. His let- ters, however, are not without a quiet pride in the growth of the collection and in the acquisition of particular rare items. One of his early moments of elation must have been receipt of the follow- ing praise from Professor A. H. Tolman of the University of Chi- cago (January 31, 1915) : "You have made the greatest single find possible in English balladry, in finding a good, full, traditional ver- sion of No. 272, "The Suffolk Miracle.' " The same year Dr. Brown was able to write to Professor I. G. Greer (February 13, 1915) GENERAL INTRODUCTION 25 that he had ah-eady found two ballads never before found in America.^ In those days collectors were much more excited than they are now about the discovery of a ballad in formation, or newly born. "Fortune has favored me also," Dr. Brown wrote to Dr. Benjamin Sledd, December 1915, "in throwint;- into my hands two Negro bal- lads which were composed in Durham within the last two years. One of these, I believe, will prove to be in some respects the most valuable item, in our whole collection. "- In 1935 Mrs. Gertrude Allen Vaught contributed from Taylors- ville the first text of 'Babylon' discovered in American tradition, and in September 1940 Dr. Brown made a find which he jubilantly described to Professor Reed Smith (February 21, 1941) as follows: "I had the good fortune to discover in one of the almost inaccessible coves in the mountains in North Carolina a very interesting version of 'Robin Hood and the Beggar,' number two; so far as I know this is the first time this particular ballad has been found in America, and of course I am very proud to come upon it and to record it upon nn^ machine."^ The treasures that might still be garnered were as alluring as those that had been. Professor C. Alphonso Smith wrote to tell Dr. Brown that D. W. Fletcher, in Durham county (his own back- yard), could sing some old ballads. Mrs. Sutton wrote of various marvelous ballad singers, such as "Myra" (Mrs. Barnette) who had sung ballads to her from her childhood on, and Aunt Becky Gordon, on Saluda Mountain, who "sings every song I have been able to collect heretofore, and then some" (July 30, 1928). A Trinity Col- lege student, P. D. Midgett, Jr., who had already furnished a num- ber of songs, wrote from his home on Roanoke Island (June 5, 1920), "Papa says he knows 500." Another former student, L. W. Anderson, wrote from Nag's Head about Mrs. Wise, who could sing ^ These were (i) 'The Suffolk Miracle,' as mentioned above, which was contributed from Taylorsville by Mrs. R. E. Barnes (and two years later, from Boone, by Professor I. G. Greer, both texts known locally as 'Jimmy and Nancy'), and (2) 'Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne,' con- tributed from Marion by Mr. G. C. Little in 1914. "So far as I know," Professor Reed Smith wrote Dr. Brown about the latter, "this is the only variant of the Guy of Gisborne ballad found on American soil" (Jan- uary 4, 1915). Professor Belden informs me that Dr. Brown was mis- taken about 'The Suffolk Miracle' and that the ballad in question is not Child 272 but a version of 'Nancy of Yarmouth." After Dr. Brown's death, however, the true 'Suffolk Miracle' was added to the collection by Professors W. Amos Abrams and Gratis D. Williams, in 1946, as sung by Pat Frye, at East Bend, N. C, in the summer of 1945. - Referring probably to the two songs on the sinking of the Titanic by the Reverend J. H. Brown and Gaither Miller. ^ Sung by Mrs. Nora Hicks, September 5, 1940, at Mast's Gap. Pro- fessor Belden states that this is really Child 140, 'Robin Hood Rescuing the Three Squires.' 26 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE a hundred songs from memory. And a portentous well-wisher from Greensboro embarked upon the unfamiliar ways of correspondence long enough to write (December 14. 1936), "I can tell you a true Ghost Story that sounds untrue there is a Great Sign and Wonder that has arose in the human race." He never told, apparently, or committed himself further to the perils of ruled tablet-paper, but all the others were eventually sought out by Dr. Brown and levied upon. Finally, there was a great satisfaction in watching and reporting the steady growth of the collection. By 1915 he was able to inform Miss Amy Henderson (April 13, 1915) that North Carolina ranked second among the states in the number of traditional ballads re- ported. During that year the number increased from 18 to 20 in January, then to 24 in April, and finally to 2^ in November. By 1936 this number had increased to 50, according to Dr. Brown's count at the time. This accords fairly well with the final figures, as established by Dr. H. M. Belden in 1948, after a careful study of the song collection. Dr. Belden finds 51 Child ballads, but is inclined to exclude four as either fragmentary or secondary versions. This number is exceeded only by the state of Maine, represented by 56 ballads in Barry's British Ballads from Maine. Virginia counts 51 such ballads in Davis's Traditional Ballads of Virginia, but Dr. Belden's strict principles of selection would exclude four of these. Standard collections for other states (Indiana, Michigan, Missiouri, Ohio, West V^irginia) show a total of from 25 to 33 Child ballads. In 192.S and 1926 the number of all songs in the Frank C. Brown Collection stood at 2000-2500, with about 1000 airs recorded. By 1935 between 400 and 500 of these airs had been transcribed from the recordings.'* ' No such definite indications of the growth of other groups are available. It is hard to estimate with any accuracy the number of short superstitions or folk expressions in an unorganized collection that has accumulated for years. Moreover, while Dr. Brown con- tinued to collect all types of folklore, the folk songs — and par- ticularly the traditional ballads as included in Professor Child's collection — were his first, last, and greatest love. The only esti- mate I have found of the general bulk of the collection exclusive of the songs occurs in a letter to Richard Chase, dated October 24, 1942, in which he stated that he had typed about 2500 pages and that this was about three-fourths of the total of such materials. •'• Only after Dr. Brown's death, and after more than a year of * Dr. Brown to Professor George Herzog, October 13, 1935. This seems to have been an underestimate, for over 650 transcribed airs were catalogued in the collection after Dr. Brown's death, and there was little or no transcription from records after 1935. ^ This does not include over a thousand items added to these groups after Dr. Brown's death. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 27 concentrated copying, classifying, and cataloguing, has it been pos- sible to arrive at a reasonably accurate computation of the size and distribution of the Frank C. Brown Collection. For the whole collection there are 556 contributors of 29,647 items from all but 14 of North Carolina's 100 counties, and 95 contributors of 1409 items from 20 other states and Canada. This does not include about 9000 items contributed anonymously or without indication of local- ity, a grand total of over 38,000. If all contributions could be clearly localized, there is little doubt that every county in the state would be represented, as Dr. Brown believed. The distribution according to counties is given on the folklore map of North Carolina printed on the inside covers of this volume. The following table indicates the distribution of the items under Dr. Brown's sixteen main classifications: Contributors Items 1. Husbandry I39 1834 2. Omens, Luck Signs 240 7330 3. Folk Medicine 138 2026 4. Magic, Charms, etc 205 1862 5. Divination 1 15 894 6. Housewifery 55 548 7. Folk Sermons 9 50 8. Pseudo Science 57 264 9. Folk Expressions 96 2711 10. Origin of Place Names 29 196 11. Riddles, Proverbs, Similes 57 6180 12. Children's Rhymes 95 m8i 13 Traditional Games 97 998 14. Customs 43 188 15. Legends, Tales 93 328 16. Songs [and Ballads] 667 374i No collection of folklore is ever complete; the subject is far too extensive for that. There is not a single category in the present collection that could not be expanded. Folk dances are missing, and folk arts in general appear but sparsely. The coarse and ob- scene elements which persist so hardily in folk tales and folk songs and attain proportionate representation in so few collections are here almost entirely absent. Few informants like to commit such matter to paper, or to communicate it orally to an English pro- fessor. They are even more reserved with a Sunday School teacher, and Dr. Brown was both. Nevertheless the Frank C. Brown Collection is one of the largest collections of general folklore in the English language ever to be amassed mainly by the efforts of one man. It is also one of the most homogeneous, for over 95 per cent of it comes from North Carolina. This fact does not lessen its general interest, for North Carolina holds its folklore in common with the whole English- speaking world, but it does provide an unparalleled opportunity, if 28 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE properly interpreted, of understanding more fully than ever before the folkways, sayings, beliefs, and songs of one region. In the spring of 1943 Dr. Brown, then in good health, had asked me to attend to the publication, so far as practicable, in case I sur- vived him. After his death the three most interested parties — Mrs. Brown, the North Carolina Folklore Society, and Duke University — asked me to proceed according to a general plan I had suggested. The manuscripts and all related materials were sorted, classified, and edited for typing.^ The manuscripts were then typed in tripli- cate. Each item was separately catalogued, and over forty mimeo- graphed catalogues were compiled for the use of the editors. The manuscripts, catalogues, and related materials were turned over to Duke University as a permanent collection, and typescripts, cata- logues, and other aids were sent to the associate editors. Work on the manuscripts began in the summer of 1943 and was finished in July 1945- An editorial board was assembled, consisting of Professors H. M. Belden and A. P. Hudson for the song texts and Professor Jan P. Schinhan for the music (succeeding Professor George Herzog in 1947) ; Wayland D. Hand for husbandry, omens, folk medicine, magic, divination, and pseudo science ; Archer Taylor for riddles ; Stith Thompson for legends and tales ; Paul G. Brewster for house- wifery, customs, and children's games, rhymes, and sayings; B. J. Whiting for proverbs, similes, etc. ; George P. Wilson for folk sermons, place names, and folk salutations, phrases, pronunciations, and idioms. These editors were all chosen for their particular tasks upon the nominations of a number of leading folklore scholars who were consulted by the General Editor. Miss Clare Leighton was engaged as illustrator, with a commission to provide a series of wood engravings which would present an artist's interpretation, not ro much of the folklore itself as of the land, the people, and the customs out of which it grew. The story cannot be closed, however, without an expression of gratitude for the generous financial support which made the editing and publishing possible — The Rockefeller Foundation (Division of Humanities), The xA.merican Council of Learned Societies, The American Philosophical Society, Independent Aid, Duke Univer- sity, Mrs. W. N. Reynolds, and Mrs. W. Murray Crane. Newman Ivev White 1948 ®The related materials included nearly 1500 letters (1912-1943) con- cerning the collection, 1,000 or more newspaper clippings, several bib- liographies on various fields of folklore, and about 330 magazine articles, lists, books, student theses, etc. These have all been organized and arranged for convenient use and are now with the Frank C. Brown Col- lection in the Duke University Library, together with the original manu- scripts, the typescripts, and the phonograph records, music transcriptions, lists, and indices. CHILDREN'S GAMES AND RHYMES Edited by Paul G. Brewster CHILDREN'S GAMES AND RHYMES INTRODUCTION GAMES MEAN different things to different people. The folk- lorist and the ethnologist collect and study them for the light they often throw upon the religious beliefs and ceremonies, the social organization, and the general cultural background of the peoples among whom they have been collected. As later pages amply testify, they often retain traces of ancient custom, ritual, and belief that have long since been lost from other expressions of the folk mind. The teacher and the playground director value them as aids not only in the strengthening of the bodies of the youngsters under their charge but also in the inculcating of the ideals of team- work and good sportsmanship. The specialist in mental diseases is fre(|uently able to bring about an improvement in the patient's mind by inducing liim to engage in certain carefully selected games and sports. To the child who is playing, and to most of us, a game is a contest — physical, mental, or a combination of the two — from which both the participant and the onlooker derive pleasure. Many of the games represented in this collection are very old. Jacks, for example, was mentioned by Aristophanes two thousand years ago as a game played by Greek girls. 'How Many Fingers?' was played by Roman children at least as early as the first century of our era. and may be much older. The game of 'Blindman's Buff' is another that was known to Grecian youth of ancient times. Allusions to it in English literature occur as early as the sixteenth century. Our 'Odd or Even' was also well known to Greek and Roman children of centuries ago. 'Prisoner's Base' is alluded to in a literary passage of the thirteenth century. 'Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley' was played in France at least as early as the middle of the fourteenth century. References to the playing of leapfrog appear in .Shakespeare's Hcnr\ V (V, 2) and Jonson's Bartholomew Fair (1.7). The greater part of these games are not only ancient but also extremely widespread. Variants of the guessing game 'How Many Fingers?' have been found in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Scandinavian countries, France, Italy. Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Estonia. Greece, Yugoslavia. Switzerland, Turkey. India, and Japan. 'Blindman's Buff' is played in Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and Poland as well as in English-speaking coun- 32 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE tries. Descriptions and diagrams of 'Hopscotch' have been recov- ered from Italy. Greece, Albania, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, Portugal, and elsewhere. 'Knights of Spain,' from which the North Carolina 'Hog Drovers' is derived, is known in France. Italy. Spain, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden. In the editing of these games and rhymes. I have had in mind both the student of folklore and the general reader. With a view to aiding the former, I have indicated in the headnotes something of the age, the history, and the geographical distribution of the game, and have added whatever other information I could regard- ing it. However, since this material really belongs rather to the general reader than to the folklorist, I have, on the other hand, striven to keep the essential folk quality of both the games and the rhymes and, in order to convey to the former something of the flavor of collecting, have quoted as liberally as limitations of space permit from the comments of the collectors themselves. No attempt has been made to "prettify" the texts. Punctuation has been supplied only in cases where it was necessary for the sake of clear- ness. Obvious mistakes such as misspellings and faulty line or stanza order have been corrected. Aside from these changes, the texts are essentially as given to the editor. The editing of the games and rhymes in the Brown Collection has been both a pleasurable and an instructive experience. As a whole, the materials contributed are of a consistently high quality. Many of the collectors and contributors had formerly been students in Professor Brown's classes in folklore and consequently knew what to look for and how to evaluate properly the texts found. Some of them, notably Mrs. Sutton, were folklore collectors in their own right, wath years of experience in the field. Their contribu- tions, too. are valuable and important. Still others were persons with no academic connection and no formal training in folklore but enthusiastic and indefatigable in the collecting and sending in of whatever they felt might possibly come under that heading. In view of the fact that this latter group was the most numerous, the proportion of chaff to wheat in the Collection is remarkably low. By far the greater part of the material omitted from the pages which follow was excluded not because of any poorness of quality but because it had clearly been derived from printed sources or was definitely not North Carolinian. ^ It has been most interesting (and enlightening) to me to com- ^ The only instance of deviation from this policy was the inclusion of Mrs. Sutton's version of 'Twelve Days of Christmas,' which was recovered in the neighboring state of Tennessee. The fact that the same racial stock predominates in hotli states and the additional fact that this particular version was collected not far from the boundary line made it seem reasonable to assume that the game is or was known in North Carolina as well. Games, like ballads, are no respecters of boundaries. GAMESANURHYMES 33 pare these games and rhymes with tliose whicli 1 have collected in Indiana, Missouri, and elsewhere. With several of them, partic- ularly the dancing games, I was wholly unfamiliar. Others 1 was able to place with the aid of the accompanying descriptions, but would never have been able to recognize from the titles given. I learned, for instance, that 'Hail Over' or 'High Over' was the 'Handy Over' of my Indiana boyhood, that 'Pretty Girls* Station' (a fine title, incidentally!) was the game I had always known as 'Lemonade,' that 'Shu-li-lu' was merely a variant of the familiar 'Skip to My Lou.' The bulk of these games and rhymes came from white informants. Whether the collectors felt, and with some reason, that sufficient materials could be obtained from these sources without the neces- sity of collecting from the colored minority or whether they felt that anything that might be recovered from the latter group would be only a duplication of texts already collected is not clear. Of course, the fact that much of the material was collected from people living in mountain districts, where the Negro is practically unknown, also helps to account for the meager number of Negro texts. It seems regrettable that Negro games and rhymes do not form a larger part of the Collection, not because they would have been particularly good versions, perhaps, but because the inclusion of a greater number would have given users of the Collection an oppor- tunity to investigate the question of mutual borrowings and sub- sequent changes to fit the borrowers' background and environment. No one who has not done considerable work in the field of chil- dren's games and rhymes can fully comprehend the difficulties to be encountered in attempting any system of classification. In the first place, it is impossible to make the divisions mutually exclusive. A game which at first glance seems to be clearly a guessing game will frequently contain, in addition to the element of guessing, those of imitation and of chase as well. A game which one is inclined to list as dramatic may, with equal justice, be classified as a court- ship or a dancing game. The element of chase is to be found in ball games, hiding games, dramatic games, guessing games, and others. A second headache is the game which, originally and gen- erally of one type, has been intentionally changed through the intro- duction of another element (sometimes even a part of another game) into something only remotely resembling the earlier and correct form. The system of classification which I finally adopted is of my own devising, and I anticipate criticism of it by admitting that it is not without flaws. However, it is the best that several hours of trial and error and general puzzlement could evolve. I have grouped all the games into eighteen divisions, in each case using the most dis- tinctive feature of the game as a basis for its inclusion in a particular group. These divisions are: 34 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Ball Games Games of Dexterity Hiding Games Imitative Games Jumping and Hopping Games Courtship and Marriage Games Practical Jokes Teasing Games Battle Games Tug-of-War and Similar Games Dramatic Games Games of Smaller Children Guessing Games Elimination Games Forfeit or Penalty Games Dancing Games Games of Chase Miscellaneous Games Classification of the rhymes follows the same general pattern: Counting-Out Rhymes Lullabies Game Rhymes (exclusive of the Finger Rhymes above) Tickling Rhymes Rope Skipping Rhymes Asseverations Catches or Sells Recitations Teasing Rhymes "Smart Aleck" Rhymes Derisive Rhymes Friendship Verses Divination Rhymes Tongue-Twisters Charms Of the game divisions, that of Courtship and Marriage Games contains by far the most material. The reason for this fact is obvious. In the mountain districts, from which most of the games of this type were collected, the "play-party" was a social institu- tion of great importance. Residents of these localities, most of them people of simple tastes, had brought with them the folk tradi- tions from their native land. Cut off from contact with more sophisticated centers, they were forced to find or to create their own forms of entertainment and accordingly fell back upon this folk tradition, a sizable part of which consisted of the ballads, tales, and games which were their common heritage from English, Scot- tish, or Irish ancestors. So popular were these games and songs that even homes in which dancing was looked upon with disfavor as one of the devil's snares to entrap the unwary threw open their doors to the "play-party." Dramatic games were also highly popular, this division ranking second in point of size. Children have always been and always will be actors and imitators, whether in the mountains of North Carolina or on the sidewalks of New York. Some game types are very scantily represented. One would have expected to find at least one description of 'Bull Pen' among the ball games; of 'Scissors, Paper. Stone' in the division of guessing games; of 'Tin Tin' among the games in which the paying of a forfeit is the penalty for laughing. Other games which are not to be found in these pages are 'Crack the Whip,' 'Fruit Basket Upset,' GAMES AND RHYMES 35 "One and Over,' 'Red Rover,' 'Cross Questions,' "Duck on the Rock,' 'Oranges and Lemons,' 'Marbles,' and 'Tit-tat-toe.' However, fail- ure on the part of collectors to submit versions of these does not mean, of course, that tliey are not to be found in North Carolina. In all probability, most, if not all, of those mentioned could have been or could still be recovered. * Here, then, are the games of North Carolina, eminently playable games, as their popularity through generation after generation attests. May older readers of the pages which follow find pleasure in recalling their own playing of many of the games described, and may those of a younger age pass them on to those who follow. For here, too, is America — its wholesome gaiety, its native resourceful- ness, its ability and readiness to use teamwork if demanded, its spontaneity, its individuality, its sense of humor, its love of fair play. N.C.F.., V'ol. I, (4) 36 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE BALL GAMES ANTHONY OVER This game is still popular not only in the South but also in the Middle West, where it is called 'Anty Over' or 'Handy Over.' A Canadian name for it is 'Tickley Tickley Over' (JAFL, lviii, 154). In Newell, Games and Songs of American Children (p. 181), it is called "Haley Over,' one of the names given it in the South, where it is known also as 'High Over' or 'Hurley Over.' A description of the game as played in Texas appears in PTFLS, xvii (1941), 148. See also Marran, Games Outdoors, p. 97 ('Aunty Over'). 'Antny Over.' Description furnished by Maude Minish Sutton, of For- est City, who saw the game played at several schools in Avery county during the fall of 1917. One group of boys stands on one side of the schoolhouse and another group of approximately the same number stands on the other. A member of the group having the ball calls, "Ant'ny!" Someone on the other side then cries. "Over!" The first speaker calls out, "Over she comes !" and throws the ball over the roof. If it is caught, the player who made the catch dashes around the corner of the building and throws the ball at one of the players on the opposite side. Each boy hit must join that side that hit him. If nobody catches the ball, the game proceeds as before. 'Hail-Over.' Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, of Durham, 1927-32. No source indicated, but presumably from Durham county. Players are in two equal (or nearly equal) groups on oppo- site sides of a building. The group which has the ball calls, "Anti-over" and the other side responds, "Let it come!" (or they call, "Hail Over" and the response is "Hail-over"). The ball is thrown over the building. If it is caught, the one who holds it may tag all the players he can as the groups rush to ex- change places, and they must then join his side. If the ball is not catight, each group keeps its position. HAT BALL Usually the ball is thrown into one of a circle of hats or caps; sometimes holes in the ground take the place of the hats or caps as in the following description. For other descriptions, see Newell, p. 183; Acker, Four Hundred Games for School, Home, and Play- GAMESAN I) RHYMES 37 ground, p. 225 ('Roly Poly'j and p. 227 ('Spud'j ; Goninie, Tradi- tional Games of England. Scotland, and Ireland, i, 14 ("Balls and Bonnets'), 199 ('Hats in Holes') ; Macla^an, Games and Diversions of Argyleshirc, p. 9 ('Bonnety') ; Vernaleken and I3ranky, Spiele u. Keime der Ki)tder in Oesterreicli, p. 10; Rochholz, .lleinannisclies, Kinderlied 11. Kinderspiel, p. 389; Bohnie. Deiitsclies Kindcrlicd it. Kindcrspicl, p. 609; Henius, Songs and Games of the Americas. p. 10. 'Roley Holey.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, Forest City, c. 1928. Reported from Avery county. A row of holes is made in the ground, each being given the name of one of the players. Each boy takes a chance at rolling the ball into one of the holes, all players standing several feet away from the holes. The boy into whose hole the ball rolls tries to hit some of the others with it. If he succeeds, a stone is placed in the hole of the boy who was hit. When there are three stones in any boy's hole, he is out of the game. In an- other form of the game, the boy who gets three stones is pad- dled by all the other players.^ HIDING GAMES HIDE AND SEEK This is one of the most popular of games and is found in all parts of the country. It appears to be a favorite, too, among primi- tive and near-primitive peoples. See, for example, Best, Games and Pastimes of the Maori, p. 92 ('taupunipuni') ; Bryan, Ancient Ha- umiian Life, p. 51 ('pe'epe'ekua' ) ; Kidd, Savage Childhood, p. 177; Kidd, The Essential Kafir, p. 338; Culin, Korean Games, p. 51; Ivens, Melanesians of the Southeast Solomons, p. 100; Malinowski, The Sexual Life of Saz^ages, p. 246 ('supeponi') ; Stayt, The Bavcnda. p. 98. It was popular also in Greece (Gulick, The Life of the Ancient Greeks, p. 76). For additional descriptions and references, see Gomme, i, i ; Maclagan, p. 211; Marran, p. 134 ('Duck in the Hole'); Strutt, p. 301. Under the name of 'All Hid,' this game was very popular in Elizabethan England. Some allusions to it in the drama of the period will be found in my recent article "Games and Sports in Sixteenth and Seventeenth-Centtu'y English Literature" (irestern Folklore, vi, 143 ). 'Hide and Hunt.' Contributed by Virginia Bowers. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. One player closes his eyes and, standing near a spot previotisly ^ In my own boyhood, in Indiana, a miss resulted in the thrower's being given a stone. If the player at whom the ball was throw-n succeeded in catching it, the thrower was paddled by the others. 38 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE designated as "home," counts slowly to one hundred while the others hide. When he has finished counting, he calls : "Bushel of wheat, bushel of rye, All not hid holler 'I.' " Then if there is no response, he calls: "Bushel of wheat, bushel of clover. All not hid can't hide over. All eyes open ; here I come !" When he discovers a hiding player, he runs to the place called "home," touches the tree or wall that has been so desig- nated, and calls out, "One, two, three for !" If the player who was hidden succeeds in reaching "home" first, he calls, "One, two, three for me !" When two or three have been caught, the hunter may end the game with "All the rest home free!" The first player caught is the next to hide his eyes. This game is often confused with 'Hide and Seek.' Newell (p. 160) says that the two differ only in that players of the latter have no "home" to touch, a statement which is in contradiction to the preceding description. English forms are described in Gomme, i, 212-213, but they bear little resemblance to the American game. This is the French cligne-mitsette or cache-cache, and is men- tioned by Froissart (14th c.) as one of the games played in his youth. 'I-Spy.' Description sent to Dr. Brown by Maude Minish Sutton, Forest City, c. 1928, who obtained it in Tyrrell county. This game is played just like 'Fifty-Oh' except that the counter has to count to a hundred instead of fifty. There are a number of short methods of counting used, such as a hundred by fives, by tens, or "Ten, ten, double ten. forty-five, fifteen." When a player is found, the counter must run "home" and count "One, two, three for ." If the hider escapes being found, he runs "home" and touches it, saying "Home free." FIFTY-OH Description furnished by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1928, wlio saw the game played in Tyrrell county. This game is a form of 'Hide and Seek.' A base is chosen. a tree or some other convenient spot. The counter is chosen by a counting-out rhyine. He counts to fifty, closing with a very loud "Fifty-oh!" He then says: G A M E S A N n R II Y M E S 39 "A bushel of wheat and a bushel of clover, All not hid can't hide over. A bushel of wheat and a bushel of rye, All ain't hid holler 'I.' " If an3'one calls, the counting proceeds to fifty again. Then the counter begins hunting. As he finds each one, he touches the base and says "One, two, three for ." If any child is able to slip "home," he says, "Home free." The first player caught is counter for the second game. KICKING THE CAN Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, of Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. This is a variant of 'Hide and Seek.' The player who is "It" kicks a can some distance from the base. While he is recovering it, the others hide. WHOOPY HIDE Description furnished by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1928. No source given. This is another form of 'Hide and Seek.' Players announce by whoops that they are hidden. The counter follows the whoops, often being misled by the players, who change their locations after they have whooped. As a rule, this changing of position is regarded as "no fair," but, as in most cases of controversy, the decision is against the child who is "It." JUMPING AND HOPPING GAMES HOPSCOTCH Another very popular and widespread game and also a very old one. The earliest allusion to it of which I am aware is that m Poor Robin's Almanac for 1677, in which it is called 'Scotch- hoppers.' Other names bv which it is known are 'Hop-score,' 'Hop- crease,' 'Beds.' 'Hap the 'Bed,' 'Hickety-Hackety,' &c. For descriptions, American and foreign, see Newell, p. 188; Acker, p. 260; Marran, pp. 70-73; Smith, Games and Game Leader- ship p 229; Gomme, 1, 223: Strutt, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, p. 303: Henius, p. 14 ('El Peregrmo') ; Bohme, p 509- Lewalter-Schliiger, Dciitsches Kinderlicd n. Kinderspicl, p. 242- Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Volksknnde, xiii, 167; Folk-Lore, V 340- VI, 359 (Danish); xl, 372 (Albanian); American Anthro- pologist, N.S., I, 230 (Hawaiian) ; Parsons, Pegiiche, p. 52 ('ficha ) ; Ludovici, "Sports and Games of the Singhalese," p. 33 ('masop or 'tatto') ; Martinez, Jucgos v Condones Infantiles de Puerto Rico, 40 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE p. 68 ('La Peregrina') ; Notes & Queries, 4th ser., iv, 94, 186; Tradiciones Populares Espaiioles, v, 3 ; Ruiz, Los Jiiegos InfantUes en la Escnela Rural, p. 68 ('La Escalera de Caracol' ) ; Reyes and Ramos, Philippin-c Folk Dances and Games, p. 60 ('Piko' or 'Buan- Buan') ; Parry, The Lakhers, p. 188 CSeuleucha' ) ; Maclagan, p. 134; Folk-Lore, xvi, 341-343: Earle, Child Life, p. 342; Woodward, p. 66; de Cock and Teirlinck, i, 309. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton in 1928. Diagrams and directions for playing both A and B were obtained from a little girl in Forest City. Pitch a stone or a small block of wood into a square (i.e., from the first up to and including the sixth and last). Hop over that square into the next, hop into each square in succes- sion and return, pick up the block, and hop out. A player who steps on a line, pitches the block into the wrong square, or hops into the square where the block is must drop out of the game. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton in 1928. The diagram used for this game has the form of a snail shell. Squares are not numbered and no block is used. Each player in turn hops into all squares in succession until he reaches "Home," the center of the figure, and then returns. If he makes the round without stepping on a line, he gets to put his initials in any square he chooses. Then, on the next tt-ip around, he is permitted to stop and rest in the square con- taining his initials. Any player who steps on a line or into a square containing another's initials is "out." LEAPFROG This game was popular in England at least as early as the 1300's. Pendrill writes in his London Life in the 14th Century: "It was a popular habit throughout the Middle Ages to play such games as wrestling, hurlmg, and leapfrog in the streets and churchyards in spite of the efforts of the authorities to relegate them to such open spaces as Smithfield" (p. 21). Descriptions are given in Strutt, p. 302 ; Gomme, i, 327 ; Mac- lagan, p. 144; Ruiz, p. 62 ('El Burro Corrido') ; Culin, p. 33; Man, IV, 136 (the Herzegovinan 'Eagles'); Journal of the Royal An- thropological Institute, xxxix, 291 (British New Guinea) ; de Cock and Teirlinck, i, 283; Gustavson, p. 67; Dijkstra, i, 230. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton. No source or date given. One boy stands over as far as he can. A second takes a fly- ing leap over the first, goes four or five yards ahead of him, and stoops over also. A third player does the same, and this GAMES AND RHYMES 4^ continues until all the players have assumed the same position. Then the first hoy gets up, leaps over all the others, and takes his place at the head of the line. PRACTICAL JOKES BARNYARD CHORUS 'Farmyard Chorus.' Contributed by Paul and Elizabeth Green, 1945, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. ; In a whisper, the leader assigns to each player the name of the farm animal whose voice he is to imitate. All are to crow, whinny, moo. &c. at a given signal. However, the leader has secretly instructed all but one of the players to remain silent when the signal is given. At the signal, the voice of this un- fortunate is the only one heard, much to his embarrassment. Contributed by Cozette Coble, Stanly county. Reported from Stanly county, but no date given. Three chairs are arranged in a row and a girl is stationed behind each. Each girl has a scarf around her neck. One of the girls invites a boy to come and be shaved. He sits down in her chair, she ties the scarf around his eyes, and a little boy, who up to this time has been concealed behind the girls, kisses him. Then the scarf is removed and the customer is asked if that wasn't the quickest shave he ever had. SCISSORS Contributed by Elizabeth Janet Black, Garland, c. 1920-22. Collected in Garland, Sampson county, but no date given. Several people are seated in a circle. The leader crosses her legs, says, "I received them crossed and I pass them uncrossed," uncrosses her legs, and hands the scissors to the player sitting next to her. The scissors pass clear around the circle, and the joke is to see how many fail to cross and uncross the legs. POKER GAME Contributed by Elizabeth Janet Black, Garland, c. 1920-22. Reported from Garland, Sampson county. Players are seated in a circle. The leader takes a poker in one hand, pokes the floor with it, clears his throat, and says, "He can do little who can't do this, this, this." He then gives the poker to his neighbor, who is supposed to do exactly the same thing. Several of the players will forget to clear the throat. 42 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE MALAGA GRAPES For Other variants, see Gomme, i, 363 ('Malaga Raisins') ; Folk- Lore Journal, v, 51 (from Cornwall). Contributed by Elizabeth Janet Black, Garland, c. 1920-22. Reported from Garland, Sampson county. ' All of the players seat themselves in a circle. The leader clears his throat and then says, "Malaga grapes are very good grapes, but the grapes from China are better, better, better." Each is to repeat the performance of the leader, but some are sure to forget the clearing of the throat before speaking. MY LOVE, W^HAT HAVE I DONE? Contributed by Elsie Lambert. No place or date given. Two or three boys go out of the room and then return one at a time. A group of girls are sitting in a row or a semicircle. The boy must go to the one he loves best, kneel at her feet, take her hand, and say. "My love, what have I done?"' The girl answers, "Acted a fool." INTRODUCING TO KING AND QUEEN See Gomme, i, 59 ('Carrying- the Queen a Letter') ; Newell, p. 120 ('King and Queen') ; Strutt, p. 310; Folk-Lorc, xvi, 442 ('The King and Queen of Sheba') ; 443 ('Making Nuns') ; Rochholz, p. 435 ; Vernaleken and Branky, p. 86. Description furnished by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville. Reported from Alexander county about 1927. A boy and a girl are chosen as king and queen. Their "thrones" are draped with a sheet or some other large covering, with a vacant space left between the two, presumably an empty chair. Sometimes a pan of water is put under the sheet at this spot. A player is brought into the room to be introduced, and is urged to take the vacant seat in the middle so that their majesties may talk with him. As he sits down, the king and the queen rise from their "thrones," letting him take a seat in the pan of water. MARCHING THROUGH PARADISE Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught in 1927. Reported from Alex- ander county. A large group of boys and girls form two rows facing each other. Players who have never had the pleasure of marching through Paradise are in another room. One by one, the mem- bers of the latter group are marched between the two lines. and those forming the lines, who have provided themselves witli pins, stick the victims from both sides as they pass through. G A M E S A N 1) R H Y M E S 43 BATTLE GAMES YANKEE SOLDIERS This is a variant of 'We Are the Roman Soldiers.' See, for ver- sions of the latter, Gonime, ii, 343-360; Newell, p. 248. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Only the text is given ; no place is indicated. Have yoti any bread and wine? For we are the Yankees. Have you any bread and wine? For we are the Yankee soldiers. Yes, we have some bread and wine, For we are the Rebels. &c. May we have a bite and sip, &c. No, yoti'll get no bite and sip, &c. Are you ready for a fight, &c. Yes, we're ready for a fight, &c. CAPTAIN OH FLAG Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version obtained in Rutherford county. Two boys choose up and select sides. A handkerchief is hung on a tree or a fence at the "home" of each side. The object of the game is for one side to capture the other's flag. When the flag is threatened, the rallying cry is "Captain Oh Flag!" If a member of one team is caught inside the home boundary of the other, he is put in prison, from which he must be rescued by one of his own party. The game ends when a flag is captured. - A BATTLE GAME Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This version is reported from Rutherford county. Among the many season sports in the South is one played by boys in the late fall. It has no name that we could find. The boys make weapons of a piece of soft wood with a pithy center. Into this pith or into a split in the blunt end of the weapon a - Contributor's note : "This battle game is the most popular of its kind in certain sections of North CaroHna. In one instance which came under our observation, three boys were disabled for some days in one of these hard-fought battles, and the winning captain broke his collar bone. It is played with all the spirit and fight of a football game. It is often used as a preliminary to a snowball battle or clod fight. The lines of players sometimes fight until all on one side are "killed !" Cf. 'Stealing Sticks' in this collection, p. 80. 44 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE long- piece of broom sage is inserted. When a sufficient num- ber have been made, the sides station themselves at opposite sides of a field and hurl these weapons at each other. If one sticks up inside the "home" of the enemy, it must be returned. If it hits a player and then falls to the ground, he is wounded for a while. If it hits him and sticks in his clothes, he is dead. The game continues until all the weapons are exhausted or until all the players on one side are wounded or dead. DRAMATIC GABIES JENNY JONES This is one of the most widely known singing" games. It is also one of the most interesting, portraying (in the more complete Scottish texts) the lover from afar coming to Jenny's home to woo her, Jenny's daily occupations, and the subsequent illness, death, and burial of the heroine. Of particular interest to the folklorist are the color symbolism and the care exercised to select the right color for the burial clothing, the dressing of the body by girl friends and their carrying of it to the grave, the belief that excessive mourn- ing disturbs the dead and causes them to rise and even to remon- strate against it (cf. Child No. 78, 'The Unquiet Grave'), and the belief that burial places are haunted by spirits of the dead. Lady Gomme has given us seventeen versions of this game, sev- eral of them from Scotland, which appears to have been its original home. The 'Jenny Jones' and 'Jinny Jones' of English texts seem to be corruptions of the Scottish 'Janet jo,' the last part of which title is a term meaning sweetheart. For other texts and additional references, see JAFL, xlvii, 334 (Georgia); xlix, 253 (Indiana); lx, 12-13 (Missouri); Notes & Queries, I2th ser., vii, 405; viii, 95; Newell, p. 63; Beckwith, Folk-Games of Jamaica, p. 45 ('I Come to See Jennie') ; Maclagan, p. 123 ('Genesis' Ghost'); Gomme, i, 260-283; 11, 432-435; Bot- kin, Tlie American Play-Party Song, pp. 30, 57, 100; Burne, Shrop- shire Folk-Lore, p. 508; Southern Folklore Quarterly, vi, 189; Gomme, Children's Singing Games, i, 22; Folk-Lore, xvi, 217-218; Folk-Lore Record, iii, 171; iv, 173; Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 140; Collins, Alamance Play-Party Songs and Singing Games, p. 31 ; Martinengo-Cesaresco, Fssays in the Study of Folk Songs, pp. 14-15; Linscott, Folk Songs of Old Xew Fngland, p. 26. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton in 1927. This version was obtained in Madison county. A group of children form into a line with clasped hands. Two of them act the i^arts of Miss Jennie Ann Jones and her mother. The mother stands or sits on the ground, and Miss Jennie Ann Jones hides behind her. The line advances, singing: GAMESANDRIIYMES 45 "I'm going to see Miss Jennie Ann Jones, Miss Jennie Ann Jones. Miss Jennie Ann Jones; I'm going to see Miss Jennie Ann Jones And how is she today ?" "She's upstairs washing, Washing, washing ; She's upstairs washing, You can't see her today." "Very glad to hear it, To hear it, to hear it ; Very glad to hear it, And how is she today ?" The next answers are that she is upstairs ironing, cooking, scrubbing, &c. Then the "mother" answers that she is sick, better, worse, dead. The dancers then go back to the starting- place and come back singing: "What color is she to be buried in, Buried in, buried in ; What color is she to be buried in On her burying day ?" The mother suggests blue, and the others reply : "Blue is for the sailors, The sailors, the sailors; Blue is for the sailors, So that will never do." The next suggestion is red, but the singers object : "Red is for the army, The army, the army ; Red is for the army, So that will never do." Green is not suitable, for "Green is for the jealous, The jealous, the jealous; Green is for the jealous, So that will never do." Black is not appropriate eith.er. for "Black is for the mourner. The mourner, the mourner; Black is for the mourner. So that will never do." 46 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Finally the mother suggests white, and the singers agree : "White is for the angels, The angels, the angels ; White is for the angels, So that will have to do." Then the singers retire and advance again, this time asking- "Where shall we bury her, Bury her, bury her? Where shall we bury her, Bury her today?" The mother replies, "Under the apple tree." The line then carries Miss Jennie Ann Jones to the spot representing the apple tree, and pretends to bury her. As they withdraw, she gets up and the other players sing : "I thought I saw a ghost last night, A ghost last night, a ghost last night ; I thought I saw a ghost last night Under the apple tree." She then chases them. The first one caught is the Miss Jennie Ann Jones for the next game, and the next one caught is the "mother." Contributed by Clara Hearne in 1923. This version, which is badly corrupted, comes from Chatham county. Has "Miss Jenny Jones" for "Miss Jennie Ann Jones." The game ends with a chase at the con- clusion of the "bury" stanza. OLD CRONY Whether or not it is true that this children's game preserves the memory of tlie Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, it is a fact that a number of English texts contain the name Oliver Cromwell and that the title of at least one American version is 'Old Crom- well.' The North Carolina titles 'Crummle' and 'Grumble' lend weight to the contention that "Cromweir was the original name. There are many other titles by which the game is known: 'Old Grimes,' 'Old Roger,' 'Poor Robin,' 'Cock Robin,' 'Cock Robin is Dead,' 'Columbus is Dead,' 'Sir Roger is Dead.' 'Old Humpsy,' 'The Lodger is Dead,' 'Old Ponto,' &c. Other texts will be found in Gomme, 11, 16-24; Newell, p. 100; Fuson, Ballads of the Kentucky Highkinds, p. 186; Gomme, Chil- dren's Singing Games, i, 48; PTFLS, vi (1927), 229; FL, xvi, 200; XXIV, 82; Journal of the Folk Song Society, v, 295-296; FLJ, I, 385; Broadwood and Maitland, English County Songs, pp. 94-95; Douglas, London Street Games, pp. 76-77; Shoemaker, North Penn- G A M K S A NM) RHYMES 47 sylrania Minstrelsy (2cl eel.), p. 303; American Anthropologist, o's., I, 245; Graves, The Less Familiar Nursery Rhymes, p. 20; Neely,' Tafcs and Songs of Southern Illinois, p. 195 ; Sharp : Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, 11, 370; Bot- kin, The American Play-Party Song, p. 100; Beklen, Ballads and Songs Collected by the 'Missouri Folk-Lore Society, p. 509; Pound, American Hallads'and Songs, p. 2t,2: Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 136-137; Henry, Folk-Songs from the South- ern Highlands, p. 408; Collins, Alamance Play-Party Songs and Singing Games, p. 13; Eddy, Ballads and Songs from Ohio, p. 176; Flanders and Brown, Vermont Folk-Songs and Ballads, p. 182; Gardner, Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, p. 415; Brown and Boyd, Old English and American Games, p. 21; Mcintosh, Sing and Szi'ing, pp. 56-58. A Contributed by Carrie Stroupe. Lenoir. Obtained in Lenoir about 1922. Old Grumble is dead and laid in his grave, Laid in his grave, laid in his grave ; Old Grumble is dead and laid in his grave, Laid in his grave. They planted an apple tree over his head, Over his head, over his head ; They planted an apple tree over his head, Over his head. The apples got ripe and began to fall. Began to fall, began to fall ; The apples got ripe and began to fall. Began to fall. An old woman came along, a-picking 'em up, A-picking 'em up, a-picking 'em up ; An old woman came along, a-picking 'cm up, A-picking 'em up. Old Grumble jumped up and gave her a thump. Gave her a thump, gave her a thump ; Old Grumble jumped up and gave her a thump. Gave her a thump. Old woman went off a hippety-hop, A hippety-hop. a hippety-hop ; Old woman went off a hippety-hop, A hippety-hop. If you want any more, you can sing it yourself, Sing it yourself, sing it yourself ; If you want any more, you can sing it yourself, Sing it yourself. 48 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE While singing the first verse, the singers make motions as if laying Grumble in his grave. At the second, they wave their hands over their heads. At the third verse, they raise their hands over their heads and let them fall. As they sing the fourth, they stoop over and pretend to be picking up apples and putting them into a bag. At the fifth, each singer strikes herself on the side. While singing the sixth verse, all put hands on hips and limp away as though crippled. Contributed by Junius Davis, Wilmington. Obtained in the vicinity of Wilmington, c. 1915. No description given. Old Crummle is dead and laid in his grave. Heigh-ho, and laid in his grave. There was an apple tree over his head. Heigh-ho, over his head. The apples were ripe and ready to drop, Heigh-ho. and ready to drop. There came an old cripple a-picking them up. Heigh-ho, a-picking them up.^ Old Crummle arose and hit him a knock, Heigh-ho, hit him a knock. That made the old cripple go hippity hop, Heigh-ho, hippity hop. c Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Collected in Burke county, c. 191 5. No description and a very corrupt text. Old Crumley is dead and laid in his grave, Um-on, laid in his grave. There was an apple tree grew over the wall ; The apples got ripe and began to fall. There was an old woman came picking them up ; Old Crumley arose and gave her a knock Which made the old woman go hippity-hop. My sister Betsy had a white horse ; The saddle and bridle lay under the shelf, H you want any more you can sing it yourself. OLD WITCPI Since 'Old Witch' and 'Chickainy, Chickamy, Craney Crow' have the same theme and the differences between them are only superficial, ^ There appears to be a slight mixup here. The intruder should not be a cripple until after receiving the knock from Old Crummle. G AMES AND R II Y M F. S 49 I list here descriptions and additional versions of both: Gomnie, ii, 14-15 ('Old Danic'), 391 ("The Witch'j ; i, 39^ ff. ('Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils Over'); Maclagan, p. 133 ('Searchinj,^ for the Needle') ; Gomme, i, 151 ('Gled-Wylie'), 201 ('Hen and Chick- ens'), 499 ('Old Cranny Crow') ; 11, 404 ('Auld Grannie') ; Newell, p. 155 ('Hawk and Chickens') ; 215, 259 ('Old Witch') : Chambers, p. 130 ('died Wvlie') ; Scarborough. On the Trail of Negro Folk- Songs, p. 138; 'PTFLS, XVII (1941). 145 ("Old Uncle Tom'): FLJ, V, 53; VII, 218; I, 386; Beckwith, p. 33 ('Hen and Chickens') ; SFQ, \i, 221 ; Talley, p. 74.; Collins, p. 48; Tennessee Folklore So- cietv Bulletin, xi, g- American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 282 (a Gipsy text) ; Hunt and Cain, pp. 66-67 (Chinese) : Bernoni, p. 34; JAFL, III, 139-140: v, 119; xxxiii, 51, 115; XXXIV, 38-39, 116; XL, 30-31: XLVii, 335; Hurston, Mules and Men, p. 78 ('Chick, niah Chick, mah Craney Crow'). Miss Hurston calls this "that most raucous, popular, and most African of games." Just as children's games have retained vestiges of ancient ritual, traces of human sacrifice, hints of water and tree \vorship, and the like, so have they preserved the witch tradition, in this par- ticular instance the tradition of the child-stealing witch. From earliest times belief in and charms against witches which abduct or injure small children have existed in all lands. The evil Gello (Gelu, Geloo, Gilo, Gylou), whose name lives on in the bitterly ironical proverb "Fonder of children than Gello" and may be con- nected with the Arabic-Persian ghoul (ghul), was the special dread of the Greek mother. Lamia (whence the lamiae), whose cliildren were killed by the jealous Hera, wife of Zeus, was believed to harm mortal children in revenge. Hebrew mothers feared the malicious- ness of Lilith, first wife of Adam. Mothers in Rumania took (and perhaps still take) particular precautions against another child- stealing witch, Avestitza. For an exhaustive study of the subject, see Gaster, "Two Thousand Years of a Charm against the Child- Stealing Witch." FL, XI (1900), 129-162 (reprinted in Studies and Texts in Folklore, Magic, Mediaei'al Romance, Hebrczv Apocrypha, and Samaritan Archaeology, 11, 1005-1038) 'Chicky My Chick My Craney Crow.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This version from Caldwell county. "This game is played in many places in the South. We found it as widely apart as Harrodsburg, Ky., Lenoir, N. C, and Decatur, Mississippi." There must be at least ten players. They are named re- spectively : the witch, the mother, the cook, and Monday, Tues- day, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All of the group except the witch go to a "home." usually a tree or a house corner, with a line drawn in front of it. The witch goes a short distance away and sits down, pretending to scratch in the earth with a stick. The mother, with a great deal of dramatic action, orders the cook to go to the s])ring. The cook goes, taking Sunday with her ; as they go. they sing : 50 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Chicky, my chicky, my craney crow ; Went to the well to wash my toe ; When I got there, my chicken was gone. What time is it, old witch? The witch answers, "Twelve o'clock." The cook puts Sunday behind her, and she and the witch carry on the following dialogue : Cook: What you doing? Witch: Digging a well. Cook: W'hat for? Witch: There's a frog in the spring. Cook: I don't believe it. Witch : Look and see. When the cook looks at the place where the witch has been scratching, the latter steals Sunday and puts her behind a tree. The cook calls her. pretends to get a bucket of water at the spring, and goes home. The mother beats her for losing the child, and goes to the spring herself, taking Monday with her. Mother: Chicky, my chicky, &c. Witch (ignoring mother's question) : There, give me a match to light my pipe.^ Mother: I haven't any. Witch: There's a frog in the spring. Mother: I don't believe it. Witch: Look and see. The mother looks, and the witch steals Monday and hides her behind a tree. This continues until all the children are stolen. Mother and cook plot to recover them. The mother goes to the witch's home for dinner. The witch tells her that she is having chicken. She brings in Sunday and places her before the mother. The latter pretends to bite her and says. "This is no chicken; this is Sunday." She than spanks Sunday and sends her home. Eventually all the children are similarly recovered. No title. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. Obtained in Durham county. The children choose a mother hen and an old witch. The witch pretends to be building a fire, while the mother hen with * It was believed in early times that the "giving of fire'' out of the house would give any evilly disposed receiver power over the household. G A M E S A N U R II Y M E S 5I all the chickens goes around her, each child holding to the clothing of the one in front of her. Chickery, chickery, cranny crow Went to the well to wash niy toe ; When I got back, my chicken was gone. What time is it, old witch? When they sing, "What time is it, old witch," the witch says 7, 8, 9, II, 3, or 10 o'clock. If she says a time other than lo o'clock, the song continues. The mentioning of lO o'clock is a signal for the chickens to get into a straight line behind the mother hen for protection. Mother: What are you doing, old witch? Witch: I'm building a fire. Mother: What are you building a fire for? Witch: To boil a chicken. Mother: Where are you going to get the chicken ? Witch: From you. Mother: I'm not so sure of that. The mother holds out her hands and the witch tries to get the chickens which stray out of the line. This game continues until all are stolen. Then one or two other children, while the witch and chickens are asleep, go and touch each chicken on the head to wake him up and then all fly home cackling and crowing. 'Chick-O-My, Chick-O-My, Craney-Crow.' Contril)uted by Lucille Bill- iard, 1916. Reported from Robeson county. Chick-o-my, chick-o-my, craney-crow ; Went to the well to wash my toe ; When I got back, my chick was gone. What o'clock is it, old witch ? These words are repeated by the old lady and her children. The player who is the witch names any hour. If she names 12 o'clock, the mother asks, "What are you doing, old witch?" (Unless the hour named is \2 o'clock they return home and come again.) Mother: What are you doing, old witch? Witch : Picking up sticks. Mother: What for? Witcli: To cook a chicken. Mother: Where are you going to get one? IVitch: I'll get one of yours. X.C.F., Vol. I, (5) 52 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The witch then tries to tag one of the children, who have run behind the mother for protection. The child tagged follows the witch to her den, where she remains until all are caught. Then the mother goes to dine with the witch. She pretends to taste of a child, and tells the witch, "This tastes like my chick." The children suddenly come to life, and they and the mother chase and beat the witch. 'Old Witch.' Contributed by Jessie Hauser in 1923. Reported from For- syth county. In this game one child is chosen for the witch. She scratches around on the ground as if hunting for something. The other children come to her, and the spokesman and the witch carry on this conversation : "What are you looking for, old witch?" "My darning needle." "Is this it?" Here the spokesman shows first one foot and then the other and then each hand until the witch says "Yes" and starts after the other players. They run to safety within a circle. Those caught must be the witch or witches next time. 'Old Granny Hibble-Hobble.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This particular version is from Abingdon, Virginia, but the contributor has found others in N. C. The mother selects the name she wishes to be known by ; the children are all called by their own names. The mother starts out to get a chicken to kill, when she meets Old Granny Hibble-Hobble. The dialogue runs : "Morning, Mrs. . Give me some fire to light my pipe." "I haven't any." "How come you haven't ? I see sinoke comin' out your chimney." "Oh, that's just the chickens a-scratchin' in the ashes." "No, it ain't either. The fox done caught all your chickens." "I don't believe it." "Look and see." The mother goes to look, and Granny steals the child. Then the mother goes home crying and calling the child's name. G AMES A N I) R II Y M F. S 53 The next day there is a repetition, and this continues until all the children are stolen. Then the mother goes after Granny to get her to wash for her. Ciranny gives all kinds of excuses, all of which the mother counters with "I'll lend you mine." Finally Ciranny consents. i)rovided the mother will stay for dinner. Granny brings out a child at a time, calling each some kind of food. The mother pretends to bite each one. Then she says. "This is no chicken ; this is my !" She spanks the child and orders it to "(iit home!" When all have been recovered, the mother sicks the dogs (i.e.. the cliildren) on Granny, and they pretend to tear her to pieces. This version was collected from white children, who had learned it from little Negro boys. 'Old Man Hippety Hop.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source given. A Negro version. Old iMan Hippety Hop tuck my chile; Put him over in de corn fiel'. Bugs an' flies eatin' out he eyes f Po' little thing cries. Mammy, Mammy, Ivlammy, Mammy. The mother steals her children one at a time from Old Man Hippety Hop, who runs around with them behind him. When he is between them and the mother, she cannot get one. He dodges expertly, always limping." with the children holding to each other in a line behind him. They cannot turn loose until the mother holds one and counts "One. two. three." The mother sings the above verse at intervals, and the chil- dren call out "Mammy!" When all but one or two are caught, the game gets hard. It ends when the last one is caught. The second line of the verse has many variants: "Put him grubbin' in de swamp," "Put him to choppin' (or pickin') cot- ton." &c. We find the Negro child much more apt at impro- vising than the white one. When the former has forgotten a line, he will make up one rather than disappoint you. The Negro version is most interesting in that it takes the child-eating demon of folklore and makes of him an overseer forcing the child to work in the fields. This is the best illustration we have '' This is given as a lullaby by Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Sonys, pp. 147-148. " Lameness is traditionallv a characteristic of the witch. Many an old woman in the England of King James and in Puritan New England as well went to her death largely because of a physical inhrmity. Note the lameness of the witch in tlie following version and that implied m 'Old Granny Hibble-Hobble.' 54 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE of a folk game being adapted to the understanding of the chil- dren who play it. 'Old Witch.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. Frag- mentary version reported from Alexander county. One child is the witch and another the mother, while the rest are children. The old witch comes hobbling up on a stick. The children exclaim : "Here comes old Granny Hippeltyhop; Wonder what she wants today?" The witch knocks at the door, and the mother answers : "What do you want ?" "I want one of your children." "Which one do you want?" "Any of them." "You can't have them." No title. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Chicky, ma chicky, ma craven crow ; Went to the well to wash my toe ; When I got there, the well was dry. What time is it, old witch ? I No title. Contributed by Alma Irene Stone. No date or place given. Chick-a-ma. chick-a-ma. crainy-crow ; Went to the well to wash my toe ; When I got back, my chickens were gone. What time is it, old witch ? J No title. Contributed by Julian P. Boyd, Alliance. Collected about 1927-28. No place given. Chicky, my chicky. my craney crow ; Went to the well to wash his toe ; Come back, one of his chickens was gone. What time is it, old witch? K No title. Contributed by AUie Ann Pearce. Reported from Bertie county; no date given. GAMES AND R H Y M K S 53 Chickaniy, chickamy. craney crow ; Went to the well to wash my toe ; What time is it, Old Woman? One o'clock going on to two. LAZY MARY See Gomme, i, 364-368; Newell, pp. 96-97; Pound, pp. 225-226; SFQ, VI, 240-242; JAFL, XXVIII, 273-274; xl, 18-19; n'-ix. 254- 255; LX, 18; Botkin, p. 28; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 201 ; Shearin and Combs, pp. 44, 74; Linscott, i). 31. There are numerous foreig^n parallels and analogues. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version collected from Nell Searcy, Chimney Rock. Mother- Lazy Mary, will you get up ; \\'ill you. will you. will you get up? Lazy Mary, will you get up; Will you get up today? Mary: What will you give me for my hreakfast, &c. If I'll get up today? Mother (speaking) : Butter and hread. Mary: No, mother, I won't get up, &c. Mother: (ist verse repeated) Mary: What will you give me for my dinner, &c. Mother (speaking) : Peas and cornhread. Mary: No, mother, I won't get up, &c. Mother: (ist verse repeated) Mary: What will you give me for my supper, &c. Mother (speaking) : Nice young man with rosy cheeks. Mary: Yes, mother, I will get up, &c. The players form a circle with Lazy Mary in the center, seated in a chair. One speaks as the mother ; this one and all the others march around Mary, singing. The ]:)layers select the boy Mary is to be given for getting up. LADY IN THE DINING ROOM Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, who oljtained it from colored children in Buncombe and Caldwell counties, c. 1927. Here sits a lady in the dining room, A-sitting by the fire. Head bent down, with an aciiing heart ; Draw your children nigher. 56 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE This is a pretty game. The children form a ring, with one of their number in the center. She sits with bowed head. They circle around her until the last line, when they go in toward her. MY FATHER OH NO ! Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927, whose account of the finding I give in her own words. "I ran across a funny thing the other day. My nurse, from Newberry, S. C, was playing a sort of dialogue game with my children. It is a corrupted arrangement of 'The Maid Freed from the Gallows.' It goes like this: 'My father oh no, my father oh no Have you brought me any silver or gold? Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, I didn't bring you no silver and gold I came to you, I came to you I came to see you hanged, my dear ; You need a shady tree.' It follows the usual pattern : Mother. Brother. Sister, ana Sweetheart. My oldest, Betty, was the 'maid.' The nurse was the 'relatives' and 'friends.' " GREEN GRAVEL For other versions of this widespread game, see Gomme, i, 170; Children's Singing Gomes, i, 28-31; Beckwith, p. 62 ('Green Guava'); Burne, p. 510; Owens, p. 8; Newell, pp. 71, 242; Mac- lagan, p. 83; Balfour and Thomas, p. 117: Collins, p. 21 ; Randolph, The Ocarks, p. 161 ; SFQ, vi, 210; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 244 ('Sweet Gravel'); Notes & Queries, 4th ser., vii, 415, 523; TFLS, V, 28; FLJ, VII, 214; FLR, v, 84, 86; Haddon, The Study of Man, p. 339; Broadwood and Maitland. pp. 26, 2y; McDowell, p. 64; Halliweli, Nursery Rhymes, p. 148; Ford, Traditional Music of America, p. 256; Shearin and Combs, p. 37; JAFL, viii. 254; XXVI, 139; XXXIII, 100; XL, 13; XLii, 220-221; Lx, 42; Linscott, p. 10; Mcintosh, Sing and Szving, pp. 65-66. Gomme (i, 177. 182) calls this a funeral game. On the asso- ciation of the color green with death or the dead, see JFSS, v, 83; L. C. Wimberly, Folklore in the English and Scottish Ballads (Chi- cago, 1928), p. 243; Wimberly, Death and Burial Lore in the Eng- lish and Scottish Popular Ballads (University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism, No. 8). A Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, who collected versions in Bun- combe, Rutherford, and Avery counties, c. 1927. The source of this particular one is not given. C A M K S A N I) R 11 Y M E S 57 A ring is formed around one girl, and those in the ring dance around her, singing : (ircen gravel, green gravel, as green as grass grows, And all of the girls are red as a rose. One of the dancers leaves the ring, goes up to the girl in the center, and offers her hand. The ring goes on singing : Poor Marg'ret, Poor Marg'ret, your true love is dead ; He wrote you a letter, so how down your head. The girl in the center of the ring jjretends to cry on the shoulder of the other girl who has joined her. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville. From Alexander county. Green gravel, green gravel, the grass is so green ; It's pretty, it's pretty, as ever I've seen. O Mary, O Mary, your sweetheart is dead ; He wrote you a letter to turn back your head. Players formed a ring, then marched around, singing the above verses. As a girl was addressed, she had to turn her back and march that way. The game continued until all were turned the opposite way ; then it was begun again. Contributed by W. Amos Abrams, Boone. Version obtained in Boone in 1937. The A text, with " 't is beauty" for "it's pretty." Contributed by Jessie Hauser, 1923. Reported from Forsyth county. The A text, with "the fairest of ladies is fit to be seen" for line 2. GUESSING GAMES GRUNT, PIG, GRUNT Games in which a blindfolded player must guess the identity of or locate another are of several different kinds. In some of them the one blindfolded tries to identify other players by touching their clothing; in others, by listening to the sound of their movements about him. Here the identification is made through the sound of the player's voice. Of the same type are the Spanish 'El pi' and the Polish 'Mruczek.' A similar Russian game is described by Pokrov- skii in his Dctskic iyry. My article "Some Games from Other Lands" (Southern Folklore Quarterly, vii, 109 ff.) contains de- 58 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE scriptions of identification games from Africa, Hungary, and Bulgaria. See PTFLS, xvii (1941), 145 ("Texas Grunt'). Contributed by J. T. C. Wright, Boone. Collected at Appalachian Train- ing School, Boone, in 1922. A ring- of players forms around one in the center who is blindfolded and furnished with a stick. As the circle goes around him, he touches one of the other players with his stick. The one touched must grunt like a pig, and the toucher tries to identify him by his voice. If he succeeds, the two exchange places. PUNCH BOARD The name is modern, but the game is both old and widespread. For a somewhat similar game played by Makonde children, see my "Two Games from Africa" (American Anthropologist, n.s., xlvi, 269). In the latter, however, the player is tapped on the bead and the game does not end with hiding. The French 'La Main Cbaude." in which the player is struck on the palm of the outstretched band, belongs to the same type, as does also the English 'Hot Cockles' (Gomme, i, 229 J, which was popular in Elizabethan times and earlier. Contributed by Sadie Smith. No place or date given. One person stands with his back tow^ard the rest. Someone punches him once in the back. He turns aroimd and tries to guess who punched him. If he is successful, the player guessed must act as counter in the game of Hide and Seek which follows. JACOB AND RACHEL This game, too, has many foreign parallels: the Spanish 'ijuanita, donde estas?,' the Jugoslav 'Zmirke,' and 'Jack, Where Are You?,' &c. For another American variant, see Acker, p. 27. Contributed by Clara Hearne. Collected in Chatham county about 1922 or 1923. A boy and a girl stand in the center of a ring of players. The boy, who is blindfolded, calls, "Where are you, Rachel?" The girl answers, "Here I am, Jacob." Then he tries to catch her. HOW MANY FINGERS? This is a game that has practically worldwide currency. It is played in England, Ireland, Scotland. Wales. Germany, the Nether- lands, Italy, Spain, Norway. Denmark. Sweden, Switzerland, Por- tugal, Greece, Estonia, Jugoslavia. India, Turkey, Japan, Argentina. Africa, and the United States. For British and American variants, see Gomme, i, 46; Gutch. GAMESANDRHYMES 59 County Folk-Lore, vi, p. 139; Balfour and Thomas, County Folk- Lorc, IV. p. 104; Newell, p. 148. For foreign variants and refer- ences, see my "Some Notes on the Guessing-Game 'How Many Horns Has the Buck?'" {Hcaloidcas, xiii, 40-79), "'How Many Horns Has the Buck?': Prolegomena to a Comparative Study" (Volkskunde, n.s., iv, 361-393). "A Roman Game and Its Survival on Four Continents" (Classical Philology, xxxviii, 134-137), "Some African Variants of "Bucca, Bucca' " (Classical Journal, xxxix, 293- 296), and "The Kitte ande hoi Game of India" (Southern Folklore Quarterly, vii, 149-152). Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Tyrrell county, one of the earliest settlements in the state. In this version the game has become merely an ending to the game of 'Horns' ('Feathers'). Since the latter is quite a different kind of game, I have reserved the first part of Mrs. Sutton's version for another section. One player, blindfolded, is potinded on the back by another to the accompaniment of this rhyme : "Hickety hack on your poor back. How many fingers do I hold up?" The victim guesses the number of fingers. If he guesses in- correctly, he is again potinded to the accompaniment of "Two you said and fotn- I had, Hicke'ty hack, &c." This continues until the blindfolded player makes a correct gtiess, when the two exchange places. Contributed by Katherine B. Jones, Raleigh. Collected in Raleigh. Rhyme only. Come, Billv Buck, Come try your luck ; See how many fingers I hold up.' See Gomme, i, 218 ('Ho-go') ; Newell, p. 147; PTFLS. i (1916), 150; JAFL, I, 139; Lviii, 154 ('How Many Eggs in the Bush?'); Bealoidcas, in, 415; Hunt and Cain, Games the World Around, p. 159 (the Japanese 'Mek-Kong') ; Hall, Children at Play in Many Lands, p. 36 (the Korean '^Nlek Konk'). Italian children play a practically identical game which they call "Quantu lanzi.' ' The Sec of line 3 should be Say. 'Billy Buck' could not see the number of fingers, since they are held up behind his back and he is blindfolded besides. 6o NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. From Caldwell county. This game is played with grains of corn or with chinquapins. Each child starts out with the same number. The first puts a small number in one hand, extends it toward the other, and says, "Hul Gul." The other responds, "Hand full." Then the first asks, "How many?" and the second must guess the num- ber. If the guess is correct, the guesser wins all in the hand. If wrong, he must give the other the number he guessed. The game is won by the player who has the most grains at the end of a certain time. JACK IN THE BUSH For an English version of the game, see Gomme, i, 187 ('Hairry my Bossie'). Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham, c. 1930. Collected in Durham county in 1922. The first player holds out a number of chinquapins in his closed hands and says. "Jack in the bush." The second player replies, "Cut him down." "How many licks?" demands the other, and the second player must guess the number. If the guess is correct, the guesser gets all the chinquapins. If the number guessed exceeds the actual number, the guesser gives the first player the difiference. If the number guessed is less than the actual number, the first player gives the guesser the difference. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C. in 1926-28. One player puts a number of grains of corn in his hand, closes his fist, holds it out, and says, "Jack in the bush." The other replies, "Cut him down." The first player then asks, "How many licks?" If the second player's guess is correct, he gets all the corn. c 'Snake in the Grass.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Avery county. This is the same as A except for the questions and answers, which run : "Snake in the grass." "Bust his head." "How many licks?" GAMES AND RHYMES BLINDMAN S BUFF 6i Tliis is a very ancient game, known to Greek children centuries ago as Mvitt x"^X'- Hazlitt (Dictionary of Faiths and Folklore, p. 56) conjectures that it may have had its origin in the traditional story of Polyphemus. A description of the old Greek game will be found in Gu'lick, The Life of the Ancient Greeks, p. 76. It is known by many different names. German children call it 'Blinde Kuh,' 'EHnde Maus,' "Blinde Eule,' 'Piep iMaus,' and 'Blinde Katze.' To Danish youngsters it is known as 'Blinde-momme' or "lege Mus i Morke.' In France it is 'Mouche' or 'Colin-maillard.' Italian children know it as 'Mosca' or 'Mosca cieca.' Other Eng- lish names by which it is sometimes known are 'Billy Blind,' "Blind Harie,' 'Blind Hob,' 'Blind Bucky Davy,' and "Hoodman Blind.' The latter was given it because of the fact that the player was orig- inally blinded with his hood. See Strutt, p. 308 for plates from a Bodleian MS showing how the game was played in early times. For versions of the game, see Newell, pp. 162-163; Strutt, p. 308; Gomme, i, 37-40; Acker, p. 20; Smith, Gaines and Game Leadership, p. T,2; Ruiz, p. 79 ('La Gallina Ciega'); Henius, p. 16; Martinez, La Poesia Popular en Puerto Rico, p. 254; Culin, p. 54. A Rho- desian form of the game is described in Smith and Dale, The Ila- Speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, p. 250 (Ing 'ombe ingofu' — the blind cow). A Hawaiian version, called To-ai-pu-ni,' appears in American Anthropologist, N.S., i, 233, and the manner of playing the game in the Fiji Islands is described in Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, p. 127. The game is played also by the Jap- anese. Henry Albert Phillips, author of Meet the Japanese, writes (p. Ill): "For more than an hour we played 'Blind Man's Buff," 'Scissors, Paper, Stone,' and 'Going to Yedo.' ..." A description of the Chinese game appears in Yui Shufang, Chinese Children at Pla\ (no pagination). An Eskimo form is described by Nelson in his article "The Eskimo about Bering Strait" {liighteenth An- nual Report of the BAE, pt. i). For a Filipino version, see Reyes and Ramos, p. 51 ('Takip-Silem'). See also Lewalter and Schliiger, p. 255 ; Bohme, p. 627. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Buncombe county. One of the players, selected by a counting-out rhyme, is blind- folded. He must chase the others until he succeeds in catching and identifying one of them. The player who is cauglit and identified then wears the blindfold in the next game. This game is very popular with children in their early teens. PRETTY girls' STATION See Gomme, i, 117 ('Dumb Motions') ; Newell, p. 249; Maclagan. p. 140 ("The Dumbies' Trade'); FLJ, vii, 230; Douglas, p. 21 ('Please We've Come to Learn a Trade') ; American Anthropologist, o.s., I, 265; ^larran. p. 144 ('New Orleans Tag'); Smith, p. 318; Rolland. Rimes et Jeux de I'Enfance, p. 149 ("Les Metiers'). In 62 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Indiana and, I believe, in neighboring states, the game is known as 'Lemonade.' The questions and responses are as follows : "Here we come !" "Where from ?" "New York !" "What's your trade?" "Lemonade !" "Go to work !" Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Caldwell county. Mrs. Sutton reports that she found the game also in Ruther- ford county and in Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The children divide into two groups. One grotip decides upon an occupation to imitate, and marches toward the other. They stop a short distance away, and the following dialogue ensues : 1st group: Bum, bum, bum. 2d group : Where do you come from ? 1st group: Pretty girls' station. 2d group : What's your occupation ? The members of the first group then pretend to do the work previously agreed upon, and continue until those of the second group guess correctly what the occupation is. Then the actors run, while the players in the second group try to catch as many as possible before they reach "home." Contributed by Louise Bennett, Middleburg. Collected in Vance county, but no date given. This version is like A except for the dialogue. Title given as 'Pretty Girls' Town.' "Where are you from?" "Pretty girls' town." "What's your trade?" "Making signs." "What's your sign?" Contributed by Mabel Ballentine, Wake county. Collected in Wake county, but no date given. Played in the same way as A. Title given as 'Pretty Girls' Town.' "Bum, bum, bum !" "Where you from?" "Pretty girls' town." "What's your trade?" "Hot lemonade." GAMES AND RHYMES 63 D Contributed by Gay W. Allen, Canton, Ohio, c. 1922. Two sides are chosen, and they walk away from each other until they are ahout 100 feet apart. One j^nnip then marches back and dramatizes some kind of occupation. When this is guessed by the opposing side, the others try to run back to their station before they are tapped. All who are tapped must join the other group. The game continues until all the players of one group have been captured. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Collected in Alexander county. Identical with A. THE WANDERING DOLLAR See Newell, p. 151. Although his version derives from a German source, the resemblance between its rhyme and that of our North Carolina version is striking. "Dollar." Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Chairs are placed in a circle. A person is seated in each, and one stands in the center. A silver dollar is passed from hand to hand as the players sing : Dollar, dollar, how you wander From one hand into the other ! Is it fair, is it fair To keep Mr. standing there? The object, of course, is to keep the person in the center from knowing who has the dollar. If he guesses correctly, he and the player holding the dollar exchange roles. FORFEIT OR PENALTY GAMES HORNS This game is known also as 'Feathers' or 'All the Birds Fly.' It is particularly popular in Northern Europe. For texts and descrip- tions, see Newell, p. 119 ("Ducks Fly'); Gomme, i, 228: Beckwith, p. 15 ('Bird Fly; Horse Fly'); Maclagan, pp. 157-158 ('All the Horns in the Wood') : Bcaloidcas, x, 286 (as a game played at wakes) ; Bohme, pp. 676-677; Eewalter and Schlager, p. 257'('Alle Vogel fliegen') ; Vernaleken and Branky, p. 94; de Cock and Teir- \inck,Kinderspel & Kinderlnst in Zuid-Nederland, p. 330 ('De vogel vliegt') ; Collan, Siwmen kansan leikkejd, p. 139; Okkola, Siiomen 64 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE kansan kilpa- ja kotileikkcjd, p. 95. There are many versions in manuscript in the archives of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, and Finland. Contributed by Maude Alinish Sutton, c. 1927, who recovered it in Tyrrell county. The players ptit their forefingers down on a flat stirface, and the leader says: "Horns, horns, horns, cow's horns" (or goat's, deer's, &c.). As he names the animal, the players raise their hands and point their fingers from the sides of their heads like horns. The play proceeds rapidly. Suddenly the leader says : "Horns, horns, horns, horse's horns" (or bird's,, cat's, &c.). li a player raises his hands to his head when the animal men- tioned has no horns, he must pay a forfeit.^ See Gomme, i, 96 ('Diamond Ring'); Newell, p. 151; American Anthropologist, n.s.. i, 242; Best, p. 64; Bryan, p. 50 ('Papuhene') ; Taylor, Te ika a niaui (New Zealand), p. 174; Theal, Kaffir Folk- lore, p. 222 (Tnfumba') ; Stayt, The Bavcnda, p. 98 ('Kubvhe') ; Maspons y Labros, Jochs dc la Infancia, p. 86; Arwidsson, in, 399. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. All the players except one sit in a row with clasped hands extended in front of them. The extra player goes up and down in turn, saying, "Hold fast all I give you." To someone in the group he gives a thimble. At the end of the line he says to the first player: "Thimble, thimble, who's got the thimble?'"^ The child questioned indicates the player next to him and says, "Jim's got it." The leader then asks Jim if he has the thimble, and Jim denies it, whereupon the leader asks him. "What are you going to do with him for saying you have the thimble?" Jim then sets a task for the other to perform, and the game continues in this way until each child has performed some task imposed. Finally, the leader calls, "Rise up. thimbler !" and the player with the thimble is leader for the next game. Common "stunts" set are "Circle the room three times on your tiptoes" and "Kneel to the prettiest. Bow to the wittiest. Kiss the one you love the best." * For the forfeit in this particular version, see 'How Many Fingers' under the heading Guessing Games, pp. 58-59. " Mrs. Sutton reports also an analogue called 'Hold Fast My Gold Ring' in which the dropper says : "Mary, Mary, hold my ring Till I go to London and back again." GAMESANDRIIYMKS 65 SIMON SAYS See Acker, p. 140 ('Thus Says the Grand Mufti') and p. 287 ('Simon Says'); Smith, p. 219 ('O'Grady') ; Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, LXiii (1933), 171; Gomme, 11, 383; Martinez, Jucgos . . . , pp. 204-205; iMulac, p. 217. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Huleman, Durham, c. 1930, who collected it in Durham county. Any number of players can participate. One selected as the leader sits in front of the others with his hands on the table, thumbs sticking up. The leader says, "Simon says up!" All the other players follow the action of the leader. When he says, "Simon says down," he and the others turn their thumbs down.' At "Simon says wiggle waggle," all rock their hands back and forth on their thumbs. i" If the leader gives a command without "Simon says," the players must not obey, even though the leader performs the action called for. If players make motions at the wrong time, they must pay forfeits. SPIN THE PLATE See Smith, p. 54; Acker, p. 137; FL, xvi, 217 ('Spin the Trencher'); FU, vii, 238 ('Truckle the Trencher'); Gutch and Peacock, p. 260; Hedges, p. 25. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville. Collected in Alex- ander county in 1927. Take a pan of any size and select a leader to spin it. Then each player takes a number. The leader calls out a number and spins the pan. If the player whose number was called does not catch the i)an before it stops spinning, he must pay a forfeit. As a promise that he will pay the forfeit when the time comes, he must give the leader some small article such as a pin, ring, &c. When there are a large number of forfeits, a sale is held. One person sits in a chair to decree punish- ments, while another holds the forfeited articles over the judge's head without letting him see them. Then he says to the judge, "Heavy, heavy hangs over your head," and the judge asks, "Heavy or light?" The person responds "light" if it belongs to a girl and "heavy" if the article belongs to a boy. Then the judge imposes "fines" that cause everyone to laugh. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Caldwell county. ^'' Sometimes the players leave their fists in the first position and merely wiggle the thumbs. 66 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The players sit in a circle on the floor. Each takes the name of a flower. One of the number spins a plate in the cen- ter, calling out one of the flower names as he does so. The child who impersonates that flower must catch the plate before it stops spinning or pay a forfeit. If he succeeds, he is the next spinner. The game continues until all the players have paid forfeits and then the forfeits are sold. CLUB FIST For Other versions, see Gonime, i, 117 ('Dump'), 207 ('Hewley Puley'), II, 146 CSacks'), 305 ("Trades'), 419 ('Dump'); Newell, p. 134; Northall, English Folk-Rhymes, p. 94; Abbott, Macedonian Folklore, p. 325 ; Martinez, La Poesia Popular en Puerto Rico, p. 238, and Juegos y Canciones Infantiles de Puerto Rico, p. 91 ; JAFL, IV, 36-37 (Spanish) ; xxix, 508 (New Mexican Spanish) ; Beckwith, p. 19 ('King's Cupboard') ; Johnson, Folk Culture on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, p. 167; Bohme, p. 504; Rolland, p. 45; Bernoni, p. 19; Kuret, p. 98. A Contributed by W. Q. Grigg, Indian Trail. Reported from Cleveland county, c. 1925. Players put their fists on top of each other, each grasping the thumb of the one just below his. The one whose fist is on top asks the others if they want to take their fists oft' or if they want them knocked off. When all but one are off. he asks the owner, "What you got there?" and the other replies. "Bread and cheese." Then follows this dialogue : W'here's my part ? — In the cupboard. Where's the cup- board? — In the woods. Where's the woods? — Fire burnt them. Where's the fire? — Water quenched it. Where's the water? — Ox drank it. Where's the ox? — Butcher killed it. \Miere's the butcher? — Rope himg him. Where's the rope? — Rat gnawed it. Where's the rat ? — Cat caught it. Where's the cat ? — Hammer killed it. Wliere's the hammer? — Behind the church door cracking hickory nuts. The first one that shows his teeth gets four slaps, five pinches, six spankings, and four hair pulls. Contributed by Miss Amy Henderson, Worry. Collected in P.urke county in 1915. One player sets his fist on his knee and sticks the thumb up. and another catches the thumb in his fist and sticks his thumb G A M E S A N D R H Y M E S 67 up. When all are on, the leader asks the owner of the top fist, "Take it off or knock it off?" /Vfter all have chosen and only one fist remains, the following dialogue takes places he- tween the leader and the owner of the last fist : What you got there? — The king's cupboard. What's it got in it? — Bread and cheese. Where's my share? — The rat got it. Where is the rat ? — The cat caught it. Where is the cat? — It's in the wood. Where is the wood? — Fire burnt it. Where is the fire? — Water quenched it. Where is the water? — Ox drank it. Where is the ox? — Butcher killed it. Where is the butcher? — Rope hung him. Where is the rope? — Rat gnawed it. Where is the rat? — Cat caught it. Where is the cat ? — Dead and buried behind the church door. The first one that speaks or laughs shall have a slap and two pinches. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham, c. 1930. Collected in Durham county. - One person places his fist on the table with the thumb stick- ing up. The next takes hold of that thumb, leaving his own sticking up. Each does the same except the leader, who keeps his right hand free. The leader asks, "What you got there?" The owner of the top fist answers, "Club fist." The leader then announces, "Take it off or I'll knock it off !" If the answer is "Knock it oft'," he knocks the fist loose from the others. When only one fist remains, there ensues the following dialogue : What you got there? — Bread and cheese. Where's my share ? — The cat's got it. Where's the cat ? — In the woods. Where's the woods ? — Fire burnt it. Where's the fire ? — Water quenched it. Where's the water ? — Ox drank it. Where's the ox? — Butcher killed it. Where's the butcher? — Rope hung him. Where's the rope? — Knife cut it. Where's the knife? — Hammer broke it. Where's the hammer? — Laying behind the old church door. The first that laughs or shows his teeth will get three boxes on the ear and three pinches. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. She writes, "It has prac- tically universal circulation. We found no group of children who were not familiar with it." Xo source given for this particular version. Like C except for ending. X.C.F.. Vol. T, (6) 68 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Where's the rope? — Rats gnawed it. Where's the rats? — Hammer killed them. Where's the hammer? — Behind the old church door cracking hickory nuts. The first who smiles and shows his teeth gets ten pinches and a knock. The game ends with a grinning contest, each child seeing how wide he can grin without showing any teeth. Contribv:ted by Lida Page, Durham. Collected in Durham county. No date given. Same as C version except for ending. Where's the rope? — Knife cut it. Where's the knife? — Hammer broke it. Where's the hammer? — Stickin' up behind the new church door. The first one that laughs or grins gets two pinches and one slap. Contributed by Paul and Elizabeth Green in 1945, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Same as C version except for ending. Where's the cat ? — Rope hung him. Where's the rope? — Knife cut it. Where's the knife? — Hammer broke it. Where's the hammer? — Saw sawed it. Where's the saw ? — Broke in three pieces and hid be- hind the old church door. All shut their lips tight, and the first to show his teeth in a grin gets a pinch and a hair pull. Contributed by Louise Watkins, Goldsboro. Reported from Wayne county. Same as C except for ending. Where's the knife? — Hidden behind the old church door. GENTEEL LADY For Other versions, see Gomme, i, 148; Newell, p. 139 (from Georgia). The latter assigns the game French origin and cites Celnart, Manuel Complct dcs Jciix dc Socictc, p. 162 ('Le Chevalier Gentil'). Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Giimney Rock. This is the only version of this game in the Collection. GAMESANDRHYMES 69 The first player says, "I, genteel lady, always genteel, come from the genteel lady, always genteel, to tell you that my ship has just come in from China bringing apricots" (or apples, or any food beginning with a). The next player has to repeat this formula and add to it an object beginning with b, and so on. When a player makes a mistake, he must pay a forfeit. I SAIL MY SHIP Contributed liy Grace Barbee. Collected in Stanly county, but no date given. This is the only text in the Collection. One of the group of players says, "I sail my ship." Another asks, "What is it loaded with?" Then the first speaker has to name some kind of fruit, the name of which begins with the first letter of his surname. If he fails, he must sit on the floor until it comes his turn again. THE PRINCE OF MOROCCO For analogues of this game, see Newell, pp. 136-137. A similar game, which I have seen played in Indiana, is called 'Poor Pussy.' Players seat themselves in a circle, with one in the center for "Pussy." The latter kneels before each of the others in turn. Each player must, without laughing, stroke her head three times, saying, "Poor pussy, poor pussy, poor pussy." Contributed by Aura Holton, Durham. Collected in Durham county in 1923 or 1924. Two players approach each other and, looking straight into each other's eyes, say while solemnly shaking hands : 1st: The Prince of Morocco am dead, am dead. 2nd: I'm sorry to hear it; I'm sorry to hear it. 1st : He died of the gout in his big left toe. 2nd: I'm sorry to hear it; I'm sorry to hear it. 1st: And all the princes are coming in mourning, wearing black rings in their noses. 2nd : I'm sorry to hear it ; I'm sorry to hear it. The two then shake hands violently, saying, '^(iood evening, good evening, good evening." The object is to keep from laughing. WHO STOLE THE CARDINAL's HAT? See Newell, pp. 145-146; Strutt, p. 313; Gomme, 11, 79 ('Priest of the Parish') ; Douglas, p. 83 ('Daddy Red-Cap') ; Billson. County Folklore, 1 (Leicestershire and Rutland), p. 62; Beckwith. p. 13 ('Master and Boy') ; Parsons. Pcguchc, p. 201 ('El Fichilingo') ; Rochholz. p. 440. Cf. Reyes and Ramos, p. 66 ('Juego de Prenda') ; Hedges, p. 95; van Gennep. p. 648; Alaclagan. p. 115; Bohme, p. 637- 7© NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'The Priest of Paris Lost His Hunting Cap.' From an anonymous con- tributor in Morganton. Collected in Morganton. No date given. All the players are seated in a row. The one at the end is the priest. The rest choose caps of various colors : red, yellow, purple, &c. The object of the game is to send another player to the foot of the line, all the others moving up. Each player is particularly eager to send the priest to the foot. In that case, the man below him becomes the priest and the original priest takes a cap. The priest opens the game. He says, "The priest of Paris lost his hunting cap and (a certain color) cap found it." Then he counts : "One, two, three, go foot." If he finishes before the indicated cap can speak, the player goes foot. If the player with the cap mentioned is on the alert, the following dialogue takes place : Player : I, sir ? Priest : Yes, you, sir. Player : Not I, sir. Priest : Who then, sir ? Player : Yellow Cap, sir. One, two, . . , TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS Since we are accustomed to think of 'The Twelve Days of Christ- mas' as a song rather than as a game, we are likely to forget that the latter was its original form. It was a game of the Christmas season, and was commonly played in English homes each Twelfth Day night. Then as now it was a forfeit game, a forfeit being exacted for each error in repetition. For descriptions and texts of English versions, see Gomme, ii, 315-321. FLJ, VII, 244 gives the usual text but in a different kind of game. Here the list of gifts is to be recited by each player in one breath. This is not a North Carolina version, having been recovered in Hawkins county, Tennessee, but on the assumption that versions al- most certainly exist on the other side of the Tennessee-North Caro- lina line, I am including it here. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Hawkins county, Tennessee. Airs. Sutton adds that Isabelle Gordon, of Knox- ville, has recovered other versions of the game in the mountains of East Tennessee, where it is played during the Christmas season. Players sit in a row. The first one says, "The first day of Christmas my true love brought to me one pigeon." The second says, "The second day of Christmas my true love brought to me one pigeon and two doves." The third says, "The third day of Christmas my true love brought to me one pigeon, two doves, and three sparrows." Thus the game continues, birds being mentioned each time. G A M E S A N 1) R H Y M E S /I The first player to omit any of the gifts must pay a forfeit, and the game goes on until each has failed to enumerate one of the birds. Then the forfeits are told, and each owner re- deems his by performing some allotted task. (The lady from whom we collected this ([uaint game had forgotten the last three gifts.) THREE SHIPS Contributed I)y Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source given for this or the following game. I saw three ships a-sailing on the Main, Three white ships a-coming from Spain; These three ships a-sailing on the sea Are bringing some home to me. What are they bringing you ? This verse is repeated by each player in turn, and all the gifts are repeated by each. If a player forgets any of the pre- ceding names of objects, he is out. WHAT HAD YOU FOR SUPPER? "What had you for supper?" "I had biscuit for supper. What had you?" 'T had biscuit and milk, &c." MISS SUSANNA JANE Contributed Iiy Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Text and tune obtained from Negro children in Forest City. Somebody's in your cellar, Miss Sue, Miss Sue ; Somebody's in your cellar. Miss Susie Anna Jane. Did you ever see a monkey make a motion. Miss Sue. Miss Sue? Did you ever see a monkey make a motion. Miss Susie Anna Jane? This is played by a ring of children, with "the monkey" in the center. The first verse is sung as the ring skips around. As the second verse is started, the child in the center makes all kinds of motions and grimaces, which are copied by the others. The player who fails to perform the motions is put out of the game or required to pay a forfeit. POISON For other versions, see PTFLS, xvii C194O. 146: Acker, p. 26; Smith, p. 136 ('Poison Circle Tag'). This is not a forfeit or a 72 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE penalty game, but rather what may be termed a taboo game. First, the "poison stick" is taboo and is avoided by all the players ; then the unlucky player who touches it becomes taboo from the contact, and the others try to stay out of his reach. Since this is the only game of the type in the Collection, I include it in this section rather than list it separately in another. 'Poison Stick.' Contributed by Lucille Cheek, Chatham county. Collected in Chatham county in 1924. xA.ll the children join hands and form a circle. A stick about a foot long is stuck upright in the center. All the players pull and try to make someone knock the stick over. The one who knocks it over must try to catch the others, who cannot be caught while they are stooping down. When one player is caught, he must help to catch the rest. 'Poison Stick.' Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in central and eastern N. C, 1926-28. All join hands in a circle and try by pulling and pushing to cause some player of the group to touch a stick whicli has been sttick up in the center. The player who knocks it over must then try to touch the others with the "poison stick." Players touching wood are safe. GOING TO PARIS Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Collected in Durham county No date given. I'm going to Paris ; I'm going to pack my bag with Each player fills the blank with the name of an article be- ginning with the next letter in the alphabet, after having repeated the other articles named by preceding players. GAMES OF CHASE prisoner's base See Strutt, p. 67 ('Base' or 'Prisoners' Bars') ; Gomme, 11, 70- 83; Douglas, p. 19 ('Release'); Newell, p. 164; Maclagan, p. 217; Acker, p. loi ; Smith, p. 255 ; Best, p. 93 (accompanied by a count- ing-out rhyme); Ludovici, p. 33; Ruiz, p. 53 ('I.os Encantados') ; Martinez, Jiiegos . . . , p. 211 ('La Barra') ; American Anthropol- ogist, N.S., I, 233 (Hawaiian); Stair, Old Samoa, p. 136; FL, v, 40 (Malay) ; Bernoni, Guiochi Pop. Veneziani, p. 87; a Portuguese GAMESANDRHYMES 73 version in Henius, p. 15 ('Barra Mantei^a' ) ; a Persian form of the game in Hall, p. 67. Literary allusions to the game occur at least as early as the i20o's. Hazlitt (Dictionary of Faiths and Folklore, 11, 501) writes: "In the Dictionary of Johannes de Garlandia. written in the early part of the 13th century, under the enumeration of requisites for the house of a respectable person, wc meet, oddly enough, with barri, which are thus explained to us: 'Barri sunt genus ludi, Gallice barres." Mention of it appears also in the Faerie Qneenc (1590), the 30th song of Drayton's Polyolbion, Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Marlowe's Edxvard the Second, and Jonson's The Sad Shepherd. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsvillc, c. 1928. Collected in Alexander county. Two leaders are chosen. These choose ahernately their fol- lowers from all those playing. Each group selects a base some fifty yards from that of its opponent, and each dares the other. Any member of either side tapped by someone belonging to the opposite side must stand in prison, a ring marked on the ground a few yards behind the base. He may be won back if one of his own side dares to run in and tap him. The game ends when all members of one side have been caught. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Manner of playing the same as that described in A. Contributed by Maude Alinish Sutton, c. 1927. No statement as to where the game was collected. Two children who are good runners choose up and select players until all are chosen. Two bases are selected as far apart as "desired. Lines are drawn in front of these and parallel to them. Behind these lines the players are safe. One side goes over and dares the other. Sometimes the dare is accompanied by a rhyme: Dare, dare, double dare. Anybody like you w^ould take a dare And kill a sheep and eat the liair. The others chase their oi)i)()nents home, catching as many as thev can. The game ends when all the members of one side have been captured. Tag is one of the most common and most widespread of children's games. There are numerous varieties of it: 'Iron Tag,' 'Wood 74 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Tag-/ 'Squat Tag,' 'Cross Tag,' 'Shadow Tag,' etc., most of which are represented in this collection. Versions and descriptions are to be found in the following works : Newell, pp. 158-159; Gomme, i, 83 ('Cross Tig'); Douglas, p. 76 ('French Touch') ; Hall, p. 61 (a Syrian form in which the one who is "It" has to hop while chasing the others, who can run) ; Best, p. 92 ('Wi') ; Culin, p. 51 ; Maspons y Labros, p. 81 ; Humph- reys, The Southern Nezu Hebrides, p. 51 ; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 247; Maclagan, pp. 207 fif. ; Reyes and Ramos, p. 50 ('Kapitang Bakod'). This and the versions of other forms of tag which follow were con- tributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Her collecting in North Carolina appears to have been done in Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Mc- Dowell, Mitchell, and Yancey counties. The sources of these versions are not given. One child, selected by a counting-out rhyme, is "It." He chases his comrades and taps them. The first one he can hold until he counts "One, two, three" succeeds him as "It." SQUAT TAG In this form of the game, "It" cannot tag a player who is squatting. Players are allowed only three "squats" during the course of a game. TURN TAG In this variety, "It" must chase anyone who crosses between him and the child he is pursuing.^^ IRON TAG In this form of Tag, the players are safe if they are able to touch iron.^^ HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON? This game is known by many names : 'King and Queen of Can- telon,' 'Marlybright,' 'Molly Bride.' 'Molly Bright,' &c. Gomme, who gives 19 versions, thinks it illustrative of some fact in history. Newell would derive it from the ancient English game of 'Barley Break,' allusions to which appear in the works of Dekker, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger, Middleton, Jonson, Shadwell, Sidney, Her- " Another name for this is 'Cross Tag.' Maclagan (p. 207) calls it 'Tig and Relieve.' ^^ The efficacy of iron as an instrument for warding off the powers of evil is well known. The Priest of Jupiter placed a piece of iron under his pillow at night to ward off evil influences ( Burris, Taboo, Magic. Spirits, p. it6). It was also used as a fiif/a dacmonum by the Hebrews (Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition, p. 160). Numerous ex- amples of a belief in the virtues of "cold iron" are to be found in Eng- lish and other traditions. The prototype of the "tagger" in all forms of Tag was, of course, the Witch. GAMESANDRHYMES 75 rick, Browne, and other i6tli and 17th century writers. The fact that Strutt (p. 302) descrihcs the latter as closely resembling? 'Prisoner's Base' lends weight to Newell's conjecture. Mactaggart's theory that the game perpetuates the activities of English chivalry in the time of the Crusades — "Then Babylon in the rhyme, the way they had to wander and hazard being caught by the infidels, all speak as to the foundation of the game" {Gallovidian Encyclopedia) — is interesting, but seems farfetched. See Gomme, i, 231; Billson. p. 63; Simpson, p. 217; FLJ, vii, 230; Chambers, pp. 19, 123; Newell, p. 153; Collins, p. 49; JAFL, V, 120; LX, 32; PTFLS, XVII (1941), 142: Southern Folklore Quar- terly, VI, 256; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 280; Notes & Queries, 4th ser., vii, 141, 271, 415, 506, 523; O'Suilleabhain, p. 674; Northall, pp. 396, 398, 421, 422; Bancroft, p. 108; Botkin, p. loi ; Hofer, Children's Singing Games, Old and New, p. 43; Mc- Dowell, Folk Dances of Tennessee, pp. 68-69; Einscott, p. 18 ('London'). 'How Many Miles to Babylon?' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected m Yancey county. Two grotips of children station themselves at opposite ends of a field. (3ne child, the "Witch," takes her position halfway between them. One group calls to the other: "How many miles to Babylon?" and the members of the second group reply: "Three score miles and ten." The next question is: "Can we get there by candlelight?" to which the others reply: "Yes, if you can run. But look out for the old witch who lives by the road." Then the players who are going to Babylon start. The witch chases them, and each one she catches has to help her catch the others. 'How Far Is It to Molly Bright?' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Collected in Alexander county. One child stands at one tree, and another stands at another tree. A third child between them is the "witch." I St: How far is it to Molly Bright? 2nd : Three score miles and ten. 1st: Can I get there by candlelight? 2nd : Yes, if your legs are long and light and the witches don't catch you. Then the first two children leave their trees and try to exchange places before the witch catches them. The one caught must be "witch" in the next game. y6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE C Contributed by Jessie Hauser, PfafFtown. Collected in Forsyth county in 1923. The cliildren choose sides and stand on bases some distance apart. The questions and answers run : "How far is it to Molly Bright ?" "Three-score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "Yes, if your legs are long enough." Then the first speakers dash past the base of the second. All who are caught before they can circle around to their own base then become prisoners of the other group. This is repeated until one side "breaks up" the other. From an anonymous contributor. Robeson county. No date given. Molly Bright stands at one base and the rest of the players at another. Molly and the leader on the other side carry on the following dialogue : Leader : How far is it to Molly Bright's ? Molly : Three score miles and ten. Leader : Can I get there by candlelight ? Molly : Yes. if your legs are long and light, there and back again. (Sometimes "Yes, if the bears don't get you" or "Yes, but don't let the witches get you.") Then all the other players run for Molly Bright's base, and she catches as many of them as she can. E Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. Raleigh. Collected in Wake county. "How many miles to Boston?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "Yes, and back again ; What time is it. Old Witch ?"i3 F Contributed by Lida Page, Nelson. Collected in Durham county, "How far is it to Molly Bright?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight?" ^•■' An intruder from 'Chickamy, Chickamy, Craney Crow.' G AMES AND R H Y M E S yj "Yes, if your legs are long and light ; Look out for the old blue bear." G Contributed by Allie Ann Pearce, Colerain. Collected in Bertie county. "How far is it to Molly Bright?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "If your legs are long and your heels are light." Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Collected in Burke county in 1915- "How many miles to IMarley bright ?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight?" "Yes, if your legs are long and your heels are light, But watch out for the old witch on the way." I Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville, c. 1915. Collected in Zionville. "How far is it to Molly Bright's ?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "Yes, if the bears don't get you." J Contributed by W. C. Daulken, Chapel Hill, 1915. No source given. "How far is it to Molly Bright ?" "Three score miles and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "Yes, if your feet are quick and si)right And the old witch don't get you. Look out !" Contributed by Flossie Marshbanks, Mars Hill. Collected from childrci in Mars Hill. No date given. "How far is it to Molly Bright?" "Three score and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight ?" "Yes, if your legs are long and light. Look out for the old witches on the way." Contributed by Ethel Hicks Buffaloe, Oxford. Reported from Gran- ville county. No date given. y8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "How far is it to Molly Bright?" "Three score miles and ten." "Can I get there by candlelight?" "Yes, if your legs are long enough." FOX IN THE MORNING This is an example of a type of game in which players pretend to be animals, and chase (or are chased by) each other. Other games belonging to the same general type are 'Hen and Chickens,' 'Hawk and Chickens,' 'Gled Wylie,' "Wolf and Deer,' "Sheep and Wolf; etc. For other descriptions, see Strutt, p. 301; Gomme, i, 139; Mac- lagan, p. 132 ("Hen and Chickens') ; Smith, p. 258 (played in snow); Marran, p. 186 (played in snow); Acker, p. iii (played in snow) ; Hunt and Cain, p. 69 (a Chinese version). O. Henry has a short story titled "Fox-in-the-Morning," in the course of which the game is described by one of the characters. Whether or not the version given there was learned in Greensboro (and there seems to be no reason for doubting that it was), its in- clusion here appears to nie to be appropriate. "I'll tell you how it's played. This president man and his com- panion in play, they stand up over in San Mateo, ready for the run, and shout: 'Fox-in-the-Morning!' Me and you, standing here, we say: 'Goose and the Gander!' They say: 'How many miles is it to London town?' We say: 'Only a few, if your legs are long enough. How many comes out?' They say: 'More than you're able to catch.' And then the game commences."^'* 'Fox in the Corner.' Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. From Durham county. One player is the fox ; all the others are geese. Both the fox and the geese have homes (bases) ; these are some distance apart. When they have taken their places, this conversation follows : Fox : Fox in the corner. Geese : Geese in the corner. Fox : How many men you got ? Geese: More than you're able to catch. The geese then try to get to the fox's home, where they are safe. The fox catches as many as he can, and all that are caught must go with him to the other base and become foxes. The dialogue is repeated, and the geese are chased again and again until all have been caught. The last one caught becomes the fox for the next game. '^* The Complete Works of O. Henry (Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1927), p. 435. It will be noted that a couple of the lines belong to 'Molly Bright.' GAMESANDRHYMES 79 B 'Fox in the Morner.' From an anonymous contributor. No source or date given. One player is fox ; the otliers afe geese. The fox has a home (base), and so have the geese. \Mieii they have taken their positions, the following dialogtie takes place : Fox : Fox in the morner. Geese : Goose in the corner. Fox : How many men you got ? Geese : More than you can catch. The geese then try to get to the fox's home, and he catches as many of them as he can. All those caught become foxes. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928, from Alexander county. Same as A except for the dialogue. Fox : Fox in the morning. Geese : Geese and the gander. Fox : How many comes out ? Geese: More than you can bander. 'Goosey Goosey Gander.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. From Caldwell county. Three or four of the best runners challenge the crowd to a game of Fox and Geese. Bases are arranged and the chal- lengers are foxes, while the rest of the players are geese. The foxes call from their base : "Goosey goosey gander !" Geese: Fox over yander. Foxes : How many geese you got ? Geese : More'n you can catch. The geese all run out and the foxes chase them. Frequently they catch all the geese before they themselves are caught. 'Foxy Goosey Gander.' Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Toma- hawk. No source or date given. Players choose sides, and the two groups face each other at a distance of some 20 yards. One side calls: "Foxy Goosey Gander!" The other answers :" 'Way over yander." The first side calls: "How many geese have you?" The other replies: "]\Iore than you can manage," and they try to reach the base of their opponents without being caught. 80 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE WITCH IN THE JAR See Newell, p. 163 ; Handelniann. J'olks- 11. Kiiidcr-Spiclc aiis Schlcsivig-Holstcin, p. 65. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This version is identical with the one given by Newell. A home, usually a tree, is selected. All the players except one, the "witch." are at this home. The witch draws several circles on the ground, one for each of the other players. These are the jars. The witch then chases the others and puts each captive into one of the jars. Here he must stay until one of the other players fresh from "home" frees him. A player who has been freed from a jar cannot be recaught until he has been "home." However, his rescuer can be caught, and so it is a dangerous risk to attempt a rescue. When all the players are captured, a new witch is chosen. TAP BACK Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. Collected in Alexander county. A variant of 'Drop the Handkerchief.' For an English version, see Gomme, i, 144 ('French Jackie'). Any number can play this game. All take hands and form a large ring. One player is chosen to tap. He or she runs around the ring and taps someone on the back ; the one tapped runs after the tapper and tries to catch him (her). H the player catches the tapper, he (she) gets in the ring and remains there until everyone else is caught and in the ring too. STEALING STICKS See Newell, p. 168; Smith, p. 214; Acker, p. 119; Reyes and Ramos, p. 65. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Played by students of Woodfin High School, Buncombe county. This is played like Prisoner's Base except that each side has a number of sticks which are kept in its home preserve. Each side tries to steal the sticks belonging to the other. If caught in their opponents' lines, players are sent to "prison." This game, a very popular one with boys of from 10 to 14, gives opportunity for the development of a good deal of strategy. In some localities it is called 'War.' CHASE THE SQUIRREL Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, who found it, c. 1927, played by students in Buncombe county. This is a sort of steci:)lechase. (3ne boy is given a start ; then the rest chase him, singing: G A M E S A N n R H Y M E S 8l Let us chase the squirrel Up the hickory, down the hickory ; Let us chase the squirrel Up the hickory tree. and following exactly in his tracks. The object is to see if they can catch him by taking the same risks he does. I once saw a boy run along the top rail of a pasture fence. A ])ull was in the pasture, and the fastest runner among the i)ursuers <|uit the race, declaring. " 'T aint no fair fur him to run n\) tlKir when he knows my galluses got red flowers on 'em." Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No place or date given. All the players except one stand inside a large circle drawn on the ground. The player outside the ring is the shepherd, and he walks away calling : "Co-sheep, co-sheep, co-sheep !" All must follow slowly and bleat : "Baa-baa. . . ." Suddenly the shepherd turns around and chases them. All that are caught before they reach the ring must help catch the otiiers. The last player caught becomes shepherd. NO ROBBERS OUT TODAY Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie. Reported from McDowell county c. 1922-23. This is a game originated by children of the neighborhood. Two "robbers" hide along the path where the travelers have to pass. After the robbers have hidden, the travelers walk along singing : No robbers out today, No robl)ers out today ; We are singing on our way, For there's no robbers out today. Suddenly the robbers rush out and try to catch the rest. Those caught become robbers. DR()1> THE HANDKERCHIKF For Other versions, see JAFL, xxxi. 57; xxxiii, 96-97; xl. 2>2)\ Gomme, i, 305-310; 11, 407-408. 418; Northall, pp. 364-365; New- ell, pp. 168-169; Pound, p. 74; Botkin, pp. 21, 30. 2^2; Hudson, Folksongs of Mississif^pi, p. 118; Brown and Boyd. p. 32; Wolford, The Play-Party iu Indiana, p. 59; JAFL, lx. 24: Gardner, l-'olk- lore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 2^7, ; Loniax, Our Singing Country, pp. jj, 168; Owens, Swing and Turn, p. 7: Johnson, p. 170; Ban- 82 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE croft, pp. 268-270; Linscott, p. yj ('Lucy Locket'); Halliwell, Nursery Rhymes of England, p. 165 ; Popular Rhymes atid Nursery Tales, p. 130; Bett, Games of Children, pp. 16, 29; de Fouquieres, p. 91; Maclagan, p. 213; Gustavson, p. no; Stoylen, No. 113; Acker, p. 23. A Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1928. Collected in McDowell county. The children form in a ring, with one of their number out- side. He runs around the circle and drops a handkerchief be- hind someone. This player chases him around the ring. If the dropper is caught, he is either kissed, takes his captor's place in the ring, or has to tell the name of his sweetheart, depending upon the locality. If he is not caught, the one behind whom he dropped the handkerchief proceeds as he did. Contributed by Mildred Peterson, Bladen county. Collected in Bladen county c. 1923. Drip, drop, drip, drop, Send a letter to your love, Tell my love I dropped it. Little boy picked it up And put it in his pocket. Where shall I drop it? Where shall I drop it? Guess I'll drop it here. Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Collected in Durham county. No date given. A Tisket, a Tasket, A green and yellow basket ; I wrote a letter to my fellow And on the way I dropped it. FOX AND GEESE Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C. in 1926-28. A large circle is drawn in the snow, with divisions like the marks for cutting a pie. The fox stays in the middle at the intersection of these lines, and chases the geese down the "paths." None must step off them. GAMESANDRIIYMES 83 GAMES OI- DEXTERITY MUMBLE PEG For descriptions of this game, see Newell, p. 189; Maclagan, p. 142 CObair na Sgeine') ; JAFL, ix, 272 (the Iroquois 'Da-yuh-sah- yeh-huh'): Boyd, pp. 123-124. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source given. The game is known nearly everywhere, and could probably have been found in all the counties in which she collected. A double-bladed knife is opened with the long blade out and the short blade halfway open. Each player in turn tries to throw it so that one or the other of the blades will stick into the ground. If the knife falls on its side, that counts nothing. If it falls on its back, the thrower scores five points. If only the short blade is sticking in the ground and the rest of the knife does not touch, the score is fifteen. Scoring differs in different localities. The knife is thrown by striking the ground three times with the short blade and then" flinging it over with a flip of the right forefinger. The game is often played by grownups, particularly by old men on country store porches. JACKS For descriptions, see Gomme, i, 95 ('Dibs'), 122 ('Fivestones'), 239 CHucklebones'), 259 ('Jackysteauns') ; Notes & Queries, 9th ser., IV, 378, 379; Maclagan, pp. 66-77 ('Chucks'); Best, p. 29 ('Koruru' or 'Tutukai') : American Anthropologist, n.s., i, 228 (Hawaiian) ; Underbill, Social Organication of the Papago Indians (Columbia Univ. Contributions to Anthropology, xxx), p. 146 ('Mikitowua') ; Folk-Lore, xl, 373 (Albanian); Hall, p. 11 (ver- sions from India, Korea, Syria, Persia, Turkey). Culin tells us (PP- 58-59) that in the Chinese form of the game, from five to ten or more jackstones are used. The version most nearly resembling the usual form of the game in this country is Gomme's 'Check- stones' (p. 66). Newell's version (p. 190) is a very complicated one, as are also the English and Gaelic versions given by Maclagan. The game of 'Jacks' is very old. Aristophanes mentions it, and Pollux has left us a description of the game as played in Greece two thousand years ago. It was popular later with Roman children (Showerman, Rome and the Romans, p. 374). It was and is still played in Russia and in Japan ('Tedama' or '0-tedama'). A form of it exists also among the Eskimo (Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," p. 332). Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected from children near Chimney Rock. Five small pebbles or small iron "jacks" in the form of double tripods are used in playing this game. The player throws them X.C.F., Vol. I, (7) 84 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE all up at once and catches them on the back of his hand. He then goes through a series of intricate figures called by various names such as onesums, twosums, threesums, foursums, &c. In these first figures, the jacks are rolled out on the floor, then one is chosen and thrown up. While it is in the air, the player picks up the others in groups of one, two, three, and four. Should he fail, another player takes his place. There are numer- ous other figures, more or less intricate, that belong to this game : feeding the chickens, riding the elephant, putting bulls in the pen, etc. All are performed while one jack is in the air or resting on the back of the hand. We found no boys who were not familiar with the game. IMITATIVE GAMES OLD MOTHER HOBBLE-GOBBLE For additional versions, see Newell, p. 131; Gomme, 11, 13-14; Maclagan, p. i ('The Afflicted'); FL, xvi ('Aunt Dinah's Dead'); PTFLS, XVII, 146 ('Grandmother Humbum'), 149; Acker, p. 286 ('Queen Dido') ; Williams, Folk-Sovgs of the Upper Thames, p. 79 ('Three Jolly Bachelors' — as a song) ; Martinez, Juegos . . . , p. 237. A 'My Mamma Sent Me to You.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Forest City. The children divide into two groups. One selects some form of housework to imitate. The first group marches up to the second, and this dialogue follows : 1st: My mamma sent me to you. 2nd: What for to do? 1 st : To do as I do. They go through the motions of the work chosen, the others trying to guess what it is. Variant titles are 'My Master Sent Me to You' and 'Working by the Day.'^^ 'Grandmammy Sent Me to You.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. Alexander county. In this game all the players are seated in a circle. The leader .says to the person next to him : "Grandmammy sent me to you." The other asks, "What to do?" The leader replies. "To do as ^'^ As will be noted, this is really a combining of 'Old Mother Hobble- Gobble' and 'Pretty Girls' Station.' The "To do as I do" and the title are all that connect it with the former game. G A M E S A N D R II Y M E S «5 I do," and begins to pat one hand on his knee. The other then passes it on to the next and finally each player in the circle is patting his knee with his hand. When it conies the leader's turn again, he gives another motion. This continues tmtil all in the circle are doing half a dozen things at the same time. AS WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY HUSH See Newell, p. 86; Gomnie, i, 404-407; FIJ, vii, 210; Bancroft, pp. 283-285; JAFL, XXVII, 250; XXXIII, 1 13- 1 14; XL, 15-17; XXXI, 54; XXXIV, 38; XLVii, 339; SFQ, vi, 187; Pound, p. 74; Johnson, p. 169; Wolford, pp. 56-57; Brown and Boyd, p. 8; Bot- kin, p. 29; Gardner, Folklore from the Sehoharie Hills, p. 113; FLR, IV, 173; Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 134; Linscott. p. 38; Sharp: Karpeles, 11, 373 ('Early Sunday Morning') ; Hofer, p. 20. Contributed by Lucille Cbeek, Cbatham county. Collected in Chatham county in 1924. As we go round the mulberry bush. The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, As we go round the mulberry bush So early in the morning. This is the way we wash our clothes, &c. All of a Monday morning. This is the way we iron our clothes, &c. All of a Tuesday morning. This is the way we scrub our floor, &c. All of a Wednesday morning. This is the way we mend our clothes, &c. All of a Thursday morning. This is the way we .sweep our house, &c. All of a Friday morning. This is the way we bake our bread, (S:c. All of a Saturday morning. This is the way we go to church, &c. All of a Sunday morning. Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Series : bake cake, brush teeth, wash clothes, wash face and hands, brush hair, iron. 86 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I WENT TO VISIT A FRIEND ONE DAY Contributed by Mabel Ballentine, Wake county. A variant of 'Mulberry Bush.' I went to visit a friend one day, She only lived across the way ; She said she couldn't go out to play, For Monday was her washing day. Chorus: This is the way she washed away. This is the way she washed away, This is the way she washed away, For Monday was her washing day. Series : Tuesday, ironing day ; Wednesday, mending day ; Thurs- day, sewing day ; Friday, baking day ; Saturday, sweeping day. DO, DO, PITY MY CASE For other versions, see Newell, p. 87; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 140- 141. 'Pity My Case.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source indicated. There are seven verses following the housewife's weekly routine : My clothes to iron when I get home My clothes to mend when I get home My floors to scrub when I get home My house to sweep when I get home My bread to bake when I get home, &c. The players in a ring imitate the work they are supposed to do. WHEN I WAS A YOUNG GIRL See Newell, pp. 88-89; Bancroft, pp. 261-262; Collins, p. 16; Gomme, Children's Singing Games, i, 15-20; Gomme, 11, 362-374, 457; Johnson, Education by Plays and Games, p. 135; SFQ, 11, 151 ; JAFL, XL, 15. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected at Woodfin School, in Buncombe county. When I was a young girl, a young girl, a young girl. When I was a yoimg girl. oh. this way did I, And that way and this way ; When I was a yoimg girl. oh. this way did T. Series; gentleman, old man. school teacher, mother, doctor. The game is played by appropriate motions in imitation of G A M E S A N n R H Y M E S 87 the people mentioned in the song. It has as many verses as the imagination of the child can devise. (IRKEN TREES UENDING Contributed by Maude Alinish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected far up in the mountains of Mitchell county.^" Green trees hending, green trees bending, green trees bending, Hold to the side and swing to the back ; If you want to see a i)retty boy, back right back. This game is played by a ring of children. ( )n the first three phrases they sway in imitation of trees. On the fourth and fifth phrases they swing as far back as they can, and t>n the last line they jump back three steps. OATS AND BEANS AND BARLEY For other versions, see Gomme, ii, 1-13; Children's Singing Games, 11, 50; Newell, p. 80; Journal of the Folksong Society, i, 67; Collins, p. 17; SFQ, vi, 193; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 252; Botkin, p. 254; Walter, Old English Singing Games, pp. 26-27; Wolford, pp. 94-96; JAFL, xii, 73-74; xxviii, 273, 494; xxxii, 494; XL, 14; LX, 16; Chase, p. 37; Hofer, p. 22; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 235 ; Brown and Boyd, p. 22 ; Ban- croft, pp. 287-290; Burne. p. 508; Broadwood and Maitland, p. 87; Linscott. p. 50 ('Shall I Show You How the Farmer?'). This might be classitied either as an imitative or as a courtship game. I am including it in the former group, proceeding on the assumption (in which I may be quite wrong) that the typical "play- party" lines which appear in most texts are accretions and that the original form, which far antedates any we possess at present, was nearer Mrs. Sutton's 'See the Farmer,' or the 'Shall T Show You How the Farmer?' of Linscott. Contributed by Ethel Hicks Buffaloe. From Granville county. Text only. Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow ; Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow ; You nor I nor no one knows How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows. Thus the farmer sows his seed ; Thus he stands and takes his ease. He claps his hands, he stamps his foot^" And turns all 'round to view the land. i« "We found this game at two places. In one. Mitchell county, it was played by a group of children of purest Colonial descent. In the other, near Columbia, S. C. it was played by a group of Xegro children." ^^ For He stamps his foot, he claps his hands. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE He's waiting for a partner ; He's waiting for a partner ; So open the ring and take her in, And kiss her as she enters in. Now you're married, you must obey ; Now you're married, you must obey ; Now you're married, you must obey ; So take a kiss and walk away. Contributed by Lucille Massey. Reported from Durham county. Text only. Practically identical with A except for last verse. Down on this carpet you must kneel. Low as the grass grows in the field ; Salute your bride and kiss her sweet. And rise upon your feet. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source given. Text only. The A text, with only minor verbal variations. Has concluding couplet "To her be kind, to her be good. And always chop the kindling wood." Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. From Wake county. Text only. The A text, with slight differences in wording. E Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source given. See the farmer plow his ground, Plow his ground, plow his ground ; See the farmer plow his ground So early in the morning. Chorus: Merrily merrily on. Merrily merrily on ; Over the stormy sea we go Merrily merrily on. See the farmer sow his seed. &c. See the farmer hoe his corn. &c. See the fanner rake his hay. &c. See the farmer milk his cow, '' Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 244; Botkin, p. 227; Neely, pp. 199-200; McDowell, pp. 66-67; Collins, p. 20; Lomax, Our Singing Country, pp. 65-66; SFQ, VI, 216-220; JAFL, XIV, 299; xxiv, 313; xxvi, 355; xxvii, 295; XXXI, 50; xxxii, 493-494; xxxiii, 107-109; xLii, 226-227; XLiv, lo-ii; XXXIX. 191; XLix, 249-250; Lii, 48; LX, 15; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 406; American An- thropologist, O.S., I, 247; Hofer, p. 30; Talley, p. 82; Puckett, Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro, p. 55; Whitney and Bullock, p. 146. Nearly fifty texts of this popular game were sent in by con- tributors. Many of these were, of course, duplications; others were fragmentary or badly corrupted. Lines such as "Wore a star upon his breast Twice as big as a hornet's nest" and "Upon his breast he wore a star Pointing to the prison bar" occur frequently. There is considerable disagreement as to the identity of William's parent, the honor being ascribed to King George, King Simon, and King James respectively. 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This version was collected in Mitchell county. King William was King George's son ; Round the royal race he run, Wore a star upon his hreast First to the East and then to the West. Go choose you East, go choose you \\'est ; Choose the one that you love hest. If she's not here to take your part, Choose another with all vour heart. 1 14 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Down on this carpet you must kneel Sure as the grass grows in the field ; As you rise upon your feet. Kiss your bride and kiss her sweet. The players form a ring, with one in the center. They march around singing the first verse. When the one in the center has chosen, they stop going around, and he kneels down before the girl of his choice. As the last verse is sung, he rises and kisses her. 'King William.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen \'aught, c. 1928. From Alexander county. King William was King James's son, From the royal race was sprung. Wore a star upon his breast ; Go point to the east, go point to the west. Go choose your east, go choose your west ; Choose the one that you love best. If she's not here to take your part, Choose another with all your heart. Down on this carpet you must kneel Sure as the grass grows on the green ; When you rise upon yoin* feet. Salute your bride and kiss her sweet. Now you're married you must be good ; Split the kindling, chop the wood. Split it fine and carry it in ; Then she'll let you kiss her again. We sang these words as we marched around in a circle. One boy was in the center of the ring, and he selected a girl from the ring as his bride. Then they knelt, and in a minute arose and the boy kissed the girl. Then the girl remained in the center and selected a boy, while the words were changed in the stanza to suit her. 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Lucille Bul- lard. Reported from Robeson county in 191 6. Text B, witli "Round the royal race he run." The words are sung while the children march around in a ring, with the one who is "It" in the center. He follows the directions given in the song. The bride who has been chosen then makes her choice in turn as the players again march around singing. AMES AND RHYMES 'King and Queen.' Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No source or date given. Text A, with slight verbal variations. Has "King Simon's son." 'King William Was King James's Son.' Contributed by Grace Tucker. Chester, S. C. No source or date given. King William was King James's son, Around the royal race he run, Wore a star upon his breast Twice as big as a hornet's nest. Go choose you east, go choose you west ; Choose the one that you love best. If she's not here to take your part, Choose another wath all your heart. Down upon the carpet you must kneel Sure as the grass grows under your heel. When you rise upon your feet. Hug her tight and kiss her sweet. Now you're married you must be good ; Have your husband chop your wood. Chop it fine, carry it in. Now you're married, so kiss her again. 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Aura Holton, Durham. From Durham county. Collected in 191 6. Te.\t H, with minor verbal differences. 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Amy Hender- son, Worry. Reported from Burke county in 1915. Te.xt A, with some minor verbal differences. No title. Contributed by Mrs. Laura Timmons, Boone. No source or date given. Practically identical with Text A. No title. Contributed by Lida Page. Nelson. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Text ./. with no stanza division. 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed t)y Martha Wall. Wallburg. Reported from Davidson county about 1941. Text B, witii "From the royal race he run." X.r.F.. \-nI. I, (9) Il6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLO No title. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham. Collected in Dur- ham county in 1922. Text B, with "All around the race he run." 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Mildred Peter- son. Reported from Bladen county in 1923. King William was King George's son. Upon the royal race he run ; Upon his breast he wore a star Which was called the star of love. Go to the east, go to the west ; Go choose the one that you love best. If she's not here to take her part, Choose the one next your heart. M 'King William Was King George's Son.' Contributed by Alma Irene Stone. No source or date indicated. B text, with "Round the royal race he run." N 'King William Was King James's Son.' Contributed by Katherine Ber- nard Jones, Raleigh. No source or date given. Text B, with minor variations. 'King William Was King James's Son." Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. From Wake county. No date given. King William was King James's son, Around the royal race he run ; On his breast he wore a star Pointing to the ocean far. Go point to the east, go point to the west ; Go point to the one you love best ; If she's not here to take her part. Choose another with all your heart. Down on this carpet you must kneel As sure as the grass grows in the held ; Salute your bride and kiss her sweet, Then you may rise upon your feet. p No title. Contributed by Laurice Gwin Cluunl)liss. Reported from Wilson county. No date given. King William was King James's son, All the royal race he won ; GAME S A N I) R H Y M E S 1 1/ Upon his breast he wore a star Pointing to the prison bar. Go choose you east, go choose yon west ; Choose the one that you love the best. If she's not here to take her part. Go choose another with all your heart. Down on this carpet you must kneel Sure's the grass grows in the held. When you rise upon your feet, Salute your bride and kiss her sweet. 'King William Was King James's Son.' Contributed by Ethel Hicks Buffaloe, Oxford. Reported from Granville county. No date given. King William was King James's son, From the royal race he sprung; He wore a star upon his breast As big as any hornet's nest. Choose the one that you love best. If she's not here to take your part, Go choose another with all your heart. Down on this carpet you must kneel Sure's the grass grows in the field. When you rise upon your feet. Salute your bride ancl kiss her sweet. 'King William Was King George's Son.' From an anonymous con- trilnitor in Chatham county. No date given. Down on this carpet you must kneel Shore's the grass in the field ; And when you rise upon your feet. Salute your bride and kiss her sweet. -^ " Other versions and fragments were contributed by Louise Bennett (Henderson text, omitting "go choose ye East"), Dixie Lamm (Hen- derson text, with slight verbal variations), Cozette Coble (Tucker text), Lucille Cheek (Page text), Valeria Johnson Howard (Bullard text, omit- ting "If she's not here" couplet), Sarah K. Watkins (Bullard text, with "point to the East" for "first to the East"), Lois Johnson (Henderson text). Flossie Marshbanks (Bullard text). Ruth Morgan (Tucker text), Marjorie Rea (Bullard text). Esther Royster (Stone text), Mary Olivia Pruette (Bullard text), Merle Smith (Tucker text), Allie .-Xnn Pearce (Bullard text), M. A. B. .Andrews (Timmons text, with some slight variations). Ethel Brown (Bullard text), .Ada Briggs (Bullard text). Il8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE MARCHING TO QUEBEC See Newell, p. 125; Botkin, pp. 351-353: Randolph, The Ozarks, pp. 146-147; McDowell, pp. 18-19; Wolford, pp. 65-66; JAFL, v, 118; XX, 275; XXV, 271; XXVII, 293; XXXII, 491; XLii. 206-207; XLiv, 19; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 244; SFQ, VI. 255-256. 'To Old Quebec' Contributed by John Bennett, East Flat Rock. Mr. Bennett writes: "Found in newspaper clipping. In the Journal of Ameri- can Folklore, Oct. -Dec. 191 9, Carl Van Doren gives this version from Vermillion County, Illinois, not as a child's game but as a folksong. I have found the verses, substantially as quoted by Mr. Van Doren, as a game-song, used among adult and youthful mountain folk within memory of the old along the route of the old Howard Gap cattle-drovers' road through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Tennessee to North Carolina." We're marching down to Old Quebec And the drums are loudly beating; The American boys have gained the day, And the British are retreating. The wars are all over, and we'll turn back And never more be parted ; Open the ring and choose a couple in To relieve the broken-hearted. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Bostic. "We have been unable to find it all anywhere else, though quite a few children knew parts of it." We're marching to Old Quebec And loud the drums are beating ; The Rebels brave have won the fight ; The Yankees are retreating. The war is over and we've come home To the place from where we started ; So open the ring and take her in. For she is broken-hearted. Go choose the one you love the best, No one on earth above him ; Heart and hand to him you give To show him how you love him. (or Kiss him, for you love him.) Irene Thompson (Bullard text with exception of lines 3-4: "Upon his breast he wore a star Pointing to the prison bar"), Caroline Biggers (Bullard text), Virginia Bowers (Tucker text, with "snoot your Bright*" for "salute your bride"), Ella Parker (Henderson text). G A M E S A N D R H Y M E S 119 MARCHING ROUND THE LEVER For otlier versions, see Goninie, ii, 122 f. ( 'Round and Round tlie Vill:if,'e' ) : Maclagan. p. 65; Newell, p. 229; Balfour and Thomas, p. 116; Hudson, pp. 287-288; Beckwith. p. 67 ('WalkinR Round the N'allev'j ; Owens, p. 3; Collins, p. 15; Notes and Queries, 8th ser., I. 249; Hofer, p 16; SFQ, vi, 194; FL, xvii, 99; American An- thropologist, O.S., I, 255; Douglas, p. 41; Bancroft, pp. 290-292; JAFL, VIII. 253; XV, 194; XXIV, 306-307; XXVI. 138; xxxiii, 120- 121 ; XL. 26; XLiv. 12-13. 8-19; XLVii. 338; XLix. 243-244: McDowell, p. 60; Neely, p. 204; Ford. Traditional Music of America, p. 260. Brown and Boyd, p. 29 ; Linscott, p. 9. Nineteen versions are given by Gonime. Slit- sees a connection between this game and the customs of "beating the bounds" and escorting a newly married couple around the town (note the refrain "As we have done before"). Newell thinks village a corruption of valley, and considers British versions inferior. A 'Go In and Out the Window.' Contributed by Lucille Rullard. Re- ported from Robeson county in 191 6. Go in and out the window ; Go in and out the window ; Go in and out the window, For yoti have <(ained the day. Go forth and face your lover. &C. I kneel because I love you, &c. I measure my love to show you. &c. Just one more kiss before I leave you, &c. After the players have formed a circle, they drop hands. The one who has been chosen "It" goes in and out the circle by going before and behind those in the ring alternately while they all sing. He acts out the words of the song, and begins singing liimself at the third stanza. B 'Go In and Out the Windows.' Contributed by Aura Holtcjn, Durham. Collected in Durham county in 191 6. Go in and out the windows ; Go in and out the windows ; Go in and out the windows, For love has gained today. Go kneel before your lover, &c. Now rise and kiss your lover, &c. 120 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The person who is "It" goes in and out the windows, formed by the joined upHfted hands of the players forming the ring. At the second stanza, he chooses his partner, kneels before her, and — at the third stanza — kisses her. c 'Go In and Out the Window.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton. c. 1927. No source given. Go in and out the windows ; Go in and out the windows ; Go in and out the windows, For we have gained today. Go forth and face your lover, &c. I'll measure my love to show you, &c. I'll bow before my lover, &c. Played by a ring of children, with one in the center. He executes each command as the ring sings the verses. Every version we found has the same air. D 'Go In and Out the Window.' Contributed by Mary Scarborough, c. 1923. From Dare county. The players form a ring with hands raised. An odd member weaves in and out, acting out the songs as these verses are sung : Go in and out the window ; Go in and out the window ; Go in and out the window. For we have gained the day. Go forth and face your lover, &c. (The ring stands still while lover is chosen) I kneel because I love you, &c. It breaks my heart to leave you, &c. 'We're Marching Around the Love Ring.' Contributed by Ethel Brown, Catawba county. No date given. We're marching around the love ring ; We're marching around the love ring ; We're marching around the love ring, Since we have gained the day. G A M E S A N I) RHYMES Go forth and face your lover, &c. I measure luy love to show you, &c. It breaks my heart to leave you, &c. "Go In and Out the Window.' Contributed by Fannie Vann, Durham. Durham county. Stanzas i, 3, and 4 are Bullard i, 2, 3. 2. There is a lillie in the valley ; There is a lillie in the valley; There is a lillie in the valley As we go marching by. Players march around in a circle singing, while the one in the center must go between them. If a girl is in the middle, she seeks a boy ; if a boy is in the middle, he seeks a girl. His (or her) love is measured with a handkerchief drawn from the shoulder to the waistline and then from shoulder to shoulder. The one chosen goes into the center of the ring, and the game starts over. 'Marching Around the Love Ring.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen \'aught, Taylorsville. Collected in Alexander county in 1927. Text E, with additional stanzas "I kneel because I love you" and "Give me a sweet kiss before I leave you." H 'Marching Round the Love Ring.' Contributed by Jessie Hauser. Pfaflf- town. From Forsyth county. Collected in 1923. Vaught text, with "grieves" for "breaks." All children clasp hands and march around one who stands in the ring. The one in the ring does all the things mentioned in the song. Going in and out the window is simply going in and out the ring under the clasped hands. The one chosen as lover stands in the center for the next game. No title. Contributed by Valeria Johnson Howard, Roseboro. Sampson county. No date. Text A, with minor verbal differences. J No title. Contributed by Nina Mclnnis. No place or date given. We're marching round the levee ; We're marching round the levee ; \\'^e're marching round the levee. For you have gained the day. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Go forth and face your lover, &c. Go in and out the window, &c. I measure my love to show you, &c. I kneel because I love you, &c. No title. Contributed by Macie Morgan. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. Text E, with only slight verbal variations. No title. Contributed by Dixie Lamm. Reported from Wilson county. No date. Text E. with additional stanzas "I kneel because I love you" and "Goodbye, I hope to meet you." M 'We're Walking on the Levy.' Contributed by Mildred Peterson, c. 1923. From Bladen county. I am walking on the levy ; I am walking on the levy ; I am walking on the levy, For you have gained the day. I am walking over the levy, &c. No title. Contributed by Lida Page. From Durham county, no date. A composite text. Text B, with minor verbal variations. O 'We're Marching Round the Love Ring.' Contributed by Martha Wall, Wallburg, c. 1941. Text from Davidson county. Text E, with addi- tional stanza "I kneel because I love you." 'Go In and Out the Windows.' From an anonymous contributor. No source or date given. Text B, with minor verbal variations."" "■' Other texts and fragments were contributed by Louise Watkins (composite of Bullard and Bennett texts), Mrs. John Carr ( Bullard text), Wilma Foreman (Bullard text, with "bow" for "kneel" and re- frain "As we are game today"). Katherine Bernard Jones (Bullard text), Marguerite Higgs (Lamm text), Esther Royster (Page text, with "love ring" for "lovers"), Marjorie Rea (Bullard text, with "done today" for "won the day"), Clara Hearne (Lamm text, with slight verbal variations), Ethel Hicks Bufifaloe (Page text, with 2nd stanza omitted and "bound" for "hope"), Louise Bennett (Bullard text), Allie Ann Pearce (Lamm text, with "go forth" for "stand in"), Caroline Biggers (Lamm text, with "go forth" for "stand in"), Lucille Cheek (Royster- Page text, minus last two verses), Ella Parker (Bullard text, with re- frain "For you have won this day"), Minnie Stamps Gosney (Page text, with "it breaks my heart to leave you" for "Goodbye, I hope to meet you"), Roberta E. Pridgen, Flossie Marshbanks, Dorothy M. Vann, J. G. McAdams. r, A M K S AND R II Y M E S 123 CI.Al' IN, CLAP OUT See Gomme. i, 215 ('Hiss and Clap'). It is to this game that Edgar Lee Masters aUudes in "Lucinda Matlock" : "1 went to the dances at Chandlerville, And i)layed snap-out at Winchester." 'Clap In and Clap Out.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. All the girls g" owt of the room in a group. Each of the boys selects a giVl and stations himself behind his chair. Each girl, in ttirn. is called into the room. As she enters, she is begged by all the boys to sit in their chairs. If she sits in the wrong one, she is "clapped out" ; i.e., all the boys clap their hands. If she sits in the right one, she is given another seat and remains in the room. This is continued until all the players are paired off. 'Clap-in and Clap-out.' Contributed by Clara Hearne, 1922-23. Re- ported from Chatham county. The boys retire to another room while each of the girls selects a partner. One of the boys is then called back into the room. He must guess which of the girls has chosen him. He indicates this by sitting in a chair by her side. If he chooses the right chair, he remains in the room. If he is wrong in his guess, he is "clapped-out." This continues until each has a part- ner. A better plan is to have the girls stand behind the chairs, since then not so many chairs are needed. QUAKER COURTSHIP See. for additional versions, Newell, pp. 94-95; Pound, pp. 223- 224; Linscott, p. 276 ('Tlie Quaker's Wooing'); Belden, p. 265; Gardner, Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan, p. 425; Eddy, Ballads and Songs from Ohio, p. 293; JAFL, xxiv, 341-342; xlix, 247; SFQ, III. 206; Mackenzie, Ballads and Sea Songs from Nova Scotiu. pp. 380, 408. A Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Text .secured at Hibriton Academy in Caldwell county. ]\Iadam, I come here a-courting. Oh. oh. oh: I'm in earnest, I'm not s])orting. (Jh. oh, oh. You sit there and court the fire ; Tingaling a tingaling a tingaling a tire ; 124 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE That alone is my desire, Tingaling a tingaling a tingaling a tire. Here's a ring worth twenty shilling ; It's yours if you are willing. What care I for rings or money? I want a man to call me honey.^*' Contributed by Lucille Cheek. Reported from Chatham county about 1924. One stanza. Madam, I am come a-courting ; Hum, hum, heigho-hum ! 'T is for pleasure, not for sporting; Hum, hum, heigho-hum ! GREEN LEAVES See Owens, p. y^; PTFLS, i, 25; xiii, 321 ; Botkin, p. 203; Wol- ford, pp. 49-50. Contributed by Jewell Robbins, Pekin. Reported from Montgomery county in 192 1. Green leaf, oh, green leaf that grows on a vine ; Go choose you a partner, the prettiest you can find. Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet, Love is bound to be. When you get married, jump for joy; When you get married, jump for joy; When you get married, jump for joy; Joy is bound to be. Players join hands and form a circle. One stands in the center. When the words "Go choose you a partner" are reached, the one in the center chooses one of the others. They join hands and stand still until the others sing. "W^hen you get married, jump for joy." Then, while the remainder is being sung, those in the center jump up and down. When the song is finished, the one who was in the center at first joins those in the circle, while the player who was chosen remains in the center. Then a second game begins. '" Contributor's note : "A middle-aged man told me it was a 'ring game' when he was a boy. He was very vague as to the method of playing, but knew it ended with a kiss. He played this rollicking tune on his violin, and said he would not play the game now because he had 'learnt better.' From this I inferred that the game had been a sort of dance. " GAMES AND RHYMES 125 'Honey in the Gum.' Contributed by Jennie Belvin, Durliam, c. 1921. Durham county. Green leaves, green leaves grow on the vine; Go choose you one as I have mine. Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet, Joy is bound to be. If I had a wife I'd jump for joy, &c. Now I've got a wife, I'll jtimp for joy, &c. Players form a ring and go round and round, singing. One player is in the center of the ring. When the singers reach the verse "If I had a wife." the child in the center chooses someone in the ring. Then all the players jump up and down, clapping their hands and singing the last verse. No title. Contributed by Lida Page. Reported irom Durham county. No date given. Green leaves, green leaves grow on the vine ; Go choose your one as I have mine. Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet. For joy there's bound to be. When you get married, jump for joy, &c. Now I've got a wife, I'll jump for joy, &c. D "Green Leaves.' From an anonymous contributor. Reix)rtcd from Robe- son county. No date given. Green leaves, green leaves That grows on a vine ; Choose you a partner. The j)rettiest you can find. Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Honey in the gum so sweet, so sweet ; Joy's bound to be. Green leaves, green leaves, &c. 126 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE When you get a wife, jump for joy; When you get a wife, jump for joy; When you get a wife, jump for joy; Joy's bound to be. Green leaves, green leaves, &c. Hug her neat and kiss her sweet ; Hug her neat and kiss her sweet ; Hug her neat and kiss her sweet ; Joy's bound to be. Green leaves, green leaves, &c. No title. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, c. 1928. Collected in Dur- ham county. First two stanzas of D, with "Go choose you one And I'll choose mine" as third and fourth lines. GREEN GROWS THE WILLOW TREE See Newell, pp. 56, 239; JAFL, xxxii, 491; xxxiii, lOO-mi; XXXIV, 117; XLIX, 257. A No title. Contributed by Kathleen Mack. Reported from Davidson county. No date given. Green grows the willow tree ; Green grows the willow tree ; Green grows the willow tree ; Come, my love, and stand by me. (The one in the center chooses his partner) On the bank the rushes grow ; On the bank the rushes grow ; On the bank the rushes grow ; Kiss her sweet and let her go. (Here the chooser kisses the chosen) Throughout the game, the players go round the circle hand in hand, singing. 'Green Grows the Willow Tree.' Contributed by Kate S. Russell. From Person county. No date given. On the bank the rushes grow ; On the bank the rushes grow ; On the bank the rushes grow ; Kiss her sweet and let her go. L\ CORN SHUCKING IN THE MOUNTAINS GAMES AND RHYMES 127 'Green Grows the Willow Tree.' Contributed by Irene Thompson. From Surry county, ^^lack text, with "give her a kiss" for "kiss her sweet." IT RAINS AND IT HAILS See Newell, pp. 84-86; Botkin, pp. 212-213; JAFL, in, 288; XXVIII, 270; xxxiii, 103-104; XXXIV, 112; XL, 14; Sharp :Karpeles, II, 380 ('Reap, Boys, Reaj)') ; Stoudt, The Folklore of the Penn- sylvania Germans, p. 87; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 234. 'It Mists, It Rains.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Reported from Tyrrell county. It mists, it rains in cold stormy weather ; Here comes the farmer, he's drunk all tiie cider. You can be the reaper, I'll be the binder. Somebody's got my true love, where can I find her ? This game is played like 'J^Hy Miller.' Couples form in a ring around one boy and skip around the ring to the first three lines of the song. On the fourth line, each girl drops her partner's arm and takes the arm of the boy in front, and the boy in the center tries to steal a partner. ALL DOWN TO SLEEP Botkin, pp. 140-141 ; Gomnie, 11, 204-205; Newell, pp. 224-225; Scarborough, p. 138; JAFL, xxiv, 117-119; xxvii, 292-293; XXVIII, 269; XXXIII, 126; XXXIV, II7-II9; XL, 39; XLIX, 255-256; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 239. Cf. Mcintosh, Sing and Swing, pp. 50-51. Xo title. Contributed by Elsie Lambert. No place or date given. Down sits a fair lady going to sleep, going to sleep; Down sits a fair lady going to sleep Among those jolly folks all. She wants a young gentleman to keep her awake, &c. Among those jolly folks all. So write his name or tell it to me, or tell it to me, &c. Mr. , your name is called. A girl sits in a chair and sings this song, then walks around the chair. She chooses the boy she wants, and they walk around the chair. The girls re])eat this performance until each has a partner. 1 r.cnVER IN THE GARDEN Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Big Ivy (Madison county). Mrs. Sutton writes that she was unable to find it anywhere else. Cf. Newell, p. 238. 128 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE There's a flower in the garden for you, young man ; There's a flower in the garden for you. There's a flower in the garden, pick it if you can; Be sure not to choose a false-hearted one. The boy in the center of the circle selects a girl, and those in the ring sing: You got her at a bargain, my young man ; You got her at a bargain, I tell you. But you promised for to wed her six months ago : So we hold you to your bargain, you rascal you. The couple kiss and the girl remains in the center. The second verse is the same except for a change from man and her to maid and him. RIG-A-JIG See Botkin, pp. 298-299 ; Source Materials for Physical Education in Florida Elementary Schools, pp. 332-334. 'Rig-a-Jig-Jig.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. From .Mexander county. As I was walking down the street, Heighho ! heigho ! heigho ! A pretty girl I chanced to meet. Heighho ! heigho ! heigho ! Chorus: Rig a jig jig and away we go. Aw ay we go, away we go ; Rig a jig and away we go. Heigho ; heigho ! heigho ! Say, my little miss, won't you marry me? A soldier's wife then you would be. Yes, kind sir, I will marry you ; A soldier's wife then I will be. There are two lines, one of boys and the other of girls. As they sing, a boy and a girl join hands ; on the chorus, all dance around singing. While singing the verses, they walk instead of dancing. JOHNNY, JOHNNY, SO THEY SAY See Gardner's version of this game collected in Michigan (JAFL, XXXIII, 106-107) ; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 240; Newell, p. 72. No title. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. The contributor calls it simply "a kissing game." GAMES AND RHYMES I29 John Smith, so they say, Cioes a-coui"tin' iii^ht and day, Sword and pistol hy his side, Wants Miss — for to he his hride. Take her by her hly-white hand ; Lead her 'cross the water. Here's a kiss and there's a kiss For Mr. 's daughter. A ring of children singing this song dance around another player in the center. TRAVELING Contributed by Mabel Balleiitine. Reported from Wake county. No place or date given. We two will travel on, And we two will travel on ; We two will travel on Till we two, we must part. So fare you well ; So fare you well, my dear. I never expect to see you again In five and twenty year. I'll weep and I'll moan; And I'll holler and I'll cry, For my true love is gone away; I know that I shall die. Oh, yonder she comes. And it's "How do you do? And how have you been Since I parted from you?" I'll greet you with a kiss, And I hope it will agree ; Away down in North Carolina And married we will be.''^^ ox Tl See Botkin. pp. 185-186; Newel ford, pp. 43-44; JAFL, xiv, Linscott, p. 46. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. "Collected in the Laurel Country, where Cecil Sharp found so many British folksongs, dances, and "A variant of 'Marriage.' See Newell, p. 60; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 241. X.C.F., Vol. I, (10) [R CARPET veil, pp. 59-62; Owens, p. 64 : Wol- ^7-298; XXX 11. 495; xi.i.x. 250-251 130 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE games." This text is nearly identical with Newell, pp. 60-61. "This kissing game is played in rural homes where dancing is forbidden. It is probably a fragment of an old English May Day dance or ballad." On this carpet here we stand ; So take your truelove by her hand. Oh, find the one that you profess Is the one you love the best. . Oh, what a pretty choice you made ! Don't you wish you'd longer stayed? Kiss her once and send her home ; Tell her not to further roam. LITTLE SALLY WATERS For other versions, see Gomme, Children's Singing Games, li, 20-23; Traditional Games, 11, 149-179, 453-454; Hudson, pp. 290- 291; Newell, p. 70: Wolford, pp. 86-88; JAFL, viii, 254; xxxi, 159-160, 55, 147; XXXIII, 122-123; XL, 12-13; III. 147; L-^. 14'. Halli- well, Nursery Rhymes, p. 229; Brown and Boyd, p. 42; SFQ, vi, 253-254; Burne, p. 508; FLR, v, 84-89; American Anthropologist, O.S., I, 248; Beckwith, p. 78; Henderson, p. 26. 'Sally Walker.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version obtained in Burke county. Little Sally Walker, sitting in a saucer, Crying and sighing for some young man to come. Rise, Sally, rise and wipe your weeping eyes ; Fly to the East and fly to the West, And kiss the one you love the best. On the third line, the child in the center rises and chooses one of the other players, who goes into the center with her. On the fourth line, the two players in the center kiss. In some localities the last line is "Choose the one you love best," and kissing is omitted. A variant, from Beech Grove school children, is as follows: Little Sally Water, Sitting in a saucer, Rise up, Sally, and tinkle the pan ; Wish that you may find a man. Choose to the East, choose to the West; Choose the one you love the best. Now you've got him, kiss him sweet. In another variant, from a group of Negro children in Rutherfordton county, the girl in the center was blindfolded and the words were as follows :^- "* Contributor's note : "This game is very common in the Southern Appalachians, where it is usually played by small children. Gomme has GAMES AND R II Y M t: S I3I Little Sally Flinders, Sittin*:^ in the cinders, Crying and sigb.ing for some yonng man to come. Rise, Sally, rise ; Wipe yonr weeping eyes. Fly to'the Ivast. fly to the West; Choose the one you love the best. GO ROUND THE MOUNTAIN See Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 132-133. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Diirbam, c. 1930. Collected in Durham county. Go round the mountain, two by two ; Go round the mountain, two by two ; Go round the mountain, two by two ; Rise up, sugar, rise. Go choose your partner, two by two, &c. Let me see you make a motion. &c. That's a mighty poor motion, &:c. Let me see you make a better motion, &c. Players form a large ring, with one child kneeling in the cen- ter. Those in the ring march around singing the first stanza. When they sing. "Rise up. sugar, rise." the child in the center stands up. Then the children forming the ring stand still, and the player in the center chooses his partner as the singing directs. \i the third stanza, the two in the center make some motion, any kind they wish. Those in the circle clap their hands, pat their right feet, and continue singing. At the fourth stanza, the children forming the ring shake fingers of dis- approval at the two in the center as they sing "mighty poor motion." The two in the center then try to make a better motion, while those forming the circle clap their hands, pat their right feet, and sing the final stanza. 48 variants, and believes it a corruption of the ancient tribal marriage ceremony of our ancestors and connected with some form of water wor- ship. She considers it (5ne of the oldest folk games of tiic race and a relic of pre-Celtic peoples. .\\\ interesting coincidence connected with this game is that I was told liy a Waldensian girl from \'aldese, a settle- ment of Waldensians in Burke county, that Little Sallie Walker was a counterpart of an old game played in her mother's native country." [32 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Contributed by Daisy Jones Couch. Durham. No place or date given. First stanza only of Holeman text. LITTLE SISSY Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Collected in Forest City. Both text and tune obtained. Oh. bow and bow, and put your arms around me ; Say little sissy, won't you marry me ? Oh. bow and bow. and put your arms around me, All them sassy words you say. Oh. bow and bow. and put your arms around me ; Say little sis.sy. won't you marry me? Cjh. get back girls, don't you come close around me ; Say little sissy, won't you marry me? Oh. get back girls, don't you come close around me, All them sassy words you say. Oh. get back girls, don't you come close around me ; Say little sissy, won't you marry me? "We collected this coquettish game from Negro children. They played it as a ring game, with a couple in the center performing the pantomime. These two were natural actors. The girl rolled her eyes, flounced her short ragged skirts, and tossed her head, while the boy entreated in pantomime. Their embraces were fervid and doubtless colored by motion pictures. If there is a purely Negro game, this is one. The air and pantomime were typically Negro in their abandon and wildness. One of the two girls from whom we collected this air had a wild, plaintive voice. She sang the melodies of all the games we collected from Negro children, and sang them very well. She danced extremely well, and in some of her dances there were many evidences of savage origin." UNCLE johnny's SICK ABED See Goninie, 11, 321-322; Newell, p. '/2\ Wolford, p. 97; SFQ, VI, 212-213; JAFL, XL, 13. 'Uncle Johnny Sick of Bed.' Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. Raleigh. From Wake county. No date given. Text only. Uncle Johnny sick f)f bed. What shall we send him? Three good wishes, Three good kisses. And a slice of gingerbread. GAMES AND RHYMES 133 What shall we send it in? On a piece of paper. Paper is not good enough ; On a golden saucer. Who shall we send it by ? By the Governor's daughter ; Take her by the lily-white hand And lead her across the water. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version obtained in Caldwell county. This kissing game, unenciunbered by rhyme or formula, is extremely simple. All the players but one are seated. The latter carries a pillow and walks about the room, finally kneel- ing on the pillow at the feet of one of the players. The person thus honored rises, takes the kneeling player's hand, raises him to his feet, and kisses him. The second player then gives the first his chair, takes the pillow, and continues the game. Beau- mont and Fletcher mention a 'Cushion Dance,' from which this game may be descended. TEASING GAMES KNOCK AT THE DOOR AND PICK UP A PIN Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. No source indicated for this particular version. The contributor writes simply that it was found in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi. Go knock at the door and pick up a pin To ask if Miss is in. She's not in, she's not out ; She's upstairs frisking about. Down she comes all dressed in silk, Rose in her hand as white as milk. On her hand a shiny gold ring. She's ready to marry any old thing. This song, as 'Mary's Mad.' is used in groups of girls to tease someone of their number. One will begin the song and name the victim in the second line. Immediately the others take it up and sing it with appropriate pantomime. In some versions, the first line is "Go knock at the door or jingle the ring," which points clearly to a ballad origin. r34 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE DEAR DOCTOR Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Obtained at Fall Creek School on Beech Mountain, N. C. Oh, dear doctor, don't you cry ; You'll find a wifie by and by. If you find one dressed in green. Don't take her ; she's not fit to be seen. If you find one dressed in gray. Don't take her ; she'll go away. If you find one dressed in black, Don't take her ; she'll run right back. If you find one dressed in brown. Don't take her ; she'll go to town. If you find one dressed in red. Don't take her ; she'll crack your head. If you find one dressed in blue. Don't take her; she'll not be true. If you find one dressed in white, She will lie in your arms all night. As each verse is sung, the singers point derisive fingers at those of their number who wear the color mentioned in that verse. When the girl is chosen, the rhyme is fitted to her dress. For instance, if her dress is blue, the last line is changed to "Do take her ; she will be true." WILLIAM A TREMBLETOE See JAFL, liv, 169; vi, 67; xvii, 143; SFQ, in, 181; Beckwith, p. 13; Bolton, The Counting-Ont Rhymes of Children, p. 117; PTFLS, VI, 66; Newell, p. 203. See also Counting-Out Rhymes, pp. 160 ff. A 'William-a-Tremble-Toe.' Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Col- lected in Burke county in 191 5. William-a-Tremble-toe, He's a good fisherman ; Catches his hens. Puts them in pens. Some lay eggs. Some lay none. Wire, brier, limber lock, Three geese in a flock. GAMES AND RHYMES I35 Some flew East, some flew West ; Some flew over the cuckoo's nest. O-U-T spells out; take your dirty dishrag and clear out. The one that it comes out on has to go away, and the others choose what they will be — vehicles, animals, birds, etc. — and then these questions are asked and answered: "What would you rather come home on?" (naming what each child has chosen and something for the one who is away, too). If the one who is away chooses the thing he is named, he is told to "Hop home." but if he chooses something that stands for one of the other children, the latter has to carry him home. When they come up, the leader asks : "What you got there?" "A bag of nits." "Shake it till it spits." When this has been done, the leader asks the player who has been brought home: "Which would you rather lie on. a feather bed or thorn?" If he chooses a feather bed. he is thrown down hard ; if he chooses a thorn bed, he is laid down easy. 'William and Tremble Toe.' Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. From Durham county. Players sit in a circle at a table or on the floor ; each places two fingers before him. The leader counts out with the following : William and Tremble Toe ; He's a good fisherman. He catches his hens And puts them in pens. Some lay eggs, Some lay none. Wire, brier, limberlock ; Sit and sing till twelve o'clock. The clock fell down, The mouse ran around ; O-U-T spells out To your old smoky home away at last. Variants: To the little red schoolhouse on the hill You old dirty dishrag, you. The one who is "It" leaves the room. The other players choose names, such as camel, bear, horse, or any other animal or bird. "It" is also given a name. Then the leader says, 136 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "Which would you rather come home on, a camel or a bear, &c." calling over the names, including that which has been given to "It." If "It" chooses his own name, he must walk home. When he is brought back by one of the other players, the leader asks, "What have you got there?" The bearer replies, "A bag of nits." "Shake him till he spits," says the leader. Then the game begins again. c 'William Tremble-Toe.' Contributed by J. C. Knox. Reported from Brunswick county. No date given. William, William Tremble-toe, He's a good fisherman ; Catches hens. Puts them in pens. Some lay eggs, some lay none. Wire, brier, limberlock. Three geese in a flock ; One flew over the goose's nest. O-U-T spells out and begone. You old dirty dishrag. This game is played by placing the fingers, ends together, in a circle. One of the players says these words, striking a finger for each word. The unfortunate one withdraws from hearing distance. The other players each select the name of some article, bird, or animal, also naming one for "unlucky." Then the following questions are asked him : "When are you coming home ?" "Tomorrow afternoon." "What are you going to bring?" "A gold plate, a silver spoon, and a fat raccoon." "Which would you rather come home on ?" Then the articles or animals are named, and the player chooses one. If he selects one representing another player, the latter must carry him in on his back. If not. he comes "home" on his tiptoes. If he is carried in, the following dialogue takes place between the leader and the bearer : "What have you got there?" "A bag of nits." "Shake it till it spits!" D 'William a Trimble Toe.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Players spread their hands out in a row, and some one of them repeats the rhyme, counting the fingers. At the end of GAMES AND R H Y M E S 137 the rhyme, the child whose finger the last word comes on goes away a short distance, while all the rest consult as to names. Each child is named some animal, a name heing assigned to the absent player as well. He is then asked "How do you want to come home — on a horse, mule. &c. ?" If he selects the name of one of the other players, the child who has that name must carry him. If he selects his own name, he comes home "on his tiptoes." TUG-OF-WAR AND SIMILAR GAMES LONDON BRIDGE For Other versions, see Gomme i, 333; 11, 441; Newell, pp. 204, 253; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 233; Flanders and Brown, p. 45; Balfour and Thomas, pp. 113-114; Northall, p. 36; Collins, p. 24; Gomme, Children's Singing Games, 11, 14; Hofer, p. 13; PTFLS, I, 20; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 262; SFQ, VI, 231; FL, XXXV, 266; JAFL, xxxiv, 38, 111-112; xxvii, 303; XXVI, 356; XXXI, 146; xxxiii, no; xl, 38; xlvii, 339; lx, 24-25; Bancroft, pp. 278-280: Brown and Boyd, pp. 12, T,y \ Smith, Games and Game Leadership, p. 20; Ford, Traditional Music of America, p. 262; Feilberg. "Bro-Brille-Legen," in Szrnska Landsmal, xii, No. 4 (1905), 5-98; Linscott, p. 34; Parsons, Folk-Lore frovi the Cape Verde Islands, p. 202. A Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. London Bridge is falling down, falling down ; London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. Build it up with silver and gold, &c. Silver and gold will fade away, &c. Build it uj) with iron and steel, &c. Iron and steel will bend and break. &c. Build it up with sticks and stones, &c. Sticks and stones will rot away, &c.^'^ " The theory of Gomme and Newell that in this game we have a survival of the foundation sacrifice seems to be well founded. It will be noted that great emphasis is placed upon the fact that, even though all kinds of materials (silver and gold, wood and clay, iron bars, bricks and mortar, etc.) are used and all kinds of precaution taken, the bridge will break down again. The watchman set to guard it will fall asleep ; the dog will find a Ixmc and carry it away; the cock will hv lured away from his post by a hen and forget to give warning by iiis crow. The 138 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Two children hold their clasped hands as high over their heads as they can. The others form a line with their arms around each other's waists and run under the arch formed by the clasped hands, singing this song. The last one in the line is caught in the ring made by the lowered arms and asked to select one of two previously arranged things. When he chooses, he is told to get behind one of the leaders whose "name" is the thing selected. This continues until all the players are be- hind one or the other of the leaders. A tug-of-war ends the game. Contributed by Wilnia Foreman. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. London Bridge is broken down, &c. London Bridge is broken down by fairy ladies [ !] Build it up with silver and gold, &c. Silver and gold will be stolen away, &c. Two girls clasp hands and hold them up, and a line of girls passes under. The two catch one of them and ask her whether she would rather be gold or silver. When she chooses, she gets behind the girl representing her choice. The game ends with a tug-of-war. c Contributed by Edna Whitley. No place or date given. London Bridge is broken down, &c. London Bridge is broken down, my fairy lady. Build it up with silver and gold, &c. Gold and silver will be stolen away, &c. spirit of the water is angry at being bridged, and demands sacrifice. It is significant that the prisoner who is caught so opportunely is haled oflf to prison ("Off to prison you must go") despite the fact that he has committed only petty larceny (stolen watch and chain or stolen watch and lost the key). Significant, too, is the excessive price which he must pay for his freedom, tliree hundred to "ten hundred" pounds. Nothing could indicate more clearly that his fate has already been determined and that it is through his sacrifice that the river spirit is to be appeased. The classic example of the foundation sacrifice in balladry is the Greek 'The Bridge of Arta' (Rumanian 'Master Manole') ; the same theme occurs also in a Bulgarian ballad. The following Biblical passage is also pertinent: "In his days did Hicl the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun" (/ Kings, 16: 34). GAMES AND RHYMES I39 Get a man to watch all night, &c. Suppose tlie man should fall asleep, &c. Put a pipe into his mouth, &c. Suppose the pipe should fall and hreak, &c. Get a dog to hark all night. &c. Suppose a dog should meet a bone, &c. Get a cock to crow all night. &c. _ Two players hold hands and raise them over their heads and sing while the rest pass between them under their arms. The two holding hands name themselves something. As the others pass along, they catch them and compel them to choose between the two. The game ends with a tug-of-war between the two groups. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught. Taylorsville, c. 1928. Reported from Alexander county. Stanza i of A, with "broken down" for "fall- ing down." Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney, Raleigh. Reported from Wake- county. London Bridge is burning down, burning down ; London Bridge is burning down, burning down ; What shall we do to save it ? London Bridge is burning down, burning down ; What shall we do to save it ? Contributed by Lida Page. No title given. Reported from Durliain county. First two stanzas of A, with "broken down" for "falling down." Contributed by Marjorie Rea. No title. Reported from Craven count}. No date given. First two lines of A. Contributed by Martha Wall, c. 1940. From Davidson county. A frag- ment of A. I Contributed by Ella Parker, Montgomery county. Vaught te.xt. 140 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE J Contributed by Dixie Lamm, Wilson county. Vaught text. SEE THE ROBBERS Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. A variant of 'London Bridge.' See the robbers coming through, Coming through, coming through ; See the robbers coming through, My fair lady. Here's a prisoner we have caught. What'U you take to set her free? A hundred pounds we cannot give. Then to prison she must go. Let her go, we do not care, &c.^'* This game is played exactly like 'London Bridge' except that the players do not choose which side they will be on. Two girls form an arch, with their clasped hands, and the others march through it, singing the above verses to the same tune as 'London Bridge.' The verses are sung alternately by the girls who form the arch and those marching. At the end of the first verse, a player in the line is caught in the encircling arms of the arch ; and her captors sing the second verse, the marchers the third, and so on. On the sixth verse, she goes behind one or the other of the girls who have formed the arch. Wlien all are lined up, there is a tug-of-war. OPEN THE GATES A 'Sun and Moon.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Raise the gates as high as the sky, And let all the king's horses come marching by. Two children clasp hands and raise them to form an arch. The others line up and march under, singing. Each player caught was allowed to choose either the sun or the moon, which were the names of the two holding up their arms. Then the one who had chosen got behind either the sun or the moon. When all were lined up, a tug-of-war followed. '* It will be noted that these lines are an important part of the game which has been lost from the 'London Bridge' texts above. GAMES AND RHYMES I4I B 'Raise the Gates.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Raise the gates as high as the sky To let King Geofge's troops pass by. This is much Hke "London Bridge.' Two children join hands and lift them as high as they can ; the others pass under the "gates." The last child in line is caught and asked to choose wiiich he wants, gold or silver. He chooses, and gets behind the child whose name he has selected. The game closes with a tug-of-war. c 'Silver and Gold.' Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No place or date given. Two leaders face each other, join hands, and hold them high. The rest march under while the leaders say : Lift up the gates as high as the sky, And let King George's army pass by. Give him a lamp to light him to bed ; Give him a hatchet to chop ofif his head."^^ They lower their arms at the word "chop," and catch a player. Then then whisper to him, "Which would you rather be, silver or gold ?" He makes his choice, and is put behind the leader of the group of his preference. Then follows a tug-of-war between the two grotips. No title given. Contributed by Mary Olivia Pruette. From Mecklen- burg county. Raise the gates as high as the sky And let King George's army go by. Give him a light to light him to bed ; Give him a knife to cut off his head. No title given. Contributed by Lida Page. Nelson. Reported from Dur- ham county. Hold the gates as high as the sky And let King George's army pass by. Here's the candle to light him to bed ; Here's the hatchet to cut off his head. ** This second couplet belongs, of course, to 'Oranges and Lemons.' 142 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE F No title given. Contributed by Nina Mclnnis. No place or date given. Raise the gates as high as the sky ; Let King George's army pass by.^® DRAW A BUCKET OF WATER See Gomme, i, 100-108; 11, 418; Newell, pp. 90-91; Bancroft, pp. 263-264; JAFL, XL, 15-16. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version obtained in Cald- well county. "I have seen it played also in Avery, Buncombe, Mitchell, and Rutherford counties." Draw a bucket of water For the Lady's daughter ; One baboon and a silver spoon. And so Miss creep under. Variants: A silver ring and a golden pin A silver spoon and a dish of gold. Four girls cross hands and pull against each other in time to the song. On the fourth line, one girl "creeps under" the clasped hands of the opposite couple. The game continues until all four are encircled by their opponents' arms. Then there is an effort to break the clasp, usually ending in a "dogfall." No title given. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. Re- ported from Durham county. Draw a bucket of water For my lady's daughter ; Jennie come around "Other texts and fragments were contributed by Martha Wall (Mc- lnnis text). Alma Irene Stone (Mclnnis text), Esther Royster (Page text), Flossie Marshbanks (Stone text = Mclnnis text), Marjorie Rea (Pruette text), E. V. Howell (Mclnnis text, with "h'ist" for "raise"). The Bushmen of Africa have a very similar game. In his "Games, Plays, and Dances of the khomani Bushmen" (Bantu Studies, x, 463). Doke writes : "This game, played more particularly by the girls, though small boys also participate, is almost identical with the European game of 'Oranges and Lemons.' Two girls face one another and sing as each strikes the palms of her hands against those of the other. . . . Mean- while the other girls in a long line holding on to one another dance round and pass between the two girls and beneath their upraised hands. The last on the line is usually caught by the two. who question her. She replies either 'I come behind the sun' or 'I come behind the moon,' and on her choice she takes her stand behind one or other of the two. This goes on until all the players are accounted for, when the usual tug-of-war ends the game." GAMES AND RHYMES 143 With a silver spoon And draw Miss under, c 'Draw a Bucket of Water.' Coutribiitecl l)y Doris Overton. Reported from Durham county in 1920. Draw a bucket of water For my darling daughter. One in the bush, Two in the bush ; Please let conic under. HERE I BREW AND HERE I BAKE See Newell, p. 90. This is another form of 'Bull in the Ring-,' which has no rhyme. The latter is not represented in the present collection, though Airs. Sutton mentions it as a very rough game played by boys and writes of having collected it in Tyrrell county. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. A group of children form a ring by clenching their fingers together. One child in the center throws himself against the ring, saying: Here I brew and here I bake ; Here I make my wedding cake : Here I break through. If the first attempt is unsuccessful, he tries to break out at another point. When he is successful, the player whose hold he broke takes his place in the center. IT SNOWS, IT BLOWS Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. In this version of 'Here I Bake,' the child in the center approaches the ring and says : It snows, it blows, it freezes my nose ; So please, little girl, let me come in. I'll light my pipe and warm my toes. And then I'll go home again. Then when he has "lighted his pi])e and warmed his toes," he tries to get out by throwing himself against the ring. PULLING SWAG For Other versions of this game, see Gomme, 11, 222 ('Sweer Tree'); FL, xvii, 218; Maclagan, p. 234 ('Ceapan Togail') ; Kris- tensen, No. 3600; Stoylen, No. 133. 144 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'Pulling Swag.' Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Reported from Watauga county about 191 4. Two players sit on the ground, the bottoms of one's feet against those of the other. With both hands, they hold to stick crosswise between them. Each player tries to pull the other up from his seat. 'Pulling Stick.' Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in central and eastern N. C., 1926-28. Two boys are seated on the ground, with a stick crosswise between them. Each takes hold of the stick with both hands and tries to draw the other up. GAMES OF SMALLER CHILDREN FROG IN THE MIDDLE For Other versions, see Gomme, i, 145 ; Shearin and Combs, p. 38; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 130; Bot- kin, p. 28; JAFL, LX, Z2. A 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. Alexander county. Players form a ring, with one child in the middle. The rest march around with their eyes closed, singing: Frog in the meadow, Can't get out ; Take a little stick And stir him all about. This is sung twice, and during this time the frog hides. When the second verse is finished, the players open their eyes and exclaim : "Froggie's gone ! Let's go find him." Then they hunt for the frog, who tries to catch them. The first one caught becomes the frog for the next game. 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Cozette Coble. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. Frog in the meadow can't get out ; Take a little stick and stir him all about. Hide, froggy, hide; hide, froggy, hide; Froggy 's gone ! GAMES AND RHYMES 145 Players form a ring and put one child in the center. All shut their eyes and sing while marching slowly around him. The frog hides during the singing. When the players reach "Froggy 's gone!" they start in search of him. c 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contril)uted by Maude Miiiisli Sutton, c. 1927. l*"rog in the meader, Can't get out ; Take a little stick And stir him all aljout. The children form in a ring and go around one of their num- ber who is squatted in the center. They rej^eat the rhyme several times, then suddenly break the ring and run around, .saying "Froggie ! Froggie !" The frog tries to catch them, but if they squat and begin hopping, he must leave them alone. The game continues until all are caught ; the first child caught becomes froggie for the fcjllowing game. 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Pearl Webb. Pineola. Collected in Pineola about 1921. With music. Players form a ring, with one member in the center for the frog. Those in the ring go around with their eyes closed, singing : Frog in the meadow, Can't get him out ; Take a little stick And stir him about. During the singing, the frog hides. The others then proceed to hunt him. When they locate him, he tries to catch them. He cannot catch them unless they are standing. 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Merle Smith. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. Frog in the meadow can't get out ; Take a little stick and stir him all about. Hide, froggie. hide ; hide, froggie. hide. The children form a ring around some member of the group. All close their eyes, skip around her, and sing. Then they open their eyes and say, "Froggie is gone." Then they hunt until they find him. When he is discovered, he chases them but N.C.F., Vol. T. (11) 146 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE cannot catch them when they stoop. They are permitted to stoop three times in a game.^^ 'Frog in the Middle.' Contributed by Mamie Cheek, Durham. From Durham county. Frog in the middle, And he can't get out ; Take a httle stick And punch him out. The group forms a circle. One in the center is the frog. While the ring marches around him singing, the frog runs out and hides. G No title. Contributed by Allie Ann Pearce, Colerain. Reported from Bertie county. Frog in the middle can't get out ; Frog in the middle can't get out ; Send for the doctor to punch him out. One, two, three, four, he's gone. H 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Eva Furr. Reported from Stanly county. Frog in the meadow and to get him out, Take a little stick and stir all about. 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Katherine Bernard Jones, Raleigh. Vaught text. 'Frog in the Meadow.' Contributed by Flossie Marshbanks, Mars Hill. Vaught text. FARMER IN THE DELL See, for other texts and descriptions, Gomme, 11, 420 ('Farmer's Den'); Chase, p. 35; Newell, p. 129; PTFLS, i, 26; Ford, Tradi- tional Music of America, p. 264; Hofer, p. 20; Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, vi, 3; Bohme, p. 673; American Anthropologist, O.S., I, 254 (The Man in the Cell'); SFQ, vi, 186; FL, xvi, 96 ('Farmer's Den') ; Douglas, p. 37 (as a rope-skipping game) ; Ban- croft, p. 265; Wolford, pp. 42-43; Botkin, pp. 29, 97, 100; Brown and Boyd, p. 16; Gomme, Children's Singing Games, p. 14; JAFL, ^' Cf. 'Squat Tag,' p. 74. GAMES AND RHYMES 147 II, 310; LX, 23; Fauset, Folk-Lorc from Nova Scotia (MAFLS, xxiv), p. 128; Linscott, p. 7. Haddon (Tlic Study of Man, p. 267) gives a Swiss version with the "Hurrah Viktoria" refrain. 'Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. The farmer in the dell ; The farmer in the dell ; Hi oh the dairy oh, The farmer in the dell. Series: wife, child nurser [sic], dog, cat, rat, hone. This is a ring game in which one child is chosen to be the farmer. The others march around him singing. As each verse is sung, one child is chosen. The "bone" becomes the farmer for the next game. This game is widespread. We did not talk to any child, white or black, who was not familiar with it. 'Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by J. T. C. Wright, Appalachian Training School, Boone, c. 1922. A ring is formed, with one player in the center. Those in the ring dance around and sing. As each stanza is sung, the one in the center calls in someone from the ring. The one last selected becomes the next "farmer." The farmer's in the dell, The farmer's in the dell; Highho ! Victoria ! The farmer's in the dell. Series : wife, child, nurse, dog, bone. c 'Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by Cornelia Evermond Covington. Florence county. Farmer in the dell. Farmer in the dell ; Heigh-ho Valeria The Farmer in the dell. Series: w-ife, child, nurse, dog, cat, rat (stands alone). D 'The Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by Edna Whitley. No place or date given. Seven stanzas; 1-5 as in Covington text, with refrain "Heigho the dairy-o." 6. The dog takes the bone, &c. 7. The bone stands alone, &c. 148 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The children form a circle, hands joined. The "farmer" is in the center. The circle moves around him, and he makes his choices as the verses direct. Each child chosen enters the cen- ter of the ring. As they sing the last verse, all clap their hands and all but the "bone" return to the ring. He is the "farmer" for the next game. E 'The Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, c. 1928. Alexander county. Children form a ring, with one in the center to be the farmer. As they sing the stanzas, different children are chosen by the ones inside the ring. When the last stanza is reached, all stop marching around and clap their hands at the "bone." Then the "bone" becomes the farmer, and the game continues. The farmer in his dell, The farmer in his dell ; Heigho the dairy And the farmer in his dell. Series: wife, child, dog, bone (alone). 'Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by Lucille Bullard. Reported from Robeson county in 1916. Covington 1-5 and Whitley 6, with "choose" for "takes" and "Heigho, fairy Oh!" for refrain. This game is played by the little children's joining hands and marching around in a circle as they sing this song. Someone in the middle who has been chosen farmer by a counting-out rhyme chooses the wife by pointing to her. The choosing con- tinues until all persons the game calls for are inside the ring. 'The Farmer G in the Dell.' Contributed by Lucille Cheek, from Chatham county. The farmer in The farmer in I have a story The farmer in the dell, the dell ; for the dell. 1923. Text Series : wife, child, nurse, dog, cat, rat, cheese. H 'The Farmer in the Dell.' Contributed by T. R. Waggoner, Atlanta, Ga. Text contributed in 1922; no source given. Five stanzas; 1-5 of Cov- ington text, with "Heigho Victoria." GAMES AND RHYMES I49 Couples take hands, form a circle, and march around the "farmer" in the center. They skip around, singing the song. The farmer chooses the wife; the wife chooses the child. &c. When the "dog" is chosen, they all clap their hands in his face. I 'The Farmer's in His Den.' Contril)iited by Etiiel Hicks Buffaloe. Texi from Granville county. The farmer's in his den ; the farmer's in his den ; O, hail victory ! for the farmer's in his den. Series: wife, child, servant, dog, hone (stands alone). J 'The Farmer's in the Dell.' Gmtributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No date given. The children form a ring, with one in the center for farmer. Then they join hands and march around him, singing : The farmer's in the dell ; the farmer's in the dell ; Hooray, Victorious, the farmer's in the dell. Series: wife, child, nurse, dog, cat, rat, cheese (alone). When all have been drawn into the center of the ring, they clap hands and disband. K No title. Contributed by Marjorie Rea. Reported from Craven county The farmer in the dell, The farmer in the dell ; Heigh ho the dairy O The farmer in the dell. Series: wife, child, nurse, dog, bone. No title. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. Reported from Durham county. The farmer's in the dell. The farmer's in the dell ; Loamiteria The farmer's in the dell. Series: wife, child, nurse, dog, bone. ISO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'Farmer's in the Dell.' Contributed by Martha Wall, c. 1941. Reported from Davidson county. Farmer's in the dell, Farmer's in the dell ; Hi — o — Victoria The farmer's in the dell. Series : wife, child, nurse, dog. RING AROUND THE ROSY See Gomiiie, 11, 108 ff. ('Ring a Ring o' Roses') ; Newell, p. 127; Whitney and Bullock, p. 144; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 222; SFQ, VI, 205; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 253; JAFL, XXVI, 139; XXXI, 57; xxxiii, 1 19-120; xl, 25; Botkin, p. 28; Northall, p. 360; JAFL, xxxiv, 38; lx, ^2; Linscott, p. 49. A 'Ring Around a Rosy.' Contributed by Clara Hearne, 1922-23. Reported from Chatham county. Players form a circle, holding each other's hands, and march around a child in the center, singing: Ring around a Rosy, A pocket full of posy ; East, West — stoop ! The last one to stoop takes the place of "Rosy," who is in the center of the circle. 'Ring Around the Rosy.' Contributed by Airs. Norman Herring, Toma- hawk. No date given. All join hands and march around, singing : Ring around the rosy. Pocket full of posy ; ^* Other texts and fragments contributed by Louise Bennett (Coving- ton text, except "Victorio'' for "victoria," "chooses" for "takes," and "the dog stands alone") ; Lois Johnson (Covington text 1-6; Whitley 7; "Hi o victoria" refrain); Marguerite Higgs (seven stanzas; "his dale" for "the dell" and "Heigh-ho Valeria") ; Louise Watkins (seven stanzas; Peterson text, with "Heigh ho Valeria" for "Loamiteria") ; Irene Thomp- son (Covington 1-7, with refrain "Hi Oh, Victorio") ; AUie Ann Pearce (Covington text, with "The farmer O the fairy O" for "Heigh-ho Vale- ria") ; Minnie Stamps Gosney (Wall text, witli "victory" for "victoria" and "dog chooses a bone") ; Caroline Biggers (Covington text, with "chooses" for "takes" and "the farmer O the fairy O" for "Heigh-ho Valeria") ; Mary Olivia Pruette (Covington text, with "High o'er Vic- toria" for "Heigh-ho Valeria"); Florence Holton (four stanzas; "High O Victoria" refrain); Dorothy McDowell Vann; Antoinette Beasley. G A M E S A N D R H Y M E S I5I Dewberry, Blackberry, Squat ! Then all sit clown, and the leader asks each child, "Who do you love?" They are not allowed to rise until they answer. One little boy's answer was "God." No title. Contributed by Ada Briggs. Reported from Nansemond county. No date given. Ring around the rosies, Pocket full of posies ; Yeast bread, rise, bread ; Squat ! D No title. Contributed by Marjorie Rea. Reported from Craven county. Ring around a Rosy, Pockets full of posies ; Down goes little Rosy. 'Ring Around a Rosy.' Contributed by Lois Johnson. Reported from Davidson county. Ring around the roses, Pocket full of posies; Hush, hush, hush. And we'll all tumble down. ■Ring Around the Roses.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927- Identical with Johnson text. PUSSY WANTS A CORNER See Gotnme, ii, 88; Newell, p. 256; Strutt, p. 302; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 277 ; iv, 342 (Teton Dakota); Maclagan, p. 211 : Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 248. 'Pussy Wants a Corner.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Each child except one gets a corner. This one wanders from one to another, saying, "Pussy wants a corner." The answer is always "Go to iny next neighbor." As she goes on to the next, the last two players change corners, and "Pussy" tries to slii) into one of them before the owner returns. If she is successful, the child left out becomes "Pussy" for the next game. 1 52 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE MAKING CHEESES For additional versions, see Gomme, ii, 311 ('Turn, Cheeses, Turn'); Maclagan, p. 78 ('Cheeses'). 'Making Cheese.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Obtained from pupils at Horse Creek School. This is a quaint game of little girls. They all sing the rhyme in a sort of chant, turning around as fast as they can. At the end of the rhyme they stoop quickly, trying to make their dresses puff out with the air : Cheese, cheese, piece of lace ; Big round cheeses in the market place ; Costs a penny and a groat ; Put a big cheese under your coat. PEASE PORRIDGE HOT See Newell, p. 132. This is a simple form of 'Chop the Poplar,' a hand-clapping game played by older children. Hawaiian children play a similar game, in which the hand-clapping is accompanied by singing (American Anthropologist, n.s., i, 216). 'Peas Put In Hot.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. From pupils of Horse Creek School. Peas put in hot. Peas put in cold. Peas put in the pot, Nine days old. Two children play this little game by alternately striking their knees with their hands and clapping their hands together. WRING THE DISHRAG Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927, who gives no source for it. This is not a game for the very smallest. Two girls take each other's hands, and with arms raised above their heads, go under their arms as rapidly as they can, con- tinuing until they drop exhausted. VIOLET BATTLES^^ Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Greene as collected in central and eastern N. C, 1926-28. For a more complete description of this game, see Newell, pp. 251-252 ('Violet Fights'). Children lock the heads of violets and then pull to see which of the heads comes off first. ** When I was a child in southern Indiana, we called this game 'Rooster-fighting.' GAMES AND RHYMES 153 POPPY-SHOWS See Newell, pp. 251-252. The name seems to be derived from 'Poppet-show.' 'Pin Shows.' Contributed by Lucille Check. Reported from Chatham county. No date given. As a child. I delighted in niakino^ what we called pin shows. A small hole was dug in the ground, usually in the shade of a tree. This was lined with moss and filled with blossoms of various kinds. A glass was carefully fitted over the top, and then a paper. One paid a pin to see the show, and then the paper was lifted. ROTTEN EGGS Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. A child squats on the ground, hands clasped under the knees. Two others take hold of her arms and shake her up and down. If she lets loose, she is "a rotten egg." SAIL THE SHIP See Newell, p. 170. Hunt and Cain (Games the World Around, p. 138) give a version from India. Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Two girls clench each others fingers, brace their feet against each other, and whirl rapidly around, moving their feet as little as possible from the original position. ELIMINATION GAMES MARCHING TO JERUSALEM This game belongs to the same general type as 'Fruit Basket Upset' and 'Musical Chairs.' For a version of the latter, see Gomme. 11, 408. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. A line of chairs is placed in the middle of the room, half of them facing one way and the rest facing another. A line of children marches around them to a tune played on some instru- ment, patted, or sung. Suddenly the nuisic stops. As it stops, each child tries to sit in a chair. There is always one player left out. and he has to leave the game. One chair is then removed from the line, and the game continues in this way until there is only one child left. He is the winner. 154 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE See Acker, p. 142; Boyd, p. 116; Hedges, p. 27. Contributed by Grace Barbae. Description of the game obtained in Stanly county. A dozen or more may play this game. Get half as many chairs as there are players, have someone sitting in all the chairs except one, and let the others stand behind the chairs. The player standing behind the empty chair winks at one of the seated players, who then makes a dash for the empty chair. The player standing behind the chair in which he is sitting tries to prevent his leaving. DANCING GAMES For other versions, see Gomme, i, 29 ff. ; FLJ, v, 58 ; FL, xxxv, 263; Journal of the Folksong Society, v, 219; JAFL, xxxiii, 93- 94; XL, 37. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Obtained in Stokes county, where "it is a sort of dance, not unlike the Virginia Reel." There was a farmer had a dog ; Bingo was his name, sir. B-i-n-g-o go ; B-i-n-g-o go ; Bingo was his name, sir. One child is the farmer. The rest dance around him, sing- ing the above verse. As the spelling begins, the farmer points his finger at different children, who are expected to call the right letter. If one fails, he becomes farmer. B Contributed by Katherine Mack. Reported from Davidson county. No date given. Each boy chooses a girl to be his partner. The game begins with the couples marching around in a circle and singing : Once a farmer had a dog ; Bingo was his name, sir ; B-i-n, g-o, go ; B-i-n, g-o, go ; Bingo was his name, sir. GAME S A N I) R II Y M E S I55 The first time this is suiifi^, the couples march. At the end of the first singing, they all join hands and dance around the circle, singing the words again. The third time the song be- gins, the lx)ys turn, give the girls on their left their right hands. Weaving in and out with a swing, they sing the verse through, and the game starts again. c Contributed by Jessie Hauser. This version ol)taine(l liy her in Forsyth county in 1923. All the players join hands and march arcjund in a ring, singing: Once a farmer had a dog; Bingo was his name, sir. B-i-n-g-o, go, B-i-n-g-o, go ; B-i-n-g-o, go, Bingo was his name, sir. They then weave in and out, half going one way and half the other, still singing. Then they march around by twos, and finally clasp hands and start at the first again. GOING DOWN THE RAILROAD Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Obtained from the play- ing of Negro children in Forest City. Goin' down de railroad Do — do — do Sally won't you marry ? Do — do — do Ole Miss Kujer goin' to twine all around ; Ole Miss Kujer goin' to twine all around ; Ole Miss Kujer goin' to twine all around ; Do — do — do Goin' down de railroad Do — do — do Lady ain't you sorry ? Do — do — do Ole Miss, &c. This purely Negro game is played by couples ijromenading on the first two lines, stopping and facing each other on the third and fourth lines, then doing an intricate little dance step on the chorus as they turn each other "wid de grapevine swing." The children from whom we collected this were hardly more than pickaninnies ; one little couple was entering into the game with great spirit and the pantomime was delightful. The dozens 156 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE of pigtails with white string on the girl's head fairly snapped as she shook her head in reply to the "Sally won't you marry?" LOOBY LOO See Gomnie, i, 352 ff. ('Lubin') ; Newell, p. 131 ; Billson, p. 64; Chambers, p. 137; FLJ, v, 326; FL, xvi, 459; Collins, p. 12; Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, vi, 6; Douglas, p. 41; Pound, pp. 225-226: JAFL, XXVIII, 273-274; XL, 18-19; XLix, 254-255; LX, 43; Graves, The Less Familiar Nursery Rhymes, p. 26; North- all, p. 361. 'Looby Lou.' Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. This ver- sion from Negro children. I put my right foot in ; I put my right foot in ; I give my right foot a shake, shake, shake, And turn my body about. Here we dance Looby Lou ; Here we dance Looby Light; Here we dance Looby Lou Every Saturday night. I put my left foot in, &c. This game, which may be of recent origin, is very popular. Children play it in the schoolyards, but they also play it in their own yards, on sidewalks, and on vacant lots. It is much more popular with girls than with boys, and is particularly popular with Negro children. In the late afternoons and early evenings after a long day of picking or chopping cotton, they play it, giving to its air the minor cadences and peculiar lilt of Negro folk music. 'Looby Lou.' Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Alexander county. Here we go. Looby Lou ; Here we go, Looby Lou ; Here we go, Looby Lou ; All on a Saturday night. Players march around very fast as they sing the stanza above. When it is finished, they stand still and sing the following stanzas, suiting their actions to the words : I put my right foot in ; I put my right foot in ; GAMES AND R H Y M E S I57 I give my right foot a shake, shake, shake, And turn myself about. Sequence ; left foot, right hand, left hand, whole self. At tlic close, the first stanza is repeated while the players skip around in a circle. 'I Put My Right Foot In.' Contributed by Zilpali Frisbie, 1922-23. From McDowell county. The players form a circle, and one sings while the rest stand still. She performs each action as she sings. 1 put my right foot in ; I put my right foot out ; I give my right foot a shake, shake, shake. And turn myself about. Then she joins hands with the others, and they dance around, singing : Right feet in, right feet in ; Give our right feet a shake, shake, shake. And turn ourselves about. Sequence: left foot, right hand, left hand, cocoanut [head?], whole self. Chorus: Roven. Roven. Roven ; Roven. Roven. Roven ; Roven, Roven. Roven, Sweet Saturday night. No title. Contributed by Mary Olivia Pruette. Charlotte. Three stanzas (right foot, left foot, left hand). Reported from Mecklenburg county. 'I Put My Right Foot In.' Contributed by Mildred Peterson, c. 1923. From Bladen county. Pruette text without refrain and with "big head" for "cocoanut." MISCELLANEOUS GAMES WRAP JACKET The only reference I have been able to find to this game is Folk- Lore, XII, 141, in which is given an Arawak version of the game from Guiana. 158 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Two boys are matched for this game. They cut long limber switches, clasp left hands, get into a ring together, and switch each other until one is ready to give up. They often inflict bad punishment upon each other. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in central and eastern X. C, 1926-28. Two boys cut switches, clasp left hands, and switch each other until one "calls for the calf rope." ELEVEN UP See Gomme, i, 97; de Cock and Teirlinck, in, 215. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham, c. 1930. Reported from Durham county. This game can be played by any number of players. They stack hands, one on top of another with palms down. The one on the bottom each time is pulled out and put on top until number eleven is reached. Number eleven is taken off. When all the hands except one have been taken off, the person whose hand is left is asked, "Which will you have — Yes or No?" He makes his selection. Then he is asked three questions, to which he must answer "Yes" if he chose "Yes," and "No" if he chose "No." Contributed by William B. Covington, Norfolk, Va. Version collected in 1913. No source given. Players place their hands one on top of the other, drawing out the bottom hand and placing it on top, and counting until eleven have been drawn out. I GOT A PRETTY BIRD (title supplied) Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Obtained from pupils at Roaring Creek School in Avery county. Three little girls sat in a row. A fourth with an acorn cup full of water held it over the head of each and repeated, "I got a pretty bird; what color's yourn?" The first one said blue, the next pink, and the third green. She then repeated the question to each. The first said gray, the next black, and G A M E S A N D R n Y M K S 1 59 she poured the water on the latter's head. The Httle girl on wliose head she poured the water rose, filled the acorn cup with water, and the procedure was repeated. This time the (juestion was repeated eight times, and pink was the right color. WHERE YOU ARE, WHO YOU're WITH, WHAT YOU'rE DOING Contributed by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. - One person goes around and tells eacli player where he is; another tells him with xvhoui he is ; and a third tells him ivhat he is doing. This is all kept secret until each player stands and tells all that he has heen told. horse shoes Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. "There is no village or small town in the South where pitching horseshoes is not a favorite diversion of the men and boys." A peg is driven into the ground, and the players stand a cer- tain distance away and pitch the horseshoe at the peg. The object is to "ring" the horseshoe around the peg. Each local- ity seems to have its own method of scoring. Credit is given for "leaners" as well as for "ringers." HAPPY LAND Contributed by Alaude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. Version obtained from Negro children. I want some peas and I want some rice, Oh Happy Land I want some pretty girl to be my wife, Oh Happy Land. We want a little girl and we want a little boy. Oh Happy Land We want a little girl and we want a little boy, Oh Happy Land. One boy in the ring selects a little girl. She in turn selects a girl and a boy. This boy is in the ring for the next time. The object seems to be to select the players in the ring rapidly, for the game does not stop one moment. The ring goes around one way just as fast as the children can walk. We collected this from a group of Negro children playing in a cabin yard after sundown one summer evening. They played for two hours and played nineteen singing games, all but five of which we had learned from white children. l60 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE COUNTING-OUT RHYMES For counting-out rhymes in general, see JAFL, i, 31 ff. (Turkish, Armenian, Bulgarian, Basque, Swedish, French, German, &c.) ; 11, 52 (Mexican), 235 (Swedish); iii, 71; v, 120 (North Carolina), 148 (Kansas) ; vi, 206; viii, 252, 255 (Canadian) ; ix, 297 (Hun- garian) ; X, 313 ff. (Bohemian, Bulgarian, &c.) ; xi, 208 (Korean) ; XII, 102 (Armenian); xvi, 193 (South Russian Jews); xix ; 113 (Pennsylvania German), 1196; xxvi, 140; xxxi, 41 ff. (Canadian), 150, 157, 521 (Michigan) ; xxxiii, 378; FL, xvi, 207-208, 449-450; XXV, 359; XL, 379; FLJ, I, 384; V, 48; VII, 258; FLR, iv, 175; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 267; n.s., i, 232; n.s., vi, 46-50; Pommersche Volkskundc, iii, 28, 73, 137; iv, 27, 108, 154, 172; V, 47, 63; VI, 108; vii, 39; X, 11; Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Volkskunde, v, 67, 282; vi, loi, 196; vii, 299; viii, 69, 402, 413; XI, 461; Notes & Queries, ist ser., x, 124, 210, 369; Fauset, p. 127; Maclagan, pp. 227 ff . ; Northall, p. 341; Culin, pp. 53-54; Nicholson, p. 306; Newell, p. 197; Billson, p. 68; Loorits, p. 49; Gregor, pp. 169-175; Lewalter and Schlager, p. 57; Bohme, p. 389; Ziiricher, Kinderlieder der dcutschen Schwei::, pp. 202-234; de Cock and Teirlinck, iii, 221; Rolland, pp. 231-253; Addy. pp. 147- 148; Stoudt, pp. 45-53; Johnson, Folk Culture on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, p. 165. The standard work on the subject is, of course, Bolton's The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children. WILLIAM A TREMBLETOE See JAFL, xxvi, 141; xxxi, 41, 150, 526 (Michigan) : liv, 169; SFQ, I, 43-44 (Nebraska) ; PTFLS, vi, 67; Bolton, pp. 3, 102-103. 117-118; Newell, p. 203; Johnson, Folk Culture, p. 165. For 'William a Trembletoe' as a game see pp. 134-137 above. A 'William Trembletoe.' Contributed by J. C. Knox. Reported from Brunswick county. No date given. William, W illiam Trembletoe He's a good fisherman ; Catches hens, puts them in pens; Some lay eggs, some lay none. Wire, briar, limber lock, Three geese in a flock ; One flew east, one flew west, One flew over the goose's nest. O-U-T spells out and begone. You old dirty dish rag. GAMES AND RHYMES l6l No title. Contributed by W. B. Covington in 1913. "Reminiscences of my early youth spent on tlie border of the sand hills of Scotland county." William Tremble Toe He's a good fisherman ; Catches his fish, Puts them in a dish ; Catches his hens, Puts them in pens. Some lay eggs, some lay none. Wire, briar, limberlock ; The clock fell down, The mouse ran around. O-U-T spells out. c 'William Trimbletoe.' Contributed by J. T. Poole, Morganton. Re- ported from Burke county in 1914. William Trimbletoe He's a good fowler ; Catches his hens. Puts them in pens. Some lay eggs, some none ; Underfoot, Specklefool, trij) out and be gone. Wire, briar, limber lock. Three geese in a flock ; One flew east, one flew west, One flew over the cuckoo's nest. W^hite, black, O-U-T spells out. No title. Contributed by Alma Irene Stone. No place or date given. William Trembletoe He's a good fisherman ; Catches hens, puts them in pens. Some lay eggs, some lay none. Wire, briar, limberlock, Sit and sing till ten o'clock. Clock fell down, the mouse ran around; O-U-T spells out and gone. You old dirty dishrag.- ^ A list of other contributors who furnished versions and fragments of this and following rhymes will be found at the beginning of this volume. - This closing line shows great variation : "Begone to the old black stump," "Begone to your old black home," "Begone to the old black dog's house," "O-U-T spells out, you dirty dish of kraut," "To the little red house on the hill." "To your old smoky home at last," &c. N.C.F.. Vol. I, (12) l62 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE EENY, MEENY, MINEY, MO 'See JAFL, i, 33; xxxi, 42, 150, 526 (Michigan); SFQ, iii, 179; FL, XVI, 450 (Scotland); O'Suilleabhain, p. 681; Bolton, pp. 46, 104-106. A Contributed by Maude Alinish Sutton, c. 1927. Eeiiy Meeny Miny Mo Catch a nigger by his toe ; If he hollers, let him go. Eeny IMeeny Miny Mo. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Reported from Alexander county. Eeny, meeny, miney, mo, Catch a nigger by the toe ; If he hollers, let him go. Eeny, meeny, miney, mo. O-U-T spells out, So out you go. Contributed by Nilla Lancaster, Goldsboro. Reported from Goldsbort in 1923. Eanie, meanie, miney, moe. Crack a feenie, finee, foe. Hotcha, potcha, diamond notcha, Ring out Fifty-0.3 Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie. Reported from McDowell county about 1923-24. Eeny, meeny, miny, min ; Catch a nigger by his chin ; If he hollers, make him pay Fifty dollars every day. E Contributed by Lida Page, Nelson. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Eny, meny, miney, mo ; Catch a nigger and bite his toe. * The first three lines of this are identical with those of an Indiana text. The last line of the latter is "Rick, stick, ban, bo." r. A M K S A NO RHYMES 163 If he hollers, let him go. Eny, meny, niiney, mo. Contributed liy I.ucillo Masscy, Diirliani county. Reported from Durham county. Xo date given. luia. mena. miiia. mo; Catch a nigger hy the toe ;^ If he hollers, make him say I'll surrender to the U.S.A.'' G Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. From Rutlierford county. Eeny meeny tipty toe Deena Dinah Doma no O-u-t Spells out you go. ONERY, TWOERV, ICKERY ANN See Bulton, pp. 43-44, 95; O'Suilleabhain, p. 681; SFQ, iii, 179- 180. A Contributed by Katherine Bernard Jones, Raleigh. No place or date given. Onery, oery, ickery Ann Phillison, Phollison, Nicholas John; Query, quory, weary, ivory, Simkam, Somkoni, Buck. B Contributed by Nilla Lancaster, 1923. Reported from Wayne county. Overy, Ivory, Hickory Ann, Fillison. Follison. Nicholas John ; Weenie, wonie, (|ueenie, quonie ; Inklum, sanklum, huck. Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county about 1914-15. Onery, twoery. hick'ry ham, Frillicks and frollicks, Nicholas John ; * Negroes themselves say "Catch a lizard by the toe." ' Children in St. Louis and other cities sang this about the Japanese during the war. See JAFL, Lx, 41. 164 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Sinctum, sanctum, buck. Onery, twoery, ickery Ann, Hollowbone, crack-a-bone, Nicholas John. Sinctum, sanctum, buck. D From an anonymous contributor in Chatham county. No date given. Onery, uery, ickery Ann ; Hallibone, crackabone, Nicholas John ; Queevy, quavy, Irish Mary ; Stingalum, stangalum, Buck. Contributed by I. T. Poole, Morganton. Reported about 1914 from Burke county. Onery, oary, ickery Ann ; Filus, f olus, Nicholas John ; Quevy, quavy, English navy ; Stinkum, stankum, Barnev Buck. Contributed by Nina Mclnnis. No place or date given. Onery hurey hickory ham, Phyllis-e, Phollis-e, Nickless John ; Kever, kiver, Irish Maid ; Skee-dad-lum, Buck. The following rhymes are obviously based upon the above. For other examples, see end of this section. One zall, two zall, zig-zag-zan. Bobtailed lizard in the frying pan. Harem scarem, virgum varum ; Sinctum, sanctum, Washington Buck. One-zol, two-zol, three-zol zan; Bob-tail dominica, tee-toe-tan. Hailum, scailum, words of Baalam. Zinctum, Zanctum, Zuck. One-erzoll, two-erzoll, zickerzoll zan; Bob-tail vinegar, you're the man. MONKEY, MONKEY, BOTTLE OF BEER See JAFL, xxxi, 44, 122, 150 (Canada), 533 (Michigan) ; SFQ, I, 56 (Nebraska); iii, 180; Bolton, pp. 112, 116; Gardner, Folk- lore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 229; Johnson, What They Say in New England, p. 162; Finger, p. 163; Newell, p. 202. GAMES AND R II Y M K S 165 A Contributed by Zilpali Frisliic. Rcpurtcd from McDowell county about 19^2-23. Monkey, monkey, bottle of beer, How many monkeys have we here ? One, two, three ; out goes he, Down to the bottom of the deep blue sea. Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durbam, c. 1928. Rcix)rted from Dur- ham county. First three lines of ./. AS I WENT UP THE CRAZY STEEPLE Contributed by Doris Overton, Greensboro, c. 1922. As 1 went up the crazy steeple, There I met three crazy people. One was black, one was l)lue : One was the color of my old shoe. What color was that ? (The child pointed at supplies the name of a color, and the counting out continues.) B-1-a-c-k spells black ! (The child at whom the counter's finger is pointing when the letter k is reached must go out.) A considerable number of counting-out rhymes begin with "One, two, three," &c. Typical of this type are the following : One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ; All good children go to heaven. When they get there, they will shout "O-u-t!" And that spells out. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ; All good children go to heaven. All the bad ones go below To keep company with Old Pilack Joe. MARY AT THE COTTAGE DOOR For counting-out rhymes beginning with numerals, see JAFL, i, 31; VII, 252 (Canada): x, 314. 319: xxvi, 142 (.South); xxxi, 45-46, 157^ 523-524 (Michigan): xxxviii, 243 (Bermuda); SFQ, I, 4.T. 52, 55 (Nebraska) ; Bolton, pp. 44, 52, 94-96- l66 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie. Reported from McDowell county in 1923-24- One, two, three, four, Mary at the cottage door; Five, six, seven, eight, Eating cherries off her plate. B Contributed by E. V. Howell, Chapel Hill. No place or date given. One two three four, Mary at the closet door, Eating grapes from a plate ; One two three four. ONE, TWO, THREE A Contributed by Martha Wall, Wallburg. Reported from Davidson county in 1941. One, two, three, Mammy caught a flea. Flea died, mammy cried ; Out goes you !^ Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro. Reported from Chatham county in 1923. One, two, three, Out goes he. c Contributed by Lida Page, Nelson. Reported from Durham county. No date given. One, two, star blue ; All out 'cept you. MY MOTHER AND YOUR MOTHER See JAFL, xxxi, 47, 274 (Massachusetts) ; 533 (Michigan) ; XLii, 305 (Massachusetts); xxi, 533 (Michigan); SFQ, i. 55 (Nebraska); iii, 178, 181; JAFL, xxxi, 534 ("My mother told me to take this one") ; Bolton, p. iii (Tennessee). ' Letters are sometimes used instead of numbers : A, B, C, Mamma caught a flea. Flea died, Mamma cried ; A. B. C. C. A M E S AND R II Y M E S 167 Contributed by Mary Olivia Pruettc, Charlotte. Reported from Meck- lenburg county. No date given. IM y nianinia and your maninia were hanging out clothes ; My luainiua hit your mamma right on the nose. Did it hurt ? Yes. Y-e-s spells yes and out you go. B Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, c. 1927. My mother and your mother were hanging out clothes ; My mother hit your mother on her hig nose. \\'hat color was the blood? R-e-d spells red and out goes you. Others in which the mother is a prominent figure are these contributed by Ada Briggs ( Nansemond county) and Minnie Stamps Gosney ( \\'ake county) respectively. The one-line text was contributed by Marjorie Rea (Craven county). My mother went downtown to buy me a new dress : What color was it? (Someone guesses a color) B-l-u-e spells blue and ()-u-t spells out. My mother sent me to town to buy her a new dress ; What color do you like best? (Someone names a color) R-e-d. &c. IMy mother told me to put you out.'^ REE, BEE, BUMBLEBEE See Bolton, pp. 93, 117; SFQ, i, 61 (Nebraska); in, 179. Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney, Raleigh. Reported from Wake county. No date given. Bee, bee. bumblebee. Stung a man upon his knee ; Stung a pig upon his snout. I declare if you ain't out. CUPS .^ND S.AUCERS Contributed by Mary Scarborough. Wanchesc. Reported from Dare county, c. 1923. Cups and saucers, plates and dishes ; My old man wears calico breeches. '' An Indiana version is "My mother told me to take this one." l68 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Does your old man do so ? Y-e-s spells yes and out you go. ENGINE, ENGINE, NUMBER NINE See JAFL, xxxi, 44, 150, 531 (Michigan) ; SFQ, i, 56 (Nebraska); iii, 180; Bolton, p. iii. Contributed by Carl G. Knox, Leland. Reported from Brunswick county in 1925. Engine, engine, number nine, Running on Chicago Line ; When she's polished, she will shine. Engine, engine, number nine. The same contributor furnished the following counting-out rhyme : Nigger, nigger, come to dinner, Half -past two ; Fried potatoes, alligators. Out goes you ! RED, WHITE, AND BLUE Contributed by Aura Holton, Durham. Reported from Durham county about 1924. Red, white, and blue ; Your father's a Jew. Your mother's a cabbage head. And out goes you. ACKER BACKER Contributed by Lucille Massey, Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Acker, backer, soda cracker, Acker, backer, boo. If your daddy chews tobacker. He's a dirty Jew. Typical of the counting-out rhyme composed entirely of non- sense words and syllables are the following contributed by Clara Hearne (Chatham county. 1923), E. V. Howell (Chapel Hill), and Paul and Elizabeth Green (eastern and central N. C, 1926-28) : Ana, mana. dippery dick, Delia, dolia. dominick. Hotcha potcha dominotcha, Hy, pon, tus. GAMES AND RHYMES I69 Henry, nienry, depree, dee; Dealgo, dolgo. dominee. Hotelier, potcher, diamont notcher, High pon tusk. Ibbity, bibbity, zibbity, zab ; Ibbity, bibbity. knabe. GAME RHYMES ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE See Gonime, ii, 195 (played with shuttlecock) ; Gregor, p. 20; Northall, p. 48; Bolton, p. 14 (Armenian), 16 (Malagasy), 18 (Italian), 20 (German); Lewalter and Schlager, p. 60; Hyatt, p. 650; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 272; JAFL, lvi, 109 (Iowa) ; FLJ, VII, 255; FL, XXV, 357; XXVII, 413; SFQ, iii, 178; Douglas, P- 34- As Miss Leah Yoffie has pointed out in a recent number of the Journal of American Folklore (i-X, 30-31), this is a chanted accom- paniment to a ball-bouncing game as well as a counting-out rhyme. It appears to have served both purposes in North Carolina. A Contributed by Fawn Watson, Marietta. Reported from Robeson county in 1922. One, two, buckle my shoe ; Three, four, shut the door ; Five, six, pick up sticks ; Seven, eight, lay 'em straight ; Nine. ten. a good fat hen ; Eleven, twelve, roast her well ; Thirteen, fourteen, girls a-courtin' ; Fifteen, sixteen, girls a-fixin' ; Seventeen, eighteen, girls a-waitin' ; Nineteen, twenty, girls aplenty. B Contributed by [Merle?] Smith. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. One twf). buckle my shoe ; Three four, shut the door ; Five six, pick up sticks ; Seven, eight, lay them straight ; Nine ten. big fat hen ; Eleven twelve, who's in the dell? Thirteen fourteen, girls all courtin' ; I/O NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Fifteen sixteen, maids in the kitchen; Seventeen eighteen, girls are waitin' ; Nineteen twenty, my plate's empty. c Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No place or date given. One, two, buckle my shoe ; Three, four, close the door; Five, six, pick up sticks ; Seven, eight, lay them straight. Nine, ten, big fat hen ; Eleven, twelve, dig and delve ; Thirteen, fourteen, gents a-courtin' ; Fifteen, sixteen, maids in the kitchen ; Seventeen, eighteen, ladies a-waitin' ; Nineteen, twenty, goodies aplenty. ONE FOR THE MONEY This rhyme is commonly used to start a footrace, and is known and used by children all over the country. A Contributed by Antoinette Beasley, Monroe. No place or date given. One for the money, Two for the show, Three to make ready. And four for the go. Contributed by Irene Thompson, Mt. Airy. Reported from Surry county. No date given. One for the money. Two for the show ; Three makes ready, And here I go. In this division belong also the rhymes recited by the player who is "It" in a hiding-game, e.g., "Bushel of wheat, bushel of rye, &c." For examples of these, see the section on games. ROPE-SKIPPING RHYMES See JAFL, xlii, 305-306 (Massachusetts) ; XL, 41; xli, 5/6-577; XLVii, 383 (Pennsylvania); xxxix, 82 (New York); lii, 119 (Iowa); American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 267; Maclaj^an, p. 227; Hyatt, p. 653; JAFL, lviii, 125; lx, 29; Douglas, p. 27. GAMES AND RHYMES I7I CINDRRKLLA For Other texts of tliis rhyme, see JAFL, xi.vii, 385-386 (Penn- sylvania) ; SFQ, 1, 49-50 (Nebraska); iii, 173; CI'LQ, 1, 377. Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durliani. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Cinderella dressed in yellow, Went uptown with a green tnnbrella. She walked so slow She met her beau ; He took her to the picture show. How many kisses did he give her? (Count until there is a miss.) LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE Other texts will be found in JAFL, xlvii, 385 (Pennsylvania) ; SFQ, I, 61 ; III, 176, 181 ; Bolton, p. 117. Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Last night and the night before, A lemon and a pickle caiue a-knockin' at my door. I went downstairs to let them in ; They hit me on the head with a rolling pin, And they said : Lady Moon, Lady Moon, turn around ; Lady Moon, Lady Moon, touch the ground; Lady Moon, Lady Moon, show your shoe; Lady Moon, Lady Moon, how old are you? (Count until there is a miss.) Contributed by Ada Briggs. Reported from Norfolk county. No date given. Last night and the night before, Twenty burglars at my door ; I went to the door to let them in. And they stabbed me with a golden pin. ASKED MY MOTHER FOR FIFTY CENTS See JAFL, xliv, 434; lviii, 125 (New York); lx, 48; White, p. 249; Hyatt, p. 646. Contributed by Jessie Hauser, Pfafftown. Reported from I*"orsytb county about 1923. 172 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE I asked my mamma for fifty cents To see the elephant jump the fence; He jumped so high he touched the sky And didn't get back till the fourth of July. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Reported from Alexander county. Went to a show and paid five cents To see the elephant jump the fence; He jumped so high he reached the sky And never got back till the Fourth of July. CHARLIE CHAPLIN WENT TO FRANCE See SFQ, iii, 175 (Indiana) ; JAFL, xlvii, 386 (Pennsylvania). Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Charlie Chaplin went to France To teach the ladies how to dance; First on heel, then on toe. Then cross your legs and out you go ! AS I WENT UP THE SILVER LAKE Contributed by William C. Daulken, Chapel Hill. Text obtained in Chapel Hill in 1915. As I went up the silver lake, There I met a rattlesnake ; It had eaten so much cake That it made his tummy ache. SALT, PEPPER, VINEGAR Contributed by Mrs. John Carr, Durham. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard. Hot peas !^ CATCHES OR SELLS The object of verses of this type is to cause a laugh at the ex- pense of one of the players. This is usually accomplislied by trick- ing him into saying something which will expose him to ridicule. JUST LIKE ME See Newell, p. 141 ; Johnson, What They Say in New Englund, p, 167; Lewalter and Schlager, pp. 193-194; FLJ, vii, 254; de Cock * This is said while the jumper is gradually increasing her speed. GAMES A N I) R II Y M E S 173 and Teiiiinck, iii, i6i. 340; Rolland, Rijiics ct Jcux dc I'Enfancc, p. 309. Contributed by Gertrude Allen \':uiKlit, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Text from Alexander county. The first and third lines of this verse are said hy the player wishing to cause a laugh, the second and fourth hy the victim. I went to the show- Just like me Saw a little monkey Just like me.-' I ATE (eight) it See Stoudt, pp. 85, 86 ('Ich au') ; Johnson, ]Vhat They Say in Nezi' England, p. 170; O'Suilleabhain, pp. 678, 683; FLJ, vii, 253. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Lines are said alternately, the eighth falling to the player who is to be the butt of the joke. I saw an old dead sheep ; I one it. I two it I three it I four it I five it I six it I seven it I eight (ate) \t}^ APPLE PIE Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. Reported from Wake county. No date given. No directions accompanied this rhyme, hut apparently the lines are all repeated by the .same person. A — apple pie B— baked it C — cut it D — divided it E — eat it F — fought for it G — got it H— hit at it I — eyed it * A version common in the Middlewest has the series "I went upn stairs," "Looked in the mirror," "Saw a little monkey." "With this might be compared the "Pot i o" (Pot 8 0) and "i 1 see" (10 I see) rhymes. The latter, however, are not catches. 174 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE J — jumped at it K — kicked at it L — longed for it M — mourned for it N — nodded at it O — opened it At this point, the speaker skips to Q — quartered it, and the other innocently asks, "Where is P?" The answer is "Not on me." The rhyme then continues : R — run for it S — stood for it T — turned it U — earned it V — viewed it W — wanted it XYZ — got in and run off and eat it. KNIFE OR FORK From an anonymous contributor in Robeson county. No date given. The first speaker takes hold of the other's nose and asks, "Knife or fork?" If the other's reply is "Fork," the first says, "Give it a jerk" and proceeds to do so. If the reply is "Knife," the first speaker says, "Pull it all your life" and gives the nose a hearty puU.^^ ARITHMETIC Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Can you work arithmetic? Yes, sir. All right, get your paper and pencil. All right. A man bought some clothes. First, he bought a hat for $2.00. Put it down. Yes, sir. Necktie, 10 cents. Yes, sir. Collar, 25 cents. Got that down? Yes, sir. Shirt, $1.00. Yes, sir. Pants, $3.50. Got his pants down? Yes, sir. Then kiss his a . "Cf. Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, p. 250 ("Pull It"). (; A M E S A N 1) R H Y M E S 175 TEASING RHYMES IS MAD A'?4^/.*"^^'^' '''''''' '^' (Canada); lviii, 126; .S7-(), iii, nSs; A ] FLQ, 1, 25 ; JAFL, lx, 36. ~ . . j . Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1920-28. johnny's mad and 1 am glad. And I know what it'll take to please him— A bottle o' wine to treat him fine And a pretty little girl to squeeze him.^^ BLACK EYE PIGGY PIE See JAFL, xxxi, 60, 89 (Canada) ; xlvi, 9 (Ozarks) ; lviii 2--,jl (New York City); SFQ, 1, 51, 52 (Nebraska); iii, i8s (Indi- ana); FL. VI 395; Gutch and Peacock, p. 391; Johnson. If hat J hey Say in \ ezv England, p. 49; Bergen, p. 7,7,: 'J-hiselton-Dver, Folklore of U omen, p. 54 (Warwickshire): Northall. p 200 • Fauset p 134; Peacock. A Glossary of Words Used in the Wapen- {?*". ^/ i^«"^0' and Corringham, Lincolnshire (Publications of the h.nglish Dialect Society, 1887), p. 99; Chambers, p. 343. A Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro. Reported from Chatham county Black-eye. pick a pie. Run home and tell a lie. Blue-eyed beauty, Do your mamma's duty. Grey-eyed greedy-gut, Eat all the world up. Brown-eyed banty Lived in a shanty. B Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaugiit. Tavlorsville, c. 1928 Text from Alexander county. Black eye pick a pie. Run home and tell a lie. Blue eyes a beauty Grey eye greedy gut. Open your mouth ; " The version with which I am most familiar has five lines, the fourth bemg 'A bottle of ink to make him stink." The third line is "A bottle of wine to make him shine." Some girl is always named in the last line. 176 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Shut your eyes. Keep your mouth shut And you'll swallow no flies. ^^ TATTLETALE TIT Cf. JAFL, Lviii, 125; NYFLQ, 1, 26; Bergen, p. 27; Hyatt, p. 653- From an anonymous contributor in Robeson county. No date given. Tattletale tit, Your tongue shall be slit, And every dog Shall have a bit. CRY, BABY, CRY With these versions, cf. NYFLQ, i, 28; JAFL, lviii, 125; lx, 36. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Cry baby, cry ; Stick your finger in your eye ; Run home and tell a lie. Yi! Yi! Yi! B From an anonymous contributor. No place or date given. Cry, baby, cry ; Stick your finger in your eye And make the water fly. GOODY GOODY GOUT See JAFL, xxxi. 120, 166; SFQ, in, 185; Hyatt, p. 645. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Giddy, giddy, gout Your shirt tail's out ; Giddy, giddy, gin My shirt tail's in. CROSSPATCH, DRAW THE LATCH Contributed by Susie Spurgeon Jordan. Reported from Transylvania county. No date given. ^^ This last quatrain is out of place ; it properly belongs with the "Smart Aleck" rhymes. GAMESANDRHYMES I// Cross patch, draw the latch, Sit hy the fire and spin ; Take a cup and drink it up And call your neighbors in. let's go to bkd See JAFL, xxxi, 59: SFQ, iii, 185; Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, XI, 7; Hyatt, p. 644. Contributed by Roy M. Brown. No place or date given. "Let's go to bed," Said Sleepy Head ; "Oh no," said Slow. "Hang on the pot," Said Greedy Gut, "And let's have supper Before we go."^* OH, DEAR DOCTOR With this, compare the version in NYFLQ, i, 23. See also New- ell, p. 99 (The Doctor's Prescription'). Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, Forest City, c. 1927. Oh, dear doctor, can you tell What will make poor well ? She is sick and she might die ; That would make poor cry. JOHNNY GET YOUR HAIR CUT See JAFL, lx, 35 (St. Louis) ; LViii, 127 (New York City). Contributed by Martha Wall, Wallsburg. Reported from Davidson county in 1941. Cliicken in the house, rooster on the fence ; Johnny get your hair cut, fifteen cents. BILL, BILL This teasing rhyme, says the collector, is known locally as "whistlin' him off."' For a New York version, see NYFFQ, i. 30-31- Contributed by Maude .Minish Sutton, Forest City, c. 1927. ** The version I know runs as follows : "Let's go to bed," Said Sleepy Head ; "Wait a while," Said Slow. "Put on the pot," Said Greedy Gut ; "Let's eat before we go." N.C.F., Vol. I, (13) 178 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Bill, Bill, stop stick a still ; High ball, low ball, baldheaded Bill. Contributed by Antoinette Beasley, Monroe. Reported from Union county. No date given. Little boy, little boy, who made your britches? Ma cut 'em out and Pa sewed the stitches. Little boy, little boy, where'd you get your knowledge? Some at the free school and some at the college. DERISIVE RHYMES See Northall, pp. 302, 304, 308, 314-315; Newell, p. 97. O LORD ABOVE, LOOK DOWN IN LOVE Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Collected in Watauga county about 1914. O Lord above, look down in love Upon us your little scholars ; We hired a fool to teach our school And paid him nineteen dollars.^^ MONKEY SITTING ON A RAIL Contributed by Irene Thompson, Mt. Airy. Reported from Surry county. No date given. Monkey sitting on a rail. Picking his teeth with the end of his tail ; Mulberry leaves, calico sleeves, Old school teachers are hard to please. Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Reported from Watauga county c. 191 4. " The General Editor comments : "An analogue of this was current in the Statesville Public School when I was there, 1898- 1907, and I quoted it often then, though the superintendent, Professor Thompson, was a friend of our family, and an admirable man : A buzzard flew from East to South With D. Matt Thompson in his mouth ; But when he found he was a fool. He dropped him in the Public School." G A M E S A N U R II Y M E S 1 79 Monkey a-sitting on the end of a rail, A-picking its teeth with the end of its tail Mulberry leaves and calico sleeves, Mr. Teacher is hard to please. MR. A VERY GOOD MAN Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Cf. Chambers, p. 121. Mr. , a very good man, Teaches scholars now and then; When he whips them, makes them dance Out of England into France. NIGGER, NIGGER, NEVER DIE For fragments of a somewhat similar verse, see JAFL, lviii, 125 (New York City) ; lx, 35 (St. Louis). Contributed by Mrs. Pridgen [Durham?]. No place or date given. Nigger, nigger, never die. Big flat nose and a shiny eye ; Mouth as big as a steamboat slip, India rubber nose and lip, lip. Nigger eat scrap iron, yes he do; Nigger he chews glue. DID YOU EVER, EVER, EVER? Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro. Reported from Chatham county about 1922. -^ Did you ever. ever, ever In your life, life, life See a nigger, nigger, nigger Kiss his wife, wife, wife? DIVINATION RHYMES RICH MAN, POOR MAN For other texts, see JAFL, xxix, 529 (New-Mexican Spanish: Pobre, Rico, Mendigo, Ladron, &c.' ) ; FL, xxiv, 81 (plaved with seeds); xlix, 153 (Nebraska); MAFLS, xxix, 148; Simrock, p. l80 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2i8 ('Edelniann, Bettelmann, Doctor, Pastor; Ratsherr, Biirger- meister, Schneider, Major'); Bolton, p. 19 (Dutch), 21 (German and Swiss); Newell, p. 105; Bohme, pp. 184-185 (counting flower petals), 709; Berg-en, p. 42; Johnson, IF hat They Say in New Eng- land, p. 50; Bolton, pp. 91 (German), 120; Dennys, p. 11 ('Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor'). A Contributed by Airs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No date given. Rich man. poor man, beggar man, thief; Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief. Contributed by Lida Page, Nelson. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Rich man, poor man, peddler, tinker. ONE I LOVE See Johnson, IVIiat They Say in Nezv England, p. 52; MAFLS, XXIX, 145; Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, iii, 29; Hyatt, p. 333; JAFL, II, 71 ; XXVI, 373; lx, 26. Usually appleseeds or flower petals are used in the counting. Contributed by Fawn Watson, Marietta. Reported from Robeson county about 1922. One I love, tw-o I love, Three I love, I say ; Four I love with all my heart, And five I cast aw-ay. Six he loves, seven she loves, Eight they both love. Nine they come and ten they tarry ; Eleven they court and twelve they marry. Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No date given. The A version, with slight verbal variations. BLESS YOU, BONNY BEE Contributed by Susie Spurgeon Jordan. Reported from Transylvania county. No date given. Bless you, bless you, bonny bee : G A M E S AND K U V M E S Say when will my wedding be. If it be tomorrow day, Take your wings and fly away. CHARMS LADVHUC, LADYBUG, FLY AWAY HOME See Northall, p. 119; Chambers, p. 201; Bohine, p. 165: Bert^aMi, p. 59; Napier, p. 116; Harland and Wilkinson, p. 70; de Gubernatis, pp. 210-21 1 ; Hyatt, pp. 60-61 ; .Simpson, p. 167; Jones and Kroi)!', The Folk-Tales of the Magyars, p. xx ; American Anthropologist, O.S., I. 270; FL, XLVii, 366; XLix, 31; FLJ, 1, 355 (Magyar). .\ Contributed by Jessie Hauser, Pfafftown. Reported from Forsyth county in 1923. Lady bird, lady bird, fly away home. Your house is on fire ; your children will burn. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home ; Bring me good weather whenever you come. COME, BUTTER, COME See my version in FL, xlvii, 366. As Miss M. Macleod Banks pomts out (FL, XLViii, 217), a medieval text is quoted in Satan's Invisible World (p. 84). Contributed by Louise Bennett. .Middlelnirg. Reported fruin \'aiice county. No date given. Come, butter, come ; Come, butter, come. Peter's waiting at the gate For a little frosted cake. Come, butter, come. I SEE THE MOON Contributed by Lucille Massey. Reported from Durliani county. No date given. I see the moon And the moon sees me ; l82 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE God bless the moon And God bless me. STARLIGHT, STAR BRIGHT Contributed by Elizabeth Janet Black, Garland, c. 1921. Collected in Garland county. Starlight, starlight, First star I've seen tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might Have the wish I wish tonight. NEW MOON, NEW MOON Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No date given. New moon, new moon, moon so bright. Wish I may and wish I might See before tomorrow night Someone who would please my sight. (Turn three times on the left heel and make three wishes.) DOODLEBUG, DOODLEBUG Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Doodlebug, doodlebug. Your house is burning up.^^ FLY AWAY, BUZZARD Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro. Reported from Chatham county in 1922. Fly away, buzzard ; fly away, crow, 'VVay down South where the wind don't blow. ^^ The warning conveyed in this verse is given to the ladybug, not to the doodlebug. In my boyhood in Indiana, one bent over the doodlebug's home, a conical heap of sand or fine dirt with a depression at the apex, and called softly, "Doodlebug, doodlebug, doodle, doodle, doodle." The belief was that the doodlebug would show himself in response either to this or to the invitation "Doodlebug, doodlebug, come and get your supper." Sometimes the doodlebug did actually appear, having emerged probably to learn the amount of damage caused by the speaker's breath against his house. GAMES AND RHYMES 183 OLD BOB WHITE Coiitrihiited by Ella Parker, Mt. Gilead. Reported from Montgomery county. No date given. Old I>ob White, your peas ripe? No, nut quite ; cuine tomorrow night. LULLABIES COME UP, CHARLIE, LEt's GO TO RALEIGH For verses somewhat similar to the following, see Scarhorough, 0)1 the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 145-147. Contributed by Jesse Carpenter, Durham. Reported from Durham county in 1920. Come up, Charlie, let's go to Raleigh To see all the pretty little horses. The black and the bay and the bob-tail gray And all the pretty little horses. hush-a-bye, baby Contributed by Lucille Massey. Reported from Durham county. No date given. Hush-a-bye, baby ; Daddy is near. Mamma is a lady. And that's very clear. BAA, baa, black SHEEP See Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 147- 149, and note comments on pp. 149, 158, and 160. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham, c. 1930. From Dur- ham county. The words and tune of this lullaby have been recorded. Baa, baa. black sheep. Where yo' little lam"? Way down yonder in de valley, Buzzards an' de butterflies pickin' out its eyes, Po' little thing cryin' "Mammy!" Contributed by Jesse Carpenter, Durham. Reported from Durham county in 1920. The A text, with "Where did you leave your lamb?" for second line. 184 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Contributed by Florence Holton, Durham. Reported from Durham county in 1916. The A text, with crow and blackbird for buzzards and butterflies. JOE MONROE Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. Wake county. Cf. Scarbor- ough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 154. Joe Monroe cut off his toe And hung it up to dry ; All the girls began to laugh And Joe began to cry. FINGER RHYMES THE crow's nest See Maclagan, pp. 176-177 (The Crab's Nest'); Chambers, p. 116; FLJ, IV, 143 ('The Corbie's Hole'); FL, xvi, 441; Puckett, P- 55- Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Stick your finger in the crow's nest, The crow is not at home ; The crow is at the back door, Picking at a bone. The crow's at home ! The last line is said when the child's finger is caught in the opening between the fingers of the two hands. Some merely say, "Feed the crow ; he won't bite you." here's my mother's knives and forks See SFQ, i, 55 (Nebraska); iii, 184; FL, xxiv, 78; Gregor, p. 19; Maclagan, p. 138; Chambers, p. 116. Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county c. 1915. Here's my mother's knives and forks (Interlace fingers with the backs of hands together.) GAMES AND RHYMES 185 Here's my motlier's table (Turn fino^ers down, showing smooth level joints on top.) Here's my sister's looking-glass (liring little lingers up and make a point by joining tips.) And here's the baby's cradle. (Bring index fingers to a point and njck hands from side to side.) Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central X. C, 1926-28. That's the lady's forks and knives, And that's the lady's table ; That's the lady's looking-glass, And that's the baby's cradle. JACK AND JIM See JAFL, xxxi, no (Canada); SFQ, iii, 184; Addy, p. 77 ('Peter and Paul') ; Beckwith, pp. 12, 78; Maclagan, p. 224; Halli- well, p. no; American Anthropologist, o.s., i, 270. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Fly away. Jack ; Fly away, Jill. Come back. Jack ; Come back, Jill. (Said with bits of paper on fingers, by which the child is made to believe they have really disappeared.)'' THIS LITTLE PIG See JAFL, xxxi, 59, 114 (Canada); xi.vii, 334-335 (Georp:ia) : FL, xiiii, 108 (Chinese); xxiv, 78; xliii, 257; FLJ, iv, 140; vii, 256; CFLQ, I, 293-294; SFQ, III, 182-183; American Anthropol- ^^ The speaker sticks a piece of black paper on the nail of each index finger. At the first line he extends both fingers, backs up. toward the child. .-Xs he says the third, he raises one hand quickly and then brings it down with the second finger extended and the index finger doubled under so that the bit of paper is hidden. At tlic last line he repeats the raising and lowering of the hand, this time extending the index finger. Missing lines are : Two little blackbirds sitting on a limb (hill). One named Jack, the other named Jim (JiH)- I86 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE ogist, O.S., I, 2/5; Legey, The Folklore of Morocco, p. 171; Gregor, pp. 14-15; IMaclagan, p. 113; Chambers, p. 20; O'Suillea- bhain, p. 681; Johnson, What They Say in Nezv England, p. 184; JFSS, III, 220 (quoted from Canti Popolari Toscani, Florence, 1921). Contributed by Caroline Diggers, Monroe. Reported from Union county. No date given. This little pig went to market ; This little pig stayed home ; This little pig got roast beef ; This little pig got none ; This little pig said, "Wee, wee, wee, I want some." Contributed by Caroline Diggers, Monroe. Reported from Union county. No date given. This little pig says, "I'll steal some corn." This little pig says. "I'll tell." This little pig says. "Where you get it?" This little pig says, "Out o' IMarster's barn." This little pig says. "Wee, wee, wee. Can't get over Marster's barndoor sill." c Contributed by Mabel Ballentine. Reported from Wake county. No date given. This little piggy wants some corn. This little piggy says, "Where you goin' to get it from?" This little piggy says, "Out of the master's barn." This little piggy says, "He hasn't got none." This little piggy says, "Queek, queek. Can't get m the barn door to get a grain of wheat." D Contributed by Nilla Lancaster, Goldsboro. Reported from Wayne county in 1923- Piggy says, "I'll go in daddy's barn." Piggy says, "I'll steal wheat." Piggy says, "Let's do daddy no harm." Piggy says, "I'll tell." Piggy says, "Wee-wee, can't get over the door sill." GAMES AND RHYMES 187 Contributed iiy Sarali K. Watkins. Roixirtcd from Anson county or Stanly county. No date given. This little pig says he wants some corn. This little pig says. "Where you gonna get it?" This little pig says, "Out o' Massa's crih." This little pig says, "I gonna tell Massa." This little pig says, "Quee. ()uee, can't get no corn." F Contributed by Gertrude .^llen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Text from Alexander county. This little pig says, "I'm going to steal wheat." This little pig says. "I'm going to steal meat." This little pig says. "I'm going to steal corn." This little ])ig says. "I'm going to tell." This little pig says, "Queeky, queeky. Can't get over the door sill today." G Contributed by Eleanor Simpson, East Durham. Obtained in Durham in 1923. This text sounds suspiciously modern. This little pig went to China ; To Korea this one ran. This one went to India And this one to Japan. THIS IS THE CHURCH See SFQ, i, 60 (Nebraska); in, 184: Newell, p. 138: Johnson, What They Say in Nezv liuglaud, p. 195; American Anthropologist, O.S., I, 275. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. This is the church. And this is the steeple ; Lift up the roof And see the people. The first position of the hands is the same as the second in 'Here's Mother's Knives and Forks.' At the second line, the index fingers are pointed upward and joined at the tips. At the last two, the hands are turned backs down. l88 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE LET THE PUPPY DOG LICK Contributed by Doris Overton, Greensboro, 1922. Stand back, big dog, And let the puppy lick. Knock first the wrist and then the tips of the fingers on the table in a regular cadence. FINGER NAMES See JAFL, xxxii, 2>77 (South Carolina); li, 84 (Spanish); SFQ, III, 183; FLJ, IV, 136; VII, 256; FL, xii, 79; xvi, 216 (Gaelic); Bealoideas, xi, 194; Stoudt, p. 32; Maclagan, pp. 114- 115; Chambers, p. 20; Northall, p. 10; Rochholz. pp. 99, 544; Bohme, p. 49; Loorits, p. 21 ; Kidd, Saivgc Childhood, pp. 101-102; Johnson, IVhat They Say in Nezv England, p. 185; Kristensen, pp. 14, 16, 17; Chamberlain, The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought, P- 43- The usual Spanish names for the fingers are "the small and pretty child," "the gentleman of the rings," "the foolish and crazy one," "the pot licker," and "the lice killer." The Melanesians say (Ivens, pp. 400-401) "the shriveled one," "the man alongside," "projecting head," "pointer, "i** and "splitter." South Carolina names quoted in JAFL, xxxii, 377 are "Tom Thumb," "Billy Wilkins," "Long Nancy," "Betsy Botkins," and "Little Whisky." With the latter, compare the names in SFQ, iii, 183-184. Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county, c. 1914-15. Say to the fingers, touching the little one first : Littleman Ringman Longman Lickpot Thunibo TICKLING RHYMES For other tickling rhymes, see Johnson, llliat They Say in Nezv England, p. 129; Hyatt, p. 648; Maclagan, p. 7; JAFL, xxxi, 113, 166 (Canada) ; FLJ, iv, 136; vii, 256; Gregor, p. 15; SFQ, in, 183. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, Forest City. c. 1927. " Since the coming of the white man, the native name has been changed to one meaning "rub the toothpaste." GAMES AND RHYMES I89 Old maid, old maid you're sure to be If you laugh or smile when I tickle your knee. Tickle, tickle on your knee ; If you laugh, you don't love me. If you are a lady. As I take you to be, You won't crack a smile When I tickle your knee. Bore a hole, bore a hole ; Stick a peg, stick a peg. Here comes a man With an organ [auger] in his hand; Bore a hole, bore a hole Anywhere you can. EYE WINKER For 'Chin Cherry' and 'Eye Winker' rhymes in general, see JAFL, VI, 21 (with Italian ;uk1 French parallels); xxxi, 113, 165 (Canada) ; FLJ, iv, 134; v. 211 ; SFQ, i, 53 (Nebraska) ; Gregor, p. 14; Chambers, p. 20: SFQ. in, 182-183; Chamberlain, The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought, p. 91 (Sicilian and French). Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From .\lexander county. Eye Winker (touching eye) Tom Tinker (touching other eye) Nose Dropper (touching nose) Mouth Eater (touching mouth) Chin Chopper (tickling under chin) BROW BRINKER Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Brow brinker Eye winker Nose knocker Mouth mocker Chin chopper Kootchy-kootchy-koo (tickle under chin) IpO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE KNOCK AT THE DOOR Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Knock at the door (tap on forehead) Peek in (look into eyes) Lift up the latch (push nose up) Walk in (touch mouth) Take a chair (tickle under chin) ASSEVERATIONS CERTAIN, TRUE Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Certain, true, Black and blue ; Lay me down and cut me in two. Really and truly. ^^ RECITATIONS ME AND MY WIFE AND A BOBTAILED DOG See JAFL, xliv, 430; White, American Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 213, 229. Contributed by Valeria J. Howard, Roseboro. Version from Sampson county. No date given. Me and my wife and a stump-tailed dog Crossed Cane River on a hickory log. The log did break and she fell in ; Lost my wife and a bottle of gin. WENT TO THE RIVER See JAFL, xliv, 435; White, pp. 195, 297; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 184; Hyatt, p. 647; PTFLS, vi, 189. ^^ This was the only rhyme of this type submitted. "Sure as the vine grows round the stump" might possibly have been included in this sec- tion, but it belongs rather in the division of friendship verses. GAMES AND RHYMES IQI A Contributed l)y Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county, c. IIJI 1 went to the river and couldn't get across; I paid five dollars for an old gray horse. I took him to the river and he couldn't swim a lick ; I took him on the other side and heat him with a stick. I went to the river and couldn't get across, Paid five dollars for an old gray horse. I rode him down to the foot of the hill ; And if he hasn't gone away, he's right there still. Contributed by Lucille Cheek. Reported from Chatham county, c. 1924. I went to the river and couldn't get across, Paid five dollars for an old gray horse. Horse wouldn't ride, horse wouldn't swim, And I'll never see my five dollars again. Version sent in by an anonymous contributor. From Chatham county. No date given. W'ent to the river and couldn't get across ; Jumped on a nigger's hack and thought he was a hoss. MISCELLANEOUS Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro. Reported from Chatham county in 1922. Had a little mule, his name was Dandy ; Fed him cake and sugar candy. Had a little mule, his name was Jack; Put him in the stable and he jumped out the crack. Had a little dog, his name was Rover ; When he died, he died all over. Had a little dog, his name was Tough. I think my speech is long enough. 192 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Contributed by Marjorie Rea. Reported from Craven county. No date given. Roses on my shoulders, Slippers on my feet, I'm my mother's darling; Don't you think I'm sweet ? Contributed by Jessie Hauser. Reported from Forsyth county. No date given. I had a little pony, his name was Jack ; I rode his tail to save his back. His tail was black, his belly was blue ; When he ran, he fairly flew. Contributed by W. Q. Grigg, Indian Trail. Reported from Cleveland county c. 1927. Had a little dog, his name was Rover ; He licked the butter till I had to mold it over. Contributed by Allie Ann Pearce, Colerain. Reported from Bertie county. No date given. I had a little wife no bigger than my thumb ; I put her in a cofifee-pot and beat her for a drum. Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Reported from Watauga county c. 191 4. Had an old mule, his name was Jack ; He died with his head in a fodder stack. Contributed by Lucille Cheek. Reported from Chatham county about 1924. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you the fact ; The old cow died in the fodder stack. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you the fact ; Lost my breeches on the railroad track. Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie. Reported from McDowell county 1922-23. I had a little mule, his name was Jack; I rode his tail to save his back. His tail broke off ; I fell off, And that's what gave me the whooping cough. GAMES AND RHYMES I93 Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, c. 1928. Text from Durham county. Had a nuile, and his tiaiiie was Jack ; I rode his tail to save his back. His backl)one l)r()ke, the marrow flew^ ; Get up, Jack, and go on through. Contributed by Dorothy McDowell, Raleigh. No place or date given. I had a little pig, And fed him clover ; When he died. He died all over. Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville, c. 1914. Text from Watauga county. I had five cents And laid it on the fence ; And come shower of rain And ain't seed it since. Contributed by Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk. No place or date given. Here I stand on two little chips ; Come and kiss my sweet little lips. Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro, 1922-23. Text from Chatham county. Here I stand both fresh and fair. Dark brown eyes and curly hair. Rosy cheeks and dimpled chin. One little heart that beats within. Contributed by Martha Wall, Wallburg. Reported from Davidson county, c. 1941. Here I stand all fat and chunky. Ate a duck and swallowed a monkey. Here I stand all black and dirty ; If you don't come and kiss me. I'll run like a turkey. Contributed by Irene Thompson. Mt. Airy. Reported from Surry county. No date given. When I was a little boy About so high. Mama took a little stick And made me cry. N.C.F., Vol. I, (14) ' 194 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Now I am a big boy, Mama can't do it ; Papa takes a big stick And tends right to it. Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie, 1922-23. Text from McDowell county. I know something I ain't gonna tell, Two little niggers in the bottom of the well. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Jerry Hall, he was so small A rat could eat him — hat and all. Amen, Brother Ben Shot a rooster, Killed a hen. Contributed by Cornelia Evermond Covington. Reported from Florence county. Mother, may I go out to swim ? Yes, my darling daughter ; Hang your clothes on a hickory limb And don't go near the water. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Rabbit up a gum stump. Possum up a hollow. Fat gal down at Daddy's house. Fat as she can wallow. Contributed by Aura Holton, Durham, c. 1923. Reported from Dur- ham county. Variants of this rhyme occur in the songbooks of the early black- face minstrels and in later traditional songs of both whites and Negroes. See White, American Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 236-238. I know something I won't tell. Three little niggers in a peanut shell ; One was black and one was blacker ; One was the color of a chaw of tobacker. GAMES AND RHYMES I95 Contributed by Amy Henderson, 1914-15. Reported from Burke county. Little David took a rock no bigger than a l)titton, And killed old Goliath just as dead as any mutton. Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville. Reported from Watauga county, c. 1914. We had a i)ie made out of rye, And possum was the meat, Rough enough and tough enough And more than all could eat. The raccoon has a ring-ed tail, The possum tail is bare; The rabbit has no tail at all But a little bunch of hair.-" Contributed by Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. Police, police, don't get me ; Get that nigger behind that tree. He stole money, I stole none ; Put him in the guardhouse just for fun.-^ JOHN, JOHN, THE BARBER With this verse, compare the New York City text given in JAFL, LViii, 128-129. Contributed by EHzabeth Janet Black, Garland, c. 1921. John, John, the barber. He went to shave his father ; The razor slipped and cut his lip ; It's John, John, the barber. "SMART ALFXK" RHYMES puddin' 'n' tame Cf. the version in NVFLO, i, 22, and note the author's conjecture as to the origin of the phrase. Contributed by Jessie Hauser. Botli texts obtainefi in Fnrsytb county, c. 1923. "For other texts of this widespread rhyme, see JAFL, xliv, 429; White, p. 235; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro FolkSongs, p. 169; Fauset. p. 129; Botkin, p. 241; I-'olh-Say (1930), p. 244. -'' See JAFL. lx, 35. The first line is often "Teacher, teacher, don't whip me" (Bolton, p. 112; SFQ, hi, 178). 196 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE What's your name? Puddin' 'n' tame ; Ask me again And I'll tell you the same. What's your name? Puddin' 'n' tame. Where do you live? In a sieve, GOODNIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT For other versions, see Hyatt, p. 645 ; Maclagan, p. 253 ; CFLQ, II, 161 (Maine). Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Text from Alexander county. Goodnight, sleep tight ; Don't let the bedbugs bite. ASK ME NO QUESTIONS A Contributed by Sadie Smith. No place or date given. Ask me no fiuestions and I'll tell you no lies ; Keep your mouth closed and you'll eat no flies. Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro, 1922-23. Reported from Chat- ham county. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies; Give me some peaches and I'll make you some pies. Contributed by Jessie Hauser, Pfafftown. Reported from Forsyth county in 1923. Where do you live? In a sieve. Who's your mother? Bread and butter. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. How old are you? As old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth. GAMES AND RHYMES I97 FRIENDSHIP VERSES Contributed by Elsie Lampert. No place or date given. When you are married and eating fish, Don't get greedy and eat the dish. When you are married and Hving on tlie hill, Step to the mirror and kiss yourself for me. Contributed by Ethel Hicks BufFaloe. Reported from Granville county. No date given. My mamma told me a long time ago, "Son, don't you marry no girl you know. She'll spend all your money, Sell all your clothes ; Then what will become of you Goodness only knows." Contributed by Mary Scarborough, c. 1923. Text from Dare county. Oh, when you're up you're up, And when you're down you're down ; But when you're only halfway up. You're neither up nor down.-- Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. If you love me like I love you, No knife can cut our love in two. TONGUE-TWISTERS BETTIE BODDIE Contributed by Jesse Carpenter. Reported from Durham county, c. 1920. Bettie Boddie bought some butter, But the butter Ikttie bought was bitter ; Then she bought some better butter To make her bitter butter better. *^ This verse brings back memories of my high-school days, in which I knew it (in somewhat different form) not as a friendship verse but as something quite the opposite, a high-school yell. It ran as follows r When you're up, you're up; When you're down, you're down. When you're up against (name of school), You're upside down ! 198 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE When she bought her better butter, It made her batter better. Tip top tangle tongue ; Say this riddle I have sung. Contributed by Edna Whitley. No place or date given. When a twister a-twisting would twist him a twist, For twisting a twist, three twists he will twist ; But if one of the twisters twist from the twist, The twist untwisting untwists the twist. MISCELLANEOUS RHYMES PATTY-CAKE Contributed by Lucille Alassey. Both texts from Durham county. No date given. Patty-cake, patty-cake, a baker's man ; Pat him and prick him as fast as you can. Pat him and prick him and mark him with "B" ; Bake him in the oven for Billy and me. Patty-cake, patty-cake, bake us a man ; Roll him up, roll him up, put him in the pan. Contributed by Doris Overton, Greensboro, 1922. Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man. Sure I will, Master, as fast as I can. Pat it and prick it and mark it with T, And put it in the oven for Tom and me. Contributed by Zilpah Frisbie, Marion. Reported from McDowell county, c. 1922. Pat a cake, pat a cake, bake us a man ; Roll him, roll him up, throw him in the pan. Roll him up, cross him with T ; Throw him in the oven for Ted and me. Contributed by Marjorie Rea. Reported from Craven county. No date given. Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man ; Beat it and roll it as fast as you can. And toss it in the oven for little Sallie Ann. PEAS PORRIDGE HOT Contributed by .Mildred Peterson. Reported from Bladen county, c. 1922 Peas porridge hot Peas porridge cold GAMES AND RHYMES I99 Peas porrids^c in the pot Nine days old. Some like 'em hot Some like 'em cold Some like 'em in the pot Nine days old. OLD MARIA See SFQ, iir, i8i ('Obadiah') ; JAFL, xliv, 436; xxvi, 143; FL, XX, yy: Addy, p. 147; Coiiiitx Folk-Lorc I (Gloucestershire), p. 144: PTFLS, XIII, 251. Apparendy this rhyme is intended to test the memory of the reciter. I have known of its being used as a rope-skipping rhyme. Contributed by Amy Henderson. 1914-15. Botb versions were obtained in Burke county. Gena Maria fell in the hre ; The fire was so hot she fell in the pot ; The pot was so little she fell in the kettle ; The kettle was so black she fell in the crack ; The crack was so high she fell in the sky ; The sky was so blue she fell in the canoe ; The canoe was so long she fell in the pond ; The pond was so deep she fell in the creek ; The creek was so shallow she fell in the tallow; The tallow was so hard she fell in the lard ; The lard w^as so soft she fell in the loft ; The loft was so rotten she fell in the cotton ; The cotton was so white she stayed there all night. Old Obadiah jumped in the fire ; Fire was so hot he jumped in the pot; Pot was so black he jumped on the rack; Rack was so high he jumped in the sky ; Sky was so blue he jumped in a canoe; Canoe was so shallow he jumped in the tallow ; Tallow was so soft he jumped in the loft; Loft was so rotten he jumped in the cotton; Cotton was so white he jumped out of sight. GRANNY, WILL YOUR DOG BITE? See JAFL, xlvi, 431; White, American Negro Folk-Songs, p. 241 ; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 194. See also White, p. 193, where it appears as the first stanza of the Negro jig-song 'Shortnin' Bread.' NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Contributed by Irene Thompson, Mt. Airy. Reported from Surry county. No date given. Chicken in the bread tray, Scratching up dough. Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no. Contributed by Cornelia Evermond Covington. No place or date given. Chicken in the bread tray, Picking up dough. Come back, chicken, And have a little more. Contributed by Thomas Smith, Zionville, c. 1914. Reported from Watauga county. Briar in yer finger and splinter in yer toe ; Granny, will yer dawg bite ? No, child, no. INSCRIPTIONS Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Text from Alexander county. If this book should ever roam. Box its ears and send it home. Contributed by Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham, c. 1930. Text from Durham county. The rhyme is made from the letters in the word Preface, spelled forward and backward. Peter Rice eats fishes ; Alligators catch eels ; Eels catch alligators ; Fishes eat raw potatoes. The following verse is a parody on the prayer "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on." For another version, see Chambers, p. 149. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. From Alexander county. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Saddle a cat and Lll be gone. GAMES AND RHYMES 20I Contributed by Irene Thompson. Reported from Surry county. No date given. Oh, Mr. Flea, You have bitten me And now you must die. So he cracked his bones On the cold, cold stones, And there he let him lie. SNAKE BAKED A HOECAKE Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county c. 1914. In variant versions this has been in oral tradition as a song among whites and Negroes in the South since the early 19th cen- tury. See White, American Negro Folk-Songs, p. 246. Snake baked a hoecake And set the frog to mind it ; Frog went to sleep. And Lizard come and found it. RABBIT SKIP Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro, 1922-23. Reported from Chat- ham county. Rabbit skip, rabbit hop. Rabbit bit my turnip top. MORE RAIN, MORE REST Contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Durham. Reported from Durham county in 1922. More rain, more rest. All fair weather's not the best. WAKE UP, JACOB Contributed by Dorothy McDowell Vann, Raleigh. No place or date indicated. Wake up, Jacob, day's a-breaking ; Peas in the pot and hoe-cake baking. JIGGERY-BUM Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county in 1915- Jiggery-bum, cider come, Massa give poor nigger some. Two potatoes and dram Make a nigger gentleman. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SHUT YOUR EYES Contributed by Clara Hearne, Pittsboro, 1922-23. Reported from Chat- ham county. Open your mouth and shut your eyes, And I'll give you something to make you wise. Shut your eyes and open your mouth, And I'll give you something that came from the South. Shut your eyes and open your hand, And I'll give you something to make you grand. Contributed in 1945 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, as collected in eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Open your mouth and shut your eyes. And I'll give you a pretty little surprise, Something to make you wise. Contributed by Elsie Doxey, Poplar Branch, c. 1923. Text from Curri- tuck county. Open your mouth and shut your eyes, And I will give you a glad surprise. A MAN OF WORDS AND NOT OF DEEDS See American Anthropologist, o.s, i, 273; Maclagan, p. 131; Nicholson, p. 192 (quoted from Halliwell) ; FL, xx, 78 (as a ball- bouncing' rhyme) ; xxiv, 81. Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county, c. 1914- A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds. When the seeds begin to grow, Like a garden full of snow. \Mien the snow begins to melt, Like a garden full of hemp. When the hemp begins to peel, Like a garden full of steel. When the steel begins to rust, Like a garden full of dust. When the dust begins to fly. Like a needle in the sky. When the sky begins to roar. Like a bull (or lion) behind the door. When the door begins to crack, GAMES AND RHYMES 203 Like a hickory on your back. When your back begins to smart, Like a pain around your heart. When your heart begins to bleed, You are a dead man indeed. SI'KI.LINt; RHYMES For these and otlier examples, see SFO, viii, 301-303; Hoosicr Folklore, VI, 73-74. Contributed l)y .Mrs. Xornian Herring, Tomahawk. Xo date given. H-U huckle H-U huckle B-U buckle B-U buckle C-U cuckle Y Huckleberry pie. Contributed by Saral: K. W'atkins. Reported from both Anson and Stanly counties. T-U turkey, T-Y tie T-U turkey buzzard's eye. LITTLE ROBIN REDBREAST Contributed by Macie Morgan. Reported from Stanly county. No date given. Little Robin redbreast Sat upon a rail. Nibble, nabble. went his head; Wiggle, waggle, went his tail. RAIN COME WET ME Contributed by Minnie Stamps Gosney. Text, with music, from Wake county. No date given. Rain come wet me ; Sun come dry me. Stand back, white man ; Don't come anigh me. RUN, NIGGER, RUN See JAFL, i.viii, 125 (New York City); White, pp. 168-169; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 24-25. For a description of the practice of posting patrols to restrict the move- ment of Negroes at night, see White's headnote on p. 168. 204 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry. Reported from Burke county in 1914 or 1915. Run, nigger, run ; de patterol'll ketch you ; Run, nigger, run ; it's almost day. The nigger run. the nigger flew ; The nigger tore his shirt in two. Contributed by Minnie Bryan Farrior, Raleigh. Reported from Duplin county. No date given. Run, nigger, run ; De pateroler'll ketch you. Run, nigger, run ; You better be a-runnin'. c Contributed by Dr. E. V. Howell, Chapel Hill. No place or date given. Run, nigger, run ; the paterole will catch you. GO TELL AUNT RHODA See Chase, p. 3 ; Sharp :Karpeles, 11, 345 ('The Old Grey Goose') ; JAFL, Lvi, no (Iowa) ; Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk- Songs, p. 195 ('Go Tell Aunt Tabbie'). This is really a song (a lullaby, to be specific) rather than a rhyme. Contributed by William C. Cumming. Reported from Brunswick county. No date given. Go tell Aunt Patsy {three times) The old gray goose is dead. The one she's been savin', &c. To make a feather bed. She died last Friday ; It was a week ago. Monday she was buried Beneath the old oak tree. The little goslins are weeping Because their mammy's gone. The old gander's a-mournin' Because his wife is dead. GAMES AND RHYMES 20$ B Contributed bj Allie Ann Pcarce, Colerain. Reported from Bertie county. Run and tell Aunt Patsy (three times) The old gray goose is dead. Wonder if she's been saving, &c. To make a feather bed. Don't weep, old Gander Because your wife is dead. Don't cry, little goslings, Because vour mama is dead. Contributed by Amy Henderson, Worry, c. 191 5. Reported from Burke county. Go tell Aunt Nancy {three times) The old gray goose is dead. The one she was saving, &c. To make a feather bed. The old gander's mourning Because his wife is dead. The little goslins are crying Because their mother's dead. She died with a pain In her left great toe. Contributed by Gertrude Allen Vaught, Taylorsville, c. 1928. Reported from Ale.xander county. Go tell Aunt Patsy {three times) Her old gray goose is dead. The one she'd been saving, &c. To make a feather bed. The old gander is mourning Because his wife is dead. The little goslings are crying Because their mama's dead. The whole family's weeping Because the mama's dead. 206 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE E Contributed by Louise Bennett, Middleburg. Reported from Vance county. Go tell Aunt Patsy (three times) The old gray goose is dead. 'T is the one she's been saving, &c. To make a feather bed. The gander he's a-moanin' 'Cause his po' wife is dead. The goslings they are crying Because their mamma's dead. Oh, ain't you sorry The old gray goose is dead? AS I WAS GOING o'eR MISTY MOOR See Gomme, Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ire- land, I, 51. Contributed by Maude Minish Sutton, Forest City, c. 1927. No informa- tion as to source. As I was crossin' the misty moor, I saw three cats at an old mill door. One was white and one was black; One looked like my granny's cat. I went to Ireland on my knees, Sowing oats and jingling keys, Saw an old woman by the fire. Cat's in the dairy in milk to her knees ; Hen's on the tree limb crowing for day. Rooster's in the barn a-flailing corn ; Never seen the like since I been born.-^ -^ The only other version of this rhyme I have found is that in Gomme. Both bear some resemblance to the "lying song," although the similarity is confined to the last lines. 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Barcelona, 1874. Marran, Ray J. Games Outdoors. New York, 1940. 212 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Martinez, Maria Cadilla de. Juegos y Cancioncs Infantiles de Puerto Rico. San Juan, 1940. La Poesia Popular en Puerto Rico. Madrid, 1933. Mason, M. H. Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs. London, 1877. Maspons y Labros, F. Jocks de la Infancia. Barcelona, 1874. McDowell, L. L., and Flora L. Folk Dances of Tennessee. Ann Arbor: Edwards Brothers, 1938. McIntosh, David S. Southern Illinois Singing Games and Songs. Carbondale, Illinois, 1946. Sing and Swing. Carbondale, Illinois, 1948. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society. (Referred to as MAFLS.) Mulac, Margaret E. The Game Book. New York and London, 1946. Napier, James. Folk-Lore; or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland zvithin This Century. Paisley, 1879. Neely, Charles. Talcs and Songs of Southern Illinois. Menasha, Wis.: George Banta Publishing Co., 1938. Newell, W. W. Games and Songs of American Children. New York, 191 1. Nezu York Folklore Quarterly. Organ of the New York Folklore Society. Ithaca, 1945 . (Referred to as NYFLQ.) Nicholson, Edward Williams Bryox. Golspie: Contributions to Its Folklore. London, 1897. Northall, G. F. English Folk Rhymes. London, 1892. Notes & Queries. London, 1850 . Okkola, Toivo. Suomen kansan kilpa- ja kotilleikejd. Helsinki, 1928. O'SuiLLEABHAiN, Sean. A Handbook of Irish Folklore. Dublin: Folklore of Ireland Society, 1942. Owens, William A. Szving and Turn: Texas Play-Party Games. Dallas, 1936. Parry, N. E. The Lakhers. London. 1932. Parsons, Elsie Clews. Peguchc. Chicago, 1945, Folk-Lore from the Cape Verde Islands (MAFLS, xv). New York, 1923. 2 vols. Pendrill, Charles. London Life in the 14th Century. New York, 1925. Phillips, Henry Albert. Meet the Japanese. Philadelphia, 1932. PoLSON, Alexander. Our Highland Folklore Heritage. Inverness, 1926. PoKROVSKii, E. A. Dctskic igry. Moscow, 1893. Pound, Louise. American Ballads and Songs. New York, 1922. Publications of the Texas Folklore Society, Austin, 19 16 . (Referred to as PTFLS.) GAMES AND RHYMES 213 PucKETT, Newbell N. Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro. Chapel Hill, 1926. Randolph, Vance. The Ozarks: An American Survival of Primi- tive Society. New York, 1931. Reyes, Francisca S., and Petrona Ramos. Philippine Folk Dances and Games. New York, 1927. Richardson, Ethel Takk. American Mountain Songs (ed. Sijj- niund Spaeth). New York, 1927. RocHHOLZ, Ernst Ludwu;. Alemannisches Kinderlied u. Kinder- spiel. Leipzig, 1857. RoLLAND, Eugene. Rimes et Jcu.v de I'Hnfance (Les Littcratures Populaires, xiv). Paris, 1883. Ruiz, Ramon Garcia. Los Juegos Infantiles en la Escuela Rural. Mexico, 1938. Sandburg, Carl. 77k' American Songbag. New York, 1927. Scarborough, Dorothy. A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains. New York, 1937. On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs. Cambridge, 1925. Sharp, Cecil J. English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalach- ians (ed. Maud Karpeles). London: Oxford University Press, 1932. 2 vols. Shearin, Hubert G., and Josiah H. Combs. A Syllabus of Ken- tucky Folk-Songs. Lexington, 1911. Shoemaker, Henry \V. Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1931. Showerman, Grant. Ronw and the Romans. New York, 1932. Shufang, Y'ui. Chinese Children at Play. London, 1939. Simpson, Evelyn Blantyre. Folk Lore in Lozvland Scotland. London, 1918. SiMROCK, Karl. Das deutsche Kinderbuch. 3rd ed. Basel, 1879. Smith, Charles F. Games and Game Leadership. New York 1938. Smith, E. W., and A. Dale. The Ila-Speaking Peoples of North- ern Rhodesia. London, 1920. 2 vols. Southern Folklore Quarterly. Gainesville, Florida, 1937 . (Re- ferred to as SFQ.) Stayt, Hugh A. The Baz'enda. London, 1931. Stoudt, John Baer. The Folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans. Philadelphia, 1916. Stoylen, Bernt. Norske barnerim og leikar. Kristiania, 1899. Strutt, Joseph. The Sports and Pastimes of the People of Eng- land (new ed., much enl. and cor. hv Charles Cox). London 1903. Svenska Landsmal. Stockholm, 1878 . Talley, Thomas W. Negro Folk Rhymes. New York, 1922. 214 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin. Maryville, 1936 . (Re- ferred to as TFLS.) Theal, G. M. Kaffir Folk-Lore. London, 1886. Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. Folk-Lore of Women. London, 1905. Thomas, Jean. Devil's Ditties. . . . Chicago, 1931. , and Joseph A. Leeder. Tlie Singiii Gatlicriii'. New York, 1939. Thomas, Daniel L., and Lucy B. Kentucky Superstitions. Prince- ton, 1920. Thompson, Harold W. Body, Boots and Britches. Philadelphia, 1940. Trachtenberg, Joshua. Jewish Magic and Superstition. New York, 1939. Underhill, Ruth. Social Organization of the Fapago Indians (Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, xxx). van Gennep, Arnold. La Folklore du Dauphine (Les Littcratures Populaires de Toutcs des Nations, in). Paris, 1933. Vernaleken, Th., and Frz. Branky. Spiele und Reime der Kinder in Oesterreich. Vienna, 1876. Western Folklore. Berkeley, 1947 . (Referred to as WF.) White, Newman L American Negro Folk Songs. Cambridge, 1928. Whitney, Annie W., and Caroline C. Bullock. Folk-Lore from Maryland (MAFLS, xviii). New York, 1925. Williams, Alfred. Folk Songs of the Upper Thames. London, 1923. Williams, Thomas, and James Calvert. Fiji and the Fijians. New York, 1859. Wimberly, Lowry C. Folklore in the Fnglisli and Scottish Bal- lads. Chicago, 1928. Death and Burial Lore in the English and Scottish Popular Ballads (University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism, No. 8). Lincoln, 1927. Wolford, Leah Jackson. The Play-Party in Indiana. Indian- apolis: Indiana Historical Commission, 1916. Woodward, W. E. The Way Our People Lived. New York, 1944. Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Volkskunde. Berlin, 1898- 1928. Con- tinued as Zeitschrift fiir Volkskunde. Berlin, 1929 . (Re- ferred to as ZdVfV.) ZiJRiCHER, Gertrud. Kindcrlicd u. KinderspicI im Kanton Bern. Ziirich, 1902. Kinderlieder der dcutschcn Schiveiz. Basel, 1926. INDEX OF GAMES All Down to Sleep, 127 Animal Song, 89 Anthony Over. 36 As We Go Round the Mulherrv Bush, 85 Barber. 41 Barnyard Chorus, 41 Base,' 72> Battle Game. 43 Bingo, 154 Blindman's Buff, 61 Bounce. Simlin — Sec Skip to My Lou Captain Oh Flag, 43 Chase the S(iuirrel, 80 Chickaniv Chickamy Craney Crow— ^t^t' Old Witch Clap In, Clap Out, 123 Club Fist, 66 Co-Sheep, 81 Dear Doctor. 134 Do, Do. Pitv My Case, 86 Dollar— ^'iv' The Wandering Dollar Draw a Bucket of Water, 142 Drop the Handkerchief, 81 Eleven Up. 158 Farmer in His Den — Sec Farmer in the Dell Farmer in the Dell, 146 Farmyard Chorus — See Barn- yard Chorus Fifty-Oh, 38 Flower in the Garden. 127 Fox and Geese, 82 Fox in the Corner — See Fox in the Morning Fox in the Morner — Sec Fox in the Morning Fox in the Morning. 78 Frog in the Meadow — See Frog in the Middle Frog in the Middle. 140 Genteel Lady, 68 Go in and Out the Window — Sec Marching Round the Levee Going Down the Railroad. 155 Going to Paris, 72 Goosey Goosey Gander — Sec Fox in the Morning Go Round the Mountain, 131 Grandmammv Sent Me to Vou — See Old Mother Hobble-Gobble Green Grass, 98 Green Gravel, 36 Green Grows the Willow Tree, 126 Green Leaves, 124 Green Trees Bending, 87 Grunt. Pig, Grunt, 57 Hail Over — Sec Anthony Over Happy Is the Miller Boy, no Happv Land, i 39 Hat Ball. 36 Here Comes Three Dukes a-Rid- ing — Sec Three Dukes Here I Brew and Here I Bake, 143 Hide and Hunt — Sec tlide and Seek Hide and Seek, 37 Hog Drivers — Sec Hog Drovers Hog Drovers, 94 Honey in the Gum — See Green Leaves Hopscotch. 39 Horns. 63 Horse Shoes, 159 How Far Is It to Molly Bright? — See How Manv Miles to Babylon ? How Alanv Fingers ? 38 How Many Miles to^Babylon? 74 How Many Miles to Boston? — Sec How Many Miles to Babvlon ? Hul Gul. 59 2l6 I Got a Pretty Bird, 158 Introducing to King and Queen, 42 I Put My Right Foot In— 5"t't' Looby Loo Iron Tag, 74 I Sail My Ship, 69 I Spy, 38 It Mists, It Rains — Sec It Rains and It Hails It Rains and It Hails, 127 It Snows, It Blows, 143 I Went to Visit a Friend One Day, 86 Jack in the Bush, 60 Jacks. 83 Jacob and Rachel, 58 Jenny Jones, 44 Johnnv. Johnny, So Thev Sav. 128' Johnny Miller — See Happy Is the Miller Boy Jolly Miller, The — Sec Happy Is the Miller Boy Jolly Old Miller, The— 6"rr Happy Is the Miller Boy Kicking the Can, 39 King and Queen — Sec King William Was King James's Son Kings of Spain, 93 King William — Sec King Wil- liam Was King James's Son King William Was King George's Son — See King Wil- liam was King James's Son King William Was King James's Son, 113 Knock at the Door and Pick Up a Pin, 133 Lady in tlie Dining Room, 55 Lazy Mary, 55 Leapfrog, 40 Little Sally Waters, 130 Little Sissy, 132 London Bridge, 137 London Bridge Is Burning Down — See London Bridge London Bridge Is Falling Down — Sec London Bridge London Tow n — 5" e e The Needle's Eye Looby Loo, 156 Making Cheeses, 152 Malaga Grapes, 42 Marching Around the Love Ring — See Marching Round the Levee Marching Round the Levee, 119 Marching Through Paradise, 42 Marching to Jerusalem, 153 Marching to Quebec, 118 Miller Bov — See Happv Is the Miller Boy Miss Susanna Jane, 71 My Father Oh No! 56 My Love, What Have I Done? 42 My Mamma Sent Me to You — See Old Mother Hobble- Gobble Mumble Peg, 83 Needle's Eye, The, 108 No Robbers Out Today, 81 Nuts in May, 109 Oats and Beans and Barley, 87 Oats and Beans and Barley Grow — See Oats and Beans and Barley Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grows — See Oats and Beans and Barley Old Cronv, 46 Old Grannv Hibble-Hobble— 5"^f Old Witch Old Man Hippetv Hop— See Old Witch Old Mother Hobble-Gobble, 84 Old Peas, Beans and Barley Grows — See Oats and Beans and Barley Old Witch, 48 On the Carpet, 129 Open the Gates, 140 Pease I'orridge Hot, 152 •Peas Put in Hot — Sec Pease Porridge Hot Pig Drivers — Sec Hog Drovers Pig Drovers — Sec Hog Drovers Pig in the Parlor, 107 Pillow, 133 Poison, 71 Poison Stick — Sec I'oison Poker Game, 41 Poppy Shows, 153 I'retty Girls' Station, 61 Pretty Girls' Town — Sec Pretty Girls' Station Priest of Paris Lost His Hunt- ing Cap, The — Sec The Prince of Morocco Prince of Morocco, The, 69 Prisoner's Base, 72 Pulling Stick — See Pulling Swag Pulling Swag. 143 Punch Board. 58 Pussy Wants a Corner. 151 Quaker Courtship, 123 Raise the Gates — See Open tlie Gates Ranchv Tancliv Teen — Sec Three Dukes Rig-a-Jig, 128 Ring Around the Roses — See Ring Around the Rosy Ring Around the Rosv. i so Roley Holey— ^'rr Hat Ball Rotten Eggs. 153 Sail the Shi]), i^^ Sally Walker— i>>r Little Sally Waters Scissors, 41 See the Farmer — See Oats and Beans and Barley See the Rohhers, 140 Silver and Gold — See Open the Gates Simon Says, 65 Sister Phoehe, 100 Skip to My Lou, loi E X 217 Snake in the Grass — See Jack in the Bush Spin the Plate, 65 Squat Tag, 74 Stealing Sticks, 80 Steal Mv Partner — Se'e Skip to My Lou Tag, 7^^ Tap Back, 80 There Was a Little Miller— ^rc Happy Is the Miller Boy Thimhle, 64 Thread the Needle — See The Needle's Eye Three Bakers. 99 Three Dukes. 89 Three Ships, 71 To Old Quebec — Sec Marching to Quebec Traveling, 129 Turn Tag, 74 Twelve Days of Christmas. 70 Uncle Johnny's Sick Abed. 132 Uncle Johnny Sick of Bed — Sec Uncle Johnny's Sick Abed Molet Battles. 1^2 Wandering Dollar. The. 63 Weevily Wheat. 104 We're Marching Around the Love Ring — See Marching Round the Levee We're Walking on the Levy — Sec Marching Round the Levee What Had ^'ou for Supper? 71 When I Was a Young Girl. 86 Where ^'()U Are. Who You're With. Wliat You're Doing, Whoopy Hide. 39 Who Stole the Cardinal's Hat? 69 William a Trembletoe. 134, 160 William and Trembletoe — See William a Trembletoe 2l8 I N William Tremle-toe — Sec Wil- liam a Trembletoe Wink, 154 Witch in the Jar, 80 Wrap Jacket, 157 Wring the Dishrag, 152 Yankee Soldiers, 43 CHILDREN'S RHYMES Acker, Backer, 168 A Man of Words and Not of Deeds, 202 Apple Pie, 173 Arithmetic, 174 As I Was Going O'er Misty Moor, 206 As I Went Up the Crazy Steeple, 165 As I Went Up the Silver Lake, 172 Ask Me No Questions, 196 Asked My Mother for Fifty Cents, 171 Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, 183 Bee, Bee, Bumblebee, 167 Bettie Boddie, 197 Bill, Bill, 177 Black Eye Piggy Pie, 175 Bless You. Bonny Bee, 180 Brow Brinker, 189 Certain, True, 190 Charlie Chaplin Went to France, 172 Cinderella, 171 Come, Butter, Come, 181 Come Up, Charlie, Let's Go to Raleigh, 183 Crosspatch, Draw the Latch. 176 Crow's Nest, The, i84 Cry, Baby, Cry, 176 Cups and Saucers, 167 Doodlebug, Doodlebug, 182 Eeny, Meeny, Miney Mo. 162 Engine, Engine, Number Nine, 168 Eve Winker, 189 Finger Names, 188 Fly Away, Buzzard. 182 Friendship Verses, 197 Go Tell Aunt Rhoda, 204 Goodnight, Sleep Tight. 196 Goodv Goodv Gout, 176 Granny, Will Your Dog Bite? 199 Hush-a-bye. Baby. 183 I Ate (Eight) It, 173 I See the Moon, 181 Inscriptions. 200 Is Mad, 175 Jack and Jim, 185 Jiggery-bum, 201 Joe Monroe, 184 John, John, the Barber, 195 Johnny Get Your Hair Cut, 177 Just Like Me, 172 Knife or Fork, 174 Knock at the Door, 190 Ladybug. Ladybug, Fly Away Home. 181 Last Night and the Night Be- fore. 171 Let the Puppy Dog Lick, 188 Let's Go to Bed, 177 Little Robin Redbreast, 203 Mary at the Cottage Door, 165 Me and My Wife and a Bob- tailed Dog, 190 Miscellaneous, 191-195 Monkey. Monkey, Bottle of Beer, 164 219 Monkey Sittinj^r on a Rail, 178 More Rain, .\lore Rest, joi Mr. a \'ery (.iood Man, '7') Mv Mother and \'our Mother, New Moon, Xeu Moon, 182 Nigger, Nis^^ger, Never Die, 179 O Lord Above, Look D ^ Among some peoples, exactly the reverse is done. Native Fijians and Samoans bury their dead facing the west, as did also the old time Winne- bago and other Indian tribes. According to tradition Sir Walter Raleigh was requested to face the east as he stood on the scaffold awaiting execution. His reply to the request is said to have been: "So the heart l)e straight it is no matter which way the head lieth." - In the case of more primitive races particularly, those are often de- signed to express public opprotirium, the unchaste bride or tlie worthless groom being subjected to ridicule and gross insult. ^ The "bugaboo" is not always a supernatural being. Centuries ago children of Europe and Asia were terrified into being cpiiet by the mere mention of .-Xttila and .-Marie. Later the names of Xapoleon and Claver- housc ("Bloody Claver'se") were ecjually efficacious in Western Europe and the British Isles, .^nd, in more recent times, thousands of European children (and their elders as well) shuddered at the mention of Hitler and Mussolini. Sometimes, too, it is the members of certain trades of whom children are naturally, or are taught to be. afraid— the blacksmith, the butcher, etc. Readers of Thomas Hardy will recall in this connection the reddk-man in The Return of the Xathe. 224 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE widespread customs and beliefs which have been changed slightly by their locale that the pages of this introduction will treat. The burning of the father's hat following the birth of his first- born is undoubtedly one of the least widespread of practices. Al- though the informant gives as the reason for the act the explanation that it "cleans the baby's road" and brings good luck to the child, we are still at a loss to understand why it should be a part of the father's apparel, rather than a part of the mother's, which is sacrificed. In some other sections of the country, e.g., southern Indiana and Illinois, the hat is snatched from the father's head and either thrown away or trampled underfoot on his first appearance outdoors after the birth of the baby. The latter custom would appear to be merely a refinement of the burning, which is certainly the more primitive. "Jumping the broom" as a form of the marriage ceremony is likewise a practice belonging not only to a limited area but also to a particular period, that of slavery times. Jocular allusions to it are still to be heard even in parts of the Middle West, but there is no indication that "jumping the broom" was ever practiced there. The "smock marriage," which was in early times fairly common in New England, appears to have been an importation into North Carolina and not widely known or practiced either in that state or in any other section of the South. The keeping of Old Christmas, January 6, instead of or in addi- tion to the "man-made" Christmas of December 25 may fairly be said to be Southern, although isolated instances of its observance have been recorded in other areas. It is not, of course, peculiar to North Carolina. The shooting of firecrackers and the discharging of firearms at Christmastime are customs rarely, if ever, observed anywhere north of the Mason and Dixon Line. In other parts of the country this form of noise-making, along with the din of bells, horns, whistles, and rattles, is reserved rather for New Year's Eve. The Southern fondness for the sound of guns and firecrackers at Christmas is probably to be accounted for by the influence of early French and Spanish settlers. The John Kuners are definitely a North Carolina institution, and have no counterpart outside the ceremonies of the Bahamas, where they are said to have originated. An exhaustive account of the Kuners' festivities has been given by Dougald MacMillan.'* The peculiar method of dividing fish or game by a blindfolded man's pointing to and thus assigning to each member of the party his share of the spoil appears likewise to be indigenous. The practice of clay-eating, too, is .Southern, though not restricted to North Carolina. The burial of children face downward is reported as a Negro * Dougald MacMillan, "John Kuners," Journal of American Folklore, XXXIX, 53-57- BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 225 practice. No hint is given as to its prevalence, and it is quite possible that only one isolated instance of it was found. The cus- tom is found among certain African tribes, some of which extend it to all dead, regardless of age, but it definitely is not followed very extensively by Southern Negroes.'' The wearing of hats in- doors at a funeral service, reported to have been an importation from the North, is also little practiced. In the decorating of graves with a multitude of miscellaneous objects,*' and particularly in the placing of food on or near the grave, however, we have another strange custom of the Southern Negro. This sort of thing may occasionally be done by the Negro in other sections, but it is much more prevalent among Mexicans and South Europeans. The pronouncement that every girl of marriageable age should have picked at least enough cotton to fill her shoe is an excellent example of the influence of "local color" upon a custom or a belief. Tests of this type are to be found among many peoples and in many different parts of the world. A few of the others fre- quently encountered are the spinning of a certain amount of yarn, the weaving of a specified quantity of cloth, etc. The prohibition against the mixing of April 30 milk with that of May I lest the butter be slow in coming appears to be of local origin; at least I have found no parallels to it, nor can I even hazard a guess as to the reasoning underlying it. It is to be re- gretted that the collector of this particular item did not elicit a bit more information from his source. In the realm of cookery. Southern recipes have a distinctive flavor, with emphasis upon cornbread, corn pone, and the virtues of pot likker. No editorial comment needed ; read and drool ! CHILDHOOD When the first boy is born in a home, all his father's hats must be burned. "It'll fetch him hick," an old woman on Smoky Mountain told the Red Cross nurse who tried to keep her from burning all the hats a new father had. "My mammy before me follered burnin' hats, an' she said the only man who ever begredged a hat wuz the daddy of the triflin'est, no- '' However, the Geechce Negroes of Georgia believe that if a family is having trouble in raising its children the last one to die should be buried face downward and then those born afterward will survive. Sec JAFL, xix, 76 fF. "Among them such articles as guns and knives, pipes, razors, jewelry, toys, false teeth, cups and saucers, musical instruments, spectacles, and flashlights. N.C.F., Vol. I, (16) 226 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'countest, dirt-eatin'est boy this side of the Ridge. This fire cleans the baby's road."^ (Maude Minish Sutton) Wet the baby's hair and curl it on the ninth day and it will have curly hair.- (Kate S. Russell) v A baby should be carried upstairs before downstairs so that it will rise in life.^ (Lucille Cheek) A child's finger nails should not be cut until he is a year old, or you will not be able to raise him. Bite the nails off."* (Lucille Cheek) This belief was reported also by Lucille Massey, Durham county. ^ Cf. Randolph, Ozark Superstitions, p. 205. This custom is also Cornish ; see CfLQ, i, 202-203, and Courtney, Cornish Feasts and Folk- Lore, p. 131. - JAFL, Lii, 115 (Tennessee — spit on baby's hair and curl it with finger to make it curly). ^ FL, XXV, 349; XXXIV, 326; V, Z37; xxxvin, 179; JAFL, xl, 150 (Louisiana); xxxvi, 18 (New York); lh, 112 (Tennessee); xxxi, 25 (Ontario) ; v, 115 (Maryland) ; 11, 27 (Pennsylvania German) ; Puckett, Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro, p. 344; Hole, Eiujlish Folklore, p. 6; Hyatt, Folk-Lore from Adams County, Illinois, p. 132; Bergen, Current Superstitions, pp. 22-23; Macgregor, Highland Superstitions, p. 44 (if no stairs, baby should climb upon chair) ; HFB, 11, 37 ; Gregor, The Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, p. 6 (mother to go upstairs first after birth of child) ; Simpson, Folklore in Loivland Scotland, p. 203 ; Whitney and Bullock, Folk-Lore from Maryland, p. 97 ; Balfour and Thomas, County Folk-Lore IV, 95 ; Stout, Folklore from loica, p. 143 (to make child high-minded) ; Earle, Customs and Fashions in Old Neza England, p. 5; Carmer, Listen for a Lonesome Drum. p. 364 (Seneca — to give child high ideals). This custom was reported also by Mary Pritchard Taylor. * JAFL, u, 27 (Pennsylvania German), 148; iv, 322 (Pennsylvania German) ; v. 115 (Maryland) ; vn, 113, 305 (Georgia— to cut nails will deform child) ; xu, 103 (Armenian) ; xiv, 33 (Kentucky) ; xviii, 298 (Newfoundland) ; xlviii, 330 (child will have fits if nails are cut before one month) ; xxxi, 13 (Ontario — if nails are cut before six months, child will be a thief), 91 (Ontario — child will be a thief if its nails are cut before one year), 211 (Illinois — child will be a thief if nails are cut be- fore one month) ; lii, 113 (Tennessee — cutting the child's nails before he is a year old will make him a thief) ; FL, xxxix, 215 (Italian — child's nails not to be cut until he is six months old) ; xxiv. 361 (Quebec — if child's nails are cut before he is a year old, he will be bad or have a poor memory), 227 (Ontario — child will be a thief if his nails are cut before a year) ; FLR, i, 11; Bealoideas, vn, 176 (child's nails not to be cut until he is a year old) ; HFB, 11, 35 (if child's nails are cut before he is a year old, he will be cross-eyed) ; Pickard and Buley, The Mid- west Pioneer, p. 76 (a child's nails should not l)e cut until he is nine weeks old) ; Bergen, p. 66 (nails not to be cut before one year) ; Hole, p. 9; Hyatt, ]). 134; Puckett, pp. 401-402; Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Flills, pp. 304-305; Fausct, Folk-Lore from No7v Scotia, p. 198; Addy, Household Tales, with Other Traditional Reniains, p. 102 (child will be thief if nails are cut before he is a year old) ; Gregor, p. 9; Balfour and Thomas, p. 58 (bite child's nails off or it will be a thief) ; Gutch and Peacock, County Folk-Lore V. 228 (unlucky to cut child's nails before THE BAPTIZING BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 227 Alonclay's child is fair of face ; Tuesday's child is full of God's grace ; Wednesday's child is merry and glad; Thursday's child is sour and sad; Friday's child is Godly given ; Saturday's child must work for his living; Sunday's child never shall want."' ( Lucille Cheek) Often a mother chews food and puts it into the child's mouth.*' (Green Collection, made hy I'aul and l'21izaheth (Jreen in eastern and central N. C., 1926-28, and given to the Brown Collection in 1945) A hahy should be weaned when the sign is going down the legs through the feet, never when it is in the head or the heart.^ (Green Collection) In weaning a baby, use a sugar teat — a small white cloth folded in the shape of a nipple and containing a mixture of sugar and butter. (Green Collection)- it is a year old), 230 (cutting nails before he is a year old makes a thief of him) ; Gutch, Counfy Folk-Lore VI (child will die if his nails are cut before he is a year old) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 97 (child will be- come a thief if his nails are cut before lie is a year old) ; Henderson, Xotcs on the Folklore of the Northern Counties of Fngland and the Border, p. 16; Alejandro Guichot y Sierra, Supersficioncs Populares Andaluzas (Bihlioteca de las Tradiciones Populares Espaiiolas, i), pp. 265-266; Stout, p. 143 (bad luck to cut child's nails until it is a year old) ; Thiselton-Dyer, English Folklore, p. 278 (bite off child's nails until it is a year old or it will be a thief) ; Rogers, Early Folk Medical Prac- tices in Tennessee, p. 39. " This little rhyme on auspicious and inauspicious birthdays is widely known. See Northall, English Folk-Rhymes, p. 161 ; Newell, Games and Songs of American Children, p. 203; Fauset, p. 200; F L, vi, 394; Addy, p. 119; Bergen, p. 21 ; Hole, p. 3; TFLS. xi, 5; Hyatt, p. 123; Henderson, p. 9; Johnson, What They Say in New England, p. 51; JAFL, XL, 189 (Louisiana), xxxi, 91 (Ontario); Whitney and Bullock, p. 107; Thiselton-Dyer, p. 238; Randolph, p. 206; Bolton, The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children, p. 115. "Randolph, p. 210; McKenzie, The Infancy of Medicine, p. 270 (allusions to the custom in England, Scotland, and France). Bartholo- maeus Anglicus (fl. 1250) writes: "The nurse cheweth meat in her mouth, and maketh it ready to the toothless child, that it may the easier swallow that meat, and so she feedeth the child when that it is an hungered." I saw this done in Southern Indiana about 1910. In this instance the chewing was done by the grandmother, whose teeth were even more badly decayed than the mother's. •Randolph, pp. 49, 210; Hl'B. n, 25; Stout, p. 157 (never wean baby when the sign is in the head) ; Thiselton-Dyer, p. 41 (Lithuanian— boys to be weaned on wa.xing moon, girls on waning moon ) ; Harley, Moon Lore (Scottish — if the child is put away from the breast during the waning of the moon, it will decline all the time the moon is waning). 228 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE While weaning a baby, put its nightgown on backwards. (Green Collection )\ Tie a rabbit foot around the baby's neck so that cutting teeth will be easy.*^ (Mildred Peterson) A good bite of earthworm will cause a child to cut teeth without trouble. (Carolyn Kay Root).^ Feeding a child a fried rat keeps it from wetting the bed.^ (Green Collection) ** Since the rabbit is not particularly a digging or clawing animal, it is hard to see why its foot should be tied around the baby's neck. A much more common practice is to tie around the neck either a mole s foot or a groundhog's, hi most instances the only connection of the rabbit with teething is the rubbing of its brains on the child's gums or, as in some of the following references, the use of the skin of its belly as an amulet. Puckett, p. 345 (mole's foot) ; FLJ, v, 267 (Virginia — same) ; JAFL, Liv, 58 (Illinois — mole's foot on black string) ; iv, 168; xlviii, ^^y (Ten- nessee — same) ; xlvi, 3 (Ozarks — same) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 95 (same) ; Campbell, Folks Do Get Born, p. 35 (same) ; Hyatt, p. 130 (same) ; SFQ, ni, 39 (same) ; Rogers, p. 38 (same). Other objects used as amulets are many and varied: Bergen, p. 70 (skin of rabbit belly) ; JAFL, v, in (Maryland — same) ; xxxii, 379 (Georgia — frog tied around neck) ; Carmer, Stars Fell on Alabama, p. 282 (same) ; JAFL, xxxii, 393 (North Carolina — front foot of groundhog) ; Aubrey, Rcmaines of Gcntilisme and Judaism, p. 114 (Irish — wolf's tooth) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 95 (calf's tooth) ; Earle, Customs and Fashions . . . , p. 8 (wolf fangs, fawn's teeth) ; Campbell, p. 35 (hog tooth, dog tooth) ; Saxon, Tallant, and Dreyer, Gumbo Ya-Ya, p. 247 (cow's tooth), 534 (hog's eyetooth, alligator tooth) ; FLJ, I, 380 (Swiss — amber necklace) ; Aubrey, p. 114 (coral) ; Ran- dolph, p. 144 (elder twigs, silver coin. Job's tears) ; Thomas, Dez'il's Ditties, p. II (necklace of orris root) ; FL, xxiv, 120 (English Jews^ same) ; Rodd, The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece, p. 108 (thirty- two grains of wheat strung around the baby's neck) ; Brendle and Unger, Folk Medicine of the Pennsylivnia Germans, p. 120 (mouse tied around neck). For mention of rabbit brains rubbed on the gums, see Earle, Customs and Fashions . . . , p. 8 ; Randolph, p. 145; Brendle and Unger, p. 119; Aurand, The "Potu-U'oic" Book, p. 26; Kanner, Folklore of the Teeth, PP- 32-34 (rabbit brains, sheep brains, sparrow brains, honey, butter, lard, goat's milk, wine, blood, christening water, etc.). For a long list of amulets worn as aids to dentition, see the same work, pp. 34-39. " See Black, Nebraska Folk Cures, p. 19 (hind legs of rat fried) ; John- son, p. 172; Bergen, p. 79 (rat soup); Gumbo Ya-]'a. p. 526 (roasted rat) ; JAFL, xvii, 37 (Bahamas — fried mice or rats) ; FL, xxxvn, 367 (boiled mouse) ; xxxv, 356 (mouse), xlvii, 363 (Indiana — mouse) , SFQ, III, 34 (fried mouse) ; Pickard and Buley, p. 77 (fried-mouse pie) ; Hole, p. 34 (fried mice) ; Hyatt, p. 208 (mouse) ; Puckett, p. 386; Brendle and Unger, p. 188 (fried mouse) ; Black, Folk-Medicine, p. 159; Campbell, p. 40 (fried mouse); FL, lii, 118 (Hungarian — mouse fried with egg and given child to eat) ; liv, 293 ("In Norfolk, where roasted mouse was a common remedy for bed wetting, the animal was sometimes BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 229 Peas placed in the shoes stop a child's growth.'" (Green Collection )'- Children are told that the sound of thunder is Cod stepping or Ciod speaking.' ' (Green Collection) Children are told that the lightning is (iod winking. (Green Collection); When it is snowing, children are told that the old woman is shaking her feather bed.'^ (Green Collection) Children were told that jail was a place where bad children roasted alive. In Hull three roast mice had to be eaten. In Aberdeen- shire the mouse was eaten with a spoon made from a horn taken from a living animal known as a 'quick horn spoon.' According to Hovorka and Kronfeld, the Magyars give it to the child to eat without his know- ing what it is, whereas in Western Bohemia the child must cook the mouse himself. In Upper Franconia the parents or relatives bite off the head of a living mouse and hang it around the child's neck, or the animal is cut up with its skin and hair into mincemeat which is sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon before it is given to the child to eat.") Mice and rats were and still are highly regarded as cures for other things, among them whooping cough. See FL, xxxviii, 401 (boiled mouse for whooping cough) ; xlix, 229 (roast mouse for whooping cough) ; Liv, 291 (roasted mouse for smallpox) ; Addy, p. 91 (fried rat for whooping cough) ; JGLS, n.s., hi, 27 (fried mouse for whooping cough) ; Gutch and Peacock, p. 115 (same) ; Gregor, p. 127 (same) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 85 (roasted or fried mice for ague and whoop- ing cough; Gutch, County Folk-Lorc J'l, 69 (for croup); Macgregor, p. 45 (fried mouse for smallpox). ^° I have found no exact parallel to this. The usual belief is that to step over a child stops his growth. References to the latter are numer- ous : Gumbo Ya-Ya, p. 553; JAFL, xl. 150 (Louisiana); xxxviii, 387 (Jewish) ; vni, 252 (South Carolina Negro) ; xn, 263, 267 (Georgia- stepping over person brings bad luck to him) ; xxvn, 246 (South Car- olina Negro) ; vi, 66 (Isle of Man) ; 11, 27 (Pennsylvania German) ; FL, XXXV, 47 (Czechoslovak); Whitney and Bullock, p. 98; Thorpe, Northern Mythology, 11, no (Swedish) ; Leather, The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire, p. 113; Puckett, pp. 338, 418; Doke, The Lamhas of Northern Rhodesia, p. 212 ("Don't step over another's outstretciied legs lest the latter's legs should become heavy") ; FLJ, i, 355 (Magyar) ; JAFL, XIX, 211 (Filipino— causes bad luck) ; xx, 245 (North Carolina- same) ; Brendle and Unger, p. 20. Bealoideas, i, 247 (striking a child with an elder branch stunts him) ; Bergen, p. loi (Newfoundland— whipping a child with a mountain ash stops his growth) ; Thiselton-Dycr, The Folk-Lore of Plants, p. 292 (whipping with elder twig stops child's growth) ; Brand, in, 284 (same) ; Maddox, p. 209 (same). '^ Gumba Ya-Ya, p. 557 (God rolling stones or the Devil driving his chariot) ; Thorpe, in, 183 (German— Peter [or angels] playing bowls) ; Legey, The Folklore of Morocco, p. 48 (a dumb angel trying to talk to God) ; JAFL, xix, 210 (Filipino — the growling of a large cat) ; Bett, Nursery Rhymes and Tales, p. 17 (Ciod having his coal put in) ; Enthoven, p. 76 (the voice of Indra). ^° Simpson, p. 228 (Scottish — witches from Norway shaking feathers) ; Thorpe, in, 183 (German— Peter shaking up his bed). 230 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE were hung up by the neck b}' a rope which had two httle blades that would glide out and stick in their necks. (Green Collection) Children were told that unless they did so and so "Old Raw- Head and Bloody Bones" would get them.^-^ (Green Collection) • Children are told that the moon is made of green cheese. (Green Collection) Children were taught that an old mother 'coon found babies in the woods and took them to people's homes. (Green Collection)' Children were taught that babies were brought by the stork. ^'^ (Green Collection) Children were taught that babies are found in hollow stumps or sugar barrels.^"' (Green Collection) Children were told that the doctor keeps babies in his saddle- bags. (Green Collection) Children were told that babies are found in hollow stumps, laid by a buzzard and hatched by the sun. (Green Collection) Children were told that there is a pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow. ^"^ (Green Collection) Children are told that the Man in the Moon was put there for gathering sticks on Sunday.^" (Green Collection) ^'' Gutch and Peacock, County Folk-Lore J\ 58; Hardwick, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folklore, p. 131. '^* JAFL, XL, 150 (Louisiana); Stout, p. 142 (brought by stork or found in straw piles) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 94 (brought by stork or found in cabbage) ; Thiselton-Dyer, The Folk-Lorc of Plants, p. 26 (found in parsley-bed, brought by stork or woodpecker, found in cab- bage or hollow tree). ^■'' Hyatt, p. Ill; JAFL, xl, 150 (found in cabbage patch). ^"JAFL, XXXI, 8 (Ontario) ; Kidd, The Essential Kafir, p. 113 ("The Mashonas say that if anyone manages to run to the spot where the rainbow rests on the earth he will find a large brass ornament") ; Werner, Myths and Legends of the Bantu, p. 233. ^' See Abbott, Macedonian Folklore, p. 69; Thiselton-Dyer, p. 48 (refers to Numbers 15:32 — "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day") ; Thorpe, i, 143 (Swedish — spots on moon are children carry- ing water in bucket) ; Porteous, Forest Folklore. Mythology, and Ro- mance, p. 267 (Cain taken to moon for bringing briars as an offering; Isaac carrying wood for his own sacrifice ; woman who was placed in the moon for churning on Sunday) ; Harley, p. 23 (man carrying cab- bages stolen on Christmas Eve ; man who strewed briars on the path to the cliurch in order to keep people from attending mass), 53 (a n r, I. 1 K F S AND CUSTOMS 23I LhiUlrcii l)clic\e that if they address a granddaddy loiiglegs with "Daddy Longlegs, wliich way are my cows?" he will indi- cate their whereabouts by pointing one of his legs.^** ((jreen Collection) At Easter the children always select a nest for the rooster to lay in, and on Easter morning they visit it to find colored eggs. Egg hunts are the usual thing, and at these the children "pip" eggs with each other. Each takes an egg and they crack the eggs together to see which will not get broken. Various games are played. Everyone in the community serves eggs prepared in various ways at all the meals on Easter Day.^^ (Ciertrude Allen Vaught).,/ If the hair of a child is washed in the juice of a grapevine, it will be glossy and pretty.-*' (Mildred Peterson) When you hear the whippoorwill or when the dogwood blooms, it is time to go barefooted.-^ (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie)': woman in the moon), 60 (a hare in the moon), 69 (a tuad in tlic moon) ; Enthoven, p. 50 (spinning woman, with goat near by). FL, XXIV, 77 (Oxfordshire) — The man in the moon was caught in a trap For stealing the thorns out of another man's gap. If he had gone by and let the thorns lie, He'd never been a man in the moon so high. For literary allusions to the lielief, see Tempest, n. 2, and Midsummer Night's Dream, i, 3. ^"JAFL. XXIV, 319 (Kentucky); vii. 306 xl, 89 (Ozarks) ; Bergen, PP- 58-59, 1048; Gardner, p. 275; Callaway, The Rclicjious System of the Amazidu, p. 339 (boys use the bird called Isi pnngumangati for same purpose, the bird pointing the direction with its head ; the praying mantis is also used) ; Randolph, p. 48. "' Puckett, p. 55; Hardwick, pp. 71-72; JAI'L. xn, 106-107 (Armen- ian — coloring and breaking eggs) ; xvi, 138 (Syrian — breaking Easter eggs) ; FL, xxviii, 450, 452; xxv, 373 (Jersey) ; Gumbo Va-Va, p. 573; Whitney and Bullock, pp. 116-117; Abbott, pp. 35, 37; Gutch, Comity Folk-Lore IL 245; Balfour and Thomas, County Folk-Lore IT. 70, 108"; British Calendar Customs (England), 1, 89-91 ; British Calendar Cus- toms (Scotland), i, 45-46. -"Hyatt, p. 143; JAFL, xl. 82 (Ozarks); xlvi, 3 (Ozarks); Follc- Say (1930), p. 162 (Ozarks); Randolph, p. 164; Brendle and Ungcr, j). loi (makes mustache heavy!). -^ Randolph, p. 70 (go baref(X)ted on May i and you may leave your shoes off with impunity until snow flies). According to Wilson (Pass- ing lustitutiniis. p. 177), one was to begin going barefooted at sheep- shearing time. 232 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE FOLK-TOYS Tops. — Tops were made by cutting a spool in half and insert- ing a small wooden peg for a spindle.-- (Clara Hearne) Dolls. — Dolls were made from hickory nuts, from raisins and figs, from May Pop bloom (man), from althea bloom (lady), from immature corn, using the silks for hair.-'^ ( Jean and Hallie Holeman) — Dolls were made from plants with long roots. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) — Dolls and animals were made from cloth. (Clara Hearne) — Rag dolls were made of cloth, and jumping jacks of wood. (Nilla Lancaster) Boats. — Boats were made from pine bark. Sails were made by pasting paper on a small reed or broom straw. (Clara Hearne) Popguns. — Popguns were made from alder; cedar balls were used as missiles.-^ (Clara Hearne) Whistles. — Whistles were made of reeds. (Gertrude Allen -- Playing with tops was a very ancient pastime. Whipping the top is mentioned by Vergil (Acncid, Bk. vn, line 378), and the sport was probably old even at that time. Top-playing was popular in England at least as early as the fourteenth century (Gomme, n, 299-303). Both Strutt (pp. 304-305) and Maclagan attest to its popularity in England and Scotland respectively. Allusions to it appear also in the plays of Shakespeare, the poems of Greville and Thomas More, and elsewhere in English literature. Tops are or were among the favorite toys of Koreans and Japanese (Culin, p. 24), of the Maori (Best, p. 86), of the Hawaiians (Bryan, p. 51), of the Singhalese (Ludovici, p. 39), of the peoples of India (Mills, p. 64;"Hutton, p. 105), and of many American Indian tribes (Culin, "Games." p. 733). They were made not only of wood but also of stone, shells, and other materials. Some were so made as to produce a humming sound ; many were decorated with bright-colored bits of shell to make them more attractive. "'' Although not reported, there were undoubtedly dolls made of corn husks as well. Dolls of this kind are still being made in the Southern Highlands; see Eaton, p. 188. In the U.S.S.R., favorite materials for the making of dolls are straw and grasses. For illustrations, see Kor- shunov, lijnishki sa»iodcIki, pp. 72-73. "^ The earliest allusion to the popgun, originally called potgun, appears in an English comedy, The Kni(jlif of Grainc (1640). There are allusions also in Marston's The Malcontent (iv, v) and in the Philasfcr of Beau- mont and Fletcher (i, i), where the term elder-gun is used. In Korea and Japan the name of papergun was given it because of the fact that paper wads were used as ammunition (Culin, p. 29). For descriptions and other information, see Strutt (p. 300) and Mac- lagan (p. 172). The popgun was known in India, Ceylon, and among the Cheyenne, Fox, Omaha, and other American Indian tribes (Culin, "Games," p. 758). Irish lads make a popgun from the wing-bones of the goose. To make this (iunnai Gc, they punch tlie marrow out of the hone, insert a wooden plunger whittled to fit the hole, and shoot it in the same way that American boys shoot a gun made of alder. Paper wads are used for ammunition. See Bealoidcas, .\v (1945), 281-282. U 1-; I. I I'. |- S A N 1) t" V S T O M S J33 Vaught) — Whistles were made from rye stalks. (Cjertrude Allen Vaught) — Sourwood sprouts were used to make whistles in the spring of the year when the "sap was up." Goose (juills made excellent "squealers."-'' (Green Collection) — -Whistles were made of s(|uash vines. (Green Collection) Windmills. — Windmills were made of wood or cornstalks.-*' (Gertrude Allen Vaught) IVatcr Mills. — Water mills were made of cornstalks. (Cireen Collection) Doll Dishes. — Cups were made from acorns. ((Gertrude Allen Vaught) — Dishes were molded from clay. Nilla Lan- caster) U'ayoHS and Carts. — These were made from cigar hoxes and spools. (Clara Hearne) Animals. — Horses, dogs, cats, and other animals were made from cornstalks. (Clara Hearne) Bean Shooters. — Bean shooters were made from a fork of the dogwood.-" (Clara Hearne) Slings. — No description. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) — No description.-*^ (Green Collection) Bubble Blotvers. — These were made of spools. (Clara Hearne) — Spools were used as bubble blowers. (Green Col- lection ) Stick Horses. — Tobacco sticks were used for "horses."-^ (Green Collection) Clothing. — Hats and aprons were made of leaves. (Ger- trude Allen Vaught) " Boys in Southern Indiana still make whistles from hickory and willow just as I did more than thirty years ago. The hickory is also used for the making of whips. The bark of a long slender hickory hmb is split longitudinally into four or more strands. These are peeled down to within about fifteen inches of the butt, and the limb is cut off at this point. Then the strands of bark are plaited and a cracker, also of bark, is added. ^'^ See Strutt (p. 307) for a painting, over five hundred years old, of a children's windmill. "Apparently these were what are now more commnnly called "nigger- killers," consisting of a forked stick, two rul)ber bands, and a small bit of leather to hold the missile. -* Our slings (c. 1910) required the following materials: two strong cords about eighteen inches long and a piece of soft leather, preferably the tongue of a lady's shoe. The latter was cut in the form of an oval about three inches long, and a hole was made in each end for tying the cords. A small slit was cut in the center so that the pebble missile would not slip out so easily. .\ loop was then made in the free end of one of the cords and this \vas slipped over the little finger of the throw- ing hand. The free end of the other string was held between thumb and forefinger. When the sling had been whirled around the bead two or three times, this string was suddenly released and the pebble was on its way toward the mark. , -* See Strutt (p. 300) and Culin (p. ii) . 234 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Wooden Guns and Sxvords. — Mentioned but not described. (Nilla Lancaster) Crosshozvs. — Mentioned but not described. (Green Col- lection) Bows and Arrows. — No description. (Green Collection) — No description. (Nilla Lancaster) — Bows were made from cedar; reeds were used for arrows.-^" (Clara Hearne) Blate ( Bleat?) or Hawk-caller. — This consisted of a split stick with a leaf tongue. (Green Collection) Gigs. — Gigs made from dining forks and umbrella ribs were used in catching fish and frogs in ditches and other shallow water. (Green Collection) 5a//j.— Mentioned but not described. (Nilla Lancaster) — "Tra-ball" made of yarn or cotton usually ravelled from worn stockings. The name is from the ancient game of trap-ball or trap-bat. (Green Collection) Flippers. — These were made from strong, springy wood like hickory or oak. A small limb or the trunk of a small tree was used. They were left round on one end for a handle. The other end was shaped oft' much like the half of a bow. They were held with one hand, while the other hand was used to hold a small pebble to shoot out for a distance of forty to fifty yards. Small boys used to use them in war games. (Green Collection) Kites. — Country boys made them out of dried dog-fennel stalks.'" (Green Collection) — Mentioned but not described. (Clara Hearne) Whirligig. — The whirligig is undoubtedly a folk-toy. It is somewhat similar to a little device used by the ancients for ^" The favorite bow of boys in Scotland was one made of a horse's rib (Maclagan. pp. 44-45)- ■" It appears that the kite was invented about 200 B.C. by a Chinese general, one Han-Sin, who used it for signaling. From China, kite- flying spread to Japan, Siam, Korea, and Turkey. The kite was intro- duced into Europe in the seventeenth century, and instructions for mak- ing it appeared first in England in John Bate's Mysteries of Nature and Art (1634). Mention of it occurs a little later (1664) in Butler's Hudibras. Among the Melanesians kites were used as corks by fishermen, who tied their lines to them. In England they were sometimes loaded witli fireworks and then sent aloft, where the fireworks exploded. Musical kites were made by attaching flutes, lyres, hollow bits of bamboo, or perforated shells to the frame. .A. favorite pastime, particularly in Korea and New Zealand, was kite- fighting, i.e., the cutting of one's kite string by that of another. Ground glass or coarse sand was rubbed on the strings to make them rough. This sport was indulged in even by men, who often wagered large sums on their respective kites. For additional information on tlie sul)ject, sec Culin, and Laufer, "The Prehistory of Aviation." B E I. I K F S AND CUSTOM S 235 boring liolcs. It is whittled out of wood in the shape of an arrow about ten inches long. This rod is split at the top and a thread is inserted. Then a notch is cut in each end of another thin board about four inches long and one inch wide, and a hole is bored in the center of it. This is slipped over the top of the arrow, and its ends are tied with the threads. Children put their tingers on the board, press down, and the arrow re- volves.-^- (Zilpah Frisbie)^ Stilts. — Mentioned but not described.-" ((ireen Collection) Miscellaneous. — Hog bladders blown up and dried, kept to make a noise on Christmas Day (Green Collection) ; rolling the hoop (Green Collection); making of snow men-'*^ ((ireen Collection) ; the making and playing of cornstalk fiddles*''"^ (Green Collection) ; the making of saddles from pea hulls and of baskets from peach seeds, ((ireen Collection) COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE A filmy yellow parasite called the love vine grows densely along hedges and creek banks in the South. A handful of it is torn from the parent bush by the girl who seeks to know her fate, and thrown backward over her left shoulder. If it grows, her lover is true.'^*' (Maude Minish Sutton) To have good luck, the bride must wear Something old and something new Something borrowed and something blue.-"*' (Jean and Hallie Holeman, Durham county) > '' Native craftsmen, particularly those working in metal, in many lands use a drill of this kind. A similar device was used in olden times for making fires. '^ The North Carolina term most commonly used seems to be "Tom Walkers" ; in Louisiana the name applied to stilts is "George Walkers" (Gumbo ya-]'a, p. 572). For descriptions and illustrations, see Culin (p. 8) and Strutt (pp. 66, 303). "* The making of snow men is a favorite sport also of Korean children (Culin, p. 8). _ '''' In Yorkshire, children scraped the stems of a plant known as "fiddle- wood" across each other ; see Thiselton-Dyer, The Folklore of Plants. P- 235. For a photograph of a cornstalk fiddle, see Eaton, p. 271. "See Puckett, p. 327: J.-iFL. xl, 80 (Ozarks), 155 (Louisiana); XLvni, 333 (Tennessee); II F, vi. 23: Bergen, p. 50; Randolph, p. 172 (love vine or dodder) ; HFR. 11, 31 ("Live Forever" and yellow dodder) ; Carmer, Stars Fell on Alabama, p. 281 ; Barker, p. 252. "Gardner, p. 302; HF, vi, 20; HFR, 11, 37; J.-iFL, vi, 103 (New England) ; x, 77 (Canada) ; v, 114 (North Carolina) ; xxxi. 28. 97 (Ontario), 207; xxxvi, 10, 21 (New York); xl, 158 (Louisiana — "and a bit of silver in the heel of her shoe") ; Stout, p. 147; Thorpe, 11, 113 (Swedish — if the bride dances with money in her shoes, no witchcraft can harm her) ; Crawley, The Mystic Rose, 11, 05 (in Morocco, the bride's brother places a silver coin in one of her slippers, puts them on her feet, and then taps her three times with his own slipper). 236 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE An old Southern custom was for the bridesmaids to put the bride to bed on her wedding night. •^''* (Mrs. Norman Herring), If you laugh while being married, you will die early. (Mrs. Norman Herring) '^ Alarry in white, choose all right ; IMarry in blue, always be true ; Marry in green, ashamed to be seen ; Marry in brown, live out of town ; Marry in black, you'll wish you were back ; Marry in pink, your spirit will sink ; Marry in yellow, ashamed of your fellow ; Marry in tan, you'll get a good man ; Marry in red, you'll wish you were dead ; Marry in pearl, you'll live in a whirl ; r ]\Iarry in gray, you'll live far away.^** / (Mrs. Norman Herring) It is the custom in the South to throw rice and old slippers after the married couple. It is thought to bring them good luck.^" (Zilpah Frisbie) '^ An old slave custom was to "jump the broom" instead of having a marriage ceremony. "'^ (Mrs. Norman Herring) */ •■'*' Cf. Earle, Customs and fashions .... p. 73 ("In Marblehead the bridesmaids and groomsmen put the wedded couple to bed"). "^ For other texts and variants of this rhyme, see JAFL, xl, 158 (Louisiana) ; xxxvi, 10; xxxl 27 (Ontario) ; FL, xlix, 152 (Ne- braska) ; xxvni, 452; Randolph, pp. 189-190; Stout, p. 149; MAFLS, XXIX, 149; TFLS, HL 29; Hyatt, p. 168; Johnson. What They Say in Xczc England, p. 131; (jardner, p. 301; Puckett, p. 330; Thomas and Thomas. Kentucky Sut^ersfitions, p. 64; Fogel. Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pcnnsyhcvnia Germans, p. 70; Poison, Our Highland Folklore Heritage, p. 13; HF, vi, 22. Green, from its association with the fairies and with the supernatural in general, is particularly ill-omened. See, on this point, Gutch and Peacock, County Folk-Lore l\ 146; Gutch, County Folk-Lore H, 290; Gutch, County Folk-Lore I'l, 81, 128; Whitney and Bullock, p. 17; FLR, I, 12. ^''JAFL. XXXVI, 10; Abbott, p. 177; FLR. in, 133 (rice and zn'heat thrown at the wedding of Henry VII in i486); Stout, p. 147; Rodd, p. 95 (rice and cotton seed thrown) ; Hutchinson. Marriage Customs in Many Lands, p. 8 (Hindu). Old shoes were formerly thrown after English whalers to bring them luck (Bassett, Legends and Superstitions of the Sea. p. 437)- In some parts of England icheat was thrown on the head of the bride, a custom which is found also among Hebrews and Sicilians ( Dennys, The Folk-Lore of China, p. 15. note). In Russia the priest threw hops on the bride's head, at the same time expressing the wish that she might be as fruitful as that plant. The throwing of wheat at English weddings is mentioned by Herrick. Corn (wheat?) was formerly thrown at Italian weddings ; see Thiselton-Dyer, The Folk-Lore of Plants, p. 153. "See Botkin, Lay My Burden Down, pp. 65. 86, 91. 124. 263; M, Eileen Lyster, "Marriage over the Broomstick," JGLS, n.s., v, 198- 201; II, 343-344; III, 178; O.S., I, 179, 351; FL, xiir, 238; XXIV, 336-337 1! K 1. I K K S A X U C r S T () M S 237 Old shoes should he thrown after the hride to hring her luck.-*- (Mrs. Norman Herring) y Sometimes women wore smocks, so they just stood in the closet during the marriage ceremony. -••' ( Rehecca Willis)/ (Gypsy); Gumbo Yii-Ya, p. 569; Thomas, Devil's Ditties, p. 8 (as part of a play-party song). Allusions to the custom occur also in nursery rhymes. For tlie fol- lowing example, I am indelned to my mother, Mrs. Nancy E. Brewster, who learned it in Southern Indiana some si.xty years ago. ^ly dollies are going to get married ; It's simple as simple can he. They hotli jump over the hroomstick, •A.nd then they are married, you see. In a Missouri German wedding ceremony descrihed in JAI'l. (.xxi, 63) the hride and groom take their stand on one side of a held, the latter holding a hroom. The young single men of the party race toward them from the opptosite side of the field. The winner seizes the broom, and it is believed that lie will be the next bridegroom. Samter {Ccburt, Hoch::cif, iind Tot) thinks that the purpose of jumping was to elude evil spirits. He writes: "A person who has fallen into such undesirable company (ghosts) has thus a simple and obvious method of giving liis companions the slip ; he has only to step over a besom. The ghosts, with the usual stupidity of their kind, do not think of walking round, and dare not follow." Another suggestion is that the broonistick was probably originally a branch of a sacred tree and the jumping over it was intended to promote the fertility of the bride. It is possible also that the jumping may originally have been a virginity or chastity test (cf. the dancing in some of the English and Scottish popular ballads). Although "marriage over the broomstick" was occasionally practiced by the Gypsies, their standard marriage ceremony appears to have con- sisted in the breaking of an earthen jar (e.g., in the marriage of Esmeralda to Gringoire in The Hunchback of Notre Dame). The breaking of crockery at marriage ceremonies was a distinctive feature also among the Jews, Greeks, Bohemians, and otiicr peoples (Crawley, n, 94, 134; Westermarck. The History of Human Marriat/e, u. 4^9- 462 ; Leared, Morocco and the Moors, p." 3" ) . It is interesting to note that jumping or stepping over a broom is also believed to bring one bad luck, cause one not to be married, etc. See, for example, JAFL, .\l, 172 (never step over broom), 173 (if one steps over a broom, he will never be married) ; HPB, u. 26 (bad luck to step over broom) ; Randolph, pp. 74, 182; Stout, p. 145 (if one steps over a broom, will be an old maid), 148 (if one steps over a broom, will never marry); Barker, p. 247; CTLQ. iv, 431 (don't step over hroom if a married man !). *" Cf. JATL, XL, 157 (Louisiana); Thiselton-Dyer, p. 203: Gutch and Peacock, County J-olk-Lore \\ p. 233. The throwing of a shoe was originally a symbol of renunciation of control (cf. Ruth. 4:7-8). The throwing of shoes at modern weddings is symbolic of tiie relatives' re- linquishment of the bride to her husband. *"" Altliough the contributor has not made it i)Iain. i)otli tliis and the following custom are connected with the Englisii "debt-evading" mar- riage, which was later transplanted into New England social life and apparently into that of the South as well, though it appears never to have been so prevalent there. In eighteenth-century England the belief pre- vailed that if a widow were "married in Her Smock without 'any Clothes 238 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Women often waited until they got outside to put on their wedding dresses so they could cut off the past entirely. (Rebecca Willis J - Weddings in my community are generally home affairs. Usually the couple is married late in the afternoon and drive to some of the groom's relatives, where they take supper. All his intimate friends are invited and after supper, games are played and songs, almost always love songs, are sung. The first night in their home they are "belled." A large crowd of friends get together and have bells, tin pans, guns — in fact, any- thing that will make a noise — and then proceed after dark to the house. Quite often the crowd is invited in by the bride and groom, and games are played. I have helped with a num- ber of "bellings" myself."*^ (Gertrude Allen Vaught)^ It was a custom at country weddings for the groom to give a reception to the bride and the bridal party after the wedding. This was called the infair."*'^ (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie)., or Head Gier on," the husband would not be liable for any debts con- tracted by his new wife before her marriage to him, and many records of such "debt-evading" marriages appear. In New England it was thought that if the bride were married in her shift on the king's highway a cred- itor was prohibited from following her person any further in pursuit of a debt. Mention of these so-called "smock-marriages" occurs frequently in the records of that time. Sometimes they took place on the highway, sometimes at the home of the bride, and occasionally at the home of the groom. Usually, with some regard to the bride's modesty, they were held at night, the groom having his bride's wedding dress ready for her to don as soon as the ceremony was finished. Later the bride stood unclothed in a closet and reached out her hand to her husband through a hole cut in the door for that purpose. For additional information on this curious custom, see Gutch and Peacock, Comity foIk-Lorc /', p. 234; JAFL, vi, 100 (New England) ; and Earle, CusfoDts and Fashions . . . , pp. 77-78. There is an allusion to it also in PL, xlix, 193. Andrews (Colonial folkivays, p. 89) writes: "In one instance the lady stood in a closet and extended her hand through the door, and in another, well authenticated, both chemise and closet were dispensed with." ** "Bellings" or charivaris are still popular in this part of the country (Indiana) as w-ell, not only in the rural sections but also in fairly good- sized towns. They have become rather rough affairs, however, since everyone feels free to attend and many of them are there only for the beer and liquor that are usually offered. The poor groom is sometimes used pretty roughly, occasionally being taken for a ride in a hog crate or otherwise humiliated. This horseplay is usually of short duration, how- ever, particularly if the groom proves generous in the matter of refresh- ments for the crowd. The bride is never molested except for being made the victim of some rude but not unkindly banter. See JAFL, xxxl 136 (Ontario) ; Southern Literary Messcnucr, vi (1944), 281-286 (Ozarks) ; Trachtenberg, Jeivish Magic and Super- stition, p. 160; and Holliday, Woman's Life in Colonial Days, p. 272, Wuttke, p. 185. *■'' For mention of this custom, see Thomas, pp. 1-8. An infair dinner is the subject of one of James Whitcomb Riley's poems, "A New Year's Time at Willards's." r BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 239 A pregnant woman cannot make pickle successfully/" ((ireen Collection) ^ To sit over a pot of stewed onions will cause a miscarriage.'''^ (Carolyn Kay Root) • An expectant mother should not have her teeth pulled."*** (F.unice Smith) y HOLIDAYS AND "GET-TOGETHERS" Cows kneel at midnight on the eve of Old Christmas. ■*•' (\V. S. Smith) *'^FL, XLix, 231 (a pregnant woman is not to help in butchering or meat-curing) ; Randolph, p. 195 (a pregnant woman must not help with canning) ; Toor, A Treasury of Mcxicau Folkways, pp. iii, 157; Wallis, Rcliyion in Primitive Society, p. 95 (Fiji— a pregnant woman must not make pottery lest the clay crack); Crawley, i. 199 (Fiji— a pregnant woman must not minister to her husband in any way) ; Campbell, p. 37 (Negro — if a pregnant woman cleans out a spring, it will go dry) ; Webster, Taboo, p. 51 (Ba-ila of Northern Rhodesia— the presence of a pregnant woman causes the skulls of newborn babies and puppies to split, fruit to drop from trees, and eggs under a setting hen to crack), p. 52 (Nyasaland — a pregnant woman is to be kept away from growing crops, from food being cooked, and from beer that is being brewed) ; Dennys, p. 49 ( China — a pregnant woman is possessed of the evil eye ) . Much the same prohibitions and taboos apply to the menstruating woman or girl. See Hyatt, p. 37 (flowers die when planted by a menstruating woman); FL, Lvi, 270 (a menstruating girl spoils the butter); xxxvii, 97 (Gypsy — a menstruating woman is not to help with the preparing of food); XL. 386 (a menstruating girl turns wine sour) ; JAFL, lh, 75; xxxvHL 388 (Jewish — a menstruating woman not to touch the ark or the scroll of the law), 398 (Jewish — a menstruating woman not to enter a cemetery) ; xlh, 235 (a menstruating woman not to can fruit or make kraut) ; xl, 83 (Ozarks — not to pickle cucumbers) ; Puckett, pp. 423- 424; Nassau, F-etichism m West Africa, p. 189 (a menstruating woman not to enter a garden) ; Burriss, Taboo. Magic. Spirits, p. 43 (citing Pliny, VH, 63) ; Kemp, p. 44 (not allowed to approach hearth). *' Hyatt (p. 122) lists this as a means for securing an easy delivery. A Jewish woman desirous of bringing about an aburtion nails a slioe above the door {Edotli, 1, 126). ** ". . . it has not been very long since even in the medical and dental profession the belief prevailed that the mciuth of a pregnant woman is an inviolate Noli-me-tangere for operative procedure and that dental care should be deferred until after childbirth. Extraction of teeth during pregnancy was dreaded as fatal for the successful conclusion of the parturition and harmful to the mother. This is exactly the popular opinion as found almost everywhere in the civilized world as well as in the uncivilized" ( Kanner, Folklore of the Teeth, p. 29). *^JAFL, XL, 93 (Ozarks). 191 (Louisiana); \, 130 (Pennsylvania German); xi. 12 (Maryland); \n, 98 (North Carolina); xxxn, 393 (North Carolina) ; TL, xxv, 368 (Sussex) ; JCLS. n.s., iii, 21: British Calendar Customs ( F-nc/land ). 11. 74-75: Cutch, County I-olk-Lore 11, 114: Whitney and Bullock, p. 128; Thomas, p. 18; R?ndolph, pp. 77 78; Hole, p. 78. 240 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Exactly at midnight on the night of Old Christmas, all cattle and horses everywhere stand up and then lie down on the other side."*^ (Susie Spurgeon Jordan) Horses talk at Old Christmas.^^' (W. S. Smith) Water turns to blood on midnight of Old Christmas. "^^ (W. S. Smith) ■ It was believed that at Old Christmas, animals got down on their knees and turned to the East.-"^ (Green Collection) Hop vines spread out on Old Christmas even if there is snow on the ground.''^ (Mabel Ballentine) The custom with Negroes around here is that whenever you say, "Christmas gift," they say, "Hand it over."-'''' (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie) Some people shoot firecrackers on the Fourth of July, but we shoot them on Christmas.-^" (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie) At Christmas time, put mistletoe over the door. Any girls standing under it may be kissed. •''' (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie) Never keep Christmas decorations up after the twelfth day after Christmas."'^ (Robert E. Long) ^,^ In Wilmington on Christmas Eve. John Kuners. Negroes, went about singing, dressed in tatters with strips of gay colors sewn to their garments. All were men. but some dressed as women. They wore masks. Some rattled beef ribs ; others had cow horns, triangles, Jew's-harps. They collected pennies at each house. This custom resembles that reported from the Bahamas, and the name is thought to have originated from that of a man, John Connu. It is corrupted there to Junk- anoes:'^ (Green Collection) '''' Thorpe, n, 272 (Danish); ui, 330 (Dutch). ^'^JAFL, XL, 148 (Louisiana). See also Carmer. Stars Fell on Ala- bama, p. 282. "Whitney and Bullock, p. 128 (water turns to wine) ; JAFL. xu. 99 (Armenian — all rivers and springs stop for five minutes at midnight on New Year's Eve) ; Randolph, p. yy (water in wells turns to wine at mid- night of January 5). "'^ See Gutch, County Folk-Lore //. 278: FL. xxiv, 89; Balfour and Thomas, Cou)ity Folk-Lore IV, 80. '''JAFL, xxxn, 393 (North Carolina — rosemary and poke): Thomas, p. 18 (Kentucky — alder); Thorpe, ui, 148 (German — hops become green on Christmas night). "•"'See Gumbo Va-Ya, pp. 231, 570. ^'^ Ibid., p. 572; Barker, p. 183. •"^^ See Gutch, County Folk-Lore VI, 118; Whitney and IJullock, p. 129; Hardwick, p. 67. This custom is, of course, universal. Others con- tributing it were Louise Bennett. Lida Page, Zilpah Frisbie, Alma Irene Stone, and Gertrude Allen Vaught. "Randolph, p. y2>'< British Calendar Customs ( F.nc/land), n, 92; JAFL, V, 243 (Irish); xxxL 8 (Ontario — take down before end of month); Gutch, County Folk-Lore VL 118; Whitney and Bullock, p. 129. ^'' See Dougald MacMillan's article in JAFL. xxxix, 53. R K I. I K F S A X n (• r S T () M S 24I In some parts of tliis county it is the custom to observe what is known as Old Christmas. Opinion varies as to the (late; some think it is the tifth and some the sixth of January. This dav is believed l)v the people who keej) it to be the real Christ- mas, the birthday of Christ. They say the Christmas we regularlv keep is the "man-made" Christmas. Old Christmas is kept in much the same way that w^e keep Christmas, the 25th of December. (Jennie M. liclvin) Old Christmas was celebrated in much the same way as Christmas, but the celebration lasted only one night. In some places there was a quilting bee. to which all the ladies were in- vited. When the (|uilt was finished, they jjopped corn or roasted apples. Sometimes they had a dance after the (luilting. (Clara Hearne) The weeJ< in which Christmas falls is a time for having parties in my community. The voung folks meet and play games and sing.' The night before' Christmas all the children hang up their stockings, but Christmas trees in homes are rarely seen. More often there is a tree at the church for everyl)ody. On New Year's night we meet somewhere, usually at the school- house, where we plav games and sing until midnight, when w^e make all the noise possible. This is called Watch Xight. ( Ger- trude Allen Vaught) At Christmas time lots of folks used to make eggnog and syllabub, and always decorated with holly and mistletoe. (Elizabeth Janet Cromartie) Christmas licjuor. eggnog. and other drinks were served to all who dropped in. (CJreen Collection) Bonfires were made of barrels of tar;' guns and firecrackers w^ere discharged; and j^eople did as little work as possible be- tween Christmas and New Year's. ( h^lsie Doxey) The New^ Year's Shoot Collected from Mr. A. Sidney Beam, of Cherryville. in January, 1948, bv Professor Arthur Palmer Hudson. The custom of wel- comin^'in the New Year with gunfire appears to have been carried into North Carolina by German-speaking immigrants, whose de- scendants perpetuate it to this day, at least in Caston county. The first written record of the North Carolina ".Shoot" hears the date 1774, but the custom may have been observed there even earlier. Mr. Beam states that he has been saying the "New Year's Speech" for 59 years, and believes the custom to be well cn-er 150 years old. The shootins; besjins promptly at midnitrht of New Year's Eve and continues until sunrise the following; morning. The celebrants make a tour of the homes in the vicinity, stopping at each to dis- charge their pieces after the recital of the following chant. What- ever' its original purpose (to drive away evil spirits, to promote 242 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE fertility, etc.). the custom is now apparently only a way of showing the crowd's good wishes to the people whose homes are visited. Since Professor Hudson is later to publish elsewhere a full account of this interesting custom, I present here only the tradi- tional speech or chant as supplied him by Mr. Beam. Good morning to you, Sir, We wish you a happy New Year, Great health, long life. Which God may bestow So long as you stay here below. May he bestow the house you are in Where you go out and you go in. Time by moments steals away First the hour and then the day. Small the lost days may appear But yet the[y] soon amount up to a year. This another year is gone And now it is no more of our own, But if it brings our promises good As the year before the flood. Btit let none of us forget It has left us much in debt. A favor from the Lord received Since which our spirits hath been grieved. Marked by the unerring hand Thus in his book our record stands. Who can tell the vast amount Placed to each of otir accounts ? But while you owe the debt is large You may pleade a full discharge. But poor and selfish sinners, say What can you to justice pay? Trembling last for life is past And into prison you may be cast. Happy is the believing soul. Christ for you has paid the whole. We have this New Years morning call[ed] you by your name And disturbed you from your rest. But we hope no harm by the same. As we ask come tell us your desire And if it be your desire our guns and pistols they shall fire. Since we hear of no defiance You shall hear the art of science. When we pull triggers and powder burns You shall hear the roaringj^ of guns. Oh, daughters of righteous [ness], we will rise U K I. 1 K K S A N D l' U S T O M S 243 And warm our eyes and bless our licarts, J'^or the old year's gone and the New Year's come And for good luck we'll fire our guns. Ouilting bees are ([uite common yet. The ladies and girls of the community are invited to a home for the day, and quilts are sewed or tacked together. Here they remain for dinner and have a good "gossipy" time."" ((jertrude Allen Vaught)V Apple peelings are quite common social affairs in our section. A crowd of both old and young folks often gather together and l)eel and cut ai)ples at night for a while. The young folks (juit working not later than nine o'clock, and play games. While they are working, they (|uite often sing all kinds of love songs. Sometimes, instead of apple peelings, we have bean stringings, bean shellings, or pea shellings. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Years ago when this country was a dense forest,, the people in the community would invite the men for a day for "log- rolling." The women were invited, too. While the men were out in the woods, the women would quilt and |)re])are a big feast. After supper they would have a dance, then a midnight supper before going home.*''^ (Kate S. Russell)V People do not have log-rollings now as they did some fifty or a hundred years ago. However, there are a few log houses still being built in the mountain section of North Carolina. I remember hearing of a log-rolling in 1920. I did not go. but others did, and they indicated that it was similar to the log- rollings of our grandfathers' generation. ( Zil]:)ah Frisbie)*^ Log-rollings are still quite ccjmmon in my section, and usually last at least one day. However, there are seldom any festivities connected with them, ((jertrude Allen Vaught) V The oldtime log-rollings and quiltings in our coimty are but a memory. The log-rolling and quilting were generally held at the same time. The men rolled the logs in the "new ground'' into heaps, while the women stitched quilts, gossiped, and cooked dinner for the hands at the farmer's house. Sometimes a jug of whiskey or brandy would be brought out to the "new ground" by the owner of the farm and ])assed around to the workers. This was supposed to aid the men in doing a great amount of work in a short time. The men worked in squads of from two to a half-dozen. Each s(iuad strove to perform the greatest deeds of strength and skill. Loud yelling announced "" For admirable descriptions of the oldtime quilting bee, see Webster, Quilts, Their Story and How to Make Them, p. 152; Finlcy. Old Patch- work Quilts and the Women IVho Made 'Them, pj). 33-34; and Bowles. Homespun Handicrafts, pp. 157-158. ""For a good description of log-rollings, sec I'olk-Say, i (1929), 79- 85, and Wilson, Passing Institutions, p. 46. 244 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE the successful rolling of a log into a heap. Warning cries kept the careless workers from heing caught by the big logs which would roll swiftly down the hillside. At the sound of the dinner horn coming from the house the workers would lay aside their hand spikes, don their coats if they had been prudent enough to bring them, and march for the house, where dinner awaited them. The dinner would be all that any man could desire. Almost every kind of meat and vegetable to be found in the mountains and these well cooked were to be found on the table. After the dinner the men would "rest a spell" and then repair to the "new grcmnd" to hnish their work. (Thomas Smith} House raisings were a common thing in the early days of our county. The older log houses which still stand were erected by means of these oldtime house raisings. The neighbors of men who wished to build a dwelling would "bunch in" and aid him. Sometimes there were enough men on hand to complete the house in one day. When the house was completed, the owner would invite his friends and their "women folks" to a bountiful supper, after which the young people would enjoy themselves by dancing until late in the night. The dance music would be furnished by some tiddler or banjo picker, who would play "Tucker's Barn," "Devil's Dream," "Old Jimmy Sutton." "Johnson Boys." "Turkey Buzzard," and other oldtime tunes. (Thomas Smith) "I ricollect a log rollin' we had 'way back yonder nearly fifty years ago. W^e'd cleared that field on the hill back 'o the old barn the winter before and had the logs all chopped and a-layin' there ready to be rolled. So we axed nearly all the men for miles around to help us roll them logs. ^lost o' the hands got to the field early, tho' there was a few that come from over on the river that was ten miles from our house ; they didn't git there till way up towards twelve. "We divided up into squads of four (I think one or two squads had six because they didn't have quite as stout hands as the rest). "I£ach squad commencin' at the bottom o' the hill tuck a 'trough' up the hill a-racin' agin each other to see which could roll the logs in their trough into heaps and git to the top o' the hill first. The squad that got to the top first alius done a lot o' hollerin' because they'd beat the others. "Along up in the day the water carrier and the jug carrier come out to the field. Uncle Joe Grey was the jug carrier, and he got around purty lively for an old man. The only trouble was he liked licker a little too well and we hadn't tuck more'n three or fcnir drinks apiece till I'ncle Joe got drunk B K I. I K F S A X D C U S T O M S ^4r« and left the jug a-settin' in the middle o' the field. He crawled oil under a tree and laid down and didn't ,^it up till way in the eveniu". "That didn't hother us much. We jist helped ourselves to the licker and went on rollin' logs harder'n ever. "list hefore twelve, wc rested a spell and when they hollered for us to come to dinner, we stacked our handspikes and w^ent to the house in a hurry, for we was a-gittin' good and hungry hy this time. ' "There was several women and gals at the house. They had a (luiltin' that day as they used to nearly always have when there was a log rollin'. I 'ricoUect that some o' the gals waited on the tahle and it kep' 'em husy a-waitin' on us too, I'll tell you. for there was over thirty of us men and all of us hungry as dogs. "Well, we eat our dinners and went hack to the held to finish rollin' them logs. After we'd tuck another snort or two at the jug, we went to work agin and we shore done some log rollin' that evenin' for hy an hour o' the sun we had all the logs rolled in that field and there was ten acres in it if there was one. "After we'd got through we all give a yell and started for the house. Some o' the men that lived nearest went home, but luost of 'em stayed. Supper wasn't ready yit, so we killed time a-playin' leap frog and 'puUin swag' out in the yard. You see, men was a sight stouter hack then than they are now, and w^e'd just drunk enough to make us feel lively. "]^lost o' the women and gals that was at the ciuiltin' had stayed and after we'd eat supper we went into the 'big house' and started up a dance. Old Sam Stone was there with his fiddle, and he shore could play sich tunes as Turkey Buzzard,' "The Miller Across the Ridge? and 'Cioin' to the Weddin.' He shore couldn't he beat on them tunes. Several o' the gals could dance like forty. I don't think there was many young men that could dance much tho' ; se\'eral of 'em tried to and some of 'em got lafifed at for bein' so awkward. There was two or three old men tuck a big hand in the dancin' ; they beat the young fellers all to pieces a-dancin' sich dances as the eight-handed reel. One o' the old men I ricollect was old Uncle Joe. He'd got over his drunk long before night, and it was a sight to see him a-hoofin' around over the floor with the young gals. "Ever'body got along peaceable that night. There wasn't no fussin' or drinkin' like there used to be at some dances and 'wav up towards day we quit dancin' and ever'body went home except a few that come from a distance." (Thomas Smith. Communicated to him l)y Bennett Smith in 1915. F"ictitious names are used throughout.) 246 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Something green should be worn on St. Patrick's Day. (Green Collection) At Easter, people appear in new clothes if possible.^- (Elsie Doxey) Two cocks were made to fight until they became exhausted. Then a man would go up with a spur in his hand (a piece of iron made to represent a spur) and pretend to be separating them, and stick this spur through the head of one of them so that he could say which won.^^ (Kate S. Russell) . A gander was caught and all the feathers picked from his neck. Then he was hung up at just the right height for a man on horseback to ride by and grab him. The man had to ride his horse at high speed and pull the neck in two as he rode.*^-* (Kate S. Russell) ^ It was the custom for the big farmers when hogs have been killed to have a big chitterling sui)per and invite all their friends. ( Robert E. Long) In earlier days it was the custom to give a "pound party" for the new preacher or the new teacher. At these parties, each person attending brought a pound of something as a gift. (Green Collection) In the fall of the year, the corn was gathered and piled near the house. The neighbors for miles around were invited to the shucking. All came, men and women. They told stories, sang songs, and served drinks while shucking. \Vlienever a red ear of corn was found, the finder could kiss any girl he liked.^''^ (Kate S. Russell) Corn shuckings are still held in some parts of the country. The men and women, girls and boys, from the neighboring farms are invited to the home of the person giving the shuck- ing. At least one meal is served, and the wives of the visiting farmers often help prepare the meal. Often the corn is piled into two large piles. Sides are chosen and the two teams race to see which can finish first. Any man finding a red ear of corn is entitled to kiss the girl of his choice, or in some places he is allowed a drink of whiskey. If a girl finds a red ear and does not hide it quickly enough, the first boy reaching her side is entitled to a kiss. During the husking hours, songs are sung, stories told, jokes told, and riddles asked. Often, after the "-JAFL, XL. 123 (Louisiana): Gutch, County Folk-Lore II. 246: Balfour and Thomas, County Por.-Lorc IT, 70 (if no new appart-l is worn, the person will be spattered by birds flying overhead). "^ Gutch, County I-olk-I.ore I'l. p. 141 ; Aul)rcy. p. 35 (citing Aelianus, I'aria Historia, lib. il cap. 28). "' See Cuniho i'a-)'a. p. 571, and Earic, Child Life in Colonial Days, p. 352 (Dutch — "riding for the goose"). "■• Whitney and Bullock, p. 122. BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 247 task is done, the floor is cleared, the fiddlers hring out their fiddles, and a regular barn dance is held. (Lucille Massey) ' When the corn has been hauled in from the fields, the farmer invites his neighbors to help him shuck it. The housewife in- vites other housewives of the neighborhood to assist her in preparing a supper for all who come to the "shucking." The supper consists of many fried chickens, a ham. or sometimes a mutton or a beef, potatoes, pies, cakes, butter, preserves, pickles, buttermilk, cofifee, and cider. If the shucking isn't finished by dark, they have supper and finish afterwards. Dur- ing the shucking there is much fun and merriment. Jokes are told, yarns are swapped; and many join in singing folksongs of various types. Quite often the housewives and daughters join them after supper. The man who is lucky enough to find a red ear is entitled to a drink of wine, cider, or eggnog. If a girl finds a red ear. she is to be kissed by all the unmarried men present. (Clara Hearne) , HOUSEHOLD SUPERSTITIONS Always sweep dirt into the fire, never outdoors.^" (Elsie Doxey) . There is no harm in sewing on Sunday if you do not use a thimble.*'" (Clara Hearne) - *"' Puckett, p. 396 (Missouri Negro) ; Jones and Kropf, folk-Tales of the Magyars, p. Ixvii ; JAFL, ni. loi (North Carolina): xii, 132 (South) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 69 (to burn sweepings brings luck). 18 (don't throw crumbs outside, but burn them). Randolph (p. 70) says, oddly enough, that sweepings are not to be burned. A more common belief regarding sweeping is that it is unlucky to sweep after dark. References to this arc numerous: Gardner, p. 290: JAFL, XL. 173 (Louisiana): iv, 123 (don't sweep dirt out on Friday evening) : x, 9 (Maryland) : xxxl 100 (Ontario — sweep dirt out, sweep luck away); Abbott, p. loi (sweeping after dark sweeps away the family's prosperity) ; Addy, p. 98; Newcomb, Navajo Tokens and Taboos, p. 41; HTB, n, 2~, 37: Fogel. p. 109: Gutch and Peacock, p. 160 (same); Gutch, County Tolk-Lore II, 277 (unlucky to sweep dirt out on Christmas Day or New Year's) ; (hi)nbo ]'a-]'a, pp. 538, 552 (bad luck to sweep after sundown) ; British Caloidar Customs (Eng- land), \\, 45, 47, 48 (don't sweep dirt out on New Year's Day) ; HP, \\, 19 (Iiad luck to sweep after dark) ; Stout, p. 197 (sweeping after dark brings sorrow to the heart) : Westermarck, Ritual and Belief in Morocco, L 593 (sweeping after dark sweeps away luck); PL. xxx, 184 (Japan — sweeping at night taboo) ; Randolph, pp. 70, 303. ""Cf. Hyatt, p. 174; JAPL. u, 98 (North Carolina). The usual be- lief, however, is that sewing on Sunday is a sin for which nothing can atone: JAPL, x, 9 (Maryland — sewing on Sunday pierces the Savior's side, and the Devil will make the sewer pick out the stitches with his nose) ; xxxvl 3; Gregor, p. 31 (if you sew on Sunday, the Devil will take out the stitches at night); Whitney and Bullock, p. 108; Stout, p. 191 ; Carmer, Stars Pell on Alabama, p. 282. 248 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE If the tail of a man's shirt is starched and ironed, it will cause the owner to be harsh. ^''* (Green Collection) Wash on Monday, you'll have all week to dry ; Wash on Tuesday, not so much awry ; Wash on Wednesday, not so much to blame ; Wash on Thursday, wash for shame ; Wash on Friday, wash for need ; Wash on Saturday, you're a big goose indeed.^^ (Minnie Stamps Gosney) Thunder causes milk to sour.''^ (Green Collection},, Walnut leaves scattered over floors will drive away fleas. '^ (Green Collection) Never mix April 30th milk with that of May 1st or the but- ter will be slow in coming. (Green Collection) . The old women must make the sauerkraut. If the young ones make it, it will spoil. (Emmy Lou Morton) If you will let your head get wet in the first rain of May, you will not have a headache all year."- (Katherine Bernard Jones) If you wash your face in dew the first morning in May, you will be pretty.'^^ (Mildred Peterson) .. "^ JAFL, XL, 174 (Louisiana) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 42 (don't iron the backs of clothes; to do so makes the back weak and brings bad luck). "'■'Thompson, Body, Boots, and Britches, p. 487; Gregor. p. 177, Thiselton-Dyer, p. 246. '"' JAFL, XL, 188 (Louisiana); xxxi, 8 (Ontario); Randolph, p. 73; Stout, p. 167; Aubrey, p. 104 (thunder sours beer unless an iron bar is laid across the barrel). '^ I have found no exact parallel for this, though Bergen (p. 120) says that walnut leaves are effective in driving away flies. There are several other ways of ridding a house of fleas: Puckett, p. 317 (china- berry leaves) ; JAFL, xu, 271 (Georgia — strip bark oft pine pole, and fleas will alight on pole and stick to the resin) ; Randolph, p. 68 (keep sheep in cabin), 44 (splinters from a lightning-struck tree), 68 (May snow melted in fireplace, walnut or butternut leaves ) ; Pickard and Buley, p. 71 (rue, wormwood, and gall) ; Thiselton-Dyer, llir Folk-Lorc of Plants, p. 221 (Bohemian — a leaf of the palm); Donaldson, p. 172 (oleander ). ''- I have found no exact parallel to this belief. Cf. JAFL, vi, 261 (Irish — bathe in May dew and let the sun dry you, and the sun will never burn you nor will flies bother you); Aubrey, p. 250 (May dew good for gout). '"'JAFL, XL, 167 (Louisiana); xlvi, 167 (Ozarks) ; vii, 108 (Alle- ghenies) ; x, 79 (Pennsylvania German); I-'LJ, 11, 191; Bcaloidcas, vn, 177; Sf'Q, ni, 36; Puckett, p. 328; Earle, Customs and Fashions . . . , p. 308; Hazlitt, Dictionary of Faiths and Folklore, u, 400 (May dew used by Catherine of Aragon in 151 5) ; Gardner, p. 264 (May rain water cures blemishes) ; Thomas and Thomas, p. 104 (May dew or rain water for freckles) ; Bergen, p. 143; Brand, Observations . . . , i, 218; Fogel, p. 308; Northall, p. 162; Lean, Collectanea. 11, 396; Wright, Rustic Speech and Folklore, p. 239; Hyatt, p. 181, 183; Brendle and Unger, n V. I. I K F S A N D C V S T () M S 249 Wash Ndur hair in water made from March snow if you want pretty ha'ir.'' ( EiVnU Walker) To produce a luxuriant growth of hair, clij) the ends when the moon is increasing.'"' (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for health ; Sneeze on Tuesday, sneeze for wealth ; Sneeze on Wednesday, the best of all ; Sneeze on Thursday, sneeze for losses ; Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for crosses ; Sneeze on Saturday, no luck at all ; Sneeze on Sunday, the had man will he with you all next week.'« (Edna Whitley) Stir soap with a stick of pine or sassafras.'^ (Elsie Doxey) If one will get on a feather bed during a thunderstorm, light- ning will not strike him.''' (Mary Olivia Pruette) . p. 62; Hardwick, p. 94; Gutch, County I'olk-Lorc I' I. 69; Whitney and Bullock, p. 120; Balfour and Thomas, County folk-Lore //', j^; Old- meadow, The Folklore of Herbs, p. 9. hi his entry for .March 8, 1664, Pepys tells us that at the suggestion of his Aunt Wight, his wife had used some "puppy-dog water" for her complexion, an act which irritated him extremely. On May 28. 1667, he writes that his wife is to gatiier May dew the next morning, as Mrs. Turner has told her that it is the best thing in the world for her complexion. He adds that he is content. ~* FL, II, 100 ( Szekely — water drawn from a well on March i l)eforc sunrise cures all diseases); JAFL, xiv, 32 (Kentucky — March snow good for sore eyes) ; Stout, p. 157 (German — wash hair in beer every night to make it pretty!); Brendle and Unger, p. 122 (March snow- water good for eyes ) . "'J.iFL, LVHi, 123; IV, 120 (Pennsylvania German — cut on first Fri- day after new moon); xl, 82 (Ozarks), 189 (Louisiana); xxxi, 6 (Ontario), 93; xxxvi, 19; FL, xx, 342; xxxiv, 220 (Ontario), 326; XXV, 247 (Jersey) ; Hyatt, p. 142; Folk-Say (1930), p. 163 (Ozarks); Bergen, p. 122; Randolph, p. 164; Johnson, li'liat They Say . . . , p. 145; Whitney and Bullock, p. J2. This item was contributed also by Lucille Alassey, Clara Hearne, Louise F.ennett, Rel)ecca Willis. Lois Johnson, Jessie Hauser, and Minnie Stamps Gosney. '"J.IFL, XL, 164 (Louisiana); xi.iii, 325 (Alabama — sneeze on Sun- day, devil will have you all week or you will be sick before the next Sunday) ; xxxi. 14, 89 (Ontario) ; FLJ, vi. 92 (Washington, D. C.) ; Johnson, What They Say .... p. 65 ; Puckett, p. 453: Xorthall, p. 176; Hyatt, p. 157; CFLQ, iv, 290; Bergen, p. 145; Randolph, p. 55; TFLS, lu, 34; XI, 6; ALAFLS, xxix, 193; Thiselton-Dyer, p. 239; Gregor, p. 27; Whitney and Bullock, p. 107; Stout, p. 193; Rogers, p. 34. '''JAFL, III, loi (North Carolina — sassafras or pine); xiv, 33 (Ken- tucky — sassafras) ; Bergen, p. loi (Maine — white ash), 102 (elder- berry); Randolph, p. 64 (sassafras). It is very bad luck to burn sassafras (JAFL, in, loi ; v, 124); Whitney and Bullock, p. 9; HFB, II, 27; JAFL. XXIV, 321; Carmer, Stars Fell on Alabama, p. 289). Cf. Kemp, p. 44 (don't burn or cut a cherry tree). ""Stout, p. 167; Carmer, Stars Fell on .llabama, p. 282. 250 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Make soap on the full of the moon or else it won't "set.""'* (Madge Colclough) ■ If you make soap on the increase of the moon, it will thicken better.^** (Josie Foy) Soap should be made in the light of the moon.''^ (Minnie Stamps Gosney) Soap should be made in the dark of the moon.^- (Gertrude Allen Vaught) If a woman is making soap and a man stirs it, all will be well; if another woman stirs it, it will be siioiled."^-^' ( h^lsie Doxey) If soap is to be firm, only one must stir it.''^^ (Green Col- lection) Soap should always be stirred the same way, to the right. ^'^ (Josie Foy) . In stirring batter, sauce, syrup, etc., the motion must always be sunwise. Reversing the direction will spoil the result or invite bad luck. (Mary L. Walker) Always bake cake while the sun is going up.^*"' ( Kate S. Russell)) Don't throw away the eggshells tintil after the cake is baked. ''^" (Green Collection) ' Don't try to bake cake while menstruating.'*^ (Gertrude Allen Vaught) > '•'JAFL, vn, 305 (Georgia); Bergen, p. 122. Also, hogs should be killed in the full of the moon (Hyatt, p. 98). Contributed also by Rebecca Willis. Wilma Freeman, Valeria Johnson Howard, Clara Hearne, and Dixie Lamm. ^'^JAFL, XL, 185 (Louisiana). Contributed also by the Misses Holeman. " HFB, II, 25. ^" HF, VI, 18. The same item contributed by Mamie Mansfield, Allie Ann Pearce. ^' JAFL, XXXI, 16 (Ontario) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 58 (soap should be stirred by man ; if woman comes into room first, bad luck ) . Cf. the following : It is bad luck for a woman to call on you while you are making soap (Green Collection) ; To insure success, soap should be stirred by a boy (ibid.) ; If a man calls on you while you are making soap, get him to stir it {ibid.). ^* Randolph, p. 62. This was contributed also by Gertrude Allen Vaught. "•"'Bergen, p. 123; NVFLQ, i, 213; Johnson, What They Say . . . , p. 69; Puckett, p. 408; JAFL, xl, 180 (Louisiana) ; xxvii,"246; iii, 231 (North Carolina) ; vii, 305 (Georgia) ; xxxi, loi (Ontario) ; Gregor, p. 30. '*'* NVFLQ, I, 213. Cf. Hyatt, p. 47 (to have sweet turnips, sow the seed before 11 o'clock). *' Eggshells should lie put on top of the stove while the cake is baking (Mabel Ballentine). '*'* A girl or woman in this condition should never attempt any cooking, as it is sure to turn out ill. For other menstrual taboos, see above, p. 239, note 46. B Iv L I K F S AND CUSTOMS 25I Stop the clock while the cake is haking. ((lertrude Allen X'aught ) Don't walk across the floor while the cake is haking.^" (Ger- trude Allen \'aught) Put a pan of water just ahove the cake while it is haking. (Mabel Ballentine) When cooking onions, ]:)lace a pan of water over them and there will he no odor/'" (Eleanor Simpson) . To keep onion juice from getting into the eyes, htjld the points of two needles between the teeth.'" ( W. H. Smith) i- When peeling onions, stick a potato on the end of the paring knife and the juice will not get into the eyes. (W. H. Smith) Hold a raw potato in the mouth while peeling onions, and the juice will not get into the eyes. (W. H. Smith). To keep juice from getting into the eyes while peeling onions, hold a match between the teeth. (W. H. Smith) Holding a bit of bread in the mouth while peeling onions will prevent the juice from getting into the eyes. (W. H. Smith) If one leaves the faucet open and lets the water run while peeling onions, the juice will not get into the eyes. (W. H. Smith) V Boil a biscuit with cabbage and there will be no odor. (Eleanor Simpson) y' If you are going to wash dishes and you boil yoiu' water to wash them, the old saying is that the witches will ride you. (Green Collection) Use pine wood when boiling molasses and it will not be strong (ir smoky. ( lulith Walker) ' Put pennies in a])i)le liutter to keep it from sticking. (Green Collection) . Get the ugliest person you know to look in the cream jar and it will turn so you can churn it. (Edith Walker )V If a jug of molasses begins to "work" and is about to run over, drop a wire nail into the jug and the molasses will stop working immediately. (Carl G. Knox) To make butter come (|uicklv when nn'lk is cold, add enough hot water to make it warm. Also, during churning, call the *" Any heavy walking or any other movement that sliakcs the floor Wfill cause the cake to "fall." Contributed also by Mary Scarborough Nilla Lancaster, and G. B. Caldwell. ""Bergen, p. 99; JAFL, xiv. 33 (Kentucky). "^ Cf. Whitney and Bullock, p. 58 (hold a pin in the mouth) ; HF, vi, 112 (safety pin). 252 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE butter by the repetition of "Come, butter, come!"^- (Green Collection) Put salt in the churn or in the fire and butter will come more easily and more quickly. (Green Collection) '^ Kraut should never be made on the decrease of the moon, for the water will not rise on it and it will spoil. (Zilpah Frisbie) Feathers picked on the increase of the moon will be plentiful. (Mrs. Norman Herring)--. MISCELLANEOUS It is difficult to remove fruit stains. But if you wait until the peach or the blackberry season is over, the stain will come out easily. (Green Collection )~ Butter comes easily if the cows are salted regularly. (Green Collection) ^ Sometimes milk would not sour or turn to whey. To preserve the butter, a beef reed taken from a cow was put in it. (Green Collection)- , If all wash-goods are washed before being cut, they will last longer. (AUie Ann Pearce) For a good furniture paste, scrape two ounces of beeswax into a pot or basin, then add as much spirits of turpentine as will moisten it through. At the same time add to it when dis- solved to the consistency of paste an eighth of an ounce of rosin. Then stir in as much Indian red as necessary to make it a deep mahogany color and it is ready for use. (Contrib- utor's name not given.) r- PLANTS AND ANIMALS It is bad luck to thank anyone for plants or seeds. '^•'' (Zilpah Frisbie ) Sage must not be gathered during the dog davs.''^ (Lucille Cheek) - "■ /'"L, xLvii, 366; XLvui, 217. A version of the rhyme appears also in Sinclair, Satuii's hiTi'sihlr World Discovered. See Charms, pp. 181- 183, above. '"^JAf'L, XLVUI. 333 (Tennessee); v, 115 (North Carolina); vn, 305 (Georgia — don't thank for combing) ; xi, 11 (Marjland — don't thank for flowers); xxxL 9; xlh, 236; xl, 191 (Louisiana); xx, 246 (North Carolina); HI-'B, u. 35; Gumbo Ya-Va, p. 536 (don't thank giver of remedy) ; Pnckett, p. 400 (don't thank for combing) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 21 (same) ; Thorpe, n, no (Swedish — don't thank for remedy), iii (Swedish — don't thank for pins) ; Stout, p. 168, 203 (don't thank for picture) ; Nassau, p. 191. "* Cf. Gardner, p. 298 (don't pick catnip during or after dog days). BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 253 'J\) make livdrangeas blue, place indigo at tlieir roots. (Kate S. Russell) Gather cucumbers in the morning with the short stems on them. (Lucille Cheek) To make a hen keep her nest, whip her under the wings with a holly bush switch. ( Ziljjah hVisbie) If you set eggs when the wind is eastward, the chickens will "holler" themselves to death."'' (Ralph Chesson)- Hens should be set three weeks before the full of the moon. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) If there are thunderstorms while eggs are "setting," the eggs will not hatch. ( Zilpah Frisbie) To break a hen from setting, put an alarm clock in the nest and let it go off. (Zilpah Frisbie) To break a hen from setting, put a pan of water in the nest when she leaves and let her get in it when she comes back.^'' (Lucille Massey) ^ Do not set eggs so that they will hatch during dog days. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Always set a hen on thirteen eggs."" ((iertrude Allen Vaught) Little turkeys thrive better with a hen than with a turkey. (Lucille Cheek) If it rains on Valentine Day, }Our chickens will stop laying. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) To ensure good luck with chickens, let a woman carry them from the nest to the coop."^ (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Grease little chickens' lieads with lard and kerosene when you take them from the nest and lice will not bother them. ( Clara Hearne) Feed red pei)per to little chickens. (Clara Hearne) Feed little turkeys black ]:)epper stirred into dough made of' meal. (Clara Hearne) Sprinkle ashes on animals and fowls on Ash W'ednesdav and they will not be bothered with lice. (Clara Hearne) Put Epsom salts in the chicken's water (one tablespoonful to a gallon) and it will make them healthy. (Clara Hearne) , "•'Stout, p. I/O (if hen is set on Monday morning when the wind is from the east, all the chicks will be pullets) ; HFB, n, 25 (north wind) ; Randolph, p. 42 (never set a hen when the wind is from the .south). "" Randolph, p. 42 (corn shucks fastened to hens' tails). "'JAPL, xu, 49 (Canadian); iv, 122; xxxi. 86; /"A, lx, 290; XXV. 247 (Jersey); HI-, vi, 14; HPV, n, 36 (uneven number); 1-LR, IV, 105 (Irish— uneven number) ; Hyatt, p. 76; Gutch and Peacock, p. 165; Dennys, p. 35 (uneven number); Bergen, p. 85 (Maine). Pliny (Xatuml History, x, c. 75) advocates tlie using of an uneven number. "" Randolph, pp. 42-43 (eggs carried in a woman's bonnet invariably hatch pullets; eggs carried in a man's hat always hatch out roosters). 254 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Boil smartweed and scald out the chicken house to kill any kind of insect. (Mamie Mansfield)^' Cover newly hatched chicks with a sieve and place them in the sunshine a little while, and they will live. (Zilpah Frisbie) Pick off the little skin from chickens' bills when you take them from the nest and they will live. ( Lucille Cheek) > When you have killed a chicken, make a cross on the ground with your finger, lay the chicken on its back on this cross, and it will not flop. (Anonymous) V To keep a chicken from flopping when killed, tuck the head under the wing, swing the chicken around in a circle several times, and then lay its head on a block and chop it off. (Zilpah Frisbie) ;, If you count chickens, turkeys, etc., they will die.^** (Wil- liam B. Covington) DEATH AND BURIAL The "setting up" or wake watch was observed not only through respect but also to keep away cats, which always try to get to the body.^^*'* (Green Collection) '"'' Whitney and Bullock, p. 57 (don't count young chickens or their number will decrease). This counting prohibition extends to other ani- mals and objects as well. See, for example, JAI-L, xlviii, 329 (Ten- nessee — don't count graves or stars) ; xlvi. 14 (Ozarks — beekeeper never gives exact number of bee gums); il 14 (Maryland — don't count cars in funeral procession) ; v, 112 (don't count people at funeral) ; xxxi, 202 (Illinois — don't count carriages in funeral procession); xxxvi, 4; Ln, 114 (Tennessee — don't count baby's teeth or they will decay) ; xl, 86 (Ozarks — don't count cars in funeral procession) ; 159 (Louisiana — same) ; xxxviii, 379 (Jewish — boys playing games count "Not one, not two, &c.) ; Nassau, p. 214 (don't count children) ; Macgregor, pp. 43, 45 (don't count fish or you will catch no more) ; Puckett, p. 398 (don't count teeth in comb) ; 434 (don't count stars), 88 (don't count cars in funeral procession) ; Fogel, p. 129 (same) ; Gutch and Peacock, County Folk-Lorc V, 160 (unlucky to count anything too closely) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. g- (to count child's teeth will cause its death), 103 (don't count carriages at funeral), 59 (don't count fish until home with them). 18 (bad luck to count edibles to be cooked for dinner); FL, xn, 179; Black. County Folk-Lorc III, 162 (don't count sheep, cattle, horses, fish) ; Stout, p. 151 (if you count vehicles in a funeral procession, you'll die within the year) ; Randolph, p. 44; Bassett, p. 436 (don't count fish) ; Barker, p. 251 (don't count wagons in funeral pro- cession) ; Hanauer, p. 233 (boils result from trying to count stars) : CFLQ, IV, 428 (don't count rigs in funeral procession). ^""JAFL, V. 181 (cats mutilate corpse); xxxviir. 396-397 (Jewish — dead must not be left alone) ; xl, 86 (Ozarks). 196 (Louisiana — cats eat dead people); xxxu. 383; v. 181 (Pennsylvania — cats mutilate corpses) ; Gumbo Va-Va, p. 569 (cats eat corpses) ; FL, xi.vu, 327 (German) ; lx, 290 (cats would eat eyes out of corpse) ; Gutch. County Folk-Lore VI, 135 (corpse must be watched constantly) ; County Folk- BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 255 It is believed that a person will die easier if his head is toward the east.^"^ (S. M. Uixon) . In laying out a dead person, always place the feet to the east and the head to the west. I have known beds to be moved so as to be in the right position.^"- (Green Collection) . Graves should be dug east and west so that the dead wdl be facing the east toward Gabriel when he blows his horn.^"^ (Helen Fraser Smith) Lore II. 302-303 (niglit watch) ; III'B, 11, 34 ( ^^-ats mutilate corpse) ; fhiselton-Dyer, p. 107; Gregor, p. 123; Loan, Collectanea, u, 113; Trachtenberg, p. 174 (dying persons not to be left alone) ; Christiansen, The Dead ami the Living, pp. 28, 30-31 (Norwegian); Hole, P- 50; Puckett pp. 86. 470; Dennys, p. 24; Balfour and Thomas, County Folk- Lore /r, 100; Toor, A Treasury of Mexican Folk-ways, p. 161 ; Paton, Spiritism and the Cult of the Dead in Antiquity, p. 120; Kittredge, p. ^fhe night watch occurs in the following ballads: "Willie's Lyke- Wake," "Fair Mary of Wallington," "Prince Robert," "Young Benjie, "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet." On its appearance in balladry, see Wimberly, Death and Burial Lore in the English and Scottish Popular Ballads, pp. 92-99- .. , , , • • . , Among some peoples it was believed that a cats jumpmg over a dead person would cause the latter to become a vampire. See, for example, JCLS, N.S., n, 363 (body to be watched from death to burial lest sorne- thing jumping "over it make it a vampire) ; Ralston, Songs of the Russian People (cat jumping over corpse causes it to become a vampire) ; Rus- sian Folk-Tales, p. 323 (same) ; Pennant. A Tour in Scotland (same) ; Henderson, p. 43; Tozer, Researches in the Highlands of Turkey, u, 84; Macgregor', p. 50; Abbott, p. 219 (night watch over corpse to prevent cats or dogs jumping over it) ; Gregor, p. 207 (shut up cats at funeral; if one jumps over corpse, the first person meeting it will go blind) ; Dennys, p. 120 (if a pregnant animal jumps over a corpse, the latter comes to life and gives chase to the nearest person, strangling him if it catches him); Black, County Folk-Lore HI, 216 (cats to be locked up whenever a death occurs) ; Simpson, p. 206 (domestic animals to be put out of house at funeral). , , , , r , Another belief held even today is that cats suck the breath of sleepers, particularly of children. For examples, see Thiselton-Dyer, p. 107; JAFL ni, 98 (North Carolina) ; v. 181 ( Penn.sylvania) ; xn, 268 (Ken- tucky)'; XXXI, 12 (Ontario) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 98; FLR, u, 205 (cat born in May will suck sleeper's breath). See also Carmer, Stars Fell on Alabama, p. 282; Brendle and Unger. p. 21; Hole, p. 79: Kittredge, p. 178. , , . , , , ^" Puckett, p. 81 (deathbed should be placed east and west, with head toward the west). ^ ^^ . , , , ^"-JAI-'L, V. 114 (North Carolina) : xxxi. 26 (Ontario — i)oth the laying out and the burial) ; Abbott, p. I94- . ., . . ^ '■'"'J4FL XXXVIII, 397 (lewish); xi-, 86 (Ozarks). 160 (Louisiana); XLVI, 16 (Ozarks); Puckett, p. 94: Hole. p. 55 (? a survival of sun- worship) • Aubrev, p. 166; Whitney and Bullock, p. 104; Gumbo \ a-\ a, p 309 (if buried facing west, will go to Hell); Gutch, County Folk- Lore II, 309; Brown, The Andaman Islanders, p. 107 (if corpse is not buried facing the east, the sun will not rise) ; .\bbott, p. 99 (one should not lie with head toward the west, as that is the position of a corpse) ; Parsons Mitla: Ton-n of the Souls, p. 143 ("Burial is with the head to the west. It is therefore bad to sleep thus orientated") ; Rogers, p. 68. William Burke, of the infamous firm of Burke and Hare, was buried N.C.F., Vol. I. (18) 256 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORK If the pictures and mirrors are not turned toward the wall after a death, the dead man will haunt all those in the family. His reflection is supposed to get in the mirrors and pictures.^'''* (Constance Patten) At the death of one of the family, the clock is usually stopped.^"'' (Jethro Harris) Negroes tie black on everything that comes into the house between a death and a burial. ^"^^ (Helen Fraser Smith) \ Southern Negroes believe implicitly in burying children with the face down.^*^^ (Helen Fraser Smith) Bees will leave unless told of death. ^^^'^ (Green Collection )\// in a grave dug north and south (Summers, The J'ai)ipire, p. 76). Sui- cides were also formerly buried in a north-south position. This was contributed also by Louise W. Sloan, who writes, "People are buried with their feet to the east so that they can place them on the rising sun and mount to heaven." East is a good direction. As the little verse has it. Shut the North window. And quickly close the window to the South, And shut the window facing West — Evil never came from the East. (Simpson, p. loi) ^"' JAPL. II, 12, 30; IV, 144; v. 242 (Massachusetts) ; vii, 253 (Massa- chusetts) ; XI, 12 (Maryland) ; xxxviii, 398 (Jewish) ; xl, 85 (Ozarks), 159, 184 (Louisiana) ; xxxi, 26 (Ontario) ; xxxii, 392 (Georgia) ; xxxvi, 20; McPherson, Primitive Beliefs .... p. 124; Puckett, p. 81; Hole, p. 49 ; Gardner, p. 295 ; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, in, 492 ; Rappoport, The Polklore of the Jezvs, p. 102; HP, vi, 26; HPB, 11, 36; Liebrecht, Zur J'olkskunde, p. 350; Black, County Polk-Lore III, p. 216; Gutch, County Polk-Lore II, 301; Gregor, p. 207; Whitney and Bullock, p. 102; Balfour and Thomas, County Polk-Lore IV, 99; Stout, p. 151 ; Earle, Customs and Pashions . . . , p. iJi- ^"^ JAPL, II, 12; V, 242 (Massachusetts); xl, 85 (Ozarks — failure to do so would mean another death within year) ; 159 (Louisiana) ; vii, 154 (Virginia) ; x, 12, 161 (Toronto) ; xxxi, 26, 100 (Ontario) ; xxxii, 392 (North Carolina) ; PL, xlix, 224 (clocks stop themselves at the moment of death — grandfather clocks only ! ) ; HPB, u, 36 ; Gregor, p. 207; Whitney and Bullock, p. 102; Puckett, p. 82; Gardner, p. 295; Lean, Collectanea, 11, 590; Christiansen, p. 18; Lcgey, p. 231; Stout, p. 150; Gumbo Ya-Va, p. 307. '^"'^JAPL, X, 161 (Kansas — crape tied to family cat); xxxi, 26 (Ontario — crape on bee hives) ; PLR, i, 59 (same) ; Gutch, County Polk- Lore VI, 33 (same) ; Simpson, p. 204 (black coverings on furniture) ; Earle, Customs and Pashions . . . (crape on family portraits). "' Puckett, p. 107 (not children — purpose to keep spirit from return- ing). This is the custom also among certain tribes of hidia (Crooke, Popular Religion and Polk-Lore of Northern India, 11. 58-60). It is not confined to children, however. See JAPL, 11, 190 (Omaha — burial face downward of man struck by lightning). There is a reference also in Lay My Burden Dozen (p. 86), but there is nothing to suggest a general custom. ^'' - /'V,, III, 138; XXXIV, 325; XXXV, 349; XXXVII, 77 ■ XL, 123: XLIII, 252; XXIV, 223, 240 (kni)ck on liive with door key and tell bees); B E L I E F S AND C U S T C) M S 257 Tell the I'ruii trees when the owner ches or the trees will die. Some say that eaeh tree should be told sei)arately."''* (Cireeii Collection) The tools used in digging a grave should be left by the grave for several days.^'" (Constance Patten) , When my grandmother died, my mother saved a lock of hair, ^ and she says it has always been a custom.'" ( Mabel liallentine)-,^'''^ There prevailed in some sections of North Carolina the cus- tom of draping the furniture and the walls of the room in which the deceased lay, with sheets."- (Green Collection) , It is a custom among Negroes for the relatives and mourners to wear their hats in church. The custom is said to have been brought from the North."'* (Green Collection) . \\ hen there is a funeral in the country and a hearse cannot be afforded, whatever the body is carried in must be black."'* (Constance Patten) Place money on a dead man's eyes to prevent their open- jj-jgii5 (Constance Patten) JAPL, XLvi, 14 (Ozarks); vni, 25 (Irish); vi, 107 (New England); x.xxi, 26 (Ontario); Hole, p. 51; Henderson, p. 309; Puckett, p. 82; Hyatt, p. 364; Legey, p. 231; Addy, p. 65; Thomas and Thomas, p. 271; McPherson, p. 124; Gomme, Ethnology in Folklore, p. 127; Macgregor. p. 44; Gutch, County Folk-Lore 11, pp. 65-66 (bees told of death and given food from the funeral feast and pipes and tobacco, all of which they used) ; Whitney and Bullock, p. 56; Gutch and Pea- cock, County Folk-Lore ]', 28, 239, 241 (told of death and given food) ; Gutch, County Folk-Lorc \'I, 33 (same) ; FLR, i, 59; ui, 136 (bees to be wakened and told if person dies after sunset) ; Balfour and Thomas, p. 12 (tap on each hive three times and tell bees of death) ; Thorpe, ui, 161 (German) ; Tliiselton-Dyer, pp. 126, 130 (bees also given part of funeral food); French Folklore, v, 13 (Normandy — knock on hive three times, tell bees of death, and hang black crape on the hive) ; Oldmeadow, pp. 68-169. ^""Thorpe, in, 161. This was contributed also by Clara Hearne. ^^"JAFL, xxxvui, 397 (Jewish — spade placed near grave so that deceased can dig through to Jerusalem on Resurrection) ; Newcomb, p. 76 (spade or shovel used in digging grave never to be used again — often iiroken and left near the grave) ; Webster, Taboo, p. 190 (New Caledonia — iiravcdigycrs nuist remain near grave for four or five days after a burial ) ; Randolph, p. 327. "'Whitney and P.ullock, p. 105 (about 1875, customary to mount hair of deceased in jewelry) ; Earle, Customs and Fashions . . . , p. 376 (lock of the deceased's hair mounted in ring) ; JAT'L, vn, 221 (New England — same). ^^-JJFL. v. 114 (North Carolina) ; Earle, Customs and Fashions .... P- 373 (black liangings) ; W'ebster, Quilts, Their Story and llozv to Make Them. p. 49. "'Whitney and lUillock, ]>. 104 (a custom in the mountains of Western Maryland); JAFL, xxi, 2,bs (Boston Negro). "'I know of no exact parallel to this idea. .According to Gutch and Peacock {Count\ F oik-Lore V, p. 236), the horses used must always be black. "'Puckett, p. 84; Gregor, p. 207; Whitney and Bullock, p. 102; 258 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE It is the custom to open the coffin so that all may pay their last respects to the departed."" (Cireen Collection) Nearly always after funerals, drinks were served to those present or to the pallhearers at least."' (Rebecca Willis) "When a nigger'd die. they'd sing all along de road to de graveyard. You could heah 'em way off yonder." (Green Collection)"^ Last year a Negro died on our place, and they would not let my father have one thing to do about buying the coffin nor would they use any of our teams to go to town after it. They borrowed a team from one of our neighbors to go for the coffin and also to haul it to the cemetery. They said that if they used our teams some awful accident would come to us both. (J. C. Paisley) .^ A corpse should always be taken from the house feet first. ^^* (Constance Patten) The first person who leaves the grave after a funeral will be the next to die. "** (Green Collection) , The corpse is stretched on a board. On it is placed a platter of salt and earth, unmixed. The salt is an emblem of the im- mortal spirit, the earth of the flesh. ^-■* (Green Collection) ' Haltrich, Zar Volkskmidc dcr Siebcnhi'irycn Sachsen, p. 308; JAFL, u, 15 (Massachusetts — if the eyes of the corpse are allowed to remain open, the last person looked at will die soon) ; Paton, p. 118 (weights on eyes to keep them closed — 'The probable reason was the desire to keep the spirit which still hannted its body from casting an evil eye upon the living") ; Randolph, p. 313; Rogers, p. 66. ^^'' Earle, Customs and Fasliions in Old Nczv England, p. 371. This custom is still observed also in the rural sections and small towns of Indiana. In cases where the body is mutilated or wasted away from a long illness, the coffin is kept closed. "■^ Earle, Customs and Fashions . . . , p. 371; JAFL, vn, 219 (New England). '^^^ JAFL, XXXI, 26 (Ontario) ; Gutch and Peacock, County Folk-Lore V, 243; Aubrey, p. 167; Whitney and Bullock, p. 103; Gumbo Ya-Ya, p. 310; JGLS, N.S.. V, 43 (the body of Isaac Heron carried out feet first) ; Cambridge, Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v, 248 (among the Melanesians, the corpse is carried out feet foremost, other- wise the ghost would find its way back and trouble the survivors) ; Paton, p. 122 ("In Rome the dead man was carried out of the house feet first in order that he might not see which way he was going and be able to find his way back"). ^'^^JAFL, XL, 87 (Ozarks — mourners not to leave cemetery until the last clod is thrown on the grave) ; Randolph^ p. 319. '-" Puckett, p. 83; Gregor, p. 207; Henderson, pp. 39-40; Simpson, p. 206; Whitney and Bullock, p. loi (pan of salt on breast); Balfour and Thomas, County Folk-Lore IV, 99, loi, 102; Hardwick, p. 181 ("It is customarv yet in some parts of the North of England to place a plate filled with salt on the stomach of a corpse soon after death") ; Randolph, p. 313; Trachtenberg, p. 175; Rogers, p. 66; Brendle and Una;er, p. 27. Douce says that this is to keep air from getting into the bowels and swelling the body, but suggests also that salt is an emblem of eternity and immortality and consciiuently shunned by the Devil. K K I I K I" S AND C V S TOMS 259 I heard of a woman whose dead hushand had been very fond of chocolate cake. luich Sunday morning slie i)laced one at the head of his grave and his spirit devoured it. ( LilHan Cheek) In Yadkin county there is a family who visit the grave of a brother and put meat and bread and much-liked foods on it, thinking that he can come back to get it. They claimed that for months after his death he would come back to the kitchen door at night and beg for food. He died in an intoxicated condition. The l^raveyard in which he was buried has always been con- sidered •"banted." Once in broad open daylight a girl was pass- ing that wav and became frightened at the sight of a headless man who she said went into one of the graves.^-^ (Green Collection) - Leave cup and saucer, medicine bottles, and bits of pottery on the grave so the spirit may use them in another life. (Helen Fraser Smith) I have seen a number of graves carefully outlined with large white flints, bottles all of one kind with the necks sticking in the ground, and. farther east, shells.^-- (Lillian Cheek) The Negroes of Roanoke Island decorate the graves of the dead with sea shells. This custom is also practiced by the whites to a great extent. (Mary Scarborough) , I have noticed that not only the Negroes in our section put bits of broken dishes, etc., on the graves, but also the whites quite often. On one grave of a white person in a graveyard near my home I noticed last summer pretty bits of china, a broken lamp, broken vases, and a cracked cup or two. Many of the graves in this same graveyard are profusely decorated with all sizes and kinds of stones also. ((iertrude Allen \'aught) Burv with the corpse the left-over medicine. A Negro grave in Chapel Hill was found surrounded by bottles, some half full of medicine used by the deceased.^-'* (Green Collection) ^ ^"Randolph (p. 237) quotes one of his older informants as saying, "One of my neighbors thinks a man who has been dead four years comes and steals cream out of his springhouse every night." As recently as 1928 in England, court action was necessary to put an end to Miss' Hoskyns-Abrahall's depositing of bread, fruit, wine, and other foods on the grave of her father. For a complete account, see Summers, The I'ampirc in Europe, pp. 60-62. '-- Here as in the contribution which follows it, tlie custom appears to have arisen simply from a desire to beautify the grave and perhaps also to define its limits clearly and thus safeguard tlie occupant against encroachment. ■• , ^" The words bury idth of the first sentence seem to be contradicted bv the second, which indicates that the bottles were around the grave. For burial of objects with the deceased, see Newcomb, p. 75 (a flash- light buried with a Navajo); Hardwick, p. 62 (Yorkshire— man buried with candle pcnnv, and a bottle of wine) ; JGLS, n.s., vi, 297 (towel 26o NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Leave a lamp on the grave and it will lead the deceased to glory. (Helen Fraser Smith) \ Very frequently in old country graveyards you will find broken vases and plates on graves. The reason for placing broken bits on the grave is that the people know that some- thing useless will not be stolen from the grave, otherwise it might be. People often place sea shells on the grave. I have seen many graves covered with sea shells, but 1 cannot give any reason for it.^-"' (Zilpah Frisbie) Cup, knife and fork are often placed on the grave. ^-•' (Con- .stance Patten) Never bury a person with his mouth open, for the spirit might return.^-'"' (Rebecca Willis) and soap in Gypsy woman's coffin) ; Gypsy Smith, His Life and Work, p. 7 (uncle's fiddle, cup and saucer, plate, and knife buried in his coffin) ; Hole, p. 53 (in Sweden, when a girl died unmarried, a mirror was placed in lier coffin so that she might see to arrange her hair on the Resurrection morning) ; Randolph, p. 315 (burial with loaded and cocked rifle and revolver). The custom appears in the following ballads; "The Two Brothers" (bow and arrows, sword and buckler, Bible, chaunter) ; "Robin Hood's Death" (sword, bow and arrows, met-yard) ; "Sir Hugh" (Bible, Testament, pen and ink). ^■* The reason assigned for the placing of broken objects on the grave, while an excellent bit of rationalization, is hardly the correct one. The true explanation is that it is the spirits of the objects and not the objects themselves that are to serve the owner in the next world. The breaking is merely the means of liberating the object spirit. What we have here is, of course, a survival of an animistic belief, whether or not the persons practicing the custom are conscious of the fact. In all probability they are not conscious of it, and continue the custom simply because their forebears observed it. Sea shells were believed by primitive man to have magic powers, chief among which were those of averting death and of giving to the dead the power of rising again. On this point, see Fielding, Strange Superstitions and Magical Practices, pp. 226-227. ^-^JAFL, xxvn, 248 (South Carolina Negro — crockery, lamps, and toys) ; PTFLS, xiu, 130-131 (cups, saucers, jugs, knives, pitchers, spoons), 132 (medicine bottles and light bulbs), 133 (oil lamps), 133- 134 (shells), 135 (comb, women's wearing apparel, jewelry, marbles, razor, brush, watch, etc.), 136 (spectacles and false teeth) ; FL, xv, 453 (Jamaica — knives, pipe and tobacco, etc.) ; Puckett, pp. 104-105; Abbott, p. 197 (playthings, books, jewelry) ; JGLS, N.s., 11, 360; v, 45 (broken teapot placed on child's grave "lest he should be thirsty"), 46 (fiddle, pipe, and knife, fork, and plate) ; Gumbo Ya-Ya, p. 319; Webster, p. 180; Read, Man and His Superstitions, p. 91. See also H. C. Bolton, "Decoration of Graves of Negroes in South Carolina," JAFL, iv, 214; E. higersoll, "Decoration of Negro Graves," ibid., v, 68-69; Mary A. Waring, "Mortuary Customs and Beliefs of South Carolina Negroes," ibid., VH, 318-319; Barker, p. 251 (child's playthings). *-" Just as primitive man associated his shadow with his spirit, so did he associate his breath with the latter, hideed, .so closely were the two identified in his mind that he used the same word for both. When the breath finally stopped, the spirit left the body. To prevent its return or, worse still, the entrance of a demon into the body, the mouth was closed H }■: 1. I K K S A N n C U S T O M S 26 1 In some localities, graves are protected by lattice huts. (Cireen Collection) - Do not trot the horses across a bridge going to a funeral. (IMr. Fairley) After the death the windows are opened, and after the burial everything about the deathbed is burned or aired. Rooms are usually reiminted. These customs do not refer to contagious diseases.'-' (Cireen Collection) , MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS In Eastern North Carolina the fishermen have a peculiar way of dividing the fish after they have finished pulling the seines. Generallv there are a number of men among whom the fish are to be divided. One of them divides the fish into as many, and as nearly as possible equal, divisions as there are men present. Then someone not to receive any fish turns his back and closes his eyes while another either touches one of the shares with a twig or tosses on some sand and asks, "Whose is this?" The one with his back turned calls, "^Ir. A's" and so on and on until all the divisions have been distributed. Then after this, maybe one man will have a shad, wdiereas he would prefer two or three fish of another sort, so they exchange among them- selves. (Green Collection) •, In the days when folks rode horseback, the first crowd would go ahead for the first mile or two, tie their horses, and w-alk on. The next crowd would come along and get the horses and over- take the others. This was called "Ride and Tie."'^-* (Eliza- beth Janet Cromartie) Before the time of the cotton gin, every girl in Montgomery countv was required to pick enough cotton from the seed to fill and the nostrils plugged. It was owing to this lichef ni the identity of the breath and the spirit that the act of sneezing was regarded so seriously. The violent expulsion of breath in the sneeze meant that the soul was. for an instant at least, free of the body. The Jews even be- lieved that its return was possible only through direct divine intercession. Our "Gesundheit," "God bless you," and similar ejaculations when one sneezes are expressions of solicitude for the person temp<3rarily deprived of his soul and evidences of the speaker's desire for its safe and speedy return to him. '-• This purification of the premises on which a death has occurred is found the world over. Different methods are employed: washing with water, burning of certain aromatic plants, and (among the Romans) sweeping with a certain kind of broom. The reason was the same in every case, the prevention of the dead man's return. For a wealth of information on the subject, see Bendann (chapters viii and ix). '-* Botkin, p. 134; Karlc, Customs and Fashinus . . . , p. 191. 262 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE her shoe. She was not considered industrious unless she did this.i-» (Ella Smith) Though disproved by Blackstone and the contrary asserted by every lawyer in the land, the idea persists that a will is void unless it mentions each child's name and bequeaths some- thing to him.''"' (Thurston T. Hicks) A current opinion has long prevailed that the youngest son is entitled to the home place in the division of the ancestor's lands.^i (Thurston T. Hicks) ^ Wake a person gently so that the soul will have time to come back from the dream-world. When the soul leaves the body, the person is in a trance. ^^- (Helen Fraser Smith) Place a rattlesnake rattle in a violin to improve its tone.^^^ (Ella Smith) ^ ^^^ Cf. Earle, Customs and Fashions • . . , p. 37 (Eastham, Massachu- setts, 1695 — "Every unmarried man in the township shall kill six black- birds or three crows while he remains single ; as a penalty for not doing it, shall not be married until he obey this order"). Cf. also the New England tradition that a young lady was not fit to be married until she could make an Indian pudding that could be thrown up the chimney and hit the ground outside without breaking (Webster, Quilts, Their Story and Hozv to Make Them, p. 162). ^'"' There is a whole body of similar folk misconceptions of the law and legal processes. Cf. the widespread belief that the conveying of a corpse across a field makes a public thoroughfare of the route taken. "^ Cf. Aubrey, p. 107. He does not give this particular belief, how- ever, but says that disinheriting of the eldest son was held unlucky and cites Exodus, 13:2 ("Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast ; it is mine"). In early times, it was the youngest and not the eldest son who in- herited the family property, primogeniture belonging to a later and more settled state of society. The eldest went out in search of adven- ture, leaving the youngest at home to care for the father and mother and eventually to inherit the household goods. It was the latter's duty to support the parents as long as they lived ; when they died, he con- tinued to live on the "home place." The custom was known not only in England ("Borough English") but also in France and Germany, and was doubtless almost universal at one time. In Kent the youngest son (or daughter) was allotted the hearth place and as far as forty feet around it. For additional information on this subject, see Elton, Origins of Englisli History, p. 186. ^''-JAFL, IV, 113 (Burmese) ; xix, 211 (Filipino). Cf. the Gaelic "Na duisg e gun ghairm air ainm" (Do not waken him without calling him by name). Paton, p. 3 ("It is dangerous to waken one suddenly, for the absent spirit may not have time to get back to the body") ; Westermarck, Ritual and Belief in Moroceo, p. 273 ("It is bad to wake a sleeping person too suddenly ; it should be done slowly and gently, by touching his little finger or touching him with the palm of one's hand and with the phrase subhan dllah ("God be praised"), since otherwise he may be frightened and become mes' ot.") ; Randolph, p. 332 (to wake a sleepwalker may cause his death); AlcKenzic, The Jiifaney of Medicine, p. 223. '■•" Hyatt, p. 73- H K I. I F. F S AND CUSTOMS 263 A ccjrd is tied around the field to keep crows away from watermelons. (Clara Hearne) , To keep harmful hirds away, nail a dead crow or hawk on the harn.^^^ (Clara Hearne) Negroes in the country sleep with windows and doors tightly closed even in summer so as to keep the spirits out. Negroes in town leave the door cracked. ^■^■'* (Constance Patten) ^ People have been known to frequent unusually clayey ditch banks or newly dug clay holes to eat and carry off the pure clay.'''" ((ireen Collection) ^ QUILT PATTERNS The following names for quilt and coverlet patterns were re- ported : Alabama Beauty^'" (contributor's name not given) ; Bas- ket^'*** (Clara Hearne) ; Basket of Broachee ( ?) ; Bear's Paw^-*'' (Nilla Lancaster) ; Bird of Paradise"" (F. C. Brown) ; Broken*- Chain {?): Brunswick Star"^ (Kate S. Russell); Buzzard's "* JAFL, I, 131 (Pennsylvania German); Brendle and Unger, p. 95, note. ^•"'Randolph, p. 157 (night air thought poisonous). Night is the time of spirits. These are particularly dangerous to man when he sleeps, for then the soul is temporarily absent from the body and both are particularly vuhierable because of relaxed vigilance. According to ancient Jewish belief, one should not bar the spirits' paths of ingress and egress by shutting doors and windows, for this invites their displeasure. It is better to make a small hole in door or window. See Trachtenberg, p. 32. ^■'"' The practice of clay-eating appears to have been ])articularly com- mon in North Carolina and Georgia. The clay eaten was a special kind composed of silex, oxide of iron, alumina, magnesia, and water, and was found in the greatest abundance in Richmcnid County, Georgia. No clay of this type is found north of the Potomac. Children addicted to the habit of clay-eat^ing could be cured of it by eating roasted bat. See Laufer, "Geophagy," p. 176. The standard work on the subject is C. G. Ehrenberg, Das Erdcn u. Fclsoi scliaffctide U'irkni dcs unsichtbar klcincn Lcbcns auf dcr Erde, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1854. "" See Webster, Quilts, Their Story and Hozv to Make Them, p. 126 (mentioned). '■''*' Webster, p. 127: Hall and Kretsinger, The Romance of the Patch- work Quilt in America, p. 196 (design). Cf. Hall and Kretsinger, p. 126, no. 6 (Bread Basket). ^■■"'Webster, p. 125; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 79; Finley, Old Fatch- zi'ork Quilts and the ll'omcn Who Made Them, pp. 97, 98, 99, 191; Eaton, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands, p. 130. This pattern was called by the Philadelphia Quakers the Hand-of-Friendship ; it was known also as Duck's-Foot-in-the-Mud. '"'Finley, pp. 122-123; Hall, .-/ Book of Hand-U'o7'cn Coverlets, p. 180 (design) ; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 72 (design). An "all-over" pattern. '''Hall and Kretsinger, ]>. 54 (design) ; Webster, p. 119; Finley, p. 93 (design). This pattern is sometimes known as Rolling Star or Chained Star. 264 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Roost (F. C. Brown); Capital T"- (Clara Hearne) ; Catch j\Ie If You Can^^^ (contributor's name not given) ; Cherokee Rose (F. C. Brown) ; Cross^"'-* H Nilla Lancaster) ; Diamond^-'^ (contributor's name not given) ; Fan"** (Kate S. Russell) ; Flying Batlsji-'' (Kate S. Russell) ; Forbidden Fruiti-*'^ (F. C. Brown); Four Hands Around"** (Clara Hearne); Friendship Basket (Kate S. Russell) ; Georgia Fan (contributor's name not given) ; Golden Stairs (Kate S. Russell) ; Hen and Chick- ens^-^" (F. C. Brown); Hidden Flower (Kate S. Russell); Irish Chain^-^^ (Clara Hearne) ; Jacob's Ladder^-"*- (Elsie Doxey) ; Log Cabin^^-' (F. C. Brown) ; Lady Finger^"^ (Jessie Hauser) ; Lazy Girl (contributor's name not given) ; Love Knot^"'"' (Kate S. Russell and Clara Hearne) ; Lover's 'Knot^^^ (Nilla Lancaster, Kate S. Russell, and F. C. Brown) ; Memorial ^'■' Hall and Kretsinger, p. 86 (design). Cf. Webster, p. 127 (Capital I)- . ^" Hall, p. 74; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 94. Known also as Heart's Seal, Mound Builders, The Pure Symbol of Right Doctrine, Favorite of the Peruvians, The Battle Ax of Thor, Wind-Power of the Osages, Chinese 10,000 Perfections (Hall and Kretsinger, p. 95). The Fly Foot or Devil's Puzzle is the reversed swastika (for designs, see Finley, p. 74, and Hall and Kretsinger, p. 94). The former name is a corruption of fylfot, another name by which the swastika is known. ^'' Hall, p. no (design) ; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 64 (design). ^*''' Webster, p. 121 (mentioned); Finley, p. 23 (Diamond Chain). ^"' Webster, p. 127. "'Finley, p. 113; Webster, p. 125; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 82 (design). ^^^^ Webster, p. 119 (Forbidden Fruit Tree); Hall and Kretsinger, p. 102 (Forbidden Fruit Tree — design). ^''•' This is also called Hands-all- Around (Hall and Kretsinger, p. 94, no. 18) ; cf. Webster, p. 125 (Eight Hands Around). The name is that of a square dance figure. ^'"Finley, pp. 83, 171; Webster, p. 124; Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 72 (design), 78 (design). Other names for the pattern are Duck and Ducklings and Corn and Beans (Hall, p. ys). ^-''Finley, pp. 15, 23, 52, 82; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 236 (design); there is also a Double Irish Chain and a Triple Irish Chain. The pat- tern of one of the two Irish Chains in this collection is exactly that of the Chained Five-Patch (see Finley, p. 167). ^■'- Finley, pp. 70-71 ; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 64, nos. 20 and 22. An "all-over" pattern. With different arrangement of colors, it was known also as Stepping Stones, Trail of the Covered Wagon, Wagon Tracks, Underground Railroad, and The Tail of Benjamin's Kite. ^•''■' Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 181 (design), 197 (design) ; Eaton, p. 130: Finley, pp. 28, 68; Webster, p. 127; Hall, p. 60. The name may derive from the "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" publicity of the 1840 presidential campaign. ^'' Hall and Kretsinger, p. 108, no. i (Lady-Fingers and Sunflowers). ^'■'' Hall and Kretsinger, p. 94 (design). ^•'■•" Hall, pp. 67, 82 (design), 172 (design), 208 (design); Hall and Kretsinger, p. 70 (design) ; Rabb, Indiana Coverlets and Coverlet Weav- ers, p. 407. This pattern is sometimes known as the Necktie. K K I. I K. F S AND C I' S T M S 265 Leaf (a)nti-iI)utor"s iianic not given); Missouri Trouhk^^-'" (contributor's name not given) ; Monkey Wrench^''** (Elsie Doxey and Clara Hearne) ; Morning Star^''" (Kate S. Russell) ; Odds and Ends^"" (V. C. Brown); Old-b^ashioned Garland (Kate S. Russell); Old-l-'ashioned Nosegay^'"'^ (Kate S. Rus- sell) ; Old Woman's Puzzle^"- (contributor's name not given) • Palmi''^* (Kate S. Russell) ; Patience^"^ (F. C. Brown) ; Rising Sun^'"-'* (Nilla Lancaster); Road to Oklahoma^ ''^'^^ (Clara Hearne) ; Rolling Stone^"' (contributor's name not given) ; Rose of Sharon^''^*' (contributor's name not given); Rose Sta*" One Patcb (Kate S. Russell); Saw Tootb^"" (Elsie Doxey); Snake TraiP"" (Kate S. Russell) ; SnowbalP'^ (Kate S. Rus- ^'•' Other names are Tennessee Trouble, Spectacles, and Mountain Flower. For a photograph of the design, see Hall, p. 73- ^^^'^Hall p. 84 (design). There is also a Double Monkey Wrench, known too as Love Knot, Hole-in-the-Barn-Door, Puss-ui-the-Corner Shoo-Fly, Lincohi's Platform, and Sherman's March. For a picture oi the latter design, see Hall and Kretsinger, p. 94- '■■"Webster, p. 120; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 60 (design). '"" Webster, p. 130. "'"^Hall and Kretsinger, p. 106 (design). .,,,,,,• "-Webster, pp. 127 (Old Maid's Puzzle), 128 (Old liachelor s Puzzle)- Hail and Kretsinger, p. 70 (Old Maid's Puzzle). The North Carolina specimen is identical with that pictured in Hall and Kretsinger p. 54, no. 5 ( Pieced Star ) . The pattern was designed to make use of small scraps of cloth. . . '"•■'Finley, p. 108; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 102. Ihis pattern is known also as Hosanna. , ^, . '"' Finley, p. 89 (Patience Corners); Hall and Kretsinger, p. 54 (Patience Corners— design). . '"■'Webster p. 119; Finlev, pp. 116, 117. 122; Hall. p. 20 (mentioned) ; Rabb, p. 402: Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 78 (design), 174 (design), Bowles, Homespun Handicrafts, p. 163. This is a very intricate pat- tern and one attempted by only the most expert quilt-makcrs. The difficulty of execution helps to explain the comparative rarity of Rising Sun quilts today. . ,, , , '""Hall and Kretsinger, p. 76 (design). This is sometimes called the New Four- Patch. The Hearne pattern is identical with the Jact)b's Ladder. . , ■ , . '"•Hall and Kretsinger. p. 76 (design); binley, p. 115 (mentioned); Hall, p. T9 (mentioned). Johnnie-round-the-Corner is another name sometimes given it. The former name may have been derived from the proverb. '"" Finley, pp. 126-127 and plate 65: Hall and Kretsinger, pp. no. 112 and plates xxix and xxx ; Webster, p. 122 (mentioned). This is a very old applique pattern. The name comes from the Song of Solomon, and a quilt made from this pattern was almost invariably intended for a '""Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 56 (design), 94 (design) ; Finlcy, pp. 112, 132 See also Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 144. IS3 (designs). '■"Hall, p. 60 (Snail Trail); Webster, p. 125 (Snail's Trail); Hall and Kretsinger. p. 84 (Snail's Trail) ; Eaton, p. 120 (Snail's Trail). '•'Webster, p. 128; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 78 (design); Bowles, p. 163. In New England this is called Dog Tracks or Catspaw. 266 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE sell); Spider Web^'- (Kate S. Russell); Star ;i'=* Star of Bethlehem^'^ (Clara Hearne) ; Star of the East^'^ (F. C. Brown) ; Strangers (F. C. Brown) ; Sunflower^^^ (Kate S. Russell) ; Sweet Gum Leaf (contributor's name not given) ; Tree of Paradise^'^ (Nilla Lancaster) ; Tulip^"*** (Kate S. Rus- sell) ; Tulip Block^^'-* (Clara Hearne) ; Washington Pave- j^^gjij-iso (Kate S. Russell); Wheel of Fortune^^^ (Kate S. Russell) ; W^idow's Trouble (F. C. Brown) ; Wild Goose Chase^^- (F. C. Brown); Wild Rose^**^ (Clara Hearne); World's Fair^^-* (Kate S. Russell). Two designs (6-92.14 and 6-92.25), both of the same pat- tern, are not identified by the contributor. They are, however, clearly examples of the Courthouse Square (see Hall and Kret- singer, p. 90, no. 17). The following were contributed as names of blanket pat- terns : Christian Ring, Chariot Ball, Leaf and Shell, Mt. Cucumber, and Snowball Reed. DYEING A good dye for quilt linings may be made by boiling the material in a mixture of pure red clay and water. After the water has been colored sufficiently with the clay, it may stand ^^- Hall, p. 19 (mentioned) ; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 78 (design). ^" The Star design of the North Carolina quilt is the famous eight- diamond Star of LeMoyne, the design upon which all subsequent star and tulip designs are based. See Finley, pp. 23, 30, 57, 89, 132; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 64, no. i. The name was corrupted to Lemon Star in some sections. ^"Finley, pp. 25, 26, 58, 106, 122; Webster, p. 119; Hall and Kret- singer, pp. 54 (design), 56 (design). "''Hall, p. 65; Webster, p. 95; Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 58 (design), 84 (design) ; Eaton, p. 112. ""Hall and Kretsinger, p. 96 (design) ; Eaton, p. 130; Finley, pp. 39, 93; Hall, pp. 20, 55; Webster, p. 123. This pattern is known also as Blazing Star or Blazing Sun. "'Hall and Kretsinger, p. 102 (design). "^Webster, pp. 49 (design), 119; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 102 (design). ""Finley, p. 124; Bowles, p. 163; Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 175 (de- sign), 199, 214 (design). 180 Webster, p. 126 (Washington's Sidewalk). ^■^^ Hall, p. 68; Webster, p. 122; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 227 (de- sign) ; Finley, pp. 62 (design), 82. The pattern was known as Wheel of Fortune prior to 1850 ; after that date it was known in Ohio as The Road to California (Finley, p. 82). It is sometimes called the Buggy Wheel. Its original name appears to have been Burgoyne Surrounded (see Hall and Kretsinger, p. 99). "^Webster, p. 128; Finley, p. 194 (design); Hall and Kretsinger, p. 96 (design). This is one of the popular triangle patterns. "3 Webster, p. 122; Hall and Kretsinger, pp. 114 (design), 116 (design). 18* Webster, p. 119; Hall and Kretsinger, p. 84 (design). BKI. lEFS AND CUSTOMS 267 till the greater part of the clay settles. Then the water is jKHued off and hoiled. This clay is plentiful in sections of LCastern North Carolina. I have known people who tried this and found that it produced a fast color.^^'^' (Zilpah Frishie) For a red dye, use one ounce of cochineal, two ounces of tin. one-half ounce of cream of tartar, to one pound of deep and one of pale, l^^irst run the cochineal to a powder, and ]nit it in as much water as will do. Let it hoil until it dissolves, and then put in the cream of tartar and the tin. Stir it well and put in the yarn. Let it boil a few minutes.'"*'' (Con- tributor's name not given.) A herb she called madder was used by my grandmother to make a pretty crimson. The roots of this were used.^**^ (Ger- trude Allen Vaught) ' Red oak bark was used for tanning leather. It gave a deep red color. The white oak bark gave a light tan color.iss (Mamie Mansfield) For a red dye, use poke berries and set with alum. (Nilla Lancaster) For a red dye, boil sumac berries in water for a few hours, adding a little salt. '■''•' (Kathleen Mack) The water in which hickory bark is boiled makes a pretty vellow dye. (Jessie Hauser) - Buckhorn and sumac are used for different kinds of yellow. (F. C. Brown) Y IMarigold flowers boiled in water make a beautiful yellow/^'^ (Kate S. Russell) ^"^ In the early part of the eighteenth century, merchants carried pipe- clay on their shelves and advertised it as one of the dyes they had in stock. . ''" Cochineal and tin were two of the very few imported dye materials. The former was brought from Central .America and Mexico and the latter from the mines of Cornwall. The tin was dissolved in aqua fortis. "' Madder is one of the oldest of dyes. It appears to liavc been used first by the Egyptians, and later by the Moors in Spain. From Spam it made its wav to Holland, whence it was brought to America by Dutch settlers. Sec 'Eaton, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands, p. 138. Incidentallv, madder is the dye used for dyeing the red stripes in the .American flag (Hall. .-/ Booh of Hand-Worm Coverlets, p. 153). Rabb (Indiana Coverlets and Coverlet Makers, p. 401 ) mentions a red dve made of bran, water, and madder. ^■"^ .\mong other ingredients for a tan dye were butternut and hemlock bark and sumac leaves and twigs (Bowles, Homespun Handicrafts, p. 188). ^, ^ ^ ^"' .\ red dye could also be made from willow bark and bloodweed sap (PTFLS,'\ui. 161). "° Other plants utilized in the making of yellow dye were goldenrod, Cottonwood bark, pecan bark, cedar bark (PTFLS, xni. 161); peach leaves or smartwecd. alder, birch, walnut, hickory, yellow oak, Lombardy poplar, sumac stalks (Hall, A Book of Hand-Woven Coverlets, p. 134) ; laurel leaves (Webster, Quilts, Their Story and How to Make Them, p. 75) ; smart weed (Rabb, Indiana Coverlets and Coverlet Makers, p. 401). For a more complete list, see Eaton, ot>. cit., pp. 341-342. Hall (p. 133) lists also fustic, tumeric, and anotta as being used in the making of a yellow dye. 268 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Easter eggs may be dyed yellow with hickory bark. (Zilpah Frisbie) ^ J\Iy grandmother used to make a dye of a pretty yellow color from maple or walnut bark. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Red oak bark is used to make dye. Boil the bark and strain it, and put some capus [copperas?] in it to set it to keep it from fading. The dye is a deep yellow. (Mamie Mansfield) - For a yellow dye, boil hickory bark for two or three hours. Add a little coffee, and boil again. Then put in the cloth, (Kathleen Mack)' Boil plum root in water for a yellow dye. Set with cop- peras. ^'^^ (Nilla Lancaster) My grandmother made a pretty yellow dye with broom straw. She broke the straw into small pieces, poured boiling water over it, then strained off the water. (Eleanor Simpson) V For a brown dye, use walnut bark. Set it with salt. (Nilla Lancaster) For a brown dye, boil onion peelings in water for a long time. Then remove them and the liquid is ready for the cloth.^^- (Kathleen Mack) ■. Take bark or old walnut hulls and boil in water. Then strain off the water and you have a brown dye. My grandmother used to make this dye for dyeing yarn. She also used it for coloring Easter eggs. (Eleanor Simpson) Roots of the walnut tree boiled with copperas will make a brown dye. (Clara Hearne) The bark from the root of walnut boiled in water makes a beautiful brown. The shade can be varied bv the amount of bark used.i''^^ (Kate S. Russell) ^■ Boil for one-half hour one pound of sumac and two of green walnut shells, then enter your yarn. Handle well and boil for one hour. Finish in another liquor with three pounds of red oak bark and an ounce of bluestone. ( Contril)utor's name not given.) Take pine bark and red oak bark, red maple and sweet gum, and boil together for a brown dye. Boil the yarn in the dye, then dij) in or boil in strong lye. (Contributor's name not given.) Red root makes a pinkish brown dye. (F. C. Brown) ^ Leaves of the pigweed were used to make a green dye. (Nilla Lancaster) ^"^ Copperas was one of the most often used mordants. Others were alum, blue vitriol, verdigris, and cream of tartar. Salt and chamlier lye were also used. ^"' A combination of butternut and maple l)ark was sometimes used in the making of brown dye. Eaton {op. cit., p. 340) lists also pecan hulls, bark of the spruce pine, bark of the chestnut oak. ^"^ For references to the use of onion skins in dye, see JAFL, i, 128- 129 (Pennsylvania German) ; li, 64. They seem to have been used more often for yellow. H K I, I K F S AND C U S T M S 269 Easter egys may he dyed green with young wheat.''" (Lucille Massey) Sumac hoiled with e()])i)eias will ])r()- Cream Pie. — Take nearly a cup of cream or milk for each pie, sweeten slightly, add a little butter, and thicken with a scant tablespoonful'of flour. Place in pie crust and make a lattice work across with strips of dough. Any flavor— or fruit- can be added. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Green Huckleberry P/V.— Made by preparing any amount of green huckleberries you want. This takes more sugar than for ripe ones, about half a cuj) to a pie. Put in a large piece of butter, and then put in pie crust and bake. (Gertrude Allen \'aught) Family Potato-Pie. — Line an iron spider with a rich crust, fill with alternate layers of potatoes, sugar, and pastry. Re- '"'^ "Snit" is, of course, the German Schnitt, meaning steak or chop. This dish is a special favorite among Pennsylvania Germans. 274 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE peat twice, then add spices, cream, and a little water. Put on a top crust and bake.-"^' (Nilla Lancaster) Vinegar Pic. — -Take half a cup of medium strong vinegar and add half a cup of sugar, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and half a cup of water slightly thickened with flour. Then place in pie crust and bake. (Gertrude Allen Vaught) Preserves. — Use one pound of sugar to one pound of fruit, and cook until the juice forms a thick syrup. Strawberries and figs should boil only a few minutes. Put out into the hot sun- shine daily for ten days, then jar it and the fruit will keep solid. (Nilla Lancaster) Jellies. — Use one cup of juice to one cup of sugar. When sugar is scarce, syrup does as well. (Nilla Lancaster) ^ BEVERAGE-MAKING IVJiiskey. — Take corn meal, cover it with water, and let it stand for four days. Then work off. (Kate S. Russell) Blackberry Wine. — Mash up blackberries, add water, and let stand for three days. Strain through a yarn cloth and allow to ferment again. Put up in airtight containers. (Kate S. Russell) Locust Beer. — Take locust, persimmons, and a little corn meal, put it in a barrel, cover with water, and let it remain a few days. To this may be added dried apple peelings and cores. (Kate S. Russell) Persimmon Beer. — Put persimmons in a barrel, pour warm water over them, and let them set until they ferment.^'^^ (Kate S. Russell) Sassafras Tea. — Tea was formerly made from sassafras wood or from holly balls. -''^ (Green Collection) Rhubarb Tea. — Crush rhubarb stems and leaves, steep them in boiling water, and drink. (Kate S. Russell) Tansy Tea. — Bruise tansy leaves, steep them in either hot or cold water, and drink. -*^^ (Kate S. Russell) ""'' See Ott, p. 76. The latter recipe lists among the necessary in- gredients four wineglasses of brandy. ""^ See Lay My Burden Down, p. 66. -"* Sassafras tea was highly regarded not only as a pleasant-tasting beverage but also as a medicine. It was in great favor as a means of "thinning the blood" in hot weather, and was believed to be a blood purifier as well. Sassafras is mentioned in herbals of as early date as 1596, where it is recommended, among other things, for "making women with childe" (The Mid-^vest Pioneer, p. 39). -"" Juice from tansy leaves, together with buttermilk, was also one of the early aids to feminine beauty. The buttermilk was applied to make the complexion whiter; the tansy juice acted as an astringent. BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS 275 Coffee. — I'urn coffeo (hx\i,fs for good-fiavort-d cofft-t-. ( Susit- Si)iir54C(-)n Jordan) Distilling. — Put apple cider in a big kettle with a sjwut or tube running out into another vessel so that no air can escape except through that tube. Build a steady fire under the kettle with the cider in it. When it begins to boil fiercely, the steam pushes through the pipe into the cold kettle, condensing into l>randy. (Nilla Lancaster)', W'iue. — Mash the berries and let them sour, then strain them and add half as much sugar as the amount of the li(|uid. ( h^dna Whitlev ) 276 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbott, G. F. Macedonian Folklore. Cambridge, 1903. Addy, Sidney Oldall. Household Tales, Zi.'itli Other Traditional Remains. London, 1895. American Anthropologist. Old Series. Washington, 1888-98. New Series. Washington, 1899 . (Referred to as AA.) Am-Urqnell. Lunden, 1890-96. 6 vols. Andrews, Charles M. Colonial Folkzvays. New Haven, 1921. Aubrey, John. Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaism (PFLS). London, 1881. Aurand, a. Monroe. The "Pozv-JJ'ozv" Book. Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, 1929. Balfour, Marie C, and Northcote W. Thomas. County Folk- Lore IV. London, 1904. Barker, Catherine S. Yesterday Today, Life in the Ozarks. Caldwell, Idaho, 1941. Bassett, Fletcher S. Legends and Superstitions of the Sea and of Sailors. Chicago, 1885. Bealoideas. Journal of the Irish Folklore Commission. Dublin, 1927 . Bendann, Effie. Death Customs: An Analytical Study of Burial Rites. New York, 1930. Bergen, Fanny D. Current Superstitions (MAFLS, iv). Bos- ton, 1896. Animal and Plant Lore {MAFLS, vii). Boston, 1899. Best, Elsdon. Ga)nes and Pastimes of the Maori. Wellington, 1925- The Maori. Wellington, 1924. 2 vols. Black, Pauline M. Nebraska Folk Cures (University of Nebraska Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism, No. 15). Lin- coln, 1935. Black, William George. Folk Medicine (PFLS, xii). London, 1883. Botkin, B. a. Lay My Burden Doz^'u. Chicago, 1945. Bowles, Ella Shannon. Ho)nespuH Handicrafts. Philadelphia, 1931- Brand, John. Obserz'ations on Popular Antiquities (new ed., with the additions of Sir Henry Ellis). London, 1900. 3 vols. Brendle, Thomas R., and Claude W. Unger. Folk Medicine of the Pennsylvania Germans (Proceedings of the Pennsylvania German Society, xlv). Norristown, Pa., 1935. British Calendar Custojus (Scotland), I (ed. M. Macleod Banks). London, 1937. H K I. I 1- K S AND CUSTOMS 277 British Cali'iidar Customs {liugland), I (ed. T. E. Lones). Lon- don, 1938. Brown, A. R. The Audamau Islanders. Canilirids^e, 1933. Bryan, Edwin H. .Incinit Hazcaiian Life. Honolulu, 1938. Bullock, Helen. The Williamsburg Art of Cookery or, Accom- plished Gentleivomans Companion. Williamsburg, Va., 1939. BuRNE. Charlotte Sophia, and Georgina P. Jackson. Shrop- shire Folk-Lore. London, 1883. BuRRiss, Eli E. Taboo, Magic. Spirits: A Study of Primitive Elements in Roman Religion. New York, 193 1. California Folklore Quarterly. Organ of the California Folklore Society. Berkeley, 1942 . Title changed to Western Folklore with the January, 1947, number, but no change in the numbering of volumes. (Referred to as CFLQ.) Callaway. H. The Religious System of the Amazulu. Natal, 1868-70. Campbell, Marik. Folks Do Get Born. New York, 1946. Carmer. Carl. Stars Fell on Alabamnulify in Form 4. What stands on one foot and has its heart in its head? — Cabbage. Kate S. Russell, Person county, c. 1923. The distribution of the parallels suggests their origin in Europe, but no English parallel has been reported. For kindred riddles with the answers "lettuce" or "cab- bage," see Parsons, Bermuda, p. 265, No. 161 ; "cabbage," see Green- leaf, Newfoundland, p. 11, No. 22; and Farr, Tennessee, p. 319, No. 21; and "peach," see Knortz, p. 231, No. 37. There are parallels in Flemish, German, and Danish. 5. What is it that walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three at night ? — Man. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parallels to this riddle of the Sphinx are too numerous to note. 6. Three legs up and six legs down. And Old Black Jo riding to town. — Old Black Jo with a three-legged pot on his head and riding a horse to town. R I I) I) I, K S 289 Zilpah I'>isbie. McDowell Cdunly. i«>22-23. Altliduj^li this riddle is widely known in the United States, tiie figure of Old lilack }o docs not occur in the parallels. This version seems to be a ciirruptitm in which some of the elements have not been treated enigmatically. For parallels to the usual form, "Black upon black come through th' town, three legs up an' six legs down" ( Randolph and Spradley. Ozarks, p. 88), see Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 160, No. 83; Brewster, Indiana, 39; Bacon and Parsons. Virginia, p. 327, No. 11; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 38, No. 22 ; Farr, Tennessee, p. 325. No. 95 ; Boggs, North Carolina, p. 324. No. 19. ;-a. Long legs aiul sliort thiglis, Bald head and no eyes. — Tongs. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Parallels are reported only in Irish; see O Dalaigh ("Long legs, crooked knees, a dead head with- out eyes"), 200 ("A long thigh, a crooked hip, taking care, but no eyes in its head"). 7I). Long legs, no thighs, Bald head, and no eyes. — Tongs. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. In this corrupt version "m:) thighs" is an error suggested by the parallelism with "no eyes." yc. Long legged, no thighs, hald headed, and no eyes. — Tongs. Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. 2. FUXCTIOX 8. What goes aronnd llu- house and makes one track? — W'heel- l)arro\v. Paul and Elizabeth (ireen, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Slight variants reported by Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922, and Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. Widely current in American tradition; see Fauset, Southern Xegro, p. 282, No. 62; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 156, No. 26; and many other versions. There are analogous Frisian, Flemish, German, and Icelandic versions. Compare also the Filipino sled riddle, "I went to Dagupan, but I left only two footprints" (Starr, 389). The Nova Scotian answer "snake" appears to be unique; see Fauset, p. 173, No. 195. 9a. (iocs to everybody's house and does not go in. — Path. Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. The lack of an interrogative word in 9a is not a defect. In English, the riddler is confronted with the choice between Who . . . ?, which signifies a person much more defi- nitely than an interrogative in a language having grammatical gender, and What ... ?, which turns the hearer's attention away from the idea of a personification. Many riddles in this collection are similarly constructed. ^90 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 9b. What is it that goes over the hill through the valley and up to the house but doesn't come in? — Path. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. go. Runs all over the yard ; comes to the door ; never comes in. — Path. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. 9d. What goes all round the house and never goes in? — Path. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 9. Current in the southern United States ; see Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 155, No. 5; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 26, No. 9; and many other versions. There are Welsh, Welsh Gypsy, Danish, French, Serbian, and Hungarian parallels. 10. Goes all around the house and throws white gloves in the window. — Snow. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See a seventeenth-century parallel in Tupper, Holme Riddles, 43. For later English parallels, see Gutch and Peacock, Lincolnshire, p. 398, No. 7 ; Burne, Shropshire, p. 574, No. 10. For parallels from North America, see Waugh, Canada, p. 70, No. 802; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 161, No. 93; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 82; Gardner, Schoharie Hills, N. Y., p. 256, No. 28; Newell, Jourmil of American Folklore iv (1891), 158; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 206, No. 54. Except for parallels in Welsh (Hull and Taylor, 17-19), I have found nothing very similar elsewhere. 11. What goes through the fence and leaves its tail behind it ? — Needle. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. 12. What jumps over the fence and leaves his tail behind him? —Needle. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. II, 12. This is a better form than the more familiar comparison to a person who loses a bit of his tail (see Nos. 36, 37 below), but it is much less popular. For parallels, see Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 37, No. 88; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 157, No. 35; Leather, Hereford, p. 230 ("Through the hedge and through the hedge and takes a long tail behind it"). 3. Form and Function 0. Normal Form; Abnormal Function 13. What walks with its head downward? — Shoe tack. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. The parallels are usually more elaborate. See Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 283, No. 72; Farr, Ten- nessee, p. 323, No. 71; Rcdfield, Tennessee, p. 39. No. 39; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 173. No. 193- KIDDLES 2gi 14. What is that goes down to the branch with its head down but doesn't drink? — ilorseshoes. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. The answer should be "horseshoe nail"; see Book of Mccry Riddles (1629), No. 30 = Brandl, p. 13; Farr, Tennessee, p. 323, No. 78. There are parallels in Flemish, Ger- man, Danish, and Swedish. See also No. 17 below. iv What has a face and can't see, can run but can't walk? — Clock. Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922. Compare "What has a face but can- not see?" (Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 315, No. 31) and No. 20 below. 16. Wanders often over the meadow, with a nice little tongue but cannot speak, goes to water but cannot drink. — Cowbell. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. Compare "Down the hill and across the hollow, it has a mouth and can't swallow" (Farr, Tennessee, p. 324, No. 90). 17. What goes to the water but doesn't drink? — Cowbell. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Compare "What goes to the branch and don't drink?" (Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 283, No. 80). See also No. 14 above. 18. Over water, under water, got a tongue, never drinks a drop. — Wagon. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 203, No. 20. The formula "Over water, under water" is probably borrowed from a riddle for a girl carrying a bucket of water over a bridge. 19. It can run and can't walk, It has a tongue and can't talk. — Wagon. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1923 ; anon., n.p., n.d. Parsons, Guil ford Co.. N. C, p. 203, No. 21 ; Farr. Tennessee, p. 319, No. 12 (cor- rupt) ; Brewster, hidiana, 22; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 82. 20. Legs and don't walk, Face and don't talk. —Clock. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 204, No. 24. There are Spanish and Chilean parallels. b. Abnornial Form; Abnormal Function 21. What has four eyes and can't see? — Mississippi. Zilpah Frisbie, Mcl3owell county, 1922-23. Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 280, No. 45; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 39, No. 40 and p. 41, No. 62; Brewster, Indiana, 42. 292 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 22. What has four legs and can't walk a step? — Two pairs of pants. Anon, n.p., n.d. Halpert, New Jersey, p. 202, No. 16. II COMPARISONS TO AN ANIMAL OR ANIMALS I. Comparisons to an Animal 23a. Hippity hoppity upstairs, Hippity hoppity downstairs, If you don't mind, Hippity hoppity bite you. —Wasp. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. 23b. Hitty ditty upstairs, Hitty ditty downstairs, If you bother Hitty ditty, Hitty ditty will bite you. —Wasp. Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922. Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 389, No. II ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 288, No. 128 and many other Southern parallels. Compare French : Parsons, Antilles, in, 368, Trinidad, 65 and 2>73, Grenada, 78. Bakongo : Denis, 53. The English and Scottish parallels have the answer "nettle" ; see Tupper, Holme Riddles, 32. 24. Hippy tippy upstairs, Hippy tippy downstairs. If you go near Hippy tippy, He'll bite you. ■ — Hornet. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. 25. A dog in the woods can't bark. — Dogwood tree. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 36, No. 82. 26. What is it that goes over the hills and valleys in the day- time and sits by the tire at night? — Milk. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1926. Farr, Tennessee, p. 320, No. 35. 27. Goes over the field in the day and sits on the table at night.— Milk. Lucille Cheek, Chatliani county, 1923. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 161, No. 94- RIDDLE S 293 28. What is it that runs all over tlu- pasture in the daytime and sits in the cui)l)oard at night? — Milk. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Fauset, Siuithern Xe.yrn, ]>. 282, Nos. 6(), 70; Brewster, Indiana, 54. j(). tides all the davtime, comes in at night, sits in the corner with its tongue hanging out. — Shoe. Zilpah I'risi)ie, McDtnvell county, 1922-23. Redfield, Tennessee, p. 39, ^•o. 35 ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 282, No. 67 ; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 30, No. 40. 30. (iocs ail day. sits in the corner at night. — Shoe. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. (1922-30?). 31. What runs around all day and sits in the corner with its tongue out ? — Wagon. .Anonymous student. Trinity College, n.d. Parsons, Robeson county, N. C, p. 389, No. 8; Parsons, Guilford county, p. 203, No. 22. 2. Comparisons to Several Animals 32. Two-legs sat upon Three-legs with One-leg in his lap. In came Four-legs, grabhed up (_)ne-leg, and ran out the door. Up jumped Two-legs, grabbed up Three-legs, made Four-legs l)ring One-leg back. — A man sat upon a three-legged stool with a ham in his lap. A dog came in. got the ham. and went out. The man picked up the stool and made the dog bring the ham back. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parallels in almost every collection of riddles. 33. Thirty white horses on a red hill, Now they clamp, now they stamp. Now thev stand still. —Teeth. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. .\lthough clamp is intelligible in reference to teeth, it does not accord well with the scene of horses and is probably intended for champ. For other examples of the use of clamp in this riddle see Hyatt, .-\dams Co., 111., p. 688, No. 10922; Farr, Tennessee, p. 324. No. 89. For the usual form of the riddle, see, among many examples, Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 157, No. 69; Parsons. I'ermuda, p. 244. No. 2; Bacon and Parsons. Virginia, p. 325, No. 113. 294 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE '^ • III COMPARISONS TO A PERSON 34. Niddy, niddy, noddy, two arms and one body. — Wheel- barrow. Clara Hearne. Chatham county. 1922-23. The Canadian variant, "Niddy, Noddy, two heads and one body" (Waugh, p. 70, No. 804), which is not completely intelligible, is the only parallel that I can cite. In Indi- ana, this form of the riddle describes a rolling pin (Brewster, 16), and in North Carolina, a barrel (Boggs, p. 320, No. 2). This last use is widely known. 35a. What goes all over the world and has but one eye? — ■ Needle. Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23 ; anon., n.p., n.d. 35b. What goes all over the world and has but one eye? — Needle. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Bahamas, p. 475, No. 35- 36. Old Mother Twitchet has but one eye And a very long tail which she lets fly ; Every time she goes through the garden gap She leaves a bit of her tail in the trap. — Needle and thread. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 125; Redfield, Tennessee, p. J,7, No. 13; Parsons, Antilles, ni, 433, Saba, 13. 37. There is an old woman that has but one eye. Every time she goes through the gap she leaves a piece of her tail in the gap. — Needle. Louise Lucas, Bladen county. 1923. A second line, "And a long tail which she lets fly," is vouched for by the rhyme and the parallels, but is lacking here. See Spenny, Raleigh, N. C, p. no. No. 3 ("old man"). 38. Mary Mack all dressed in black. Silver buttons down her back. —Coffin. Paul and Elizabeth Green, east and central N. C., 1926-28. Not hitherto reported. The pertinency of the answer "coffin" is obscure. Tlie riddle is related in some way to a very obscure children's game called "Alli- goshee" ; see Alice Bertha Gomme, The Traditional Gawes of England. Scotland, and Ireland (London, 1894), i, 7- RIDDLES 295 39. Little Nancy Mtticoat In a white petticoat And a red nose ; The longer she stands, The shorter she grows. — Candle. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. (1922-30?). "Little Miss Netti- coat," Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 40. Little Nancy Etticoat In her short petticoat ; The longer she stands, The shorter she grows. — Candle. Mrs. G. A. Vaught. Alexander county, 1928. Parsons, Antilles, ni. 424, .\ntigua, 6 ; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 24, No. i ; Brewster, Indiana, 26. Found in virtually every English collection. 41. IJttle red ridin' coat ; The longer she lives, the shorter she grows. — Candlestick. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. (1922-30?). Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C., p. 202, No. 19. With "red" omitted, Mildred Peterson. Bladen county, 1923. 42. From house to house he goes A messenger small and slight. And whether it rains or snows, He sleeps outside at night. —Path. Mrs. N. Lancaster. Wayne county, 1922-23. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 107, X(i. 14. See also Irish: Hyde, p. 171. 43a. What is it that goes all over the house during the day and stands in the corner at night ? — Broom. Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922. 43I). Coes all over the floor and stands up in the corner at night.^ — Broom. Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. 43c. What is it that goes all around the house in the morning and sits in the corner in the evening? — Broom. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. (1922-30?). Brewster, Indiana. 17; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 282, No. 65; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 168, No. 105; Parsons. Aiken, S. C;» p. 30, No. 39; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 390, No. 23. 296 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 44. I have a grandmother who walked all day and when she got home took up no more space than could be covered by a penny. — Cane. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Not hitherto reported in Eng- lish. The notion is widely current among riddlers. See the exact parallel in the Bhil "After having run through the whole forest, he is sitting on a place not bigger than a pice" (Hedberg, p. 875, No. 63). A pice is a small Indian coin. 45. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Can't put Humpty Dumpty together again. —Egg. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928; 'Dumpty Dumpty.' Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C. 1926-28. Found in virtually all English collections. There are parallels in all the Germanic languages. 46a. ^-tjng tall, black fellow. Pull him back and hear him bellow. — Gun. .Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. 46b. Long, slick, black fellow. Pull his tail, and hear him holler. — Shotgun. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 107, No. 16; Parsons, Aiken, S. C., p. i7, No. 80; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C., p. 202, No. 18; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 39. No. 44: Farr. Ten- nessee, p. 322, No. 64 and p. 325, No. 106; Halpert, New Jersey, p. 201, No. 6. 47. What is that which is brought by a man, is full of nuts, has no tongue, and yet speaks like a man ? — Letter. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Not hitherto reported. 48a. As I was crossing London Bridge, I met Sister Annie, I pulled ofif her head and sucked her blood And left her body standing. — Jug of whiskey. Mary Scarborough, Dare county, 1923. 48b. As I was going over London Bridge, I met a man, cut off his head, drank his blood, and left a man standing still.— Jtig of cider. .Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. Gregor, Northeast Scotland, pp. 76, -jj ; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 245, No. 3 ; Parsons. Sea Islands, S. C, 1). 160, No. 46; and many others. K 1 1) U L E S 297 IV COMTAKISOXS TO SEVI<:RAI. IM-.RSOXS 49. W'hitey saw Wliitey in W'hitey and sent W'hitey to run Whitey out of Whitey. — A white man sent a white dog to run a white cow out of a white cotton patch. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 34, No. 66 ; Farr, Tennessee, p. 320, No. 27 ; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 312, Wj. i ; I-^auset, Southern Negro, p. 283, No. 84. Soa. W'hitey went ui)stairs, W'hitey came downstairs, W'hitey left W'hitey upstairs on W'hitey. — .A white hen went upstairs and laid a white egg on a white bed. Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922. 50b. W'hitie went upstairs and came down and left W'hitie up- stairs. — A hen went upstairs, laid an egg, and came down. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 25, No. 5; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 323, No. 104; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 388, No. I ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 284, No. 88. 51. There's a garden that I ken, F'uU of gentle little men. Little caps of blue they wear And green ribbons verv fair. ^— Flax. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. There are several versions in verse, but none precisely the same. See Tupper, Holme Riddles, 37: Gardner, Schoharie Hills, N. Y., p. 255, No. 14. V. COMPARISON TO A PLANT 52. It is a long tree, but it has no shade. — River. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Not hitherto reported. The te.xt may be defective, for one expects a reference to "branches." VI. COMPARISONS TO A THING I. MOUSK S3. What is it that has eighty-eight keys, yet none will open any door? — Piano. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1932. Not hitherto reported. 298 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 54. I am a small house and my name yellow. — Egg. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Not hitherto reported. The text is not fully intelligible and seems to be corrupt. 55. Walls of marble, lined with silk, has neither windows nor doors, yet thieves break in and steal all the gold. — Egg. Mrs. N. Lancaster. Wayne county, 1923. This is a corrupt version of a widely circulated text that is better represented by a Canadian version (Waugh, p. 69, No. 793) : In marble walls as white as silk, Lined with a skin as soft as silk, Within a crystal fountain clear, A golden apple doth appear. No doors there are to this stronghold. Yet thieves break in and steal the gold. For other versions, see Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 125; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 660, No. 10861 ; Randolph and Taylor, Ozarks, 16; Farr, Tennessee, p. 319, No. 15; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 107, No. 18. See also such corruptions as Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 167, No. 30; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 251, No. 41. 56a. On yonder hill is a little green house, In the little green house is a little white house, In the little white house is a little red house, In the little red house white and black children are lying. — W^atermelon. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. 56b. Down in the meadow stands a green house, In the green house is a white house, In the white house is a little red house. And the red house is full of little Negroes. - — Watermelon. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Bacon and Parson^ Virginia, p. 322, No. 95; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, 18; Brewster, Indiana, 32. A walnut is described in a similar way ; see Halliwell-Phillips, Popular Rhymes, p. 142; Knortz, p. 223, No. 51; Hyatt. Adams Co., 111., p. 670, No. 10934. See also No. 89 below. 57. On a little hill there is a little house. In that little house there is a little shelf, On that little shelf there is a little cup, In that little cup there is a little sup, And no one can get that little sup Without breaking that little cup. —Egg. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. Perkins, New Orleans, p. no, No. 47; Chappell, p. 230, No. 7: Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 660, No. 10860; Tapper, Holme Riddles, 33. R 1 1) D L F. S 299 2. Thing 58. What arc those little white thin<;.s in vour head that hite? —Teeth. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. Not hitherto reported. The statement of the true function of the answer is unusual in riddling. 59. .As I was going over London Bridge, I picked up something neither flesh nor hlood, But it had four fuigers and one thunih. — (ilove. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. Compare the more paradoxical ".\s I was going over London Bridge, I met a cartful of fingers and thumbs"; see Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 121; Knortz, p. 223, No. 53; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 260, No. 114; Fauset. Nova Scotia, p. 151, No. 44. 3. Food 60a. As I walked throtigh the field. I found something which was neither flesh nor hone, but in three weeks it walked alone. Mary Scarborough, Dare county, 1923. 60b. When I was going over a field of wheat, I picked up something good to eat, Whether fish, flesh, fowl, or bone, I kept it till it ran alone. —Egg. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. 61. As I was going through the wheat, I found something good to eat. 'Twas neither blood nor flesh nor bone, I picked it up and carried it home. —^gs- Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county. 1922-23. 60. 61. In English tradition there are many parallels, from which 1 select Waugh, Canada, p. 68, No. 783; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 150, No. 41 ; Farr, Tennessee, p. 322, No. 65. VII. ENUMERATION OF COMPARISONS 62. W^hat is it that is high as a house, low as a mouse, green as grass, black as ink, bitter as gall, yet sweet after all? — Walnut. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, .-Mexander county, 1928. The parallels are both old and widely divergent. See Book of Meery Riddles (1629), No. 24 = 300 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Brandl, p. 12; Prctfic Riddles (1631), No. 48 =: Brandl. p. 59; Farr, Tennessee, p. 324, No. 83; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 669, No. 10932; Carter, Mountain White, p. 78; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 106, No. 5. 63. Higher than a house, higher than a tree. O, whatever can that he? —Star. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county. 1922-23. Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 129; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 323, No. 103; Par- sons, Barbados, p. 286, No. 60; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 159, No. 42 ; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 36, No. 6. 64. Crooked as a rainbow, Teeth Hke a cat. Guess all your lifetime And you can't guess that. — Briar. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 285, No. 97; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 106, No. 11; Farr. Tennessee, p. 321, No. 42; Knortz, p. 231. No. 86; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 318, No. 50; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 165, No. 72. 65. Crooked as a rainbow, Teeth like a cat. Guess your lifetime. You never guess that. — Saw. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C p. 204, No. 32; Brewster, Indiana, 52. 66. Crooked as a rainbow, Slick as a plate. Ten thousand horses Can't pull it up. ■ — River. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 36, No. 76; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 165, No. 71. In this and the two preceding riddles the word crooked is pronounced as two syllables and signifies bent rather than zviiiding or tivistcd. 67. Round as an apple, Busy as a bee. The prettiest thing That you ever did see. —Watch. Louise Lucas, Bladen county. 1923. Thurston, Massachusetts, p. 182, No. 2 ; Bacon and Parsons. Virginia, p. 320. No. 67 ; Parsons, Bahamas, p. 471, No. 2 (clock) ; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 58, No. 73: Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 164, No. 53. RIDDLES 301 68. Routid as an ajjple, Deep as a cui). All the king's horses Can't pull it u\). —Well. Jessie Hansen, Forsyth county, 1923; Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. HalliwcU-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 132; Fauset, Nova Scotiu, p. is8. No. 74; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 259, No. 112; Parsons, Barbados, p. 278, No. 17. 69. Round as a hiscuit, Busy as a hee. Something in the middle Goes tick ! tick ! tee ! —Watch. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 27, No. 15. Round as a hiscuit, Btisy as a bee. The prettiest little thinj^- You ever did see. —Watch. Lucille Cheek, Durham county, 1923. With "As busy," Mamie Mans- field, Durham, 1922. Witii "As busy," but "The" omitted, Mrs. N. Herring, Tomahawk, n.d. With "The" omitted, .Aura Holton, Durham, 1924. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. 2; Perkins, New Or- leans, p. 106, No. 2; Halpert, New Jersey, p. 200, No. 18; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 389, No. 17. 71. Round as a biscuit, Deep as a cup. All the king's horses Can't oull it up. .Mamie Mansfield, Durham, 1922; .Xura Holton, Durham, 1924. With "The" omitted, Lucille Cheek, Ciiatham county, 1923. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. i; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 106, No. 7; Ran- dolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 83 ; Brewster, Indiana, 9. 72. Round as a diddle, steep as a cup. And all the king's horses can't put it up. —Well. Mrs. N. Herring, Tomahawk, n.d. Not hitherto reported. The meaning of diddle is obscure ; stccf> is a corruption of clccf>. Comi)are Round as a riddle, deep as a cup, And all the king's horses can't pull it up. as cited in Boggs, North Carolina, p. 325, No. 23, in which riddle may signify sifter. 302 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 73. Round as a saucer, Deep as a cup, All the king's horses Can't pull it up. —Well. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C. p. 389, No. 16; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 156, No. 28; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 2"], No. 13. 74. Black as a coal, sleek as a mole. Great long tail, and a thundering hole. — Gun. Mrs. N. Herring, Tomahawk, n.d. The answer "gun" has not been previously reported. Compare Black as a coal, Slick as a mole. Had a long tail, And busted hole. —Frying pan. m Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 323, No. loi and the parallels in Parson, Barbados, p. 287, No. 69, and Redfield, Tennessee, p. 36, No. 3 (thundering hole). 75. What is that is as white as snow. Green as grass, red as fire, and black as a crow ? — Blackberry. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. See note to No. 76. 76. Green as grass and grass it's not. White as snow and snow it's not, Red as blood and blood it's not, Black as ink and ink it's not. — Blackberry. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. 75, 76. The comparisons found in the parallels vary somewhat, and the second version, which contains antitheses, is more frequent. See Perkins, New Orleans, p. in, No. 52; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 255, No. 61 ; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 202, No. 11 ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 276, No. 10; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 32, No. 48; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 159, No. 78. ']'j. Opens like a barn door, Shuts up like a trap. Guess all your life, You'll never guess that. — Scissors. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 35, No. 75. K I 1) 1) r. E s 303 78. Opens like a hariuloor, Wings like a hat. Spread out your arms, And jump in that. — Man's vest. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county. 1923. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 155, No. 56 (also: corset); Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 285, No. 99 (over- coat) ; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 106, No. 6 (corset). VIII. DESCRIPTION OF THK PARTS OF AN OBJECT 79. What is it that is half Indian and lialf huffalo? — Nickel. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1935. Not hitherto reported. 80. What is round at both ends and high in the middle? — Ohio. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 84; Brewfster, Indiana, 33; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 41, No. 71. 81 a. Dead in the middle and live at both ends. — Man and horse plowing. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. 6; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 155, No. 17; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 317, No. 44. 81 b. Alive at both ends. — Man and horse plowing. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Not previously reported. The expected contrast with the dead middle is lacking. 82a. Big at the bottom, Little at the top, Something the middle Goes flippity-flop. — Churn. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. "Something in the middle goes flip, flip, flop — Stone churn.'" Anon., n.p., n.d. Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 277, No. 13; Brewster, Indiana, 15; Farr, Tennessee, p. 321, No. 43; Chappell, p. 232, No. 19; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 390, No. 21: Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 202. No. 16. 82b. Shut in the middle. Open at the top. Something in the middle Goes flippity-flop. — Churn. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. This version, which is a corruption of the preceding, has not been previously reported. N.C.K., Vol. I. (21) 304 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 83a. Four downhangers, four stiffstanders, two lookers, two crookers, and a whiskabout. — Cow. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. 83b. Four stiffstanders, four downhangers, a hooker, a crooker, and a switchabout. — Cow. Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. 83c. Four stiffstanders, four hangers, two hookers, one switch- about. — Cow. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. An enormous number of versions have been reported in almost every European language. I cite only a few parallels in English: Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. 7 ; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 37, No. 20 ; Perkins, New Orleans, p. Ill, No. 54; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 155, No. 58. 84a. Two lookers, two hookers, four standers, one crooker. — Cow. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. 84b. Two lookers, two crookers, four standers, and a switch- about. — Cow. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 'Sirs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Versions beginning with "two lookers" are as numerous as ver- sions like the preceding text. 1 conjecture that they are, however, a secondary development in the history of the riddle. See Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 87; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 277, No. 14; Par- sons, Sea Islands, S. C., p. 154, No. 15; Redfield, Tennessee, pp. 36-37, Nos. 18, 19. IX. DESCRIPTION IN TERMS OF COLORS 85. What is black and white and red all over? — Newspaper. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. "What is it that is . . ." Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parallels are very numerous but are naturally limited to English. See Boggs, North Carolina, p. 325, No. 20; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. 8; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 325, No. 119; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 31, No. 44; Brewster, Indiana, 40. 86. What is that of which the outside is silver and the inside is of gold? — Egg. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. I have not noted an exact parallel to this formulation of an idea that is otherwise frequently used. See the Bahaman "Me riddle me riddle me randy oh. Here's a t'ing. White outside an' yaller inside'' (Parsons, Andros Island, Bahamas, p. 275. No. 3). R 1 I) I) I. K S 305 87. (irecn without, red within. And full (jf little hlack men. — Watermelon. Elsie Doxcy, Currituck county, 1922-23. Usually stated even more exi)Iicitly in terms of a house as in "A lot of little hlack children live in a red house" (Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 322. No. 95, var. 2). See furtiier Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 276, Nos. 2, 5 ; Parsons. Roheson Co., N. C, p. 388, No. 2: Parsons, Herniuda, p. 258, No. 13; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 554, No. 11 ; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 106, No. 3. For expansion into the notion of a house within a house within a house, see No. 56 above. A few versions avoid the notion of a house and rely upon the contrast of green and red as in the South Carolinian "What green outside an" red inside ?" ( Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 29, No. 27 ; Parsons, Bahamas, p. 478, No. 65; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 166, No. 79). 88. Black within and red without, Four corners round ahout. — Chimney. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. With "and" omitted, Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. Many parallels. See Perkins, New Or- leans, p. ]o6, No. 4; Parsons, Guilford Co., p. 206, No. 52; F"ausct, Philadelphia, p. 555, No. 23; Gutch and Peacock, Lincolnshire, p. 398, No. II. 8g. Black within ; red without ; Four corners round about. — Fireplace. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 88 above. 90. Is up green and come down red. — \\ atermelon. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 34, No. 65; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 166, No. 79. 91. What is it that is fn'st white, second green, then red, and then black ? — Blackberry. Mrs. G. A. Vaught. Alexander county, 1928. Par.sons. .Sea Islands, S. C, p. 166, No. 84; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 388, No. 5; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 32. No. 49. X. DESCRIPTIDX Tx\ TERMS OF .ACTS OR A SCENE 92. To her lover a lady .said, "Give me. I pray. What you have not, nor can have, but might give away !" Let each hereafter his dullness repent. The fool did not know 'twas a kiss that she meant. — Kiss. Boylan's North Carolina Almanac (Raleigh), 181 1. .X literary riddle. The folk-parallels have the answer "husband" as in "What is it a man 3o6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE can give to a lady and can't give to another man?" (Perkins, New Orleans, p. 113, No. 72). See Tupper, Holme Riddles, 91; Parsons, Barbados, p. 290, No. 100. 93. I ain't got it, I don't want it, If I had it, I wouldn't take the world for it. — Bald head. Aura Holton, Durham, 1924; Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 204. No. 34; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 36. No. 84; Farr, Tennessee, p. 318, No. 4; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 288, No. 129; Beckwith, Jamaica, p. 216, No. 256; etc. 94a. What goes up a smoke pipe down but won't go up a smoke pipe up? — Answer lacking. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. See 94b and note. 94b. What is it that you can put up a stove pipe down, but can't put up a stove pipe up ? — Umbrella. Kilgo Hunt, n.p., n.d. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 173, No. 186; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 669, No. 10931 ; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 83 ; Farr, Tennessee, p. 320, No. 32. 95. What goes up when the rain comes down ? — Umbrella. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. Wintemberg, Canada, p. 133, No. 71; Greenleaf, Newfoundland, p. 20, No. 5; Parsons, Barbados, p. 291, No. 116. 96a. A house full, and a yard full, and you can't get a spoonful. — Smoke. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923 ; Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923 (minor variations). 96b. Hands full, house full, yet can't catch a spoon full. — Smoke. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 201, No. 3; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 38, No. 23; Farr, Ten- nessee, p. 318, No. 3; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 666, No. 10908; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 313, No. i. 97. A hill full, a hole full. You can't catch a bowlful. — ^list. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 313. No. 11; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 245, No. 4. 98. What is it that one man can put on a wall, but when it has fallen, forty kings can't put it back? — Egg. W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. Allied to the Humpty Dumpty riddle (see No. 45 above), but not previously reported in this form. The conception is akin to the Russian notion that everything but an egg can be hung on a nail. R 1 n n I. E s 307 99. The more you take away, tlu- larger it i;ro\vs.— 1 lolc. Clara Hcarne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Fauset. Nova Scotia, p. I75. No. 209: Waugh. Canada, p. 68, No. 775; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 256, No. -J-; Brewster, Indiana. 59- 100. It is long and slender, a man cutting at both ends, yet it grows longer. — Ditch. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne cunty. 1923. The fir.st ^-''^f e^. ^I'l'^'^;;^ .^^^ have no parallels. For the fundamental concept see Fauset, Nova Sco la p 175, No. 209: Parsons. Bermuda, p. 256. No. 78; Parsons. Robeson Co.. N. C, p. 389, No. 13. 1 01. The old woman pidded it and padded it ; the old man took off his britches and jumped at it.— Feather bed. Mary Scarborough, Dare county, 1923. Parsons, Guilford Co. N. C p. 205. No. 39; Randolph and Spradley. Ozarks, p. 84; Parsons, Robeson Co.. N. C, p. 389. No. 10. 102. What is it: divided it stands, united it falls?— Stepladder. M. Walker, n.p., n.d. Not previously reported. 103. What is that which breaks by even naming it?— Silence. Eleanor Simpson. East Durham. 1923. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 113. No. 80. XI. NECK-RIDDLES For discussion of this type, which consists of a scene known only to the speaker, see F. J. Norton. -Prisoner Who Saved His Neck with a Riddle." Folk-Lorc, Liii (1942), 27-57. 104. Eove I sit. Love I stand. Love I hold in my right hand. Love I see in yonder tree, I see Love, but he don't see me. — \ man had a dog named Love. He killed the dog, sat (»n some of it. stood on some of it. had blood on his hand, and a piece of it was in the tree. Zilpah Frisbie. McDowell county, 1922-23. Elsewhere the name of the dog is often Ilo or Milo, but the names .^mor in Italian versions and Laska (love) in Czech versions suggest that this North Carolina text preserves the original form. Parallels are very numerous, and I cite onlv those in English and give references to discussions wliere tho e in other languages may he found. See Tvipper, Holnie Riddles 34 . Fitzgerald, p i8s: Chambers. Scotland, p. io8;_Gregor, Northeast Sot- land p 82; Greenleaf. Newfoundland, p. 19. No. 4: Parsons. Bermiula, p 252 No 47; Parsons, Barbados, p. 281. No. 29; Perkins. New Or- 308 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE leans, p. in, No. 62; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 157, No. 37; Parsons. Guilford Co., N. C, p. 203, No. 23 ; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 142, No. 4; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 47, Nos. 133-139; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 280, No. 40; Boggs. North Carolina, p. 48, No. 12; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 82 ; Carter, Mountain White, p. "]"] ; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 327, No. 135; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 26, No. 11. For a list of the discussions of this riddle see Taylor, Bibliography, p. 153; Schultz, Rdtsel ans dem hellenischen Kulturkreise, 11, 81-85. 105a. Riddle me, riddle me right, Guess where I went last Friday night. The bough did bend, my heart did quake, When I saw a hole the fox did make. — Answer lacking. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. 105b. Riddle-em, riddle-em right, Guess where I sat last Friday night. I sat high, and de wind did blow, I saw Cheek standing chewing his bridle, I saw a man working idle. — Man diggin' his sweetheart's grave. Cheek was the horse he rode to the spot he had asked her to meet him. She got there first and climbed a tree. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. 105c. Riddle me, riddle me right: You can't guess where I was last Saturday night. The wind did blow, The cock did crow. My heart did ache, The earth did quake. To see what a hole the fox did scrape. — A man had threatened to kill his wife. One day when she happened to be talking to some men about him (these men were the men hired to kill her by her husband), they told her that they would save her if she gave them a riddle to guess that they did not know. Then she gave the riddle about her husband who was digging a hole the Saturday night before to bury her in. The men of course did not know that she knew about it and did not guess the riddle. So they had to save her life. Mabel Ballentine, Wake county, n.d. I05d. Riddle ma, riddle ma riah, Guess where T stayed last Friday night. The wind did blow, my heart did ache, To see what a hold that fox did make. K 1 I) I) I. E S 309 —Once a trirl was persuaded l)v her lover to meet hmi at a certain tree to run away to be married. She arrived there sooner than the man. who was a thief, expected her to arrive bhe cHmbed the tree and while she was hidden amon^ the leaves, the man with his friend came and be^an to dig a j^rave. i he girl heard them talking about robbing and then killing her and burving her in this grave. . , r •.• 1 She staved in the tree until the men got tired of waiting and left Then she came down and went home. On the next day the 'man came demanding a reason for her failing to meet him. She answered with this riddle and he was never seen again. Mamie Mansfield. Durham, 1928. Boggs, North Carolina p 323. No U Hvatt Adams Co.. 111., V- 661, No. 10869; Knortz, p. 216, No. 28, R^andoph and Spradley, Ozarks. p. 84; Redfield. Tennessee P; 49. Nos. ijo-i^v Fauset Nova Scotia, pp. 141-142, No. 2; Greenleaf Newfound- and p' 19 No 3; Chappell, p. 228, No. 2; Fauset Southern Negro, p 284 No 92; Parker, Oxfordshire, p. 330 ; T. Q. C Notes audQucncs, 2d set V (?858), 315 Perkins, New Orleans, p 112. No. 64; Brewster, Indiana. 71; Hyatt. Adams Co., 111., p. 661, No. 10870; Johnson, St. Helena I.. S. C, p. I59, No. 35- . ^ ^ „ , , This often occurs as a tale rather than a riddle. See J. Bolte and 1913), 371; F. Kidson, Journal of the Folk-Song Society, u (190&). 297-299- 106. An old woman was sent to the penitentiary. She was told that if she could stand up and say a riddle that they had never heard before, she would be turned loose. She said : Once I was a child, now I am a mother, And the child that I suckled Was daddy to my brother. — Answer lacking. Paul and Elizaheth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Parallels are very abundant. I cite only English instances: I eather. Hereford p. 179; Fitzgerald, p. 185; Fauset. Nova Scotia p 169, ^o. 141 . Par Li. Rarhados o 283 No. 44; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 168, No ,06 For dSussion'-see Taylor, "The Riddle of Morning Spring," Southern Folklore Quarterly, viii (i944). 23-25- 107. Six set. seven sprung, from the dead the living come.— A bird and her nest with five young in a dead tree. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C 1926-28 The text k a verv corrupt and a reconstruction is possible only m the hght of snrh a version as this from Maryland: "Once there was a master wh^said to hTcTlor^d man, 'If you ask me a riddle that I camiot answer. I will set you free.' The servant proposed this riddle : 'I came out and in again ; The living from the dead came; There are six. seven there will be ;_ _^ Answer tliis riddle, or set me free.' 310 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A bird's nest in a horse's skull. There were six young birds in the nest, and when the mother came home, there were seven. The master could not answer, and the servant went free (Whitney and Bullock, p. 175, No. 2688). Parallels are very numerous, and I cite only those in English: Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 140, No. i; Leather, Hereford, p. 179; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 657. No. 10837; Chappell, p. 233, Nos. 22-24; Gutch and Peacock, Lincolnshire, p. 400, No. 27; Carter, Mountain White, p. 78; Notes and Queries, 8th ser.. iv (1893), 208; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 87 ; Parsons, Barbados, p. 286, No. 57 ; etc. The versions current in the Southern United States often rest on the contrast of "Six set and seven sprung" : see Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 285, Nos. 93-95; Perkins, New Orleans, p. iii, No. 61; Boggs, North Carolina, p. 324, No. 22; Parsons, Robeson Co., N. C, p. 390, No. 19; Redfield. Tennessee, p. 40, No. 54; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 30, No. 38. See also such curiously corrupt versions as Beckwith, Jamaica, p. 202, No. 182; Parsons, Bahamas, p. 479, No. 79. 108. A man in prison was told if he cotild set an unanswerable riddle, he would go free. He said : Brothers and sisters have I none, But this man's father was my father's son. — This man was son of the speaker. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 143, No. 7. Any difficult and confusing question may occur in a neck-riddle. This genealogical query occurs separately in No. 109 below. XII. GENEALOGICAL RIDDLES For discussion of riddles setting- problems of this sort, see Archer Taylor, "Riddles Dealing with Family Re- lationships," Journal of American Folklore, li (1938), 25-37- 109. It wasn't my sister, nor my brother, But still was the child of my father and mother. Who was it ? —Myself. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Prettie Riddles (1631), No. 63 = Brandl, p. 60. 1 10. There was a blind beggar who had a brother and this brother died. What relation was the blind beggar to the brother who died ? — His sister. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. I have this in an oral version from Ohio. 111. Pjrothers and sisters have I none. Yet this child's father was my mother's son. Relation ? — I am her father. RIDDLES 3^1 Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county. 1923. Waugh, Canada, p. 64, No. 696; Whitney and Bullock. Maryland, p. 1/3. No. 2674; Chappell. p. 234, No. 28; Perkins, New Orleans, p. 109, No. 29; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 255. No. 63. For discussion, see Taylor, Relationships, p. 33 "• 5- XIII. .\rithmi-:tical puzzles These may be divided into seriou.s questions that can be answered by ordinary mathematics and wliimsical questions that involve some unusual knowledge, ordi- narily a pun. I. Serious Questions 112. If an egg and a half cost a cent and a lialf, how much will twelve eggs cost? — Twelve cents. Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23. Known to me in oral tradi- tion in Pennsylvania. 113. If a herring and a half cost a cent and a half, what would three herring cost? — Three cents. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. "What will twelve herrings and a half cost?— Twelve and a half cents," Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. "How much will eleven herrings cost?— Eleven cents," Anon., n.p., n.d. Spenney, Raleigh. N. C, p. no. No. 5; Parsons, Aiken, S. C. p. 30. No. 33 (eighteen); Parsons, Bermuda, p. 258, No. 106 (six). The allusion to twelve and one half cents in the North Carolina variant has survived from a time when this sum was familiarly used. 114. Two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck, and one duck in the middle. How many ducks in all ?— Three. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. 115. A duck before two ducks, a duck behind two ducks, a duck between two ducks. How many ducks? — Three ducks. Aura Holton. Durham, N. C. 1924; "How many were there?" Mrs. G. A. \'aught. Alexander county, 1928. 114, 115. Knortz. p. 253, No. loi ; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 556. No. 31; Parsons. Bermuda, p. 256. Nn. 71 ; Parsons, Sea Islands. S. C. p. 170, No 115; Spennev, Raleigh. N. C. p. no. No. 6; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 660, No. 10858; Beckwith. Jamaica, p. 206, No. 217. There are parallels in Welsh, German, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. 2. WiiiMsicwL Questions it6. Two men met a beggar and gave him 12J/2 cents. What time of day was it ?— Quarter to two. Kate S. Russell, Person county. 1923. 312 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 117. If a new wagon comes to one hundred dollars, what does a cord of wood come to ? — Ashes. Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. The form of the question varies somewhat. See Parsons, Barbados, p. 290, No. 108 ("If a stick of tobacco cost six cents and a half, how much would a pipe load come to?''); Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 173, No. 156; Spenney, Raleigh, N. C, p. no. No. 7. 118. How many sides has a pitcher? — Two: the inside and the outside. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Waugh, Canada, p. •]2, No. 826. 119. If a man had twenty sick sheep, and one died, how many would he have left ? — Nineteen. i\Irs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. With slight variation, Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 292, No. 183; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 175, No. 187; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 36, No. 35; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 553, No. 4; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 164, No. in. 120. Twelve pears hanging high. Twelve men came passing by, Each took a pear, And left eleven hanging there. — Man named "Each." Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county. 1923; with "high" for "there," Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23; with "pears were hanging high" and "went" for "came" (answer lacking), Paul and Elizabeth Green, east- ern and central N. C, 1926-28. Knights: Halliwell-Phillips, Nursery Rhymes, p. 12; T. W. C, Notes and Queries, 7th ser., iv (1887), 448; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 33, No. 55, var. i. Kings: Delevingne, Notes and Queries, 7th ser., iv (1887), 511. Lords: Whitney and Bullock, Maryland, p. 174, No. 2680. Brothers: Johnson, Antigua, p. 86, No. 39. Men: Chappell, p. 231, No. 12; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 33< No. 55, var. 2; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 553, No. 2; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 280. No. 39; Beckwith, Jamaica, p. 207, No. 214. 121. As I was going over London Bridge. I saw a tree with twelve pears hanging. Twelve men came riding by, Each took a pear and left eleven hanging — Man named "Each." Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. With the introductory scene of London Bridge, not previously reported. 122. Eleven pears were hanging high, Eleven men went riding by, Each man was taking a pear, And left eleven hanging there. — "Each Man" was the man's name. RIDDLES 313 Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. (Eleven actors.) Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 32, No. 55; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 202, No. 13; Parsons, Barbados, p. 279, No. 21. 123. As I went down to St. Isles, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven socks, Each sock had seven cats, Each cat had seven kittens. Kits, cats, socks, wives, and all, How many were going to St. Isles? — Only one, me. Edna Whitley, n.p., n.d. Also with slight verlial variations from Mrs. G. A. N'aught, Alexander county, 1928; and Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C., 1926-28. P^ound in virtually every English collection. See Boggs, North Carolina, p. 324, No. 21 ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 286, No. 112. XIV. BIBLICAL RIDDLES 124. Where did Noah strike the first nail? — On the head. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. Gregor, Northeast Scotland, p. 82; Waugh, Canada, p. 72, No. 828. Also without Noah's name: Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 321, No. 80. 125. When did Noah sleep four in a bed? — When he slept with his forefathers. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. Not previously reported. 126. When did we first hear of paper ctirrency? — When the dove brought the green back into the ark. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1935-38. Not previously reported. 127. There was a thing in days of old ( )f which I make a wonder, It had in it a living soul. Which after God did hunger. It never sinned in all its life It was so well behaved ; It never had one spark of grace, Yet how could it be saved? This thing obeyed God, Tho' it was no professor. It was given as a rod To punish a transgressor. — The whale that swallowed Jonah. 314 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Miss A. Henderson, Burke county, 1914-15. This riddle was learned from an old lacemaker about 1872. Not previously reported. 128. Who was the first man that was nearly ruined l:)y watered stock? — Laban's nephew Jacob, who scared the stock while at water. Norman L. Stack, Pasquotank county, 1922-23. Not previously reported. XV. SPELLING AND LETTER RIDDLES 129. Constantinople — spell it in two letters. — It. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 173, No. 163; Johnson, St. Helena I., S. C, p. 160, No. 41 ; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 262, No. 131. 130. Mississippi is a hard word. I bet you can't spell it. — It. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. Not previously reported. 131. Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Jews. Spell it in two let- ters.— It. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C., 1926-28. Not previously reported. 132a. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Jews, Sat down on the floor to put on his shoes. How do you spell that with four letters ? —That. Anon., n.p., n.d.; with "to tie up his shoes," the Misses Holeman, Dur- ham county, 1922-36. 132b. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Jews, Stepped in a hot pudding without his shoes. How do you spell that with four letters ? —That. Anon., n.p., n.d. 132c. Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Jews. Slipped off his slippers and slipped on his shoes. How do you spell that with four letters ? —That. Anon., n.p., n.d. This elaboration which contains a rhyme with shoes, is the usual form of the riddle. For parallels, which often differ in de- tails, see Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 290, No. 164; Rcdfield, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 98; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C., p. I73. No. 162. RIDDLES 315 133. Railroad Crossing, Look Out for the Cars. Can vou spell it without anv R's ? —It. William D. Trader, n.p., n.d. (Clearwater, S. C. c. 1936?). Redfield, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 97 ; Hyatt. Adams Co., 111., p. 656, No. 10828. .\n investigation into tlic history of the warnings posted at railroad crossings might throw some light on tlie history of this riddle. 134. Tadionias Tatanius took two T's To tie two knots in two tall trees, ilow many T's in that? — Two T's in that. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. With 'Thomas Tattamus," Lucille Massey, Durham, n.d. Thomas Tattamus is probably a corruption of Thomas Didymus, but otherwise the history and meaning of this riddle are obscure. For parallels, see Knortz, p. 219, No. 33; Waugh, Canada, pp. 71-72, No. 820; Parsons, Barbados, p. 281, No. 31; Parsons, Ber- muda, p. 262, No. 129. 135. Two M's, two I's, and a C. — IMimic. Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23. Not previously reported. The choice of letters perhaps has some connection with the Roman numerals MCMII, which might indicate the date of invention. 136. What were the tour letters in the alphahet that scared the wolf?— O 1 C U. Grace Barbee, Stanly county, n.d. Sentences composed of letters that are read as words are not unknown, but this combination has not been previously reported. 137. Spell hard water with three letters. — Ice. Mrs. G. A. \'aught, Alexander county, 1928. Johnson, Antigua, p. 86, No. 33; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 171, No. 172; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C. p. 161, No. 55; Fauset. Southern Negro, p. 290, No. 165; Par- sons, Bermuda, p. 263, No. 145; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 45, No. 46; Chappell, p. 238, No. 46; Gardner, Schoharie Hills, N. Y., p. 261, No. 99. There are Dutcii, German, and Danish parallels. 138. What word of three syllables contains twenty-six letters? — Alphahet. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, c. 1935. 139. What word of eight letters leaves ten when you subtract five ? — Tendency. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, c. 1935. Riddles of this type are not un- known, but these examples do not seem to have parallels in oral tradition. 140a. Lazarus had it before; Paul had it behind; girls have it once; boys not at all; old Mrs. Gilligan had it twice at one time. — The letter L. Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk, n.d, 3l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 140b. Luke had it first; Paul had it last; Mrs. Miller had it twice right in the same place until she got married the second time, then she didn't have it at all. — The letter L. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 140C. Luke had it before ; Paul had it behind ; Miss Sally had it twice in the same place ; girls all have it ; but boys can't have it at all. — The letter L. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Parallels are very numer- ous and differ somewhat in details. See Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 167, No. 129; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 555, No. 26; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 205, No. 44; Farr, Tennessee, p. 321, No. 46; Redfield, Ten- nessee, p. 43, Nos. 99-101. 141. What is once in a minute, twice in a moment, yet not once in a thousand years? — The letter J\L Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Bacon and Parsons, Vir- ginia, p. 321, No. 7T, Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 167, No. 128; Gardner, Schoharie Hills, N. Y., p. 257, No. 34 ; Johnson, Antigua, p. 83, No. 2 ; Beckwith, Jamaica, p. 215, No. 254. 142. It's in the church but not the steeple, It's in the person but not the people. —The letter R. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Johnson, Antigua, p. 83, No. 4. XVI. "HOW?" RIDDLE 143. W^hat is the best way to make a slow horse fast? — Tie him to a post. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. Redfield, Tennessee, p. 42, No. 7. XVII. "WHAT?" RIDDLES a. The following are arranged alphabetically according- to the noun following What ? The phrase kind of is disregarded. 144. What is an awl? — Shoemaker's tool. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, c. 1935. The meaning of the riddle is obscure. 145. What bridge has never been crossed by anybody? — Bridge of the nose. Grace Barbee, Stanly county, n.d. K I I) U I. E S 317 146. What military drill do we engage in once every year? — March month. Mrs. N. Herring, Tomahawk, n.d. 147. What kind of flowers is hetwccn the nose and chin? — Tulips. Grace Barbee, Stanly county, c. 1935. Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 174, No. 176. 148. What kind of hushand would you advise a young lady to get? — .A single man. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 37, No. 90; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 317, No. 45. 149. \\'hat is blacker than a crow? — Feathers. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. With answer "His feathers," Louise Lucas, Bladen county, 1923. Redfield, Tennessee, p. 46, No. 125; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 287, No. 118. 150. Which of the Apostles wore the largest hat? — The one with the largest head. Clara Hearne. Chatham county, 1922-23. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 114, No. 95; Fauset, Philadelphia, p. 555, No. 27. 151. What gives more light than a lamp? — Two lamps. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. Compare the more usual form in No. 153 below. 152. What is kneaded most? — Bread. Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. Waugh, Canada, p. 66, No. 755- 153. What makes more noise than a sc|uealing pig? — Two pigs. Elsie Do-xey, Currituck county, 1922-23. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 170, No. 157; Waugh, Canada, p. "jz. No. 830; Brewster, Indiana, 65. 154. What is older than its mother? — Vinegar. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. Gardner, Schoharie Hills, N. Y.. p. 258, No. 53. 155. What is the oldest table in the world? — Multiplication table. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 156. What is worse than finding a worm in an apple? — Finding half a worm. Crockette Williams, n.p., 1932. 3l8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE b. What is tlie difference between a. . . . Arranged alphabetically according to the tirst noun in the com- parison. 157. Wliat is the difference between an apple and an old maid? — Yoti have to sqtieeze an apple to get cider, while you have to get side her to squeeze her. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. ; Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 158. What is the difference between a doctor and a butcher? — A doctor cuts to cure and a butcher cuts to kill. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1935-38. 159. What is the diff'erence between a fountain and a queen? — - One is heir to the throne, the other is thrown to the air. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 160. W^hat is the difference between a hen and a fiddler? — One lays at leisure, the other plays at pleasure. Edna Whitley, n.p.. n.d. 161. What is the difference between a hill and a pill? — One goes up, the other down. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 162. What is the difference between a lover and an old maid? — One kisses the misses ; the other misses the kisses. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Waugh, Canada, p. 66, No. 751. 163. What is the difference between an old penny and a new dime? — Nine cents. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. XVIII. "WHEN?" RIDDLES a. Arranged alphabetically according to the first noun. 164. When is a dog like a boy doing arithmetic? — When he puts down three feet and carries one. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Waugh, Canada, p. 66, No. 750. 165. Wiien is a door a jar? — When it is ajar. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 170. No. 153; Waugh, Canada, p. 64, No. 704; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 258, No. 99. RIDDLES 319 b. If you wako up in tlu- uij^^lil Anantj^ed alplia- betically accordiuj,^ to tlie essential word (usually a noun). 166. If you wished a dinner at night? — Take a spread. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Riddles 166-172 have the sound of the vaudeville stage. Parallels may be found in printed books of riddles. 167. What would you do in case of fire? — Get to the window and see the fire escape. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. 1 68. If hungry in the night, what would you do? — Take a roll. Clara Hearne, Chatiiam county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. 169. If you wished to write a letter at night? — Take a sheet. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. 170. What would you do for a light at night? — Take a feather from the pillow — that's light enough. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. 171. If you were sad, what would you do? — Take a comforter. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. 172. If you wake up in the night thirsty, what would you do? — Look under the hed and find the spring. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See note to No. 166. XIX. "WHERE?" RIDDLES 173. Where was gunpowder invented? — China. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1935-38. 174. On which side does a sheep have most w(X)l ? — On the outside. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. XX. "WHO?" RIDDLE 175. Who was the first whistler? — The wind. Grace Tucker, Stanly county. 1935-38. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 113. No. 76 ("Who was the first whistler, and what tune did he whistle? — The wind. He whistled 'Over the Hills and Far Away'"). N.C.F.. Vol. I, (22) 320 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE XXI. "WHY?" RIDDLES I. A Punning Answer Arranged alphabetically according to the chief word. 176. Why don't angels have moustaches? — Because they have a close shave getting in. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 177. Why is it easy to break into an old man's house? — Because his gait is broken and his locks are few. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 178. W'hy is a lady who faints in a public place like a good intention? — Because she must be carried out. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 179. Why is a lighten-bug the most ridiculous creature? — Be- cause he shows his tail and holds a light to see it by. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. 180. Why is the nose in the middle of the face? — Because it is in the center. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Perkins, New Orleans, p. 115, No. 119; Farr, Tennessee, p. 321, No. 49. 181. Why is the novelist a strange creature? — Because his tail comes out of his head. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. 182. W^hy is the schoolyard always longer at recess? — Because there are more feet in it. Grace Tucker, Stanly county, 1935-38. 183. Why are washerwomen great flirts? — Because they wring men's bosoms. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 2. Catches 184. Why does the chimney smoke? — Because it can't chew. Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23; Louise Lucas, Bladen county, 1923. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 172, No. 175; Greenleaf, Newfoundland, p. 19, No. 2; Parsons, Sea Islands, S. C, p. 174. No. 167; Farr, Ten- nessee, p. 325, No. 102. RIDDLES 321 185. \\'hy do we buy shoes? — Because they don't give them to us. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. 186. Why does a hen cross the road in muddy weather?— To get on the other side. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923- "I" muddy weather" omitted, Mrs. G. A. Vaught, Alexander county, 1928. The details vary slightly. Fauset. Philadelphia, p. 557, No. 41 ; Fauset. Nova Scotia, p. 170, No. 158- Waugh, Canada, p. 72, No. 835; Brewster, Indiana. 60; Bacon and I'arsons. \'irginia, p. 325, No. 118; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 45. No. 122. 187. Why build pigpens on the north side of the barn ?— To keep pigs in. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923- Redfield, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 119. 1 88a. Why doesn't George Washington command any more armies? — Because he is dead. Edna Whitley, n.p., n.d. 1 88b. Why doesn't George Washington lead any more wars?— Because he is dead. Grace Barhee, Stanly county, n.d. 3. Why Is . . . Like . . . ? Arranged alpliabetically according: to the first noun. 189. Why is the coachman like the clouds ?— Because he holds the reins. Jesse Hauser, Forsyth county. 1923; Frederick Jenkins, New Brunswick county, 1923. 190. Why is the letter F bke a cow's tail ?— Because it is the end of bccj. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923- Waugh, Canada, p. 66, No. 761. 191. What most resembles the half of a cheese?— The other half. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923. Waugh, Canada, p. 72. No. 829. 192. Why is a man's bald head like heaven ?— Because there is no parting there. Jessie Hauser, Forsyth county, 1923- Waugh. Canada, p. 65, No. 732. 193. Why is the letter K and a pig's tail alike?— Both arc the last of pork. Lucille Cheek, Chatham county, 1923. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 172, No. 182. 322 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 194. Why is a newspaper like a wife? — Beause a man should have one of his own. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Waugh, Canada, p. 66, No. 744. 195. Why are the sun and a loaf of bread alike? — Because both of them rise. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. Compare "Why is the sun and a French loaf of bread so much alike? — Because one rise in the east, and one rise with yeast" (Parsons, Barbados, p. 289, No. 84). XXII. MISCELLANEOUS PUNS A few widely known riddles that involve a pun are listed below under separate captions. The first two puns below do not seem to have been reported else- where as riddles. 196. Is it a sin to feed chickens on Sunday? — I feed mine on corn. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. 197. Did you know that they were not going to make matches any longer? — Long enough. Mildred Peterson, Bladen county, 1923. 198. Down in a valley I met a brave knight. All saddled, all bridled, all ready for fight, All booted, all spurred, all ready to go. I have told you his name and vou do not know. —All. Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 147, No. 24; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 82; Brewster. Indiana, 48. 199. There's a family, Mr. and ]\Irs. Bigger, and their little daughter; of these three, which is the bigger? — The daughter is a little bigger. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. Beckwith, Jamaica, p. 217, No. 271. 200. The father while at work one day had an accident. He had the misfortune to cut off one foot. He was very, very sick. Now, which is the bigger?— The father is One-foot Bigger. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. 201. His accident resulted in death. Then, which is bigger? — The father is still bigger. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. RIDDLES 323 202. As 1 was going over London Bridge, I met a man. and I'll be to blame If I tell his name. For I have told it five times. — Man named 1. Mrs. N. Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. Redfield, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 94; Hyatt, Adams Co., 111., p. 662, No. 10879; Brewster, Indiana, 25. 203a. Between heaven and earth, and not on tree, I've told you, now you tell me. — Knot on tree. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923; "I told you," Jessie Hauser, For- syth county, 1923. 203b. 'Twixt heaven and earth and not on a tree. — Knot. W. Q. Grigg. Qeveland county, 1927. Chappell, p. 238, No. 50; Brew- ster, Indiana. 29; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 84; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 290. No. 159; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 317, No. 43 and p. 326, No. 126; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C, p. 205, No. 40; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 33, No. 58. 204. There were four men, they all had the same father and the same mother and vet they were Knot Bros. — Knot Bros. Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923. 205. A man went away on Sunday, stayed a week, and came back on the same Sunday. How is that? — His horse's name was Sunday. Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. Also with slight variation, Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. Parsons, Bermuda, p. 253, No. 53 ; Red- field, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 96 ; Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 280, No. 38. Compare Fauset, Southern Negro, p. 280, No. 37, and Parsons, Aiken. S. C, p. 26, No. 7, with the answer "Monday." 206a. A man rode over a bridge and yet walked. How was that? — Yet was his dog. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. Also, with slight variation, from Zilpah Frisbie, McDowell county, 1922-23, and Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. 206b. A man rode over London P.ridge, and yet walked. — Yet is a dog. Aura Holton, Durham, 1924. 206c. Man had a little dog; his name was Get. Get rid, but yet he walked. — Answer lacking. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. 324 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2o6d. As I was going across London Bridge, I met a man riding, and yet he was walking. — Little dog named Yettie. Anon., n.p., n.d. 2o6e. Man — Get — Dog — Yet. — Answer lacking. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C, 1926-28. Parallels are very numerous. See, among others, Parsons, Bahamas, p. 476, No. 48; Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 25, No. 6; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 249, No. 23; Parsons, Sea Islands. S. C, p. 167, No. 90; Fauset, Philadelphia, P- 553, No. 8; Bacon and Parsons, Virginia, p. 320, No. 72; Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 147, No. 27; Parsons, Guilford Co., N. C., p. 202, No. 17; Redfield, Tennessee, p. 43, No. 95; Brewster, Indiana, 70; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 84. XXin. CATCHES 207. Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me Tight Went to the river to have a fight. Adam and Eve fell in. Who was left out? — When someone answers Pinch-Me Tight, the questioner does so. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C., 1926-28. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 146, No. 22; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 85. 208. If 2 in I is stove polish and 3 in i is oil, what is 4 and i ? — Five. Anon., n.p., n.d. 209. Jackass on one side river, hay on other. — Give up? — Just as the other jackass did. Paul and Elizabeth Green, eastern and central N. C., 1926-28. 210. Difference between mule and elephant. — You'd be a fine one to send after an elephant. Paul and Elizabetli Green, eastern and central N. C., 1926-28. 211. The preacher was preaching about the horror of war; the roaring of the guns, firing of the cannon, etc. A soldier was asleep at church, dreaming of the war. Just as the preacher said, "The cannon boomed forth," the soldier died. How do you know that he died at this point? — You don't know. Lucille Massey, Durham county, n.d. Waugh, Canada, p. 72, No. 836; Randolph and Spradley, Ozarks, p. 89. RIDDLES 325 XXIV. MISCELLANEOUS 212. Bed. — A little dark E in bed with nothing over him. The Misses Holeman, Durham county, 1921-36. 213. Three- fourths of a cross and a circle complete, A perpendicular line on which two half-circles meet, An acute-angled triangle standing on feet, Two half-circles, and a circle complete. —TOBACCO. Anon., n.p., n.d. Fauset, Nova Scotia, p. 166, No. 125; Boggs, North Carolina, p. 325, No. 25; Parsons, Bahamas, p. 471,^ No. 4; Parsons, Barbados, p. 289, No. 93 ; Parsons, Bermuda, p. 246, No. 5. 214. The word is in the plural number. It is an enemy to sleep or human slumber. To make the singular add an S And this completes the metamorphosis. — S-pain. F. C. Brown, Durham, n.d. 215. There are enough bones in a pig's foot to go in the door of everyman's house in the county. — Courthouse. Jane Christenbury, Huntersville, N. C, 1923- Two parallels to this obscure riddle elucidate it somewhat; sec "Take one hawg-fo(it [hog- foot] bone and lav it at the door, an' it'll be all men's door.— Court- house door" (Bacon and Parsons. Virginia, p. 316, No. 39) and "Dere's enough bone in a pig foot to put one over ev'ry man do' in South Carolina. — Put one over de courthouse do'" (Parsons, Aiken, S. C, p. 30, No. 36). 326 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE BIBLIOGRAPHY Bacon, A. M., and E. C. Parsons. "Folklore from Elizabeth City County," Journal of American Folklore, xxxv (1922), 312-327. Beckwith, Martha W. Jamaica Anansi Stories. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, xvii. New York, 1924. BoGGS, R. S. "North Carolina White Folktales and Riddles," Journal of American Folklore, xlvii (1934), 320-335. Book of Meery Riddles, The. London, 1629. Reprinted in Brandl, pp. 7-22. Cited as Mccry Riddles. Book of Merrie Riddles, A. London, 1631. Reprinted in Brandl, pp. 53-63. Cited from its running head as Prcttie Riddles. Brandl, Alois. "Shakespeare's 'Book of Merry Riddles' und die anderen Ratselbiicher seiner Zeit," Jahrbuch der Deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellsclmft, xlii (1906), 1-64. Brewster, Paul G. "Riddles from Southern Indiana," Southern Folklore Quarterly, iii (1939), 93-105. Carter, Isabel G. "Mountain White Riddles," Journal of Ameri- can Folklore, xlvii (1934), 76-80. Chappell, J. W. "Riddle Me, Riddle Me, Ree," Folk-Say, 11 (1930), 227-238. Farr, T. J. "Riddles and Superstitions of Middle Tennessee," Journal of American Folklore, xlviii (1935), 318-326. Fauset, a. H. Folklore from Noza Scotia. Memoirs of the Ameri- can Folklore Society, xxiv. New York, 193 1. "Negro Folk-Tales from the South," Journal of American Folklore, xl (1927), 276-292. 'Tales and Riddles Collected in Philadelphia," Journal of American Folklore, xli (1928), 552-557. Fitzgerald, David. "Of Riddles," Gentleman's Magazine, ccli (1881). 177-192. Gardner, E. E. Folklore from the Schoharie Hills. Ann Arbor, 1937- Greenleaf, Elisabeth B. "Riddles of Newfoundland," Marshall Rez'iezv, i. No. 3 (Huntington, W. Va., 1938), 5-20. Gregor, Walter. "Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland." Publications of the Folk-Lorc Societv, vii. Lon- don, 1881. Gutch, Eliza, and ^Iabel Peacock. Fxamples of Printed Folk- Lore concerning Lincolnshire. Publications of the Folk-Lore Society, lxviii. London, 1908. Halliwell-Phillips, J. O. Nurserx Rhymes of Fngland. Lon- don, 1886. RIDDLES 327 Popular Rhymes and Nursery Talcs. London, 1849. Halpert, Herbert. "Ncj^ro Riddles Collected in New Jersey," Journal of American Folklore, lvi (1943), 200-202. Hedberg, E. "Proverbs and Riddles Current among the Bhils oi Kandesh," Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, XIII (1928), 854-892. Hudson, A. P. "Sonic Folk Riddles from the South," South At- lantic Quarterly, xlii (1943), 78-93- Hyatt, H. M. Folklore from Adams County. Illinois. Memoirs of the Anna Egan Hyatt Foundation. New York, 1935. Hyde, Douglas. Beside the Fire. London, 1890. Johnson, Guy B. Folk-Culture on St. Helena Island. Chapel Hill, N. C, 1930. Johnson, John H. "Folklore from Antigua, British West Indies," Journal of American Folklore, xxxiv (1921), 83-88. Knortz, Karl. Strcifaiige auf dem Gebietc amerikanischer Volkskunde. Leipzig, 1902. Leather, Ella M. The Folk-Lore of Herefordshire. London, 1912. O Dalaigh, Sean. "Tomhaiseanna o Dhuchaoin," Bcaloidcas, xiii (1943), 80-101. Parker, A. "Oxfordshire Village Folk-Lore, IL" Folk-Lore, XXXIV (1923), 330-331- Parsons. Elsie Clews. "Barbados Folklore," Journal of Ameri- can Folklore, xxxviii (1925), 276-292. "Bermuda Folklore," Journal of American Folklore, xxxviii (1925 ), 244-265. Folklore from Aiken, South Carolina." Journal of Amcri- :an Folklore, xxxiv (1921), 24-37. Folklore of the Antilles, French and English, III. Memoirs )f the American Folklore Society, xxvi, iii. New York, 1943. "Folklore of the Cherokee of Robeson County, North Caro- lina." Journal of American Folklore, xxxii (1919), 388-390. Folklore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, xvi. New York, 1923. "Notes on the Folklore of Guilford County, North Carolina," Journal of American Folklore, xxx (1917), 201-207. ■Riddles from Andros Island, Bahamas," Journal of Ameri- can Folklore, xxx (1917), 275-277. "Spirituals and Other Folklore from the Bahamas," Journal of American Folklore, XLi (1928), 471-485. Perkins, A. E. "Riddles from Negro School-Children in New Orleans." Journal of American Folklore, xxxv (1922), 105-115. Randolph, Vance, and Isabel Spradley. "Ozark Mountain Rid- dles," Journal of American Folklore, XLvn (1934), 81-89. 328 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE AND Archer Taylor. "Riddles in the Ozarks," Southern Folklore Quarterly, vii (1944), i-io. Redfield, W. a. "A Collection of Middle Tennessee Riddles," Southern Folklore Quarterly, 1, No. 3 (1937), pp. 35-50. Spenney, Susan D. "Riddles and Ring-Games from Raleigh, North Carolina," Journal of American Folklore, xxxiv (1921), IIO-III. Starr, Frederick. A Little Book of Filipino Riddles. Yonkers, 1909. Taylor, Archer. A Bibliography of Riddles. Helsinki, 1939. FF Communications, No. 126. Thurston, Helen S. "Riddles from Massachusetts." Journal of American Folklore, xviii (1905), 182. TuppER, Frederic J. "The Holme Riddles (MS. Harl. i960)," Publications of the Modern Language Association, xviii (1903), 210-272. Waugh, F. W. "Canadian Folklore from Ontario," Journal of American Folklore, xxxi (1918), 63-72. Whitney, A. W., and C. C. Bullock. Folklore of Maryland. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, xviii. New York, 1925- Wintemberg, W. J. "Folklore Collected in Toronto and Vicinity," Journal of American Folklore, xxxi (1918), 133. PROVERBS AND PROVERBIAL SAYINGS Edited by B. J. Whiting PROVERBS AND PROVERBIAL SAYINGS INTRODUCTION '"P^O OFFER a brief yet workable definition of a proverb, espe- -^ cially with the proverbial phrase included, is well nigh impos- sible. Indeed, one of our wisest and most learned students of proverbial lore wrote, "The definition of a proverb is too difficult to repay the undertaking; and should we fortunately combine in a single definition all the essential elements and give each the proper emphasis, wc should not even then have a touchstone. An incom- municable quality tells us this sentence is proverbial and that one is not. Hence no definition w^ill enable us to identify positively a sentence as proverbial. . . . Let us be content with recognizing that a proverb is a saying current among the folk. At least so much of a definition is indisputable. . . ."^ The man, probably Lord John Russell, who said that "a proverb is the wisdom of many and the wit of one," produced a very pretty epigram, but scarcely a definition of a proverb. ^ Happily, no definition is really necessary, since all of us know what a proverb is. With a few curious exceptions, all nations have had their proverbs and have incorporated them in their literature, including their most sacred books. Of course, the reverse has also been true, and gnomic utter- ances have passed from manuscript or printed pages to the currency of popular speech. Proverbs in literature have had their ups and downs ; at times they have been acceptable to the prevailing taste, at others they have been considered low. At all times, however, they have been part and parcel of human nature's verbal daily bread. They spring readily to our lips, and we recognize their validity. It is not the "folk" alone who appreciate proverbs; even the most solemn scholar, against his intellectual will, perhaps, or caught off guard, responds to a bit of verbal reality snatched from life, who can say when, and applied to the more or less mysterious behavior of human kind. The proverbs presented in this section will be familiar in aggregate to almost every reader, although it is the editor's hope that the introduction and the individual refer- ences to other occurrences may add body to the common recognition. In general it would be difficult to demonstrate that proverbs ^Archer Taylor, The Proverb (Cambridge, Massachusetts). 1931, p. 3. - For a number of definitions of various ages and merits, see Whiting. "The Nature of the Proverb," Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, xiv C1932), 273-307. ^^2 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE illustrate national peculiarities, and that the study of a people's proverbs will reveal those traits and emotions which may be held to differentiate that people from all others. Proverbs appear to reveal human nature, which is spontaneous and, on the whole, uni- versal, rather than national nature, which is likely to be artificial and often imposed by economic, social, and political circumstances. Collections of "racial" or "national" proverbs have been made, and are often imposing, and, indeed, present a specious appearance of picturing the Russian, the Bantu, the Irishman, and the Tagalog as they really are. The fallacy of the method is that it is selective and that a different selection would give an entirely different "national" or "racial" picture. The same themes, often expressed in identical or almost identical fashion, will appear in the proverbs of many widely separated and culturally aloof nations.^ A caveat against the improper use of proverbial material to write the philosophical or spiritual life of a people does not deny that individual proverbs are peculiar to a nation or national group. Often, indeed, a proverbial formula will be found to be particularly characteristic of some one country. The material objects used in proverbs will naturally vary from one region of the earth to an- other, and differences in linguistic structure will be reflected in proverbs, even after the proverbs have been translated from their original tongue. Thus it is that foreign proverbs appearing in, say, English or German can often be identified as such and traced to their original homes. On this principle any reasonably extensive collection of proverbs made in the United States ought to reveal sayings plainly attributable to the various nationalities and groups which produced our ancestors. The present collection affords inter- esting, though not unexpected, evidence of the mixed origins of our proverbial lore. The preponderant racial stock in North Carolina has from the first been English. In 1790 the English contributed 83.1 per cent; Scottish, Lowlanders, Highlanders, and Scotch-Irish, 11.2: German, 2.8; Irish, 2.3; French, .3; Dutch, .2; and all others, .1. Negroes, slave and free, made up one quarter of the total population.-* To- day these proportions have been little altered. There has been no significant population influx since 1790. In the generation follow- ing the Civil War a number of whites moved to the West and Middle West, and a somewhat larger number of whites moved into the state from the North. Similarly in the two inflation and de- pression periods of the twentieth century a number of Negroes moved to the North. These changes, however, made only slight " For a recent and conclusive discussion of this problem, see F. N. Robinson, "Irish Proverbs and Irish National Character," Modern Phi- lology, XLIII (1945), I-IO. * Guion G. Johnson, Ante-bellum North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1937). pp. 9-11. PROVERBS 333 local inii)ressions, and North Carolina today has a white population predominantly An^jlo-Saxon in descent.'' That, like the population, a majority of the North C'arolina proverhs are of Enjjlish origin hardly requires demonstration to any English-speakings person. An easy test is to observe the prov- erhs in our collection whicli occur, or are somehow paralleled, in the two standard English dictionaries of proverbs, Apperson and Oxford, where we find that approximately 560 are found in both, 260 in Apperson alone, and no in Oxford alone." The total of 930 out of 2600 is made even more impressive than it appears when we consider that the sayings found in Apperson and Oxford are mainly proverbs and miscellaneous proverbial phrases, rather than similes, a large number of which are clearly of American origin. Since proverbs current in Scotland often ditYer from those of England only in slight dialectal peculiarities inevitably ironed out in America, we are justified in labeling Scottish only those prov- erbs w^hich were originally" or only to be found in Scottish col- lections.** Among these are :■• A blind man needs no looking glass ;^"' A lazy boy makes a smart man;^i Save for the sore-foot day;^~ Ready with his hat but slow with his money ;^^ Live in hopes if you '" I am indebted to Professor White for the statements about present- day North Carolina. " For a check of Hardie against Apperson, see Richard Jente, "The American Proverb," American Speech, vii (1931-32), 342-348- Pro- fessor Jente concludes that few proverbs in Hardie can be justly called "American." ' Both Apperson and Oxford draw, though not exhaustively, on earlier Scottish collections. * Under Horse (3) below we find that one informant calls the com- mon English proverb "A short horse is soon curried" Scotch. No doubt he had heard it from someone of Scottish descent, but the characteristic Scottish form is in the compound proverb, "A bonny bride is soon buskit, and a short horse is soon wispit (whisked)." In North Carolina the English form was substituted but the Scottish remembered. " The italicized words in all proverbs quoted in this introduction are those under which the proverbs are alphal^etized in the collection. ^" This saying raises a problem of which there are other examples, namely, the appearance of a proverb in two of the special groups. The proverb appears in a well-known Scottish collection and also in one made among the Negroes of Jamaica. If we ignore the possibility of independent origins, and we are safe in doing so in this instance, we are surely justified in feeling tliat the proverb came from Scotland in the first place. It is not easy to determine, however, whether the proverb owes its appearance in North Carolina to Scots or Negroes. " Since this saying is found in Gaelic as well as Scots, it could have been brought by either Highlanders or Lowlanders. See Whiting, "Low- land Scots and Celtic Proverbs in North Carolina," Journal of Celtic Studies, I (1949), 1 16-127. ^^ In Irish and Scottish Gaelic as well as Lowland Scots. ^' The American version suggests a reproof, whereas the Scottish original, perhaps characteristically, advises the use of politeness to save money, and the Jamaica Negroes preserved the original sense. In North Carolina the ooint of view has changed. 334 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE die in despair (variants: Live in hope and die in despair; Live in hopes, if you die upstairs) ;i^ He looks for the horse he rides on;i^ Mad on a horse sho's proud on a pony;!** True love is the weft of life:^" A hairy man's rich. A hairy wife's a witch ;i^ When all men speak, no one hears; A falling master makes a standing man; An early master makes a long servant; It's a bare moor without a tuft of heather ;i^ He has need of a clean pow (head) who calls his neighbor nitty-now ; Preach in your own pulpit ; Many bring rakes but few shovels ; He finds his sin in his punishment ; A wrinkled skin conceals the scars ; All Stuarts are not kinsmen of the king.-*^ There are only three sayings which can be ascribed without reservation to the Highland Scots. These are : As old as the folks in Jura,-^ He that owns Rome must feed Rome,-- A sigh goes further than a shout. A few other proverbs may have been brought by Gaelic-speaking Scots : What isn't worth asking for isn't worth having;--^ Beauty never made kettle boil ;-^ Coivs off yonder have long horns ;-'' Foreign cozvs wear long horns ;-•' The heaviest ear of corn hangs its head the lowest.-" ^* The sense of the original, "Better live in hope than die in despair," has been altered for the worse in America, and the last example is an admirable instance of how something can be remembered as a proverb even after any sense has been reduced nearly to nonsense. ^■"' Certainly altered from a Scottish original, as even the Oxford quo- tation is Scots, and yet the North Carolina version is almost exactly identical with the translation of a Russian proverb. ^^ The meaning of the North Carolina saying is hardly clear until we see the original : "He'll gang mad on a horse wha's proud on a pownie." The American inversion has destroyed the sense. Observe the Montene- grin version. ^' The Scottish conclusion of the proverb has been lost : "but it whiles comes through a sorrowfu' shuttle." ^^ The Scottish form reads "A hairy man's a geary man, but a hairy wife's a witch." The elimination of the dialectal "geary" added rime of sorts to the saying. ^^ The Scottish form is more striking and more significant : "It's a bare more that ye gang throgh an' no get a heather cow (a heather cow is a tuft of heather)." A more obvious version is that which Ox- ford quotes from a Scottish collection : "It's a bare more that he goes over and gets not a cow." No hint of the reivers survived in North Carolina. ""See also Button (i), Corn (3), Crazy, Night (12), Nose (i). ^^ Although this simile is not found elsewhere, it can hardly have originated far from the island of Jura in the inner Hebrides. ^^ This saying is not very Gaelic in appearance, but found only in Nicolson. °" Nicolson has "It's a poor thing that's not worth asking," but there is a similar German proverb from Pennsylvania. "* Also found in Ireland, and note the Genoese version. "■^ Also found in Ireland. -" Described as "an old Scottish saying," this is doubtless an American variant of the preceding proverb. " Also found in Ireland. PROVERBS 335 Because of the evident kinsliip of Irisli i)roverl)> with those of GaeHc-spcaking Scotland, we may well take u]> the i)roverhs of apparent Irish origin here; He lent his brccclns ])ut cut off the bottoms;-^ Any clothes will tit a naked man; The dogs follow the man with the bone ; A hungry eye sees far ;-" Better be in search of food than appetite; Don't burn your fingers when you have tongs; Do your lioiiselceef^ing in the mouth of the bag, not at the bottom ; Every man should be sheriff on his own hearth ; Run like yer s/;/V/ /(/// is on fire;-*" Be bare with the soil and the soil will be bare witli you; Put the stranger Near the danger; The three feasts due to every man — the feast of baptism, the feast of marriage, the feast of death ; The three merriest things under the sun : a cat's kitten, a goat's kid, and a young widow ; Three with- out rule — a mule, a pig, a woman ; Cold zcalls make unhappy wives ; It's a lonesome washing that has not a man's shirt in it; A wedge of elm to split an elm ;'^i A good word never yet broke a tooth. One proverb seems to be from Wales: I'd rather my neck felt the yoke than the axe; and another saying. He jumped on it like a hazvk on a chicken, may well be, although the number of Ameri- can variants suggests that we may here be faced with coincidence rather than provenience. The German elements in North Carolina were in part Moravians straight from the continent and in part Moravians and others who came down from Pennsylvania. For a time they retained their native speech.-*- and it is natural that a certain number of German proverbs should have found their way ir.to common usage. Among them are the following : Gray beard and red lip cannot be friends ; Riglit beginning makes a right ending; The higher the bell the further it sounds; All birds of prey are silent (var. Whoever heard of a singing bird of prey?); The bite is larger than the mouth; Don't blow what won't burn ;^^ Compliments cost nothing;-*"* The costly is the cheapest in the long run ;3-''' It's a poor dog that can't wag its own tail ;-^'* An old fox is hard to catch ;•"*" Friendship is a "* The Irish versions read buttons for bottoms. -" From Antrim and Down, and therefore, perhaps Scotch-Irish, as tlie citations in Tilley suggest to be the case. •^" The Irish reads: "Do it as if there were fire on your skin." ■''^ The Scottish Gaelic version is "A wedge of itself splits the oak." ^' See W. H. Gehrke, "The Transition from the German to the Eng- lish Language in North Carolina," North Carolina Historical Rcx-icw, xii (1935). 1-18. "^ Reported from Pennsylvania. ■"" The German version, as given by Christy, adds ''yet many pay dear for them." It sliould be noted that there are analogues in Creole French and Scottish. ^'" Reported from Pennsylvania ; the analogues, two from Jamaica, take another tack, namely, that the cheapest is the dearest. '"' Reported as from an old German who came to America about 1850; the English analogue refers to a horse. " Reported from Pennsylvania. X.C.K.. Vol. I, {23) 336 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE plant that needs watering; Two Jieads are better than one, even if one is a cabbage head; What you lack in your head you make up in your heels; Like holding a ladder for a thief; He steps like he is walking on pins; So thin she can't make a shadow f^ An old ivoman's dance is soon over ;^^ Between a woman's yes and a woman's no There's not enough room for a pin to go.'**' There is one proverb clearly French in origin. One must be either hammer or anvil, sometimes ascribed to Voltaire, and an- other, He never warmed his hand but he burnt it, which may come from the French "Tel croit se chauffer qui se brule."'*^ Only one proverb may properly be referred to Holland, The w'orse the car- penter the more the chips, and even this has an English analogue. Three proverbs are Italian in origin : The anvil lasts longer than the hammer; A living ass is better than a dead doctor; The ass's hide is used to the stick; a fourth. It's not the things you have but what they mean to you, is closer to an Italian proverb than to anything else brought to light. Denmark seems to have con- tributed at least one proverb, It's a lazy bird that won't build her own nest, and possibly a second, Act in the z'alley for those on the hill.-*- There is also one of apparent Norwegian origin: First bread and then the bride. That American citizens of African descent should have a dis- tinctive body of proverbs is suggested both by the prevalence of proverbs among the native tribes of Africa,-*^ and by the circum- stances, hardly requiring documentation, which have kept American Negroes in a community of somewhat isolated social and intellectual interests. Certain difficulties, however, trouble the investigator, especially if he is not an inhabitant of one of the Southern states, who attempts to draw a line between Negro and non-Negro prov- erbs. The Negroes often borrow and slightly transform the proverbs of their white associates, the grammatical usages of the uneducated Negro and the uneducated white are so closely akin as to be often indistinguishable, and, most annoying of all, there is no good assemblage of American Negro proverbs. So deficient are we in this last respect that it is often necessary to rely on collections made in the West Indies, from both French- and English- "* Reported from Pennsylvania ; an analogue was found in Maine where, for what it may be worth, there was a German colony at Waldoboro. •'"' Reported from Pennsylvania ; the version from Texas is close, though more elaborate. ■"• But note the Spanish and Russian occurrences. For other simi- larities to German proverbs, see Apple (2) and Asking. " The Bahaman "Some men bu'n dem hand when they only mean to warm dem" possibly represents an intermediary form. *- A third, "Honor the old," is perhaps too obvious to refer to the Danish "Den Gamle skal man aere, den Unge skal man la;re." " See, for examples. Whiting, "The Origin of the Proverb," Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, xiii (1931), 62 fi. PROVERBS 337 speakint;' ijroups, tor purposes of identification, a procedure which has obvious disadvantages and dangers. Among the Negro proverbs are some of the most striking and picturesque in the collection: The bait worth more than the fish; Barking saves biting i"*^ He hung his basket higher than he could reach :^"' If it's hot enough to set your neighbor's bcaril afire, you'd better get water and wet ycmrs ;■"'' He who kills his own body works for the worms;"*" Scraping on the bottom of the meal bin is mighty poor music; A new broom sweeps clean, but an old brush knows the corners :"''^ Like a bug arguing with a chicken;"*" When bugs give a party tliey never ask the chickens ;"'*' Get the candles lighted before you blow out the match ;"'^ Like a crab — all stomach and no head ;"'- Slie cares no more for him than a crozv cares for Sun- day ;'••* The dinner bell's always in tune for a hungry man; A bull dog in troul)le welcomes a puppy's breeches ;■''"* Any dog knows bet- ter than to chew a razor ;•'*•'' Don't-care keeps a big house v^^ Two ears don't mean you hear twice ;^''' Every shet eye ain't sleep ;^* When six eyes meet the story is over ;^'^ The eyebrozv is older than the beard ;*^'^ Faith dares, Love bears ;"i Fine feathers are lifted ** Reported from Jamaica. '■"'Jamaica and Bahamas. '"Jamaica, Haiti, and found in Africa. '■ Mauritius only, but doubtless used in the French-speaking West Indies. Of course this, as well as other sayings found outside North Carolina only in Creole Frencli, may not have been transmitted by Negroes, but so many Creole proverbs are duplicated among tlie Jamaica Negroes that a general rule is at least plausible. *" Jamaica, with broom for brush in all three examples, hut see the other parallels. '" This appears to be a reworking of a saying found in Jamaica, Surinam, Haiti, and, according to Hearn, in all the Creole dialects. The Jamaican form is, "Cockroach neber in de right befo' fowl." There is an .African version. '*" Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Granada. The Jamaica form is "Cock- roach nick dance him no axe fowl" ; Trinidad, "When cockroach give party he no ax fowl." This proverb and the preceding one were prob- ably brought from .\frica. " Jamaica. •'■" Perhaps a reworking of the Jamaican "De reason crab no hab' head a because him hab too good a 'toniach." ^^ Jamaica, where both examples read John Croze. ^* Antilles. ■"'^ Jamaica. ^" Jamaica. "^^ Surinam. ^^ Clearly in circulation among Negroes, but the German occurrence must be noted. '^^ Jamaica and Haiti ; the Haitian version seems to be a perversion. through lack of understanding, of a saying which is cryptic at best. "'^ Jamaica, Haiti, and Bahamas. *^ Jamaica. This saying is more abstract than most in the group. 338 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE when the wind blows ;"- One finger won't catch fleas ;^^ You can hide the fire, but what about the smoke ? Better make friends when you don't need them i^"* A bull frog knows more about rain than the Almanac; Gap in the axe shows in the chip; Run from a ghost, you meet a coffin ;^''* Good-bye is not gone; A person who never stole anything has a lock of hair growing in the palm of his hand ;^^ A hog runs for his life, a dog for his character;*'" Idleness wears away the frog's ass ;^^ A dainty lady takes a pin to eat a pea ;^^ You never know the length of a snake until he is dead •J'^ Dead limbs show up when the leaves (buds) come out; Old "Manage- good" is better than Mr. "Big-wage";'^ Before marriage keep both eyes open; after shut one;"- A mule's gallop is soon over ;''^^ Penny makes trouble a dollar can't cure;'''"* Set a cracked plate down softly ;"•'' An empty pot never boils ;'''•' Never bet on 'taters (pota- toes) 'fore grabbling time; Prayer's not long when faith is strong;"" Quagmires don't hang out no signs; The rain doesn't know broadcloth from jeans ; A noisy riz'er never drowned nobody -/^ A robin's song is not pretty to the worm; A good rooster crows in any hen-house;'''^ A good run is better than a bad stand ;^'^ Give me today's meat, yesterday's bread, and last year's wine and the doctor can go ;^i Teeth don't show mourning ■,^~ Looking for work and praying not to find it.^^ The evidence^"* presented here certainly points to a well-defined and notable group of specifically Negro sayings in North Carolina, and further suggests that the Negroes of the Caribbean and of the mainland of North America shared a common store of proverbs. "^ Haiti, Trinidad, vvitli parallels in Jamaica. There are African analogues. ""* Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, and Granada. There are African analogues. "* Jamaica. '" West Indian. *"' This saying is one of those taken verbatim from B. W. Green, but the Jamaican form, "Man dat no tell lie, hair grow in him han' middle," is closer than any other analogue. "^ Jamaica, Antilles. "* Louisiana. "" Jamaica. '"' Probably a reworking of the Jamaican version. ''^ Jamaica. ''" Jamaica. Possibly the forms from Jamaica and North Carolina represent a reworking of Franklin. "■'' Jamaica. "' Jamaica, Trinidad. '•'' Jamaica. '" Jamaica, Granada. '''' Jamaica. '"* Jamaica, Granada. ''" Martinique. There is a Mexican version. *° The Irish analogues must be noted. *^ Jamaica, but certainly a borrowing. *^ Haiti, Trinidad, and St. Croix. '" Trinidad. ^* See also Apple (2), Blind (i), Bnol,^ (i), Buggy zdiip. Carrion, Duck (5), Free-of-Chargc, Grapevine, Hand (3), Lick (2), Liz'e (4), Negro (11), Neighbor, and Raindrop. PROVERBS 339 The section editor I)elieves this to be a fair estimate of the situation, but he cannot forbear pointing out that a few Ne^n-o informants of West Indian birth could have been responsible for many of the proverbs quoted in the preceding paragraph. Whatever may be our verdict as to the proverbs which seem to be of Negro circulation, sufficient facts have certainly been adduced to show that in North Carolina, as is surely the case throughout the United States, the various ethnic elements wliich are respon- sible for our common nation are amply, and almost proportionately, represented in our proverbial sayings. We must consider one other source, or, perhaps better, popularizing influence, for our pro- verbial wisdom, and that is in the evident popularity of the man who easily deserves the title of the Sage of English-speaking North America. Benjamin Franklin. In Poor Richard and in its virtual epitome, the Way to If'ealth, Franklin came very close to compil- ing a complete set of proverbs for a nation on the make. Frank- lin's sayings are of three kinds: some are inherited English proverbs put down without change, some are reworkings of familiar proverbs, and others are maxims which owe their origin to Frank- lin's acute and fertile mind. Since the proverbs which appear in Poor Richard and the IVay to Wealth are not all under anything which can be termed Franklin's copyright, no one would argue that any proverb found in the North Carolina collection and also in Franklin's writings was necessarily due to Franklin's influence. Our collection, however, contains too many proverbs given wide currency by the popularity of Franklin's publications for us to ignore them here. Indeed, if the fact that one connnunication sent in to Professor Brown contained four proverbs, and only four, all found in both Poor Richard and the Jl'av to Wealth, means any- thing beyond the most remarkable coincidence, then the present collection is, to that degree, based directly on Franklin.**'' An inevitable question, but more easy to ask than to answer, is How many of the sayings are native to North Carolina? The question is not only difficult to answer, it is also dangerous, for after an investigator has persuaded himself that a proverb orig- inated in a particular locality and goes on record to that efYect, there is a distinct possibility that someone else will demonstrate *^ For the proverbs found in Franklin's writings, see Bag (3), Bed (i). Blacksmith, *Boats, Borroimng, Carcass, Cat (23). *Coztf (14), Dropping, Egg (3), *Expcricncc, *Fox (9), God (9), Kitchen, Leak, *Mcal barrel, Money (3), *Moves, Nose (5), Pleasure (i). Plow, sb. (2). *Floii; vb.. Rise, vb.. Sack (2), Shop, *Slecpiiig, *Strokes, Time (10), Water (14), Word (8). An asterisk indicates a proverb which, at least in its distinctive form, has not been recorded before Franklin. It might be added that among the languages into which the ll'ay to Wealth was translated was Gaelic, where it was printed in Donald Macintosh's A Collection of Gaelic Proverbs and Familiar Phrases (Edinburgh, 1785). 340 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE that it had been current for centuries in Belorussia or Zambesi. The most polyglottic paroemiologist would hesitate to be unduly dog- matic, even though he could fall back, if pressed, on "independent origins." Some sayings, not so often proverbs as proverbial phrases, betray their origin distinctly by turns of idiom or mate- rial references. In the present collection there are a number of sayings which, if not native to North Carolina, are fairly certain to have been coined in one or another of the Southern states. Such are, for examples, As big as a bale of cotton; As ugly as a mud barn ; As pore as a bear that's wintered up in the balsams ; As red as a bear's ass in pokeberry time ; As hollow as a bee-gum ; There is something dead up the branch ; As ragged as a buzzard, and the other buzzard sayings; As white as cotton; A cotton stalk too close to the weed Will find the hoe gives it no heed; As po' as an empty creek bottom ; As soft as cush ; As drunk as a doodle ; As touchous as your eye; As snug as a flea under a nigger's collar; Poor folks have poor ways, rich folks hateful ones ; God can't rope a mule- headed cow by the horns ; As green as a gourd, and the other gourd sayings ; As wild as a hayit ; As ill as a hornet ; Hop like old jim crow; Not worth a june-bug with a cat bird after her; As sound as a lightwood knot; As straight as a martin to his gourd; She saves the lasses (molasses) skimmins ; Shines like new money; As slow as a pokey moonshine; As ugly as a mud fence daubed with misery or with terrapins or trimmed with tar ; Gray 7mdes never die, they turn into Baptist preachers ; A dead nigger in the woodpile, and the other Negro-nigger sayings; Smelled like a nest of granddaddies ; As gray as an opossum; He is too lazy to work on a pie train, an' him runnin' the taster ; As red as a polkberry ; Put the big pot in the little one and fry the skillet ; Never bet on 'taters (potatoes) 'fore grabbling time; As small as a redbug; Fattened up like a piny-ridge rooter in chestnut time ; He kin weed his own rozv and keep it clean too ; Sap-risin time is lovin' time and a lone- some heart ain't good to bear; Rattles like shots in a gourd; She'll put a spider in your biscuit ; He's as crazy about licker as a steer is pond water; As fat as a Christmas turkey; As good as old ivheat in the mill; As poor as a whippoorzvill; We go [at] it like a whirl- zvind of woodpeckers; Arms a-going like zvinding blades; Bad as de zvinter of de big snow in '57 when de nails popped on de roofs; I'd be a good zvork hand myself ef I could do hit with my tongue. These sayings, and any reader can easily increase the list, bear the appearance of Southern origin, but it is impossible to demon- strate that any of them are surely peculiar to North Carolina. In a few cases it is possible to make an interesting, though not con- clusive comparison. H. E. Taliaferro's Fisher's River ( North Carolina) Scenes and Character s,^^' a volume not unlike, and prob- «" New York, 1859. PROVERBS 341 ably inspired by, A. B. Longstreet's Georgia Scenes, is unusually rich in proverbial expressions,"^" many of which were still current in North C^arolina when the materials for the present collections were brought together. Of these the following are found only in Taliaferro, sometimes with a slight difference, and here: As snug as a flea under a nigger's collar; Shines like new money; He kin weed his own row and keep it clean too; He's as crazy about licker as a steer is pond water; As good as old zvlicat in the mill; We go at [it] like a wlnrhvind o' woodpeckers.**^ That these sayings should he current in North Carolina over a period of fifty to seventy-five years, ^^ and not have been recorded elsewhere, suggests at the very least a strong localization. Place names and, to a lesser degree, personal names often make it possible to locate the origins of sayings very exactly indeed. Unfortunately few of the sayings in the present collection contain such guides. We do find the names of a few Southern states in such sayings as. As slow as a train through Arkansas; Passed like a bat out of Georgia;^*' Kicks like a Kentucky vinle; As high as a Georgia pine; As rare as Republicans in South Carolina. There is no mention of North Carolina as a state, and only one saying which contains local place names, but that is a striking example of the individualism of the mountain people. Laurel Top, in the Great Smokies, is some 5500 feet high and must look down across ten miles of other peaks at Smokemont, a mere 3000 feet above sea- level. It was a proud resident on exclusive Laurel who coined the sentence, Fd rather be a knot in a log on Laurel than to live down at Smokemont. Asheville and Charlotte, to say nothing of Durham and Winston-Salem, may take notice ! Personal names are even less helpful than place names. Around Vilas, in Watauga county, As smart as Beard's fiste was a com- mon expression, but who Beard was and how his "fiste" earned notoriety we do not know. Equally obscure are As hot as Bray's love; Dick and the wheel in a tight place; Upon the honor of Joe Dyer the Dutchman ; As hot as Kit's glove ; Take off like Snyder's pup ; As crazy as Tom Tyler's old bitch. '^^ On two occasions the informants gave the story behind a saying. As many as Carter had oats is particularly interesting, though we once are told that Carter was an inhabitant of Georgia. Thought like Jack Robinson springs '^ See Southern Folklore Quarterly, xi (1947). 173-185, for the proverbs in Fisher's River and some account of the author. ** Taliaferro, who uses the comparison twice, has zvhirlygust for whirkcind. *" Really longer, as Taliaferro says that "The scenes and stories found in the work were enacted and told between the years 1820 and 1829" (p. 13). "" Georgia has been substituted, appropriately or not, for the more ordinary hell. "^ Tom Tyler's name was semiproverbial in England in the sixteenth century, as witnessed by the play that bears it. 342 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE from an incident alleged to occur on the Neuse River, although the outline of the story suggests an ancient fabliau plot. Among the proverbs which have not been found elsewhere in even approximate parallels are many so good and so evidently popular that one is surprised, almost chagrined, at the apparent ab- sence of other examples : Some specimens, most of which have the true touch, deserve quotation: Well armed is half the battle; The back pays for what the mouth eats ; A dirty bread tray tells of a wasteful wife; Compliment another man's wife and endanger your life; He and the dez'il drink out of the same jug; Evil disposi- tions are early shown; Even bad dogs shouldn't bite at Christmas; Never driz'c in where you can't turn around ; Don't neglect your own field to plant your neighbor's ; Better to die on your feet than live on your knees; Never complain to the feet when the soul is heavy ; God can't cook breakfast with a snowball ; Don't wait for your Granjiy's side saddle ; Like cutting from the leg to add to the arm; Good liquor needs no water; An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes ; One-legged man better dance away from the fire; Limber necks live longer'n stiff 'uns ; A^eed lends speed ; The old make laws, the young die for them ; Plans on Sun- day fail on Monday; Poverty is a hard bedfellow; Out of reach is out of harm; You won't travel no good road ef you cross a crooked style to git into it; Better save a man from dying than salve him when he is dead ; The sea cannot be measured in a quart pot; Sun is the poor man's clock; Thriftiness is the same thing as stinginess; If you associate with trash, you'll flounder with trash; Four zvalls do not make a home ; Wcddin' without courtin' is like vittles without salt ; Don't wait to dig a ivcll to drown the cat in. No doubt a more exhaustive search of printed collections, espe- cially perhaps in foreign tongues, would have furnished other in- stances of many of these, but even if that be true they bear striking witness to the wealth of our proverbial lore and to the need for more diligent and systematic investigation. The extensive gather- ing of proverbs now being undertaken throughout the states by the American Dialect Society should do much to remedy our present deficiency. To make a thoroughgoing analysis of the content of the proverbs in our collection in an attempt to depict the ideals, ideas, and mate- rial surroundings of the human beings who use them would be be- yond the scope of this introduction. Some specific comments and a few generalizations, however, may not be without interest. A convenient, if obvious, w-ay to arrive at the material background of the proverbs is to observe the relative number of occurrences of the things on which the imagery of the sayings is based. For that purpose we may list the objects, and also the abstract concepts, which appear four or more times as key words of the various say- PROVERBS 343 ings.''- Thus doy'-^'-'' leads the list with 54 occurrences; it is fol- lowed by the devil with .v'^ ; uian with .^5:'" <('' \vith 25 ;^"' bird and hcn^*^ with 24 each; horse with 23 ;'••' hell with 21; rfaji with 17; fOii',-''* (7(7(/, and Tt'('»(/ with 16 each; hog with 15 ;'■♦'■' bear, pig, and »i»/r with 14 each; death, stwke, and water with 13 each; baby (and 6a6t'). A't'^/ro (and nigger), night, and /f»u^ with 12 each; /zr^, ro^r, and ivoman with 11 each; and fish, goose, and /!r«(/ with 10 each. Below 10 the number of objects increases rapidly. There are 9 references to bee, fox, penny, and shoe; 8 to child, dove, eye, kit- ten, money, pin. rat. and stone; 7 to chicken, cricket, crozv, dirt, dollar, duck, eagle, feather, fozcl, frog. lo7'e. 07el. stick, sun. trouble, and zvord; 6 to bell, blind (man), briad. brick, egg. finger, foot, gold, hand. horn, hound, leaf, lightning, nose, pot, rain, .yco,^'^** snow, and zveather: 5 to bat. beginning, best, bug, bull, clothes, colt, ele- phant, flea, friend, hair, heart. Job, life, lion, mouse, mud, needle, ox, pie, potato, rock, sin, star, steel, thing, tree, turkey, ivhistle, and zvork; 4 to Adam, air, arroiv, bark (of a dog), basket, bean-pole, beauty, blood, bone. boy. breeches, butter, button, buzzard, calf, candle, coal, dead, dust. ear. end. floiver. fly. ghost, glass, goat, grave, hawk, house, ice. (the) itcli. king. lark, louse, master, mon- key, mountain, nothing, ocean, rabbit, rainboze. rake, rooster, sheep, silk. sky. string, tick. zvax. wedge, well (of water), wolf, wool, and year. Clearly enough the imagery of proverbs^''^ springs from the com- mon objects of everyday experience at its simplest level: men, women, and children, the parts of the body, day and night, animals, birds, and insects,'"- the weather, money, plants and trees, food, almost everything is ordinary and commonplace. In the world of proverbs there has been no industrial revolution, no "improvements," no modern science. We are still in a predominantly agricultural community where work is done by hand and horse, and day-long "- The procedure is, of course, rough and ready, since it ignores all but the words used for alphabetization, hut the results are nevertheless indicative, and that is all that is claimed for them. "■■' If we add hound, pup. and puppy to dog. the total is increased to 66. "* The number of proverbs listed under man has little or no meaning because of the general nature of a majority of the references. "■■' If we add kitten we get a total of 33. "" If we add chicken, rooster, and bantam we get a total of 37. "'If we add colt we get a total of 28. "* If we add bull, calf, and ox we get a total of 25. *" If we add pig and sow we get a total of 32. ^°°If we add ocean we get a total of lo. ^"^ The lists just given account for almost e.xactly half of our say- ings ; to have drawn from all would have served only to increase the proportion of abstractions, but not their relative importance. i»2 Very nearly a third of the objects listed are animals, birds, or in- sects, and only three of these, the monkey, the lion, and the elephant, are in anv wav uncommon. 344 NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE hours of labor are a necessary virtue and. in proverbs at least, the way to wealth. We might think to find all this a particular reflec- tion of North Carolina, a state, despite its recent industrialization and big- business, factory cities and resort towns, still characterized by isolated mountain cabins, small farms, and medium-sized com- munities. It is. of course, a reflection of such a state, but the same general picture may be drawn from any collection of prov- erbs from almost any country or region. Proverbial lore may some day assimilate itself to mechanized modern civilization, but it has not done so yet. Abstractions are understandably few in the four-and-more cate- gories. We find beauty, beginning, best, death, life, hnr, nothing, sin. and time; and even these are often used concretely enough. A fairly safe generalization is that the proverbs of the English- speaking peoples contain fewer abstractions than those of some Continental and most Asiatic linguistic groups. In the field of re- ligion we find the devil having a better than two-to-one advantage over God, and while this may seem odd in a pious, perhaps even fundamentalist, area, it holds in English proverbs generally.i*'^ If we venture to compare hell with heaven, the disparity is even more striking, since hell appears 21 times and heaven only 3. and of these, two use heavens as synonymous with sky, and the third has it as an apparent euphemism for God. Beyond a general reference to the mingled piety and depravity of human nature and, more important, to the many similes involving hell and the devil, no explanation seems to be required. If we wish to test the attitude of the folk toward some topic of common interest and concern, we might well see what our proverbs have to say about women. Proverbs, as a whole, are either blatantly misogynistic or at best take a skeptical view of feminine qualities and achievements. Despite the fact that women have normally con- stituted half or better of the earth's population, have their share of intelligence, are at least as vocal as men, and are certainly adept at verbal improvisation, they have not composed or inspired many proverbs in their praise. Chaucer's Wife of Bath made the acute observation, along with her other pronouncements on life, love, and letters, that the reason women are so harshly treated in literature is that scholars in their enfeebled dotage do the writing. "Who painted the lion," she asked, though not plaintively, "tell me who?" True as this sweeping iudgment may be so far as written literature goes, proverbs were not written, few of them were thrown ofif by scholars, and one niiglit think a woman as likely to coin a ^"^ Apperson's entries run in aliout the same proportions, although God does rather better in Oxford. For further evidence as to Satan's popu- larity in proverbial sayings, the curious reader may consult Whiting, "The Devil and Hell in Current English Literary Idiom." Harvard Studies and Notes in PhUolociy and Literature, x.\ (IQ38). 201-247. P R \' 1-. K H s 345 good sayiiii;- as a man. Still ami all, whatever the reason, proverbs are basically anti feminine, although our North Carolina collection does not contain some of the more abusive and spiteful sayings. Women are charged with wastefulness: A wasteful wife throws out in tlie dishwater more'n her husband can tote in; A wasteful iiI Air. I. As eniptv as air. Cf. Nl-:!) Empty, 4, quol. 1593. 2. As free as air (3). Apperson 234-5, quot. c. 1625; Ber- rey 551.17; Hardic 467; Taylor 34; T .\88. 3. As light as air. T A90 ; W'ilstach 233. 4. As vacant as air. W'ilstach 451 . Alive. As sure (surely) as you're alive (2). Lean ii. 879; W'ilstach 401. All. I. All's well that ends well. Apper.son 6-7. 9; I'.radley jj; Hardie 461 ; ( )xf()rd 701 ; Taylor 52; T A 1 54. 2. (irab all, lose all. Cf. Apperson 268: (irasp all, lo.se all; Oxford 262. 3. Want all, get none. Cf. Apperson 5 : All^ covet all lose , Franck 108: You wan' all you lo.se all; T A 127. Alone. Better be alone than in ill company. Apperson 41-2; Oxford 38; T C570; Woodard 34. Alum. As bitter as alum. Cf. Lean 11, 807: As bitter as aloes. Angel. I. As beautiful as an angel. W'ilstach 15. 2. As sweet as an angel ( 2 ) . ^ 3. Speak of angels and you hear rustling of their wings (4). Speak of the angels and you will hear their wings rustle. Speak of an angel, hear the rustle of its wing. Speak of an angel and you can hear bats' wings flutter. Bradley 60; Lean iv, 106; Oxford 643. See Devil (26) below. Angry. When angrv count ten, when very angry, one hundred. Cf. Christy i, 29; Francis Crane, The Shocking Fink Hat (N. Y., 1946) 203: Inspector Bradish whirled on Patrick. He evidently counted ten, then said. 'TU talk to you later" ; Oxford 11. Another. He that pities another remembers himself. Apper- son 499; Oxford 503; T P372. Ant. I. As industrious as an ant. W'ilstach 214. 2. As tiny as an ant. Cf. Bond 56 : Small as an ant. 3. Works like an ant. Antelope. As swift as an antelope. Bond 51. Anvil. I. As hard as an anvil. NED Anvil, i, quf)t. 1413. 2. The anvil lasts longer than the hammer. P.ohn 95: Dura l)iu I'incudine die il martello, cf. 120. Ape. As hairy as an ape. 15ond 50; Hendricks 145. Appearances. Appearances are deceitful. Apperson 1 3 ; T.rad- ley 60; Oxford 328, judge from; T A285. Appetite. Appetite comes with eating. Fogel 5 ; < )xtor(l 12; T .\286. 362 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Apple. I (a) An apple a day keeps the doctor away (2). Apperson 13; Bradley 60; Hyatt 643 (10716); Taylor 12. (b) An apple a day keeps the doctor away. An onion a day keeps everybody away, (c) Eat an apple a day. To keep the doctor away ; Eat an onion a day, To keep everybody away. Bradley 60. 2. Apples must fall near the tree. Davidofif 436: The apple falls near the apple tree (Yiddish). Cf. Bohn 307: De vrucht valt niet ver van den stam ; Cundall 91 : Papaw no fall fur from tree ; Fogel 5 : D'r abbel roUt net weit fum schtamm exept d'r bam schtet am bserik ; Hoffman 198: Der apb"l fait net wait fum shtam ; Lean i, 487; Parsons, Antilles. 484: Apples don't fall very far from tree; Vaughan 3 (16). 3. As round as an apple. Lean 11, 869; NED Round. 1, quot. c. 1290; \\'ilstach 328. April. I. April showers bring May flowers. Apperson 15; Green 17; Hyatt 643 ( 10719) ; Oxford 13; Taylor 13; TS411. 2. As sudden as an April shower. Wilstach 399. Arkansas. As slow as a train through Arkansas. B. A. Bot- kin, A Treasury of American Folklore (N. Y, 1944) 469. Arm. I. As long as my (your) arm (2). Lean 11. 750; NED Arm. 2b; Partridge 17. 2. Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach. Apperson 15; Oxford 625; T A3 16. Armed. Well armed is half the battle. Army. What's an army without a general ? Christy i. 36. Arrow, i. As fleet as an arrow. NED Fleet, i, quot. 1588: Wilstach 147. 2. As straight as an arrow (3). Apperson 60s; Green 31 ; T A321. 3. As swift as an arrow. T A322 ; Wilstach 411. 4. As true as an arrow (2). As true as an arrow to its mark. Cf. Wilstach 436: True as an arrow to its aim. Ashes. As gray as ashes. J. S. Strange, The Clue of the Sec- ond Murder (N. Y.. 1929) 54. Asking. What isn't worth asking for isn't worth having (4). What's not worth going after is not worth having. Hoff- man 202: Was net fro'ghas wart is, is net ha' was wart. Cf. Nicholson 219: It's a poor thing that's not worth asking; Spence 228: It's little wirt that's no wirt the askin' o'. PROVERBS 363 Asleep, llc"s wortli more asleep than awake. Cf. Apperson 40: Vou are always best when aslcej) ; Ilislop 339: Ye're best when ye're sleeping. See Dead, adj., below. Aspen. Tremble like an aspen. .\])pers()n iS; llyamson 23; T L140; Wilstach 433. Ass. 1. .\ living ass is better than a dead doctor. 15ohn 131 : \'al pill un asino vivo che nn dottore morto. 2. He that makes himself an ass must expect to be rode. Apperson 19; NED Ass, ib. 3. The ass's hide is used to the stick. Bohn 107: La pelle d'asino e usa al bastone. August. Hit'll be a cold day in August. Cf. "A Word-List from Kansas," Dialect Notes, iv, part v (1916) 321 : It will be a cold day in June when he does that ; Thornton HI, 175, chilly day. Awl. As blunt as a peggin awl. Cf. Apperson 561 : Sharp as a cobbler's elsin (awl). Axe. As sharp as an axe. Hardie 468; Lean 11, 871. B. Don't know B from a bull's foot. Apperson 21 ; Berrey 150.3; Hyamson 28; NED, B, 2; Oxford 346; Partridge 22 ; Woodard 39. See A above. Babe. i. As helpless as a new born babe. Cf. Wilstach 199: As helpless as a babe. 2. As innocent as a new born babe. Apperson 327-8 ; T B4 ; Wilstach 216. 3. As weak as a new born babe. Cf. Lean 11. 889: As weak as a child. Baboon. As ugly as a baboon. Wilstach 567. Baby. i. A purty baby makes an ugly girl. Cannell 34: If a child is good looking when it is small, it will be homely when it grows up: Christy 1. 504: A pretty ])ig makes an ugly hog; Hyatt 126 (2603): Pretty bal)ies make ugly ladies. 2. An ugly baby makes a purty girl. Cannell 34: If a child is homely when it is small, it will be good looking when it grows up; Hyatt 126 (2603): Ugly babies make pretty ladies. 3. An old saying is "that ugly babies make handsome grown people" and vice versa. See above, and cf. Hyatt 126 (2602) : If a baby is homely during infancy, it will be handsome on reaching maturity. 4. As helpless as a bal)y (2). Charles G. L. DuC^ann, The Secret Hand (London, 1929) 186. 364 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 5. As innocent as a baby. Hulbert Footner. A Sclf-Made Thief (N. Y., 1929) 250. 6. Cries like a baby. Lee Thayer, Poison (N. Y.. 1926) 93. 7. Sleeps like a baby. F. Daingerfiekl, TJic Linden Walk Tragedy (N. Y., 1929) 157. 8. The place for babies is at home. 9. This isn't making the baby's coat or twiging the kiln. Cf. Bradley 91 : This isn't buying shoes for the baby ; Hardie 465 : This won't buy a dress for the baby or pay for the one it has on ; Woodard 34. Back. I. The back is shaped to its burden. Hislop 106: God shapes the l)ack for the burden; Lean iv. 109; Oxford 246. 2. The back pays for what the mouth eats. Cf. Apperson 37 : If it were not for the belly the back might wear gold, 38: The belly robs the back; Champion 228 (3) : The back receives what the mouth earns (Livonian) ; Oxford 34. Back door. Throwed more out the back door than her old man could tote in the front. Cf. Apperson 21 : The back door robs the house; T 1)21. (For women and back doors: cf. Apperson 199, fair (9). 444, nice wife. 653, two daughters; ( )xford 451. 679; \\'oodard 43.) See Wife (2) below. Backward. He got up backward. Cf. Apperson 715: wrong ( 5 ) ; Oxford 544 : rise. Bad. It is never so bad but what it could be worse. Oxford 464. Bad Man. As ugly as the Bad Man. Cf. Hyamson 350: As ugly as the devil; Brewster 268. where Bad Man is given as a synonym for the devil ; Patterson 4. Badger. As gray as a badger. Apperson 274; (j recti 19; Partridge 350; Wilstach 186. Bag. I. Don't let no bag o' tow block a good road. 2. He always holds the bag. (Snipe-hunting, to be made a fool of.) He held the bag for the snipe hunt. He will have the bag to hold. Berrey 214.6, 314.IT, 320.3, 371.2. 649.7; DAE Bag, 2; Green 24 (identical with the third example), 33; Hardie 470; NED Bag, 18; Ox- ford 20; Partridge 26. 3. It's hard for an empty bag to stand u])right. A]iperson 181-2; Oxford 170-r ; Poor Richard 99; Jl'ax to Wealth 4i6;TB30. .See Sack (2) below. Bag-pipe. Like a bag-]iipe, never makes a noise till his belly's full. Apperson 23 ; Oxford 20; T B34. P R O V V. R H S M^? Bait. The bait worth more than the tisli. (.haini)!!)!! 6_'i (20) : When the l)ait is worth more than ihe ri>h 'tis time to stop hshiuf? (American Negro). Bale. As big as a bale of cotton. Cf. lulmund Kirke (James B. Gilmore). My Southern rriciids (X. Y., 1863) 74: Not bigger'n a cotton bale. Ball. 1. As rotmd as a ball. Nl^I) Round, i, ([uots. r. 1290, i583;T B61. 2. Eyes like two balls of hre. Taliaferro S?>^ 1^6 1. 162 (red like) ; Thornton i. 178. circumstance ( 1848). 3. Rolls like a ball. Cf. NED Roll, 11, (luot. 1786. Balloon. Head like a balloon. Balm. Is there no balm in Gilead? Hyamson 31 ; Jeremiah 8: 22; Oxford 21. Band. Raining to beat the band. Running to beat the l)and (2). Berrey 20.6.13, 22.3, 29.3, 53-9-i6; Partridge 41- Bandbox. Like he just came otit of the bandbox. Looks like he just jumped off a bandbox. Berrey 4.4; Hyamson 32; Woofter 358. Cf. Partridge 554. neat. Bank. As safe as a bank. Marcus Magill, Murder Out oj Tunc (Philadelphia. 1931) 271. Bantam. 1. .\s cocky as a bantam rooster. W. P.. Seabrook. Jungle Ways (London, 1931) 138. 2. Like a bantam — lays summer or winter. Bark (1). i. As close as bark on a tree (2). As clost as the bark on a tree fore sap-risin'. As clost as the bark on a white oak tree. Cf . Lean 11, 857 : As near as the bark to the tree ; T B83. 2. As tight as the bark on a tree (2). Allison 96; Ilardie 468 ; Wil-stach 565 ; W'oodard 43. 3. Clings like bark to a tree. Bark (2). i. B.ig bark and little bite. 2. Me i> all bark and no bite. Cf. Oxford 23: (Ireat bark- ers arc no biters ; T B85. 3. His bark is worse than his bite (4). Apperson 26 ; 1 lyam- son 34; NED Bark. s1y\ 2b; Oxford 23. 4. More bark than bite. Cf. j lulward Ward], llilgus Britannicus. or the British HuilU'ros. 2nd ed. (London. 1710) 167: Those liery Barkers tho' no Biters. Barking. P.arking saves ])iting. P.eckwith 17; Cundall 15. Barn. 1. As big as a barn, b'auset 174(199). 2. As ugly as a mud barn. 366 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Barn-yard. A sad barn-yard where the hen crows louder than the cock. Apperson 298, hen (7); Oxford 291; T H778. Barrel, i. As big as a barrel (2). AlHson 95. 2. As empty as a barrel. Taliaferro 103. Basket, i. As cute as a basket of kittens. Cf. J. C. Harris 26: ez soshubble ez a baskit er kittens. 2. As polite as a basket of chips. Atkinson 81 ; Berrey 349-3- 3. He hung his basket higher than he could reach. Beck- with 56 (many variants) ; Franck 100: Don't hang you goadie higher dan you can reach; Parsons 441: Don't hang yer basket higher than you can reach 'em. Bat. I. As blind as a bat (5). Apperson 54; Hyamson 51 ; T O92 ; Wilstach 22. 2. As crazy as a bat (4). Atkinson 88. 3. As fast as a bat out of hell. Cf. Whiting 222. 4. Like a bat out of hell. Berrey 53.7.9.16; Partridge 37; Whiting 222 ; W'oodard 34. 5. Pass like a bat out of a brush heap. Passed like a bat out of Georgia. Passed like a bat out of hell. Cf. "A List of W'ords from Northwest Arkansas," Dialect Notes, III, part v (1909), 399; Whiting 222. Bean pole. i. As skinny as a bean pole. Cf. Partridge 39. 2. As slender as a bean pole. 3. As tall as a bean pole. Hanford 178. 4. As thin as a bean pole. Herbert Asbury, The French Quarter (N. Y., 1936) 340. Bear. i. An old bear is slow in learning to dance. Christy, I, 56 (German). 2. As cross as a bear (2). DAE Bear, ic; Hyamson 102; Wilstach 76. 3. As hungry as a bear (5). Berrey 95.6; DAE Bear, ic; Hardie 467 ; Taylor 41 ; Wilstach 206. 4. As pore as a bear that's wintered up in the balsams. Like a bear that's wintered up in the balsams. 5. As red as a bear's ass in pokeberry time. Cf. NED Suppl.. pokeberry. See Goose (9), Polkberry below. 6. As rough as a bear (2). I'.ond 50; Lean 11. 868: As rough as a Russian bear. 7. As savage as a bear. Green 20; Lean 11, 870; Wilstach 334- 8. As strong as a bear. 9. As surly as a bear. Green 31. 10. As ugly as a bear. Wilstach 440. 1< O \' I". R B S 367 1 1. As warm as a bear. ij. Hugs like a bear. Wilstacb 206. n. If it were a bear it would bite you. Apperson 29-30; I'.radley 92 (snake) ; Oxford 26; Partridge 40; T B129. 14. We killed the bear. Allison 95; Brewster 262. Cf. Apperson 672: We dogs worried the hare; Oxford 696- We hounds slew the hare. <|U(>th the messan ; T ^737- . , Beard (1). i. (iray beard and red hp can not be friends. Christy 1. 14: Gray beard and red lip seldom remain good friends (German). 2. If it's hot enough to set your neighbor's beard afire, you'd better get water and wet yours. Beckwith 121 : When you see you neighbor beard ketch fire, tek water wet fe'vou; Champion 526 (31): When you see that your neighbour's beard is catching fire, bring water to your own ( Fulfilde. Africa), 533 (12); Chenet 192 (1357); Cundall 52; Hearn 8 (10); Parsons. Antilles 466 (190). 3. Little beard, little manhood. Cf. Bohn 240: Poca barba, poca verguenza (modesty). Beard (2). As smart as Beard's fiste, used to be a common expression in this community. (Contributed by Thomas Smith of Vilas. Watauga county.) For fiste meaning mongrel dog, see Phyllis J. Nixon, "A Glossary of Vir- ginia Words," Puhlications of the American Dialect Society, v (1946) 21. Beauty, i. Beautv is only skin deep. Apperson 31 ; Bradley 60; Hardie 462; Oxford 28; T B170. 2. lieautv is skin deep. Ugly's in the bone. Beauty soon will pass 'away. Old ugly hold her own. Apperson 31; Bradley 60. 3. Beautv 'never make kettle boil. Champion 213 (3): Beauty does not make the pot boil ((Genoese) ; National Proverbs: Ireland 14: Beauty does not make the pot boil; Nicolson 132: Beauty won't boil the pot; O'Rahilly 6 (17) : Beauty will not 'make the pot boil. ... It is not beauty that 'makes porridge, but meal. . . . Prettiness makes no pottage (Apperson 511); Snapj) 80 (n): l^.eauty never boiled a pot ; T P568. 4. Seed lots of beautv but never et a mess of it. Cf. Christy 1. 61: One cannot live on beauty and One does not imt beauty in the kettle. See Woman (10) below. Beaver. As busy as a beaver. Wilstacb 40. N.C.K.. Vol. I. (25) 368 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Bed. I. Early to bed and early to rise Wakes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Apperson 173; Bradley 72; Lean 11, 733; Oxford 164; Poor Richard 78; Taylor 14; T B184; Way to Wealth 410. 2. She made her bed, and she can lie on it. Apperson 391 ; Bradley 61 ; Hardie 472 ; Oxford 399 ; Partridge 42 ; T B189. ' Bedbug. As crazy as a bedbug (5). Berrey 152.5, 170.7.8, 296.8; Wilstach 73. Bee. I. A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly. Apperson 32-3 ; Bergen 11, 57, 90; Hyatt 58; Lean i, 450; T S1029. 2. As busy as a bee. Apperson y2>' 74! Hardie 469; NED Bee, lb; Oxford 71 ; T B202 ; Wilstach 41. 3. As busy as a bee in a tar-bucket. DAE Bee, ib (tar- barrel) ; W'oodard 35. Cf. Apperson 33: To bumble like a bee in a tar-tub, 74 ; Oxford 78 ; He capers like a fly in a tar-box; Partridge 94, 113. As busy as a bee in a trench-pot. Cf. Fuller 19 (666) : As brisk as a bee in a tar-pot. 4. Buzzing like a bee. Bond 56. 5. He has a bee in his bonnet. Apperson 33 ; Berrey 143.2.3, 152. 1. 3. 5, 212.2, 236.2, 274.2.6: Hardie 466; Hyamson 40; Oxford 29, cf. 284; Partridge 42. 43; T H255. 6. No bees, no honey. 7. Swarmed like bees. Wilstach 403. 8. Take a bee line for home. Berrey 41.1, 677.14; Hyam- son 40; Partridge 42. Straight as a bee line. 9. Where there are bees there is honey. Apperson 34; Oxford 29; T B213. Bee-gum. As hollow as a bee-gum. Beet. As red as a beet (3). Wilstach 315. Beg. I. Better to beg than borrow. Christy i, 66; Cundall 17. 2. Neither beg nor borrow. Beggars, i. Beggars breed and rich men feed. Apperson 34; Oxford 31 ; T B244. 2- Beggars must not be choosers. Apperson 34 ; Bradley 61 ; Plardie 462; Oxford 31 ; Taylor 14; T B247. 3. Sue a beggar and get a louse. Apperson 35 ; Bradley 61 ; (ireen 31 ; Oxford 629; T B240. Beginning, i. A bad beginning makes a good ending (3). Bradley 61 ; T B259. P R O V K R B S ?i(^9 2. A good begintiin.u: makes a bad ending, liradley 6i. 3. A good beginning makes a right ending. Hislop 24: A glide beginning makes a gude ending. Cf. Apperson 257; Oxford 250. 4. From small beginnings come great endings. Thomas Burke, Niijht Pieces (N. Y., 1936) 96; T P.264. 5. Right beginning makes a right ending. Christy i, 67 ( ("lerman). Begun. I. Begun is half done. C"f. I^.ohn 135: Begonnen ist hall) gewonnen; Lean 111. ^,77; Nicolson 225: Begun is two-thirds done. 2. Well begun is half done (2). Apperson 674; Bradley 97 ; Hardie 462 ; Oxford 700 ; T B254. Believe, i . A man believes what he wishes to. Apperson 36 ; T B269. 2. Believe only half you hear. C f . Apperson 36; Oxford 32: Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear; T A202. Bell. I. A cracked bell can never be mended. Cf. Apperson ^6: A crackt bell can never sound well; Oxford 117; T B274. 2. Agree like bells. Apperson 4 (want nothmg but hang- ing) ; Oxford 6; Partridge 6; T B281 ; Wilstach 5. 3. As clear as a bell (3). Apperson loi ; Green 18; Hardie 467; T B271 ; Wilstach 56. 4. As fair as a bell (2). 5. Rings like a bell. Sir Dcgrcvant, ed. K. Puick (\'ienna, 191 7) 78, 11. 1207-8. 6. The higher the bell the further it sounds. I'.ohn 154: Je h()her die Glocke hangt, je heller sie klingt. Belly. I. As hot as if he had a bellyful of wasps. Apperson 315: Hot as if he had a bellyful of wasps and salaman- ders. 2. Hungrv belly got no eyes. Cf. Apperson 37-8: The (hungry) belly hath no ears. 81. empty (i) ; Champion 96 (10): Hunger has no eyes (Croatian). 235 (150) (Montenegrin); Cundall 17: Hungry belly no got aise ( cars) ■ Kelly 30 ; T P.286. Bench. Sitting on the anxious bench (6). Berrey 287.2; DAE Anxious Bench; NED Suppl., Anxious, 2b. Bend. Better to bend than to break. Apperson 42: Better bow than break; Cundall 18: Betta ben' dan broke; Hislop 58; MacAdam 181 (54) ; Oxford 39; T B566. Berry, i. As brown as a berry (2). Apperson 70; Taylor 17; T B314; Wilstach 38. 2. As right as a berry. 370 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Best. T. Hope for the best, get ready for the worst. Apper- son 310; Oxford 303; T B328. 2. Make the best of a bad bargain (2). Apperson 40; Ber- rey 306.3 (job); Hyamson 43; Oxford 36; Partridge 33; Taylor 13; T B326. 3. ]\lake the best of what you have. 4. The best comes first. 5. The best goes first. Apperson 39: The best go first, the bad remain to mend ; Oxford 35. Bible. As true as the Bible. Cf. Berrey 169.2: Bible truth. See Gospel below. Billiard ball. i. As bald as a billiard ball. Wilstach 12. 2. As smooth as a billiard ball. NED Billiards, 2, quot. 1637; Wilstach 365. Bird. I. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (3). Apperson 48 ; Bradley 62 ; Hardie 461 ; Oxford 44-5 ; Taylor 15 ; T B363. 2. A bird is known by its feathers. [R. Brathwaite], The Lmvs of Drinking (London, 161 7) 47; Nicholas IJreton. The Crossing of Proi'erhs (1616), in Works, ed. A. B. Grosart ( lulinburgh, 1875-9), 11. e. 5; 'J' B369. 3. A bird that can sing and won't sing ought to be made to sing. Apperson 49 ; ( )xf ord 372 ; T B366. 4. A little bird wants but a little nest. Apperson 370 ; T B379- 5. A little bird will tell you (2). Apperson 48; Berrey 197.10; Hyamson 46; Oxford 45; Partridge 54. 383; Taylor 1 5 ; T B374. 6. All birds of prey are silent. Whoever heard of a singing bird of prey? Bohn 166; Raubvogel singen nicht. As blithe as a bird. NED Blithe. A 5a, quot. 1754. As free as a bird. As free as the birds. Apperson 2^4; T B357- As gav as a bird. Cf. NED Gav. 4. quot. 181 2 ; \\ ilstach 168-9. 10. As harmless as the birds. See Dove (3) below. 11. As merry as birds. T B358-9; Wilstach 259. 12. As naked as a bird. Cf. Apperson 436: Naked as a cuckoo. See Cuckoo, Jay (1), Jay-bird (2), (3) below. 13. As swift as a bird. (Tf. NED Swift, i, quot. c. 1386. 14. Birds of a feather flock together (3). Apperson 48; Bradley 62; Hardie 462; Hyamson 46; Oxford 45; Partridge 55 ; T B393. See Crow (6) below. 15. Cut up like^a bird. Cf. NED Suppl., Bird, 5c; Par- tridge 483, like. V R O V K R H S 371 16. Eats like a bird. |( )ftni with the achhtioii. "a peck at a time." I 17. lu-erv hird hkes its own nest. .\])person 187; T I'^S^. 18. Flits'like a bird. Cf. NED Flit, 8b. 19. He kills two birds with one stone (2). Apperscm 340; Green 2/; Hardie 472; Ilyanison 46; Oxford 334-5; Partridge 55 ; T B400. 20. It's a lazy bird that won't build her own nest. liohn 359: Det er en lad hugl, (Ur ei i^ider l)\'.!.;,ii^e sin egen Rede (Danish). 21. It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest. Apperson 323; Bradley 62; Green 26; Hardie 463; Oxford 314; Taylor 1 5 : T B377- 22. Old birds are hard to catch. Cf. Ap])erson 49: Old birds are not caught with chaff; Oxford 85; T I>396. 23. Sings like a bird. Bohn 54. 24. The early bird catches the worm (4). Apperson 173-4; Bradley 61 ; Hardie 464; Hyamson 127; Oxford 16^-4; T li368. Bird dog. i. As alert as a bird dog. 2. I'm bein' careful as a bird dog. Cf. X. B. Mavitv. The Case of the Missing Sandals (N. Y., 1930) 236: As busy as a bird dog. Birth. No man can help his birth. Christy i. S2 ( Hans .\ndersen). Biscuit. 1. As hard as a biscuit. Lean 11. 839: A biscuu fare as hard for favour. 2. .As round as a biscuit. Hyatt 670 ( 10939). Bit. F.very little bit helps (3). Apperson 188; Oxford 177. Every little bit helps, said the old woman as she spat in the sea. Cf. Lean it, 743: Oxford 180: Everything helps, quoth the wren, when she pissed in the sea ; Partridge 635 (old woman) : T \V935. See Little, sb., below. Bite, sb. The bite is bigger than the mouth. DavidotT 31 : Don't make the bite larger than the mouth (German). Bite, vb. I. As soon be bit as scared to death. Veronica P. John. The Singing Widow ( N. Y., 1941) 135: You might as well kill a person as .scare him to death. Cf. Champion 558 (127): h^right is worse than a blow (Moorish).'' 2. He bites off more than he can chew (3). Ik-rrev 242.3: Bradley 62 ; D.\h: P.ite, 2 ; (ireen t,2 ; f lyamson 47 : XED Suppl., Bite, 16; Taylor 15. Z7^ NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3. Once bitten, twice shy. Apperson 468; Green 29; Ox- ford 474-5. Black. As plain as black and white. Cf. Apperson 53. black (3) ; Oxford 47- Blacksmith. Like a blacksmith with a white apron. Apperson 53 : It is much like a blacksmith with a white silk a])ron ; Poor Richard 124: What's proper is becoming: see the blacksmith with his white silk apron ! Blazes, i. As cold as blue blazes. Howell Vines, The Green Thicket World (Boston, 1934) 149. Cf. Whiting 244-5. 2. As hot as blazes (2). Berrey 33.7; Partridge 408. Cf. Whiting 244. 3. As hot as blue blazes. Hardie 469. Blicksens. i. As cold as blicksens (blitzen). Berrey 33.8 (blixens) ; Woofter 351 (blixens). 2. As hot as blicksens. Hanford 167 (blixum). Blind (man), i. A blind man needs no looking glass. Cundall 84: Hislop 14. Cf. Apperson 54; Fuller i (18). 2. A blind man should not judge of colors. Apperson 54; Oxford 51; T M80. 3. If the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch. Apperson 56; Hyamson 51 ; Oxford 51 ; T B452. 4. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king. Apper- son 342 ; Oxford 338 ; T E240 ; Woodard 34. 5. Like a running blind man. Cf. Christy i, 85 : Blind men must not run. 6. None so blind as those who won't see. Apperson 55 ; Bradley 62 ; Oxford 50 ; T S206. Blood. I. As red as blood (3). Apperson 526; Oxford 535; Taylor 56; T B455 ; Wilstach 315. 2. Blood is thicker than water. Apperson 56 ; Bradley 62 ; Oxford 51-2. 3. Blood will tell. Bradley 62. 4. As nuich blood as a turnip. No more blood than a turnip (4). You can't get blood out of (from) a turnip (5). Apperson 56; Bradley 62; Green 36; Hardie 472; Tay- lor 15; TB466. You can't git blood out of a turnip, ])ut you can get the turnip. [The second part is written in on the type- script.] Blow. Uon't blow what won't burn. Hoffman 202 : Was net brent branch mer net blo'sa. Blue. .\s true as blue. Cf. Apperson 648, truf blue; Uerrey 434.4, 861.5; Hardie 472; Hyamson 54; NI-T) F,lue, le, 6b ; Oxford 672 ; Partridge 69 ; T T542. I' R () \' K R B S 373 Board, i. As stiff as a board (2). Wilstach 388. 2. Lyin' on the coolin' board. Berrey i 17.6. Boats. Little boats [should] stay near shore. Beckwith 104: Small boats keep near the shore ; Bradley 82 ; Cundall 20 (as I'eckwith) ; Poor Richard 138: Great estates may venture more; little boats must keep near shore; Way to Wealth 415. Ct. Christy i, 91 ; Nicolson 177. Body. He who kills his own body works for the worms. Hearn 12: Qa. qui touye son lecorps travaille pour leveres (Mauritius). Boil. As sore as a boil. Berrey 130.33, 284.8. Boiler factory. As noisy as a boiler factory. Wilstach 275 : Noisy as a boiler-shop. Bone. I. As dry as a bone (5). Apperson 168; Berrey 276.9. cf. 95.7. 98.2, 105.7; Cireen 19; Hardie 467; Hyamson 124; Partridge yy; Taylor 29; T B514; Wil- stach 105. 2. Bones don't mourn. See Tooth (3) below. 3. He'll never make old bones. 4. To pick [a] bone (quarrel). Apperson 59-60; Berrey 338.3-5- 348.5 ; Hardie 472 ; Hyamson 57 ; Oxford 55 ; T B522. 5. What is bred in the bone will never get out of the flesh. Apperson 66; Bradley 63; Green 34 (will come out in) ; Oxford 63 ; Taylor 16; T F365. Book. I. Books don't tell everything. There's more than what is in books. Cf. Christy i. 93 : Books don't tell when de bee-martin an de chicken-hawk fell out (Ameri- can Negro) ; J. C. Harris, Told by Uncle Remus (N. Y., 1905) 232: den you got de idee dat ol' man Remus know sump'n n'er what ain't down in de books? 2. Read him like a book. DAE Book, 3b; Oxford 534; Taliaferro 257. Boot. I. As crazy as a boot. 2. As easy as pouring water from a boot with the directions written on the heel. T. M. Pearce. "The luiglish Prov- erb in New Mexico." California Folklore Quarterlx, v (1946) 353: He was so dumb he couldn't pour beer out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. Cf. Frederick Wakeman, The Hucksters (N. Y.. 1946) 150: I was a young, dumb kid. hot out of Princeton, and not smart enough to pour piss out of a boot. Bore chinch. As hot as a bore chinch. Born. As sure as you are born (2). Nb^D Sure, B 4a. quot. c 1650. 374 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Borrowing. He that goes a-borro\ving goes a-sorrowing. Ap- person 61 ; Hradley 63; T B545 ; Way to Wealth 415. Bottle. You can't tell what's in a bottle by the label. Olive E. Clapper. Washington Tapestry (N. Y., 1946) 99: Labels do not always accurately describe the contents of the bottle. Bottom, I. He who is at the bottom can fall no lower. Cf. Apperson 363 : He that lies on the ground can fall no lower ; Oxford 365 ; T G464. 2. Scraping on the bottom of the meal bin is mighty poor music. Champion 629 (356) : The bottom of the meal- box makes mighty poor music (American Negro). Bow. I. Bent like a bow. The hnage of Ipocrysy, in Poetical Works of John Skelton, ed. after A. Dyce (Boston, 1856) II, 390. 2. Long bow (2). Berrey 316.4; Green 33; Hyamson 225; Oxford 380; Partridge 86, 491. Boy. I. A lazy boy makes a smart man. Cf. Cheviot 336: The lazy boy makes a stark auld man ; Nicolson 334 : A lazy youth will make a brisk old man. 2. A smart boy makes a lazy man. 3. As proud as a boy with a new toy. Cf. Wilstach 303 : Proud as a boy with a brand-new top. 4. Like the boy the calf ran over. Richard M. Johnston, Old Times in Middle Georgia (N. Y., 1897) 95 : Do? why, they was both in the sitooation of the fellow the calf runned over. They was both of 'em speechless, and had nothin' to do nor say ; J. N. Tidwell, "A Word- List from West Texas," PADS 11 (1949) 13. Brain. An idle brain is the devil's workshop. Apperson 321 ; Bradley 69; Hardie 464; Oxford 312; T B594. Branch. There is something dead up the branch. Hanford 176 (Missouri). Brass, i. As bold as brass (2). A])person 59; Berrey 299.5, 351.7; Hyamson 56; Partridge 75; Wilstach 28. 2. As brazen as brass (2). Green 18. Bray. As hot as Bray's love. Bread. 1. P.reafl is the staff of life. I'errev 91.7 ; Oxford 61 • T BO 1 3. 2. Bread of (k'i)endence is bitter (MS better) food. Davi- doff 92. 3. Butter your ])read. 4. Don't fall oul witli vdur bread and butter. Cf. .Apperson 518: To (iuarrel with one's bread and butter; Berrey PROVERBS 375 294.2; Hvamson 62; NKD Su])])!., Bread and butter, 2; Oxford 528. 5. First bread and tben tbe bride. Cbampion 23radley 63 ; Green 24 (verbatim) ; North- all 16. Cf. Apperson 64; ("hami)ion 153 (654) (French) ; Oxford 167. 7. He knows on which side his bread is buttered. Apperson 64; Hyamson 62; Oxford 346; Partridge 90; Tavlor 16; T S425. Bread tray. A dirty bread tray tells of a wasteful wife. Breakfast. Sing before breakfast, you cry before supper. A])person ^y;^; Green 25; Hyatt 149; Oxford 591; T Mi 176. Breeches. i. Caught with the breeches down. Caught with the britches down. Emmett Gowen. Old Hell (N. Y., 1937) 56- Cf. Berrey 167.7. ^7^-3 (pants). 2. He lent his breeches but cut ofi the bottoms. National Proverbs: Ireland 11: If you give the loan of your breeches, don't cut ofif the buttons. Cf. Joyce 115: If you give away an old coat don't cut ofif the buttons. 3. She wears the breeches in that family. Apperson 66 ; Berrey 220.5, 446-15; Hyamson 62; NED Breech, 2; Oxford 697 ; Partridge 91 ; T B645. 4. Don't get too big for your britches. Too big for his breeches. Allison 99; Berrey 301.3.5; Green 34; Talia- ferro 47, 95 ; Woodard 34. Breeze, i. As free as the breeze. \\'ilstach 159. 2. As gentle as the breeze. \\'ilstach 171. Brick. I. As hard as a brick. WihtSich ig;^; Yaukee Phrases 115- 2. As heavy as a ton of bricks. 3. As solid as a brick. 4. Fell like a ton of bricks. Irvin S. Cobb. Murder Day by Day (Indianapolis, 1933) 156. 5. Swims like a brick. Partridge 92. 6. You can't make bricks without straw. Hvamson 63; Oxford 64 ; T B660. Bridge. Never cross a bridge until you get to it (4). Apper- son 123; Bradley 63; Hardie 462; ( )xford 119. 3/6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Bridle. Put a bridle on yer tongue. Cf. Apperson 67 : A bridle for the tongue is a necessary piece of furniture. Brier, i. As sharp as a brier (2). DAE Brier. 2; Wilstach 342. 2. As smart as a brier (2). Atkinson 88. Broad. It's as broad as it is long. Apperson 68-9 ; Green 26 ; Hyamson 64; Partridge 94; Taylor 17 ; T B677. Bronco. Buck like a bronco. Bond 46. Broom, i. A new broom sweeps clean (4). Apperson 443: Berrey 867.3, cf . 854.8 ; Bradley 64 ; Hardie 461 ; Hyamson 250; Oxford 450; Taylor 17; T B682. A new broom sweeps clean, but an old brush knows the corners. Beckwith 87 : New broom sweep clean, but de old broom know de corner; Champion 158 (165) : An old broom knows the corners of the house (German) ; Cundall 21 (as Beckwith) ; Franck 108: New broom sweep clean, but ole one fine de corner. Cf. Collections Relating . . . to Montgomeryshire, xi (1878) 311 (416) : but it's the old one that picks out the dirt. 2. As stiff as a broom. 3. Jump the broom (get married) (2). Thinks I orter be ready to jump the broom when he whistles (i.e.. marry him). Broom-jumping day (wedding-day). Berrey 359.4; Hyamson 206; Oxford 66-7; Partridge 96. cf. 48. besom, 474, leap. Brother. He sticks closer than a brother. He sticks to her tighter than a brother. Hardie 471. Buck (1). Haven't seen you since Buck was a calf. See Hector below. Buck (2). I. As strong as a buck. Cf. DAE Buck, n^ ic: Hearty as a buck. 2. As wild as a buck (2). Apperson 686; T B692 ; Wil- stach 476. Bucket. Kick the bucket (3). Apperson 339; Berrey 1 1 7.1 i.i 8; Hyamson 208; Oxford 334; Partridge 100; Taylor 17. Buckle. Make buckle and tongue meet. Green 2^ ; NED Suppl.. Buckle, lb; Taliaferro 249. Cf. Apperson 70-1 (thong) ; Oxford 67; T B696. Bug. I. As snug as a bug in a rug. Apperson 585; Berrey 279.8 ; Hardie 468 ; Oxford 602 ; Wilstach 367. 2. As warm as a bug in a rug. Cf. Berrey 37.12: Cute as a bug in a rug. 3. Let me put a bug in your ear (warn). .Mlison 98; Ber- rey 197.6, 202.6, 206.5; Hardie 466. P K O V K R B S 377 4. Like a hug aryuing with a chicken. Cf. Heckwilh 26: Cockroach neher in de right befo' fowl; Chenet 131: Ravete pas jam gangnin raison douvant poules ; Cham- pion 545 (19) : In a court of the fowls the cockroach never wins his case (Kongo, Africa) ; Franck 99 (as Beckwith) ; Hearn 33: Ravette pas jamain tini raison douvant poule (llearn notes that he found this proverb in all the Creole dialects which he examined) ; J. Mel- ville and F. S. Herskovits, SHrinaui Folk-Lorc (N. Y., 1936) 461 (57) : I am cockroach, the hen will never say 1 am right; Parson, Antilles 459 (34)- 5. When bugs give a party they never ask the chickens. Beckwith 25 : Cockroach mek dance him no axe fowl ; Chenet 130: Quand ravetes danser, yo pas jam invite poules; Cundall 30 (as Beckwith); Franck 99 (as Beckwith) ; H. M. Finlay, "Folklore from Eleuthera, Bahamas," Journal of American Folklore, xxxviii (1925) 294; Parsons, Antilles 457: When cockroach give party he no ax fowl (Trinidad), 464: When cock- roach hab dance, him no ax fowl (Granada). Cf. Fuller 116 (3871): Pheasants are fools, if they invite the hawk to dinner. Buggy whip. A buggy whip can't take the place of corn. Champion 622 (61) : The buggy whip can't make up for light feed in the horse-trough (American Negro). Cf. Blakeborough 242 : Mair kindness, less lip. Mair corn, less whip ; Davidoff 206 : \\'hip the horse with oats, not with a whip (Yiddish). See Currying below. Bull. I. As awkward as a bull in a china shop (2). Apper- son '/2\ Hardie 470; Hyamson 66; NEL) Bull, ic; Ox- ford 68; Wilstach 12. 2. As hard as a bull's horn. Cf. Apperson 284-5 : As hard as horn. 3. As strong as a bull. Wilstach 395. 4. Bellow like a bull. Oxford 33; Wilstach 17. 5. Take the bull by the horns (6). Apperson 72; Berrey 208.2, 256.6; Hardie 471 ; Hyamson 336; Oxford 641 ; Taylor 17. Bullace. As bright as a bullace. Nh2D liullace, 1. cpiot. c 1430. Bullet. I. As hard as a bullet. Green 19. 2. As swift as a bullet. NED Swift, i, quot. a 1593. Bump. I. As useless as a bimip on a log. 2. Like a bump on a log. DAE Log. 3b; Green T^y \ Hardie 471. See Knot (2) below. Business, i. Business before pleasure. Bradley 64. 3/8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2. Everybody's business is nobody's business. Apperson 187; Bradley 64; NED Business. 11, quot. 1709; Oxford i79;TB746, W843. 3. ]\Iind your own business. Oxford 425; T B752. See Household below. Butcher. As fat as a butcher. Butter. I. As fat as butter. Apperson 205; Berrev 39.12; Green 23 ; Oxford 193 ; T B767 ; \\'ilstach 135. 2. As yellow as butter. Dorothy Erskine, The Crystal Boat (N. Y., 1946) II. Cf. Apperson 53: Blake" (yellow) as butter. 3. Melted like hot butter. Cf. Lean 11, 790: To melt like butter in a sow's tail ; T B776. 4. So sweet butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Apperson 74-5; Hardie 469; Hyamson 68; Oxford 136; Partridge 115; Taylor 18 ; T B774. Butter-ball. i. As fat as a butter-ball (4). Allison 95 ; Brew- ster 261 ; NED Suppl., Butter-ball, i. 2. As round as a butter-ball. J. C. Harris, Uncle Remus and His Friends (Boston, 1892) 14-5. Butterfly. As gay as a butterfly. Green 23; Wilstach 169. Button. I. A person that will not pick up a button will not pick up a dollar. Cf. Hislop 152: He that wina lout and lift a preen will ne'er be worth a groat. 2. As bright as a button. Hardie 467; Yankee Phrases 115. 3. As round as a button. The Whimsical Jester (London, 1784) 83. 4. As slick as a button. Atkinson 89; Berrey 317.6. Button hole. Take one down a button hole lower. Apperson 618; NED Button-hole, ib; Oxford 640; Partridge us; T P181. Buy. Better buv than borrow. Apperson 42 ; Oxford 39 ; T B783. Buzzard, i. As ragged as a buzzard. Green 20. 2. As sick as a buzzard. 3. Stinks like a buzzard. Cf. Bond 54 : To smell like a buzzard; G. W. Harris 171: I b'leve theyse [buzzards] not blam'd fur enything much, only thar stink. 4. Vomit like a buzzard. Cf. B. A. Botkin, Lay My Bur- den Down (Chicago, 1945) 56: Yes sir. that's the way turkey buzzards does. They pukes on folks to keep them away, and you can't go near 'cause it he's so nasty. Buzz saw. Snores like a buzz saw. Cf. J. C. Harris. Nights with Uncle Renins (Boston, 1883) 331: sno'in lak a saw-mill. PROVERBS 379 By-gones. Let by-gones I)e hy-gones. Apperson 76; Bradley 64; Hyamson 69; Oxford 74; T B793. Cake. I. As good as cake. 2. You cannot eat your cake and have it too (2). Apperson 178; Bradley 64; Hardie 465; Hyamson 70; (3xford 167 ; T C15. 3. Your cake is dough (2). Apperson ']'] \ Berrey 219.7, 336.5; DAE Cake, 3a; Hyamson 70; Oxford 75; Part- ridge 120; Taliaferro 117, 127; T C12. Calf. I. Bawls like a calf. P>ond 46; Taliaferro 205 (blated). 2. I'd rather be a sedate calf than a frisky cow. 3. If you want to catch the calf, give a nubbin to the cow. C'f. Apperson 135, daughter (2). 4. Looks like a dying calf. Bond 46. 5. Sound like a dying calf. Calm. Always a calm before a storm. The calm before the storm, .\pperson 604; Taylor 18; T C24. Camel. As thirsty as a camel. Bond 51. Candle, i . C"ouldn't hold a candle to him. Hyamson 72 ; Oxford 298: Partridge 123; Taylor 18; T C44. 2. Get the candles lighted before you blow out the match. Cundall 26 : See de candle light bef o' you blow out de match. 3. He burns the candle at both ends. Never light the candle at both ends. Apperson 78; Berrey 313.2 ; Hyamson 72 ; Oxford 70 ; Partridge 1 1 1 ; T C48. 4. W^ill neither work nor hold the candle. Green 35. Cf. Apperson 134. dance (13): Hislop 124, 335: He'll neither dance nor baud the candle. Candle maker. The candle maker's death is dark. The death of a candle maker is dark. Cf. Champion 618 (3) : He who has to die dies in the dark, although he sells candles (Colombian). Candy. As easy as taking candy from a baby. Berrey 255.4; Partridge, Suppl. 993. Cannon. As loud as a cannon. Taliaferro 161, 163 (louder than). Canoe. Paddle your own canoe (2). Let him paddle his own canoe (2). Berrey 217.3; Bradley '?>'/; Hardie 464; Hyamson 261 ; Partridge 124. 600: Taylor -,2. Cap. I. If the cap fits wear it. Apperson 81 ; Bradley 91 ; Hyamson 73: Oxford 77-8; Taylor 18; Woodard 35. See Shoe (8) below. 3<^0 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2. Set his cap. Berrey 354.4, 358.4 ; Hyamson 73 ; Oxford 576; Partridge 125. Carcass. \Mieresoever the carcass is there will the eagles be also. Apperson 81 ; Matthew 24 : 28 ; Oxford 78 ; Poor Richard 69 ; T C73. Care. i. Better take care before take care comes. Portia Smiley, "Folklore from Virginia, South Carolina, Geor- gia, Alabama, and Florida," Journal of American Folk- lore XXXII (1919) 375: Better take kyare 'fo' take kyare come (South Carolina). 2. Care and sorrow turn a black head white. Fergusson's Scottish Proverbs, ed. Erskine Beveridge (Scottish Text Society, Edinburgh, 1924) 27 (324) : Cair and sorow maks ane soon auld like; T C82. Cf. Christy i, 123: Many cares make the head white (M. Greek). 3. Care killed the cat. Apperson 82; Bradley 64; Hardie 462; Oxford 7^; T C84. Carpenter, i. The worse the carpenter the more the chips. Bohn 328: Hoe slimmer timmerman hoe meerder spaanders. Cf. Thomas Coryat, Crudities (Glasgow, 1905) I, 407 : The best carpenters make the fewest chips ; Fuller 74 (2467) : He's not the best carpenter that makes the most chips; Kelly 146; Lean iii, 484; T C93. 2. You may know a carpenter by his chips. Apperson 82. Carrion. Where the carrion is there will the buzzard (crow) be (2). Cundall 74: Wha' you see carri'n. crow da dey; Hearn 27: Ou y'en a charogne, y'en a carencro (Loui- siana) : Edward Ward, Satyrical Reflections on Clubs, Works, V (London, 1710) 172: Where should the Crows come but where the Carrion's to be found? Cart. He puts the cart before the horse (7). Apperson 83; Bradley 79; Hardie 469; Hyamson 76; Oxford 80; Partridge 130; Taylor 19; T C103. Cartbody. An empty cartbody rattles most. See Wagon (2) below. Carter. As many as Carter had oats (2). This may be used in other states as it is here to denote a large number of anything. Carter is pronounced here c'yarter. (Thomas Smith, writing from Palmyra, Va. ) — Carter's oats. This is a local phrase and comes from the fact that Carter had all of his oats destroyed in a storm. Thus, to have more than Carter had oats, is to have none at all. (Madge Colclough.) — He's got more money than Carter had oats. Payne 297: Carter's oats, . . . usually in expressions of exaggerated comparison. "We had P R O V E R B S 381 more whiskey than Carter had oats." The story goes that Carter of (leorgia in hragging of the yield of a certain oat-held, claimed that tlie oats were so thick that he had to move the fence to find room to stack the hundles ; V. Randolph, "A Word-List from the Ozarks," Dialect Notes, v. part ix (1926) 401: More'n Carter had oats V very large (juanlity ; Publications oj the Folklore Society of Texas, 11 (1923) 15 (Texas, nsed of a large c|uantity). Cat. 1. A cat has nine lives. Apperson 85; llyamson 251 ; Oxford 83 ; Partridge 562 ; T Ci 54. 2. A cat will always light on its feet. Apperson 86. cat (31) : Oxford iiz. 3. Act like a cat in a gale of wind. Ilanford 155 (Maine). 4. As agile as a cat. W'ilstach 5. 5. As antagonistic as cats and dogs. Cf. Apperson 88, cat (64) ; Hyamson 77: Oxford 6; Partridge 132; T C184. See (20) below. 6. As curious as a cat. Berrey 16 1.4. 7. As dark as a black cat. Eleanor A. Blake, The Jade Green Cats (N. Y., 1931) 114. 8. As gentle as a cat. Thornton 11. 902, tote, quot. 1835. 9. As many lives as a cat. Oxford t,77 ; Wilstach 254. Cf. Apperson 85. cat (2) ; Hyamson 251 ; ( Jxford 377. 10. As modest as a cat. Cf. Lean 11, 855: As modest as a big cat at midnight. 11. As quick as a cat. Taliaferro 130. 12. As supple as a cat. 13. As weak as a cat. Allison 97; Green 34; Wilstach 465. 14. Cat on wheels. (Person who does something extraor- dinary.) See Devil (25) below. 15. Cats that swim in the ocean all drown. Cf. Apperson 87 : Never was cat or dog drowned that could see the shore; TCi 59. 16. Don't need it any more than a cat needs two tails. Per- kins 122. 17. Fight like a cat. Georgette Hever, Behold, Here's Poison (N. Y., 1936) 263. 18. He takes to it like a cat to water. T. Downmg. Murder on the Tropic (N. Y., 1935) 120. 19. Looked like a cat with cream. Cf. Apperson 87: Like a cat round hot milk and The cat is in the cream pot; Oxford 83. 20. Quarrel like cats and dogs. Cf. Llyamson 5. See (5) above. 21. Raining cats and dogs (for raining heavily). Rains like 382 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE cats and dogs. Apperson 523; Berrey 71.16; Hardie 471 ; Hyamson 'j'j ; Oxford 531 ; Partridge 134; T C182. 22. See like a cat. Kyng Alisaunder, in H. Weber, Metrical Romances of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Centuries (Edinburgh, 1810) i, 218, 1. 5275. 23. The cat in gloves catches no mice (2). Apperson 87; Oxford 83 ; Poor Richard 147 ; T C145 ; Way to Wealth 411. 24. There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking her with butter. Stuart Palmer, The Puszlc of the Silver Persian (N. Y., 1934) 50; Woodard 35. Cf. Apperson 88 (cream), 494, pig (22); Bradley 64: There are more than one way to kill {or skin) a cat. There are more ways of killing a cat than by choking her with bullets. See Dog (50) below. 25. When the cat's away the mice will play (7). Apperson 89; Bradley 64; Hardie 465; Oxford 84; Taylor 20; T Ci75- Catch. Catch as catch can. Apperson 89; Berrey 355.1, 367.4; Green 21 ; Oxford 85; T C189. Catching. It's catching before hanging. Green 32 : There is catching before hanging. Caterpillar. xA.s fuzzy as a caterpillar. R. P. Bond, "More Animal Comparisons," American Speech, iv (1928-29) 123. Cattle. Raining like cattle with their horns down. Cf. Han- ford 159: Come with one's horns down ; Tennessee Folk- lore Bulletin, IX (1943) 10: It will rain like cows fight- ing before morning. Cellar. As dark as a cellar. Wilstach 80. Cemetery. As quiet as a cemetery. Chaff. I. As light as chaff. Cf. NED Chaff, ly, quot. a 1340. 2. Scattered like chaff before the wind. Wilstach 336. Chalk. I. As white as chalk. Taylor 67; Wilstach 471. 2. No more alike than chalk's like cheese. Apperson 90 ; Lean 11, 822; Oxford 87; T C218. Chameleon. As changeable as a chameleon. R. P. Bond. "More Animal Comparisons," American Speech, iv (1928-29) 123; T C221. Charity, i. As cold as charity. Apperson 106; Berrey 276.9; Green 18; Oxford loi ; T C249; Wilstach 61, 505. 2. Charity begins at home. Ai)person 91-2; Bradley 65: Hardie 462; Oxford 88; T C251. PROVERBS 383 Cherry, i . As red as a cherry. Apperson 526 ; T C277. 2. l.ips like cherries. W'ilstach 236, 237. Cheshire cat. (irinning like a Cheshire cat. Apperson 94; Uerrey 278.10; CJreen ^2; Hyamson 82; Oxford 267-8; I'artridge 145; W'ilstach 188. Chick. As downy as a chick. Snapp 70 (252). Chicken, i . .As (fuare as a chicken hatched in a thunder storm (2). 2. As tender as chicken. IJerrev 265.4 (a) ; Green 31 (a) ; Lean 11, 882 (a) ; T C287(;i). 3. As warm as a chicken in a hasket of wool. See Hen (6) below. 4. As young as a spring chicken. Cf. DAE Spring chicken, 2. 5. Chickens come home to roost. Bradley 65 ; Green 21 ; Hardie 462. Cf. Apperson 130; Berrey 56.3; Oxford 124-5; Taylor 21. See Curses and Trouble (6) below. 6. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. Ap- person 95 ; Bradley 65 ; Hardie 462 ; tiyamson 99 ; Oxford 112; Partridge 146-7; T C292. 7. Like a picked chicken in a rain storm. 8. Runs around like a chicken with its head cut off. Ber- rey 266.5, -•^4-4; W'oodard 41. Child. I. A burnt child dreads the fire (6). Apperson y^; Bradley 65 ; Hardie 461 ; Oxford 70; Taylor 21 ; T C297. 2. As innocent as a child. Lean 11, 844; Wilstach 216. 3. Children and fools tell the truth (3). Apperson 96, cf. 22=,: Bradley 76; Oxford 92; Taylor 21 ; T C328. 4. Children repeat what their parents say. Cf. Apperson 96 : What children hear at home soon flies abroad, 95 : The child says nothing but what it heard by the fire ; Oxford 91, 92;TC300. 5. Children should be seen and not heard (2). Apperson 96; P>radley 65; Oxford 92-3; T M45. 6. Children thrive better after they are christened. Lean II, 117: It is further believed that children will not thrive if they are not christened. 7. Every child is perfect to its mother. Cf. Aj)])erson 473: There's only one pretty child in the wc^dd. and every mother has it; Bohn 156: Jeder Mutter Kind ist schon ; Paige 160: .-\ mother almost always thinks her young ones handsomer than any body else's. 8. It's a wise child that knows his own mother in a bathing- suit. Cf. Apperson 697 ; Oxford 717. N.C.F.. Vol. I, (26) 384 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Chimney, i. As black as the back of the chimney. Green 18 (verbatim). 2. Smokes Hke a chimney. W'ilstach 365. Chip. I. As dry as a chip (chips) (3). Apperson 168; T C351 ; Wilstach 105. 2. Chip off the old block (3). Apperson 97; Berrey 16.1, 383.2; Hyamson 84; Oxford 93; Partridge 65; T C352. 3. He carries a chip on his shoulder. Berrey 348.6.8 ; NED Suppl., Chip, 8. Chipmunk. As gay as a chipmunk. Christmas, i. A green Christmas, a white Easter. Apperson 98, Christmas (11); Taylor 21-2. 2. As slow as Christmas (2). Cf. Apperson 99: Coming — like Christmas ; Nicolson 366 : Christmas-day will come (said of persons long of coming) ; Oxford 104. 3. I wouldn't have it on a Christmas tree. People say. "I wouldn't have such and such a thing" on a Christmas tree or as a gracious gift. Bernice K. Harris, Folk Plays of Eastern Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1940) 22. Cf. Part- ridge 327: Would not have as a gift. See Gift (2) below. Church. As quiet as a church. Cortland Fitzsimmons, No Ulfncss (N. Y., 1932) 134. Circumstances. Circumstances alter cases. Apperson 100; Bradley 66; Oxford 95. Clam. I. As close-mouthed as a clam. Wilstach 60. 2. As talkative as a clam. Cf. D. Q. Burleigh. The Kristiana Killers (N. Y., 1937) 116: as gabby as a clam. 3. As tight as a clam (2). Paul Haggard, Dead is the Door-Nail (Philadelphia. 1937) 210. Clap. The clap is no worse than a bad cold. David L. Cohn, God Shakes Creation (N. Y., 1935) 119: These (vene- real) illnesses are regarded as having the transiency and triviality of a common head cold. Cf. Partridge 168, cold, have a bad. Clapper. Her tongue moved like a clapper in a cowbell. Cf. NED Clapper, 3, quot. 1599, 4; Oxford 664: Her tongue runs like the clapper of a mill. Clay. I. As cold as clay (2). Apperson 106; Green 22; NED Clay-cold; T C406; Wilstach 61. 2. Beat clay to make a pot. Cf. Christy i. 150: If the clay is not beat, it does not become potter's clay (M. Greek), 151 : Unless the clay be well pounded, no pitcher can be made (Latin). PROVERBS 385 Cleanliness. Cleanliness is next to (lodliness. Apperson loi ; I-.radley 66; Hardie 462; Oxford 96. Clock. I. As regular as a clock (2). Atkinson 90; Hendricks 47- 2. As steady as a clock. W ilstach T^S^y. Clockwork, i. As smooth as clockwork. Cf. Snapp 94 (34) : to go like clock work. 2. Works like clockwork. l<"rank H. Shaw, Atlantic Mur- der (.N. Y.. 1933) 17. Clothes. 1. A man is not known by the clothes he wears. Cf. Bradley 66 ; You can't judge a man by his clothes. 2. Any clothes will fit a naked man. Gaelic Journal, v (1894) y^: Any thing will fit a naked man. Cf. Spence 213: It's ill ta gi'e a naked man claes. 3. Clothes make the man. Apperson 13. apparel; Bradley 66; Oxford 12; Taylor 22, 80; T A283. 4. Could iron clothes on his coat tail. (W'^orking in a hurry.) Cf. B. A. Botkin, Lay My Burden Down (Chicago, 1945) 226: She went so fast a bird coulda sot on her dress tail; Carolina Humor. Sketches b\ Harden II. Taliaferro. Foreword by David K. Jackson ( Richmond, Va., 1938) 28: away all would go, big and little, Robert so fast that his frock-coat tail would stick out so straight behind that a brimful tumbler of water could be set upon it without danger (jf spilling. 5. Not worth the clothes on his back. Cloud. I. Every cloud has its silver lining. Apperson 572; Bradley 66 ; Hardie 462 ; Oxford 98 ; Taylor 22 ; T C439. 2. Red clouds at night, sailors' delight ; Red clouds at morn- ing, shepherds take warning. Apperson 526-7. Cf. T E191. Clown. As funny as a clown. Wilstach 166. Coal. 1. As black as coal. Apperson 51 ; T C458. 2. As hot as a coal. Apperson 315 (coals) ; Partridge 408 (coals) ; T C462 ; Wilstach 204. 3. As red as a coal of fire. Ricarda Huch, The Perur/a Trial, trans. L. Dictz ( N. Y., 1929) 69: as red as burn- ing coals. 4. ]\ves like live coals. Wilstach 117. Coat. Cut your coat according to your cloth (3). Apj^ersou 131; Green 22; Hardie 462 (sail); Hyamsou 90; Ox- ford 126; Partridge 161 ; T C472. See Garment below. Cock. I. Struts like the cock o' the walk. Hyamson 90; XED Cock, 7; Wilstach 396. Cf. Berrey 402.5. 2. That cock won't fight. r)xford loi. 386 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Cockle burr. Stick as clost as a cockle burr in a sheep's wool. Cf. Atkinson 78: sticking closer than a cockle burr. Cold. Feed a cold and starve a fever. Brewster 265. Stuff a cold and starve a fever (2). If you stuff a cold you'll have to starve a fever. Bradley 66; Oxford 627. Colt. I. A ragged colt may make a good horse. x\pperson 520; Oxford 530; Taylor 23; T C522. 2. As frisky as a colt. Wilstach 165. 3. As skittish as a colt. Atkinson 89 ; Bond 46. 4. As wild as a colt. Green 35. 5. The wildest colts make the best horses. Apperson 687. Come. I. Easy come, easy go. Apperson 365; Berrey 375.3, 549.6; Bradley '/2\ Green 22\ Hardie 462; Oxford 165; Taylor 29; T C533. 2. First come, first served (3). Apperson 214; Bradley 75; Hardie 463 ; Oxford 204 ; Taylor 33 ; T C530. Cf . Bohn 6 : Au dernier les os ; Lean in, 488 ; Spence 223 : They that come last must tak' what's left. Communications. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Apperson 193; Bradley 73; I Corinthians, 15: 33; Ox- ford 180; T C558. Company, i. Good company shortens the road. Apperson 257;TC566. 2. Present company is always excepted. NED Suppl., Present, i. Comparisons. Comparisons are odious. Apperson no; Brad- ley 66; Oxford 106; T C576. Compliment, sb. Compliments cost nothing. Christy, i, 161 : Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them (German); Fuller 33 (1135). Cf. Hearn 25: Merci pas coute arien (Louisiana); Hislop 109: Gude words cost naething. Compliment, vb. Compliment another man's wife and endanger your life. Conscience. A guilty conscience needs no accuser. A guilty conscience speaks for itself. Apperson in ; Oxford 269; T C606. Cooks. Too many cooks spoil the broth (2). Apperson 640; Bradley 67 ; Hardie 465 ; Oxford 665 ; Taylor 23 ; T C642. Coon. A coon's age (2). Berrey 1.2.8. 2.12; DAE Coon's age; Hyamson 96; Partridge 179; Taliaferro 201. PROVERBS 387 Coot. 1. As crazy as a C(K)t (2). Berrey 152.5, 170.7. 2. As drunk as a coot. Ik'rrey 106.7. ^ f • DAE Cooter, lb; Thornton 1. J04, cooter. Cork. Float like a cork. Merry Drollery (1661), ed. J. \V. I'^bsworth (Boston. Lincolnshire, 1875) 107. Cf. Ox- ford 636 : To swim like a cork. Corkscrew. As crooked as a corkscrew (2). Corn. 1. Eatin' their lonj^ corn. (In best financial period.) 2. My corn is in the grass. 3. No corn without chalT and no good without dross. Cf. Apperson 460: No wheat without its chafif; Hislop 293: There's nae corn without cauf ; Oxford 349 : Every land has its laugh (law), and every corn has its chaff (Scot- tish) : T L48; Vaughan 69 (493). 4. You won't git far totin' corn in two half-bushels. Corpse. I. As cold as a corpse. W'ilstach 61 : cold like a corpse. 2. As still as a corpse. Jean Giono. Blite Boy (N. Y., 1946) 23. Costly. The costly is the cheapest in the long run. Fogel 35 : 'S dierscht is immer's wolfelscht. The dearest is always the cheapest. Cf. Apperson 257. good cheap, quot. 1732; Christy i, 36: That which is bought cheap is the dearest; Beckwith 96: Ton de long run de cheapest is de dearest; Franck 104; T C257. Cotton. I. As white as cotton. Tom Powers. Sheba on Trampled Grass (Indianapolis. 1946) 14: As white as a cotton patch. 2. That puts me in low cotton. ( For morbidness or de- pression.) Woodard 20. Cotton stalk. A cotton stalk too close to the weed Will find the hoe gives it no heed. Cf. Champion 623 (114): Heaps of cotton stalks get chopped up from associati(jn with the weeds (American Negro). Cow. I. As awkward as a cow. Allison 95; Berrey 258.4.10; Bond 46. 2. As big as a cow. Bond 46; Hendricks JS- 3. As clumsy as a cow. l>ond 46. 4. As comely as a cow in a cage. Apperson 118; Ilyamson 93; Oxford 104; Partridge 185; T C747 ; Wilst'ach 63. 5. As crooked as a cow's hind leg (2). See Dog (11) below. 6. As dark as the inside of a cow's belly. Cf. Partridge 208 : dark as the inside of a cow. 388 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 7. Cows off yonder have long horns. Victoria Lincoln, February Hill (N. Y., 1934) '/2; Joyce 118: Cows far off have long horns; Mac Adam 260 (232): Cows far from home have long horns ; Nicolson 63 : Far off cows have long horns; O'Rahilly 33 (117). See (9) below. 8. Feed the cow that gives the most milk. 9. Foreign cows wear long horns. (An old Scottish say- ing.) Cf. Bradley 67: Strange cows (stray cows) have long tails. See (7) above. 10. Grows down like a cow's tail. Apperson 119; Green 23; Oxford 268; T C770; Wilstach 189. 11. Like a cow's tail, always behind. Berrey 2.4.15, 8.4; Hyamson 100. Cf. Apperson i, aback, 119, cow (29). 12. Looks like his cow had died. 13. Many a good cow has a bad calf. Apperson 119; Ox- ford 251; T C761. 14. Now I have a cow and a sheep everyone bids me good morrow. Apperson 460; Oxford 181, 580; Poor Rich- ard 81 ; T S307 ; Way to Wealth 411. 15. The cow never knew the value of her tail till she lost it. Apperson 119; Oxford 115; T C749. 16. Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw a cow (or horse) by the tail. Cf. Apperson 72, bull (7), 649, trust (5) ; DAE Bull, ib; Oxford 673 ; T T556. Coward. Better a coward than a corpse. Hislop 57. Cf. T C776. Crab. Live like a crab — all stomach and no head. Cf. Beck- with 39 : De reason crab no hab head a because him hab too good a 'tomach ; Oxford 590 : He is sillier than a crab, that has all his brains in his belly. Crabapple. As sour as a crabapple. Berrey 283.6, 284.6; Blakeborough 230 ; T C783. Crazy. [ ?Not as] crazy as he looks. Cf. Cheviot 161: He's nae sae daft as he lets on. Cream. As rich as cream. Atkinson 88. Creek. As po' as an empty creek bottom. Cf. Blakeborough 232 : Ez poor ez moor-land. Cricket, i. As lively as a cricket (2). Apperson 413. merry, quot. 1918; Green 19; Hardie 468; Wilstach 238. 2. As merry as crickets. Apperson 413; Green 28; Oxford 420; Partridge 517; T (^82 5 ; Wilstach 259. 3. As peart as a cricket. Allison 97; Bond 56; Taliaferro 121. 4. As quick as a cricket. Allison 93. 5. As smart as a cricket (2). Bond 56: smarter'n a cricket. PROVERBS 389 6. As spry as a cricket (-'). I'ond 56. 7. Chirps like a cricket. Wilstach 53. Croesus. As rich as Croesus (2). Apperson 530; Hyamson 102; T C832. Cross-eyed. So cross-eyed that when he cries the tears run down his hack. Atkinson 81 ; W'oodard 36. Crow. I. As hlack as a crow (4). .\pperson 51; Rerrey 32.7; Green 21 ; Hardie 466; Hyamson 48; Oxford 47; T C844; W'ilstach 20. 2. As cunning as a crow. 3. As hoarse as a crow. Apperson 124. 4. As poor as a winter crow. Cf. J. S. Fletclier, The Amaranth Club (N. Y., 1926) 64: as poor as a crow; Perkins 130: poorer than a crow in the spring; Wilstach 297. 298 : As poor as winter. 5. As straight as a crow flies. W'ilstach 392. 6. Crows of a feather will flock together. See Birds (14) above. 7. She cares no more for him than a crow cares for Sunday. Beckwith 76: John-Crow neber care fe Sunday mornin' and You no care more bout it dan John Crow care fe Sunday mornin'; Cundall Jt, (as Beckwith). Cf. Bond 47 : To care as much as a cat does about Sunday ; Brew- ster 262 : He knows as much about as a hog knows about Sunday; Taliaferro 117: I keered no more for 'um than a hog does fur holiday. Crutch, As funny as a crutch. Atkinson 88; W'ilstach 166. Cry. They cry loudest who are least concerned. Those who cry loudest are not always the most hurt. Crystal, i. As bright as a crystal. Roman Dyboski, ed., Songs. Carols, and other Miscellaneous Poems from the Baliiol MS. 354 (Early English Text Society. Extra Series, ci. London. 1908) 5. 1. 21. 2. As clear as a crystal (2). Apperson loi ; Hardie 467; Hyamson 88 ; Taylor 22 ; T C875 ; W'ilstach 58. Cuckoo. As naked as a cuckoo. Apperson 436; Partridge 549. Sec Bird (12) above and Jay (1), Jaybird (2), (3) below. Cucumber, i. As cold as a cucumber. Apperson 113. cool, quot. 161 5; Hyamson 96; W'ilstach 61. 2. As cool as a cucumber (4). Apperson 113; Berrey 269.4; Green 22; Hardie 467; Hvamson 96; Partridge 178; Taylor 23; T C895 ; W'ilstach 69. Cunning. Too much cunning overreaches itself. Cf. Apper- son 640: Too much cunning undoes; T C900. 390 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Cure. What can't be cured must be endured. Apperson 129; Bradley 72; Oxford 124; T C922. Curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat (2). Bradley 64; Hardie 462. Currying, Less currying and more corn. See Buggy whip above. Curses. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. Apperson 130; Green 22; Oxford 124; T C924. See Chicken (5) above and Trouble (6) below. Cush. As soft as cush. Cf. Dx\E Cush : The crumbs and scrapings of cracker or meal-barrels, fried with grease (North Carolina). Daisy. As fresh as a daisy (4). Apperson 235; Green 23; Partridge 301 ; Wilstach 162. Dance. Those who dance must pay the fiddler. Apperson 133; Pearce 241 : The dancer must pav the fiddler ; Vaughan 174 (1218). Dancing master. As polite as a dancing master. Wilstach 297. Darning needle. As fat as a darning needle. Dart. As quick as a dart (2). Wilstach 308. Dawn. ' I. As beautiful as the dawn. Wilstach 15. 2. Darkest before dawn. Apperson 135; Oxford 129; Tay- lor 41 ; T D84. Day. I. As bright as day. Hyamson 63 ; T D55 ; Wilstach 33. 2. As clear as day (2). Apperson loi ; Hyamson 88; T D56; Wilstach 56. 3. As different as day and niglit. Cf. Lean 11, 860: As opposite as day and night. 4. As honest as the day is long (2). Wilstach 202. 5. As light as day (4). Hardie 468; Wilstach 233. 6. As lovely as day. Wilstach 246. 7. As naked as the day he was born. Oxford 442; T B137. See World (1) below. 8. As plain as day. NED Day. B 3. quot. 1883. 9. As sure as the day. Wilstach 402. 10. As sure as the day is long. J. T. Farrell, No Star Is Lost (N. Y.. 1938) 102, 278. 11. As true as the day is long. 12. Come day, go day, God send Sunday (4). (One con- tributor adds: "Describes thriftless, shiftless people.") Apperson 108; Green 22; Oxford 10^; Partridge 172- T D61. P R O V K R H S 391 13. If a fair day take your umbrella. Cf. Apperson 200: In fair weather prepare for foul; Oxford 187. 14 Lay up against a rainv day. Lay up something for a rainv day (6). Apperson 523; Berrey 2.1 376.5; Hyamson 289; NED Rainy. 2b ; Oxford 532 ; T D89. 15. Lose a dav, lose a friend. Cf. Clifton Johnson, IVIwt They Say in New England (lioston. 1896) 70: Ciam a day." and you gain a friend. 16. Save for the sore-foot day. Gaelic Journal, v (1896) 187 (S^)' Hislop 199: Keep something for a sair fit; ^lacAdam 178 (15); Nicolson 223: It's well to lay something by for a sore foot; Oxford 331 : Keep some- thing for the sore foot. Cf. I'atterson 96; Wood 238. 17. The better the day. the better the deed. Apperson 45: Bradley 68 ; Hardie 464 ; Oxford 39 ; T D60. 18. The (lav after finds fault with the work of the night. Cf. Christv I, 213: The day sees the workmanship of the night 'and laughs (M.' Greek); Fuller 166 (5495): What is done\v night appears by day; Robert Her- rick, Poetical JVorks, ed. F. W. Moorman (London, 191 5) 20: Faults done by night, will blush by day; Vaughan 77 : Scofif not at the light For the deed of the night. Daylight. Davlight can be seen through a small hole. Apper- son 136-7. dav; Lean iv. 204; NED Day, B 3, quot. 1580: Such as could see dav at a little hole; Oxford 569;TD99. Dead, sb. i. As mute as the dead. Wilstach 270. 2. As silent as the dead. 3. Let the dead burv the dead. Bradley 68. 4. Speak no evil of the dead. Bradley 68 (ill). Cf. Apper- son 594; Oxford 611 ; T D124. Dead, adj. He's worth more dead than alive. Cf. Apperson 494: Like a pig. he'll do no good alive; Lean 11. 761: Like a churl, no good to any till he be dead; Oxford 637 : He is like a swine, he'll never do good while he lives; Partridge 627; T M1005. Dead men. Dead men tell no tales. Apperson 138. cf. 158. dog (25) ; P.radlev 68; Hardie 462; Oxford 132; Tay- lor 25; T M511. ' Death, i. As certain as death. Yankee Phrases \iS- 2. As clammy as death (2). Wilstach 54. 3. As grim as death. Wilstach 188. 4. As inevitable as death. Wilstach 215. 5. As mute as death. Wilstach 269. 392 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 6. As pale as death (3). Apperson 482; Green 19; Hyam- son 262; T D134; Wilstach 282. 7. As patient as death. W^ilstach 288. 8. As purple as death. Cf. Robert Bloch, The Opener of the Way (Sauk City, Wisconsin. 1945) 295: Weildan rested where he had fallen, face empurpled in death. 9. As silent as death. Apperson 571 ; T D135 ; Wilstach 353. 10. As slow as death. Berrey 54.5. 11. As still as death (2). Frederick I. Anderson, American Book of Murders (N. Y., 1930) 100. 12. As strong as death. Wilstach 396. 13. As sure as death (3). Apperson 611 ; Green 20; Hyam- son 333: NED Suppl., Death, 17; Partridge 212, 849; T D136; Wilstach 401. Deed. i. Deeds, not words. Apperson 141 ; Bradley 68; Oxford 135. 2. Let the deed praise itself. Cf. Oxford 515: Neither praise nor dispraise thyself ; thy actions serve the turn. Deer. i. As fleet as a deer (2). Bond 51 ; Hardie 467. 2. As swift as a deer. Bond 51. 3. Runs like a deer. Oxford 552. Delay. Delay is dangerous. Apperson 141-2; Oxford 136; T D195. Dependence. Don't put no 'pendance in dead wood. Don't put no 'pendance in dead wood or a wind. Desert. As dry as a desert. Wilstach 105. Devil. I. As bad as marrying the devil's daughter and living with the old folks. Apperson 142; Oxford 411; Part- ridge 216. As crazy as the devil. Berrey 152.5. As cute as the devil. Green 18. As hot as the devil. Whiting 211. As mad as the devil. Whiting 212. As mean as the devil (2). Whiting 212. As naughty as the devil. As quick as the devil. As sorry as the devil. As ugly as the devil (2). Apperson 658; Hyamson 350; Wilstach 439. As wicked as the devil. Drive like the devil. Whiting 213. Feel like the devil. WHiiting 213. Fights like the devil. Give the devil his due. Api)erson 143; Bradley 68; Hyamson 113; Oxford 239; T D273 ; Whiting 205. !• R O V K R B S 393 1 6. Great cry but little wdoI. as tin- devil said when he sheared his hogs. "From the ancient mystery play wherein the devil is shown in the comic situation of shearing a squealing pig. much to the delight of the audience. Not sure that it is mitive N. C. Consider." [It is not native to North Carolina, nor is the episode found in the mystery plays. J Apperson 428, 432 ; 1 lyam- son 103; Oxford 263-4; Partridge 196. 396. cf. 532, more sauce. 964, wool; T C871. 17. He and the devil drink out of the same jug. Cf. Kelly 378: You and he pishes in one Nut Shell; T O17. 18. He is between the devil and the deep blue sea. Apper- son 143; Berrev 256.13; Hardie 470; Hyamson 113; Oxford 138; T'D222; Whiting 203. 19. He swapped the devil for the witch. Green 31. 20. Like the devil before day. 21. Looks like the devil. Berrey 38.4; Whiting 213. 22. Looks like the devil a-horseback. 23. Room looks like the devil has had a fit in it. 24. Runs like the devil. Berrey 53.11; Whiting 213; W'il- stach 330. 25. She's a devil on wheels. Whiting 217. See Cat (14) above. 26. Speak ( talk) of the devil and he will appear (4). Apper- son 145; Hardie 464; Oxford 643-4; Partridge 216; T D294 ; Whiting 206-7. Speak (talkj of the devil and his imps will appear (5). Bradley 68; Green 31. Talk about the devil and you'll see his smoke. 27. The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. The devil can quote scripture. Apperson 145; Bradley 69; Ox- ford 138-9; T D230; Whiting 207. 28. The devil is not as black as he is painted. Apperson 147; Bradley 69; Hyamson 113; Oxford 141; Taylor 26; T D255 ; Whiting 207-8. 29. The devil is old and knows a lot. Lean iv. 117; NED Devil, 22n, quot. 1581 : The Proverbe. that the divell is full of knowledge, because he is olde ; Oxford 141; T D246. 30. The devil is whipping his wife. If the sun shines when it is raining, the Devil is beating his wife. Apperson 150, devil (III) ; Green 25; Hyatt 2^ (687-9) : Oxford 532; Parler 80; Partridge 216; Taylor 26 (grand- mother); T S973; "A Word List from the South," Dialect Notes, v, part 11 (1919) 36 (North Carolina). 394 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 31. The devil knows his own. Cf. Apperson 696: A wise man knows his own; Lean iv, 115: The deil's aye gude to his ain ; T D245. 32. The devil places a pillow for a drunken man to fall on. Champion 616 (2) (Canadian). Cf. Apperson 146: The devil has no power over a drunkard, 168: Drunken men never take harm. 33. The devil to pay and no pitch hot (2). Apperson 148; Hyamson 114; Oxford 142; Partridge 215 (deuce), 216, 611 ; Whiting 217-8. 34. The devil will take care of his own. Oxford 140; Whit- ing 207. Cf. Apperson 146. 149. See (31) above. 35. \\'hatever goes over the devil's back will have to go under his belly. Cf. Apperson 150: What's got over the devil's back is spent under his belly; Bradley 69; Oxford 260; T D316. 36. When the devil was sick, The devil a saint would be; When the devil got well, The devil a saint was he. Apperson 148-9; Bradley 69; Hyamson 114; Oxford 142; Taylor 26-7; T D270; Whiting 208-9. Most ex- amples read monk for saint. 37. Works like the devil. Whiting 214. ^8. You might as well eat the devil as drink his broth. Apper- son 144, devil (32); Oxford 166; T 0291; Woodard 36 : Not willing to eat with the devil, but willing to eat his broth. Dew. I. As fresh as the morning dew. Wilstach 162. 2. As soft as the dew. NED Dew, i, quot. a 1400; Wil- stach 369. 3. As sparkling as the dew. Cf. Wilstach 377: Sparkling like dewdrops. Diamond, i. As hard as a diamond. NED Diamond, ib. 2. It takes a diamond to cut a diamond. Apperson 151; Bradley 69; Hyamson 115; Oxford 144; T D323. Dick. I. As quare as Dick's hatband which went around nine times and wouldn't tie. Apperson 151; Hardie 468; Hyamson 115; Oxford 144; Partridge 219. 378; Taylor 24; Wilstach 308. 2. As tight as Dick's hatband (5). Berrey 106.7, 37^-7', Oxford 144; Wilstach 426. 3. Dick and the wheel in a tight place. Dickens, i. As hot as the dickens. Cf. Whiting 245. 2. As tired as the dickens. Wilstach 427. Die, sb. I. As straight as a die. Hyamson 330; NED Die, 2f ; Wilstach 392. 2. As true as a die. NED Die, 2f ; Wilstach 435. PROVERBS 395 Die, vb. I. A man can die Init once. Oxford 400-1 ; Taylor 2. lie tliat dies pays all debts. Api)er.S()n 151 ; .Shakespeare, Tciiil^cst. Ill, 2; T D148. 3. You will die when your time comes and not before. Green 36 (^ verbatim). Cf. Cheviot 385: We maun a' dee when our day comes. Dime. As thin as a dime. Cf. Lean 11. 884: As thin as a groat. Dimple. A dimple on the chin. A devil within. Bergen i. 32; Cannell 32; Hyatt 141 (2890). 189 (4013) (wart). Dinner. i. One thing to run for your dinner and another for your life. 2. The dinner bell's always in tune for a hungry man. Champion 624 (153): The dinner-bell's always in tune ( .\merican Negro). Dirt. I. As cheap as dirt (4). Dirt cheap (3). Berrey 21.14. 351.15; Hyamson 116; Partridge 143; Wilstach 50. 2. As common as dirt (2). Green 18; Wilstach 64. 3. As easy as dirt. 4. As mean as dirt. Dorothy Bennett, Murder Unleashed (N. Y., 1935) 117. 5. As rich as dirt. Cf. Edward Ward, The Wand'ring Spie, Part II (London, n.d.) 66: Who gains most Dirt, most Riches gathers. 6. As rotten as dirt. \\'ilstach 327. 7. As weak as dirt. Disease. As well to die with the disease as with the remedy. Cf. Oxford 5^8: The remedy is worse than the disease; T R68. Dish. As easy to lick as a dish. Partridge 253: easy as to lick a dish; T D363. Cf. Apperson 362, lie, vh. (3); Cheviot 129: He can lee as weel as a dog can lick a dish ; Wilstach 108: Easy as for a dog to lick a dish. Dishrag. As limber as a dishrag (2). Berrey 35.8; Payne 346; Woofter 359. Dishwater. As common as dishwater. Green 18; Patterson viii. Dispositions. Evil dispositions are early shown. Ditcher. Eats like a ditcher. Cf. Oxford 197: To feed like a farmer ; T F62. Do. I. Do as I sav. not as I do. Apperson 154; Oxford 148; Pearce 241 ; Taylor 27-8; T D394. 396 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2. Do it or let it alone. 3. Do it, then talk about it. 4. Do or die. Davidoff 90; NED Suppl.. Do, 16. 5. Never do anything of which you are ashamed. Christy I, 165- 6. When a thing is done it's done. Apperson 468, 625 ; Oxford 154; Snapp 103 (35) ; T T200. 7. You never know what you can do till you try. Oxford 344-5; Snapp 103 (2,7) '. You can never tell until you've tried. Dodo. I. As dead as a dodo. Berrev 233.12, 276.8 ; Hvanison 118. 2. As extinct as a dodo, ^^'ilstach 116. Dog. I. A barking dog seldom bites (2). A dog that barks seldom bites. Barking dogs don't bite. Barking dogs rarelv bite. Apperson 157; Bradley 71; Hardie 462; Oxford 23 ; Taylor 28 ; T B85. 2. A bull dog in trouble welcomes a puppy's breeches. Par- sons, Antilles 464 : \\'hen bulldog hab trouble puppy breeches fit e. Cf. Bates 40: Trubble catch man. monkey breeches fit him. 3. A dead dog will not bite. Apperson 1^8, dog (25), quot. 1667; T D448. 4. A dog in the manger that neither eats or lets others eat. Apperson 160; Hardie 469; Hyamson 11 8-9; Oxford 151 ; Partridge 231 ; Taylor 28; T D513. 5. A dog is man's best friend. A man's best friend is his dog. Victor Bridges. The Girl in Block ( N. Y., 1927) 28. 6. A lean dog for a long chase. Bradley 71 ; Green 17. Cf. Apperson 356 : A lean dog for a hard road ; Oxford 357. 7. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Apperson 376 ; Bradley 71; Oxford 378; Taylor 28; T D495. •''^ee Ass (1) above. 8. An old dog barks sitting down. Champion 618 (4) (Colombian). Cf. Cundall 43: Darg ebber so ole, him no forget sidun. 9. Any dog knows better than to chew a razor. Beckwith 126: You never see daag nyam [eat] razor; Cundall 40 (chew). 10. As cold as a dog's nose (2). W'ilstach 6r. Cf. Apper- son 157: A dog's nose and a maid's knees are always cold; Nicolson 192: Wind under a sail, and a dog's nose, are two of the coldest things ; Oxford 152 ; T D522. 11. As crooked as a dog's hind leg (8). Apperson 122; Ber- p R o V f: R B s 397 rey 42.3, 311.3; (irccn iS; llardie 4^)7 ; I'artrid^e 231, cf . 837 ; \Vilstach y^. Sec Cow (5) al)ove. 12. As drunk as a dog. Cf. Berrey 106.7: dojj^-drunk ; Taliaferro 254. 13. As faithful as a dog (2). W'ilstach 130. 14. As humble as a dog. I'ond 44: Koch i, 186. Cf. Lean II. 843: As humble as a spaniel. 15. As hungry as a dog (3). Apperson 318; Uerrey 95.6. 16. As keen as a hunting dog. 17. As lazy as a dog. Nicolson 142 (old dog). Cf. Apper- son 355 ; Oxford 355 ; Partridge 473. 18. As many as a dog has fleas. More than a dog has fleas. Cf. Hardie 469: full of ideas as a dog is full of fleas, ig. As mean as a dog. Whitney 205. 20. As naked as a yard dog. Paul Green, JVidc Fields (N. Y.. 1928) 239. 21. As pleased as a dog with two tails. Apperson 502, cf. 158, dog (20) ; Green 20 (proud), 29 (proud). 22. As proud as a dog in a doublet. Apperson 157; Oxford i5i;TD452. 23. As shaggy as a dog. Bond 44 (old dog). 24. As sick as a dog. Apperson 569; Berrey 129.8: Green 20: Partridge 767; T D440: Wilstach 351. 25. As thick as hairs on a dog's back. Atkinson 90: Brew- ster 267 ; Wilstach 420 : Woodard 43. 26. As tired as a dog (2). Green t,2 ; Hardie 472; NED Dog, 15m: Nicolson 143. 27. Die like a dog. Oxford 144; I'artridge 219: T D509 ; Wilstach 91. 28. Don't kick a dead dog. William N. Macartney, I'iftv Years a Country Doctor (N. Y., 1938) 115. 29. Enough to make a dog laugh. Apperson 1 59 ; Green 22 ; Hardie 470: NED Dog, 15m: Partridge 231; T H673. 30. Even bad dogs shouldn't bite at Christmas. 31. Every dog has his day (3). Apperson 159; Bradley 70; Green 22 ; Hardie 462; Oxford 151 ; Taylor 28: T D464. Every dog has his day and the bitch her evenings. Cf. Api^erson 159, dog (41), quot. 1896. 32. Every dog to his own vomit. See (48) below. 33. Eollow like a dog. 34. He leads a dog's life. Berrey 282.^; Hvamson 119; NED Dog, I5g. 35. He stays until the last dog is killed. Cf. Berrey 11.9: Until the last cat is hung (to the very end) ; Pearce 230: He'll stay until the last dog's hung: Helen M. Thurston, 398 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "Sayings and Proverbs from Massachusetts," Journal of American Folklore, xix (1906) 122. 36. He who ties a mad dog is Hkely to be bit. Cf. Cundall 79: De man who tie mad darg a de right s'mody fe loose him. 37. If you give a dog a bad (ill) name you had just as well hang him (3). Apperson 159; Bradley 86; Green 26 (verbatim); Oxford 237; W'oodard 36: Give a dog a bad name and everybody will want to kick him. 38. It's a poor dog can't wag its own tail. (First heard in Oxford. N. C., from an old German who came to America around 1850). Cf. Apperson 313: It is an ill horse can neither whinny nor wag his tail; Oxford 316. 39. Keep a dog tied up too long and he'll lose his nose for the trail. 40. Let sleeping dogs lie (2). Apperson 578; Bradley 70; Hardie 463; Hyamson 319; Oxford 362; T W7. 41. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. Bradley 61 ; T D537 ; W'oodard 37. Lie with dogs and you'll catch fleas. Play with a dog and you'll catch fleas. Cf. Apperson 159; Oxford 365; Poor Richard 66. 42. Lies like a dog (2). Berrey 316.3. 43. Like a sheep-killing dog. Bond 44 (ashamed as a) (to look like a). 44. Like a suck-egg dog. Parler 80 : I dee-double-dare you like a suck-egg dog ; Irene Yates, "A Collection of Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings from South Carolina Literature," Southern Folklore Quarterly, xi (1947) 198: as shame-faced as a suck-egg dog. 45. Stinks like a dog. Cf. Samuel Rowlands, Works, ed. S. J. H. Herrtage ( Hunterian Club. 3 vols., Glasgow, 1872-80) II, b, is: Perfum'd as sweet as anv stinking Dog. 46. The dogs follow the man with the bone. O Rahilly 40 (138) : Keep hold of the bone and the dog will follow you. Cf. Apperson 159: If you wish the dog to follow you, feed him. 47. The dog that fetches will carry. Apperson 161 ; Oxford 1 52 ; Woodard 37. 48. The dog will return to his vomit. Bradley 70; Oxford 152; T D455. See (32) above. 49. The hit dog always hollers. The hit dog is always the one that howls. Bradley 71 : The hit dog howls; Smith and Eddins 244: The hit dog is always the one that howls. 50. There are more ways to kill a dog than to choke him PROVERBS 399 with l)uttcr. l-.nulley 70; Koch I, 259. Sec Cat (24) ahove. 51. There's no use to have a doo^ and bark yourself. Apper- son 162; Oxford 329-30; T D482. 52. Treated like a dog. H. Footner, Murder Runs in the Family (N. Y., 1934) 25. Cf. T D514. 53. Works like a dog. Hardie 472. 54. You can't teach old dogs new tricks (4). Apperson 158; Bradley 71 ; Hardie 465 ; ()xf(jrd 645 ; T D500. Doll. As pretty as a doll. Cf. NED Doll, i. quot. 1578. Dollar. I. As bright as a dollar (2). Hardie 467; Wilstach 33- As bright as a new dollar. Berrey I48-5-9, I53-2-5: W'oofter 349. 2. As good as a dollar. 3. As shiny as a new dollar. 4. As smart as a dollar. 5. As solid as a dollar. As solid as a silver dollar. 6. As sound as a dollar (4). Green 20. As sound as a silver dollar. 7. He squeezes the dollar till the eagle screams. Maurice Zolotow. The Great Balsauw { N. Y., 1946) 123; Wood- ard 43 : He's so tight he holds his money till the eagle squeals. Don't-care. Don't care keeps a big house. Bates 42 : Don' care keep big house ; Beckwith 42 ; Cundall 47. Doodle. As drunk as a doodle (3). Cf. DAE Doodle. Doodle bug. Door. I. A creaking door never falls. Green 17. Cf. Apper- son 121: A creaking gate (door) hangs long: Bradley 71; Hardie 461; Oxford 118: A creaking door hangs long on its hinges. 2. As wide as a barn door. A\'ilstach 475. Doorknob, i . As bald as a doorknob. 2. As dead as a doorknob (2). Paul Green, Out of the South (N. Y., 1939) 154; Phoebe A. Taylor, Death Lights a Candle (Indianapolis, 1932) 94. 3. As deaf as a doorknob. Berrey 139.7. Doornail, i. As dead as a doornail (4). .Apperson 137; Berrey 1 17.18, 248.6, 276.8.9; Hardie 467; Hyamson III ; Oxford 131 ; Partridge 210; Taliaferro 58; Taylor 26 ; T D567 ; Wilstach 83. 2. As deaf as a door-nail. Apperson 138; Hvamson in; Oxford 131 ; T D567. N.C.F., Vol. I, (27) 400 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Dormouse. As sleepy as a dormouse. Hvamson 120. Cf. NED Dormouse, i ; T D568. Dose. I. W^ent through Uke a dose of salts. Berrey 53.9.16; Partridge 236, cf. 879; "A List of Words from North- west Arkansas." Dialect Notes, iii, part 11 (1906) 138. 2. Works faster than a dose of croton oil. Cf. Berrey 24.19. Dove. I. As gentle as a dove. W. W. Jacobs. Snug Harbour (N. Y., 1931) 181. 2. As happy as doves. Cf. \\'ilstach 192: Happy as a turtle dove. 3. As harmless as doves. Hyamson 178; T D572. 4. As mournful as a dove. Bond 54. 5. As peaceful as a dove. Bond 54. 6. As white as a dove. Wllstach 470. 7. Coo like a dove. Cf. NED Coo. i. 8. Moans like a dove. Wilstach 263. Down, sb. As soft as down. Hardie 468. Down, adv. Down is not always out. Cf. Snapp 100 (13) : To be down but not out ; Taylor 29. Draft. Don't miss her no more than a cold draft after the door is shut. Drake. As poor as a drake. Dream. As unreal as a dream. Wilstach 446. Drive. Never drive in where you can't turn around. Dropping. Constant dropping wears away the stone. Apper- son 112: Bradley 72: Oxford 107-8: T D618; Way to JVcalth 411. Drops. Small drops make a shower. T D617. Cf. Oxford 405 : Many drops make a shower. Drouth. In a drouth all signs fail. Green 26. See Sign (1) below. Drum. I. As empty as a drum. NED Drum, i, quot. 1778. 2. As hollow as a drum. W'ilstach 202. 3. As tight as a drum (3). Apperson 633; Berrey 106.7; Green 20; Hardie 468; Partridge 243, 885; Wilstach 425 (drum head). Druthers. You can have yer druthers. Berrey 216.3; "Snake River (Missouri) Talk," Dialect Notes, v, part vi (1923) 206. Let him have his ruthers and desires. Duck. I. As slick as a duck's back. Bond 49: slick as a duck. P R O V F R B S 401 2. As \vol)l)ly as a cluck. Bond 49 (wabbly). 3. Flopped like a dying duck. 4. CJot ni' ducks in a row. (Ready; i)reparc(l lo start out; everytbing lined up.) Josepbine I'inckney, Three O'Clock Dinner (N. Y., 1945) 70: get bis ducks in a row before tbe interview. 5. It's no sign of a duck's nest seeing a drake sitting on the fence. Champion 625 (189) : It is no sign of a duck's nest to see feathers on the fence (American Xegro). 6. Swim like a duck (2). Oxford 636; T F328; W'ilstach 414. 7. \\'addles like a duck. NED Waddle. 2b; Wilstacb 460. 8. Walks like a duck. Cf. Roxburghe iv. 526. 1. 30: danc't it like a duck. Duck-puddle. .\s muddy as a duck-puddle. Green 28. Dummern. I lis [ ? Hits] a poor dummern that can't daddy her youngun by hits favor. Cf. Fuller 141 (4676) : The mother knows best, whether the child be like the father ; Kephart 411, where dnnunern is given as a form of i^'0)nan. Dumpling. As round as a dumpling. Lean 11, 869; Wilstacb 328. Dungeon. As dark as a dungeon (2). Green 18; Wilstacb 80. Dust. I. As drv as dust (2). Apperson 168-9; Hvamson 124; NED'Dryasdust; T D647 ; Wilstach 105. 2. Cut the dust. (Go fast.) Cf. DAE Dirt, ib; NED Dirt. 6d. 3. Dust in the wheat and mud in the oats. Cf. Apperson 26: Sow barley in dree, and wheat in pul (mud); Cheviot 290: Sow wheat in dirt and rye in dust; Fuller 127 (4235) ; Lean i. 414. The North Carolina version seems based on a misunderstanding. 4. He who blows dust will find (for bll ) his own eyes. .\pperson 57. blow (8) ; Oxford 53; T D648. Dutch uncle. Talks like a Dutch uncle. Berrey 295.2 ; Hyam- son 126; Oxford 162; Partridge 251. Dyer. Upon the honor of Joe Dyer the Dutchman. ( Csed to express surprise.) Eagle. I. As bald as an eagle. Bond 54. 2. As strong as an eagle. Wilstach 395. 3. As swift as an eagle. Bond 54. 4. Eyes like an eagle. Cf. NED Eagle-eyed. 5. He spreads himself like an eagle. Cf. DAE Spread- eagle. 402 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 6. Like an eagle among crows. Cf. Christy i. 282 : When the eagle is dead, the crows pick out his eyes (German), I, 124: The carrion which the eagle has left feeds the crow. 7. Soared like an eagle. Bond 54. Ear (1). I. Deaf in one ear and can't hear out'n the other (3)- J- C. Harris 88: I'm de'f in one year en I can't hear out'n de udder. 2. In at one ear and out at the other (2). Apperson 469-70; Green 23; Hvamson 126; NED Ear, 3d; Oxford 318; T E12. 3. There are ears on both sides of the fences. Cf. Apper- son 163: There's no down without eyes, no hedge with- out ears, 210, fields, 296, hedge (3) ; Champion 50 (180) : Woods have ears and both sides of the fences (Irish) ; Oxford 199-200. 4. Two ears don't mean you hear twice. Champion 625 ( 197) : One has two ears but one never hears the word twice (Surinam). Ear (2). The heaviest ear of corn hangs its head the lowest. MacAdam 257 (188); National Proverbs: Ireland 79: The heaviest ear of corn is the one that lowliest bends its head ; Nicolson 256 : The heaviest ear of corn bends its head lowest; T E8; Vaughan 237 (1653). Earl of Hell. As black as the Earl of Hell. (Good, not poison.) Partridge 58: Black as the Earl of Hell's riding-boots ; Wilstach 20 : Black as the Duke of Hell's black riding boots. East. East is West, Home is best. Apperson 174; Hislop 84; Oxford 165; Snapp 93 (16). Most examples read "East or West." Eating. As easy as eating. Cf. Paul Green, Wide Fields (N. Y., 1928) 254: sHcker n'eating. Eel. I. As slick as an eel. 2. As sleek as an eel (2). xApperson 579, slippery, quot. 1533; Berrey 257.11 ; Thornton 11, 809. As slick as an eel and twice as nasty. 3. As sHppery as an eel (4). Apperson 579; Berrey 31 1.5, 317.6; Green 30; Hardie 468; Hyamson 320; Oxford 597 ; T E60. Egg- ^- -^s full of conceit as an egg is full of meat. Green 19 (verbatim). Cf. Apperson 179: As full as an egg is of meat; Hyamson 153; NED Egg, 4b; Oxford 230; Wilstach 166: Full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat. PROVERBS 403 2. As like as two fried t'g^s. Cf. K\i\) l\i^g, 4I). (|uots. 161 1, 1638; T E66. 3. Better an egg to-day then a hen to-morrow. Oxford 37; Poor Richard J2 ; T K70. 4. Don't put all yours eggs in one basket. .Vpperson i(So-i ; Bradley yj; Ilardie 462; Hyainsou 128; Oxford 169; T k:89; Don't put too many eggs in one basket. The man who put his eggs all in one basket, should watch that basket. Davidoff 115 (]\lark Twain). 5. He steps like he is walking on eggs. T K91. Cf. llic Best oj Science Fiction, ed. Groff Conklin (N. V.. 1946) 263 : they walked on eggs when the Old Man had that look; Hyamson 128: To tread upon eggs; NED Egg, 4b. 6. So hard up they have to fry the nest eggs when company comes. h>y the nest eggs fur unexpected company. So triflin' she has to fry the nest aigs when company comes. Egypt- I- -^s black as Egypt. As black as Egypt's night. 2. As dark as Egypt (2). Atkinson 89; \\'ilstach 81. Cf. Hyamson 129: Egyptian darkness. 3. As slow as Egypt. Elbow grease. Elbow grease is the best cleaner. I^ll)ow grease is the best polish. It needs a little elbow grease. Apper- son i8r ; (jxford 170. Cf. Hyamson 129; NED Elbow- grease; Partridge 255; T E103. Elephant, i. As awkward as an elephant. Bond 51. 2. As big as an elephant (2). Wilstach iS. 3. As graceful as an elephant. Bond 51. 4. Memory like an elephant. Cf. Jane Allen. / Lost My Girlish Laughter (N. Y., 1938) 182: An elephant never forgets. 5. Remembers like an elephant. Cf. James W. Bellah. Ward Ttcenty ( N. Y., 1946) 47: I'm a rememberer. An elephant. End. I. Can't see farther than the end of your nose (3). Cf. Hislo]) 114: He canna see an inch before his nose. 2. Make both ends meet. Apperson 392 ; Berrey 376.4. 378.3 ; (ireen 28; Hyamson 130; Oxford 58; T E135. 3. Nearly to end of rope. Berrey 117.17, 129.11. 247.4, 262.3. SS4-2. 936.2; Hardie 471; Nb^D Rope. 4I) ; T Ki33- '^ 4. The end of mirth is heaviness. Cf. I'.ohn t,jj: I let einde van de vrolijkheid is het begin van de treurigheid. Enough. I. Enough is as good as a feast (4). Apperson 184-5; Bradley 73; Hardie 462; Oxford 174; T Ei^S. 404 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2. Enough of anything's enough. Apperson 185 ; Taylor 30; TE159. 3. Well enough is soon enough. Apperson 675, well (19) ; T S640. Everything, i. Everything happens for the best. Christy i, 477- 2. Everything in its time. Cf. Apperson 192; Oxford 180. 3. In everything consider the end. Cf. Christy i, 295 : In all undertakings it is necessary to consider the end (La Fontaine). Evil. I. Evil fears the light. Cf. Cheviot 144; Taylor 31: He that doeth evil hateth the light. 2. Of two evils choose the lesser. Apperson 654; Oxford 181 ; Taylor 31 ; T E207. Ewe. As drunk as a ewe. Exception. The exception proves the rule. Apperson 194; Bradley 91 ; Oxford 181-2; Taylor 31 ; T E2i3a. Excuse. A poor excuse is better than none. Apperson 22 ; Bradley 73; Oxford 19; T E214. Experience. Experience keeps a dear school but fools will learn in no other. Apperson 195; Bradley 73; Hardie 463; Oxford 182-3; Poor Richard 116; T E220 ; ]Va\ to Wealth 418. Eye. I. A hungry eye sees far. Patterson 54; T Mi 88. 2. As quick as the eye. 3. As touchous as your eye. 4. Every shet eye ain't sleep. "Folk-Lore from St. Helena, South Carolina," Journal of American Folklore, xxxviii (1925) 229: Every shut eye don't mean sleep; Johnson 161: Ev'ry shut-eye don' mean sleep; Kemp Malone, "Negro Proverbs from Maryland." American Speech, IV (1928-29) 285: Every shut eye ain't asleep; Woodard 42 : Every shut-eye ain't sleep, and every good-by ain't gone (Negroes). Cf. Bohn 147: Es schlafen nicht alle, welche die Augen zu haben. 5. His eyes are biggern'n his belly (3). Apperson 195; Bradley 74; Hardie 472 (stomach) ; Oxford 183; Par- tridge 46; Taylor 31 ; T E261. Your eyes are bigger than your belly. Green 36. 6. Keep your weather eye open. Berrey 121.22; NED Weather-eye ; Oxford 332. 7. No eye like the master's eye. Cf. Apperson 196, eye (9) (13); Oxford 183; T E243. 8. When six eyes meet the story is over. Beckwith 121 : When six yeye meet, 'tory done. . . . i.e., the entrance p R o V i: R B s 405 of a third person breaks up gossip. Cf. Chenet 15 (102) : Quatre ges contre, menti caba. Quatrc yeux se recontrent, le mensonge finit. Eyebrow. The eyebrow is older than the beard. Cundall 49: Yeyebrow older dan beard. Cf. Chenet 6 (36) : Babe blanche dit "moin vie" souci dit li moins vie passe li. La barbe blanche dit "je suis vieille" les sourcils disent qu'ils sont moins vieux qu'elle, 114 (804): Souci pis ancien passer babe, babe blanche envant li. Le sourcil est plus ancien que la barbe, la barbe blanchit avant ; H. H. Finlay, "Folklore from Eleuthera, Bahamas," Journal of American Folklore, xxxviii (1925) 294: Eye winkers older than beard, but when beard come, beard grow the longest. Face. I. A face that would stop a clock. (That is, repel- lant.) Brewster 261 : So ugly her face would stop a clock; Green 17 (verbatim). Cf. B. Q. Morgan. "Simile and Metaphor : Addenda," Dialect Notes, v, part vii (1924) 290: Homely enough to stop a clock; \\'oodard 43 • ^S^y enough to stop an eight-day clock. 2. He spits in his own face. NED Spit, 6b, quot. 1639. Failures. Three failures and a fire make a Scotsman rich. Hislop 305 ; Oxford 654. Faith. I. Faith dares, Love bears. Cundall 50: Fait' dare eberyting, and lub bear eberyting. 2. Us got to take a heap o' things on faith, 'cause us ain't got nobody's say-so. Cf. T L497. Familiarity. Familiarity breeds contempt (2). Apperson 203; Bradley 74; Green 23; Oxford 190; Taylor 32; T F47. Famine. After a famine in the stall. Comes a famine in the hall. Apperson 203, cf. 183, England (i); Oxford 4; T F50. Fart. Like a fart in a whirlwind. No more'n a fart in a whirl- wind. Cf. Samuel H. Adams, A. U'oollcoft, His Life and His World (N. Y., 1945) 71 : The critic (A. W.) cap- tioned his article "Farce in a Gale of Wind." An alert proofreader caught it; Berry 30.3: Not amount to a belch in a gale of wind. Farther. Go farther and fare worse. Apperson 250; Green 23; Hyamson 161 ; Oxford 241 ; T G160. See Look (2) below. Fate. As sure as fate (3). Berrey 164.4; Green 20; NED Sure, adv., 4a; Partridge 894; T h'8i ; Wilstach 401. 406 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Father. Like father, like son (3). Apperson 366; Bradley 74; Hardie 464; Oxford 194; T F92. Fault. There is none without a fault. Apperson 449 : No man liveth without a fault; Nicolson 199: You may go round the world, but you'll not meet a man without fault ; Oxford 178: Every man hath his fault. Feast. I. A feast or a famine. Apperson 553, Scilly ; P. K. Devine, Folk Lore of Newfoundland in Old Words, Phrases and Expressions (St. John's. 1937) 61 ; Green 17; Wood 239. 2. The three feasts due to every man — The feast of bap- tism, The feast of marriage. The feast of death. Cham- pion 51 (208) (Irish). Cf. Gaelic Journal, xvi (1906) 167: The day of your being baptised, married, and buried ; three most important in one's life. Feather, i. As light as a feather (6). Apperson 364; Green 19; Hardie 468; Hyamson 222; Partridge 481 ; T F150; Wilstach 234. 2. Dives like a feather. 3. Fine feathers are lifted when the wind blows. Cf. Bige- low 19: Ce Iher vent ca venter moune ca ouer la peau poule. It is when the wind is blowing that we see the skin of the fowl; Champion 578 (17): A single gust of wind suffices to expose the anus of a hen (Ruanda, Africa) ; Hearn 14 (Trinidad) ; Parsons. Antilles 457 (8), 463 (144); Cundall 58 (579) (also Haitian and Hausa examples). 4. Fine feathers make fine birds. Apperson 21 1-2; Brad- ley 62 ; Hardie 463 ; Oxford 202 ; T F163. Fine feathers do not make fine birds. 5. Like a feather in the breeze. Cf. T F162. 6. That will be a feather in his cap. Apperson 207 ; Berrey 243.1, 261. 1, 301. 1, 650.1 ; Green 31 (verbatim) ; Hyam- son 140; Oxford 197; T F157. 7. When you ain't got but one feather in yer piller don't pizen yer geese. Fence. As ugly as a homemade fence. See Mud fence below. Fence rail. i. As long as a fence rail (2). 2. As thin as a fence rail. Hanford 178. Fewer. The fewer the better. Cf. Apperson 428. more the merrier; Oxford 433; T M1153. See More below. Fiddle, i. As fit as a fiddle. Apperson 217; Berrey 128.3; Hyamson 141; Notes and Queries, 192 (1947) 159-61; Partridge 272; T F202 ; Wilstach 141. 2. As sound as a fiddle. PROVERBS 407 Fiddle chest. As fine as a fiddle chest. Cf. Thornton i, 316: As fine as a fiddle; Yankee Phrases 114- Fiddler. 1. As drunk as a fiddler. Apperson 166; P.errey 106.7; DAE Fiddler, ic; Hyamson 123; Wilstach 105. 2. As drunk as a fiddler's bitch (4). Apperson 166; Green 19; Partridge 273; Woofter 353. 3. As fit as a fiddler. Colin Brooks. The Ghost Hunters (N. Y., n.d. [before 1931]) 112. Field. Don't neglect your own field to plant your neighbor's. Fig. He's not worth a fig. Apperson 456; Berrey 21.3; NED Fig. 4; Oxford 200; Partridge 128, 274; T F211. Fight. He that fights and runs away will live to fight another day. Apperson 211; liradley 74; Oxford 200-1 ; T D79. Figures, i . Figures are not facts. Cf . Chenet 57 : ^a qui na n comptes pas toujou vre. Ce qui est dans les comptes n'est pas toujours vrai. 2. Figures don't lie. Koch 11, 18. Cf. Willoughby Sharp, Murder of the Honest Broker (N. Y., 1934) 13: Fig- ures sometimes — yes, usually — lie. Finger, i . Dressed like a sore finger. Berrey 89.4 ; Partridge 801. 2. Don't burn your fingers when you have tongs. Cham- pion 51 (218) : Why burn your fingers when you have a pair of tongs? (Irish). 3. Fingers were made before forks, so just crack your whip. (First part only): Apperson 212; Oxford 202; Taylor 33 ; T F235 ; W'oodard 38. 4. Keep your fingers out of holes. Cf. Lean in, 384: A fool oft puts his finger in a hole ; T F472. 5. My fingers are all thumbs (of a clumsy person). Apper- son 212; Green 28 (verbatim) ; Hyamson 143; Oxford 202 ; T F233. 6. One finger won't catch fleas. Beckwith 93: One finger can't ketch daag-flea ; Bigelow 31: Nion doigt pas sa pouand puces; Champion 567 (7): One finger alone can't rid itself of lice ( Ndonga, Africa). 570 (15) (Nyang, Africa). 590 (12). 594 (105) (Thonga, Africa); Chenet 35: Gnou sel doete pas jam tue pou; Hearn 38: Yon doegt pas sa pouend pice (Martinique) ; Parsons. Antilles 462 : One finger can't catch flea (Granada). Cf. Cundall 51 : One finger can' ketch louse ; Franck 104. Fingernails. A man iiad better ne'er been born. Than have his nails on Sunday shorn. Cut them on Monday, cut for health, Cut them on Tuesday, cut for wealth. Cut them 408 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE on Wednesday, cut for a letter, Cut them on Thursday, something better. Cut them on Friday, cut for sorrow, Cut them on Saturday, sweetheart to-morrow. For all or part, in various forms, see: Bergen ii. 66; Cannell 33 ; Clifton Johnson, What They Say in New England (Boston, 1896) 58; Oxford 41; Thomas 206: T Nio; Whitney 107. Fire. i. A fire at one end and a fool at the other. Virgil Scott, The Dead Tree Gives No Shelter (N. Y., 1947) 8 : a straw with a light on one end and a fool on the other, that's what he called a cigarette. Cf. Oxford 208: A fishing rod has a fool at one end and sometimes a fish at the other ; Partridge 294 : A fool at one end and a maggot at the other. See J. W. Krutch, Samuel Johnson (N. Y., 1944) 453. for the ascription of a similiar saying to Dr. Johnson. 2. As brisk as a fire. Cf. NED Brisk, id. 3. As hot as fire (3). Apperson 315, cf. 338, Kentshire; Hyamson 191 ; Partridge 408; T F247. 4. As mad as fire (2). Brewster 262. 5. As red as fire (3). Apperson 526; Hyamson 290; T F248; Wilstach 316. 6. Burns like fire. Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melan- choly, 3 vols. (London, 1923), iii, 114 (iii, 11, ii, 3). 7. Fire often sleeps in ashes. Cf. Bohn 181 : Wer Feuer bedarf . suche es in der Asche ; T F264. 8. Like a fire in high grass. 9. Spreads like fire. Wilstach 380. 10. That will be a fire when it burns, as the fox said. Apper- son 214: Fire, quoth the fox, when he p — on the ice; Kelly 184; Lean 11, 744: It will be a fire when it burns, quoth the toad ( ?tod) when he s — t on the ice; T F263. Cf. E. M. Fogel. Supplement to Proverbs of the Pennsylvania Germans (Fogelsville, Pa., 1929) 9 (2016). 11. Works like fighting fire. Hanford 169. Cf. Apperson 711, work (6). 12. You can hide the fire, but what about the smoke? Cham- pion 626 (223) (Jamaican) ; J. C. Harris 151: Youk'n hide de fier, but w'at you gwine do wid de smoke? Fish. I. As cold as a fish. Wilstach 62. 2. As crazy as a fish. 3. As drunk as a fish. Apperson 166; Berrey 106.7; ^ F299; Wilstach 105. 4. As much at home as a fish in water. PROVERBS 409 5. I have other fish to fry. Apperson 216; Hardie 469 (and their tails to butter) ; Hyamson 144; Oxford 207; Partridge 279; Taylor 33; T F313. 6. Like a fish out of water (3). Apperson 216; Hyamson 144; Oxford 206-7; Taylor 33; T F318. 7. Swims hke a fish (2). Hardie 471; Oxford 636; T F328. 8. There are as good fish in the sea as ever were caught. There are as good fish in the sea as out of it. Apperson 216; Bradley 75; Hardie 465; Oxford 206. 9. To drink like a fish (3). Berrey 102.22. 106.3; Green 33; Hardie 469; Hyamson 122; NED Drink, 11; Ox- ford 157; Partridge 278; T F325 ; Wilstach 102. 10. Use a small fish to catch a big one. Apperson 580; T F329. Fishhooks. As crooked as a barrel of fishhooks. Woodard 36. Flash. As quick as a flash (3). Wilstach 308. Flattery. Beware of flattery. Cf. Christy i, 354: Beware of the flatterer. Flea. I . As nimble as a flea. 2. As skinny as a flea. 3. As snug as a flea under a nigger's collar (2). Taliaferro 190 (shirt collar). 4. As weak as a flea. Cf. NED Flea, ib. 5. He would skin a flea for its hide and tallow. He'd skin a flea fur hits hide and taller. Skin a flea fur its hide. Apperson 383, louse; Bradley 75; Koch 11, 42; Oxford 209, 595 ; Partridge 497- Flint. I. As hard as a flint (3). Apperson 284; Green 19; T S878: Wilstach 193. 2. Pick your flint and try again. Flitter. As flat as a flitter. Hanford 162: flat as a flitter. . . . Flitter means fritter (Indiana), cf. 166: honey-spring and flitter tree. Floor. As smooth as a floor. Wilstach 366. Flounder. As flat as a flounder (3). Apperson 218; DAE Flounder. 2; Green 19; Hvamson 146; Oxford 209; I'artridge 283; T F382 ; Wifstach 144. Flour. As fine as flour (MS flower). The l^cst uf Science Fiction, ed. Grofif Conklin (N. Y., 1946) 247. Flower, i. As fragrant as a flower. Cf. Wilstach 158. 2. As sweet as a flower. NED Flower. 3. 3. As welcome as the flowers in May (7). Apperson 673; Hyamson 358; Oxford 211 ; T 1*^390; Wilstach 468. 410 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 4. Like a flower in the hair of a corpse. Cf. Eden Phill- potts, Talcs of the Tenements (N. Y., 1910) 176: Like a flower on a dung-heap. Fly. I . As crazy as a fly in a drum. Cf . Partridge 292 : Like a fly in a tar-box. 2. As thick as flies. Berrey 24.16, 332.9. 3. Buzzing Hke a fly. Wilstach 41. 4. You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a gallon of vinegar. Apperson 220 ; Hardie 462 ; Tay- lor 66 ; T F403. Fly paper. As sticky as fly paper. Cf . Wilstach 388 : Sticks like fly paper. Fly-trap. Mouth like a fly-trap. Cf. NED Fly-trap. 3. Foghorn. Voice like a foghorn. B. A. Botkin, Lay My Burden Down (Chicago, 1945) 234. Folk. Poor folk have poor ways. P^oor folk have poor ways, rich folk hateful ones. Pore folk is got pore ways and rich ones is got hateful ones. Atkinson 85 : Rich people have mean ways and poor people poor ways ; Bradley 88 : Poor folks have poor ways, and rich folks damned mean ones; D. S. Crumb, "The Dialect of Southeastern ^lis- souri," Dialect Notes, 11, part v (1903) 325: Poor folks has poor ways. Food. Better to be in search of food than appetite. Gaelic Journal, vi (1895) 61. Cf. Apperson 506, poor (29) ; Bohn 368 : Fattig Aland soger om Maden, den Rige om Lyst til at aede den ; Hislop 248 : Poor folk seek meat for their stamacks, and rich folk stamacks for their meat; Oxford 511 ; T M366. Fool. I. A fool and his money are soon parted. Apperson 222; Bradley 75; Hardie 461 ; Oxford 214; T F452. 2. A fool for luck (4). E. D. Biggers, Charlie Chan Carries On (Indianapolis, 1930) 256; J. C. Harris, Uncle Remus and His Friends (Boston, 1892) 154: fool fer luck en po' man fer chillun. Cf. /\pperson 224; T F517. A fool for trouble. 3. Any fool can make money ; it takes a wise man to know how to spend it. Apperson 223, fool (n). 4. Answer a fool according to his folly. Apperson 225 ; Bradley 76; T F442. 5. Fool's names are like their faces, Always seen in public places. Bradley 75; Snapp 83 (23). Cf. Apperson 681. white (II) ; Oxford 706; T W17. 6. No fool like an old fool. Apperson 228 ; Bradley 75 ; Oxford 216; Taylor 34; T F506. PROVERBS 411 7. Send a fool to the merchant [jur market) and a fool comes home again. Apperson 228 ; Oxford 216 ; T l*\S03. Ford. Rattles like a "Model 'T' Ford." Cf. Wilstach 549: Rattle like a taxicah. Foot. I. A going foot always gets something, if it's only a thorn (2). Oxford 248; T F563 ; Wilson 187. 2. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. 3. Don't hist one foot till the other's setting flat. 4. I tuck my foot in my hand and left there. P.errey 53. 1 0.1 1. '21 7.3; Kephart 412; Nr':D h^oot, 29a; Talia- ferro 73 (and walked). 5. Never complain to the feet when the soul is heavy. 6. One foot in the grave and the other edging up (2). First part onlv: Apperson 470; Berrey 116.6 (and the other on a banana peel), 1 17.17. 129.3. u; Hyamson 149; Oxford 476; Partridge 295. Cf. T F569. M346. Forewarned. Forewarned is forearmed (2). Apperson 230; Bradley 76: Oxford 220; Taylor 34; T H54. Forgive. Forgive and forget. Api)ers()n 230: Oxford 220; T F597. Forty. He could dance (sing) like forty (2). DAE Forty, 2b ; NED Forty, Ab. Fox. I. An old fox is hard to catch. Fogel 68: En alter fux is haert zu fange. Cf. Apperson 232: An old fox understands a trap: NED Fox. re: An old fox is not easily taken in a snare; Oxford 470: An old fox is not easilv snared ; T F647. 2. As crafty as a fox (2). T F629: Wilstach 73. Cf. Ap- person 338: As craftie as a Kendalc fox. 3. As cunning as a fox (6). Apperson 232; Green 18; Hardie 468 : Wilstach yj. 4. As red as a fox's ass. Cf. Ilanford 174: Red as a fox's tail; Wilstach 315: Red as a fox. 5. As sly as a fox (4). Green 31 ; Hardie 468; Wilstach 361. 6. As wise as a fox. Cf. Apperson 688: As wily as a fox. 7. Dumb like a fox. Robert Bloch. The Opener of the Way (Sauk Citv, Wisconsin, 1945) 306. 8. The old fox is caught at last. Cf. Bohn 72: Ancor le volpi vecchie rimangono al laccio ; MacAdam 182 (68) : Though the hare be swift she is caught at last; Nicolson 104: Reynard can't run for ever. 9. The sleeping fox catches no poultry. Apperson 233. fox (11); Hardie 462; Oxford 596; Poor Richard 116; T F649; ^^(^y ^0 Wealth 409. 412 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Free-of-Charge. Old "Free-of-Charge" died long ago. Cf. Champion 626 (244) : The mother of "free-of -charge" is dead (Surinam). Friday, i. Friday is the fairest or the foulest. Friday is the fairest and foulest day of the week. Apperson 236-7; Hilda Roberts. "Louisiana Superstitions," Journal of American Folklore. XL (1927) 186 (981). 2. Friday night's dreams, on Saturday told, Are sure to come true be it never so old. Apperson 236; Oxford 226. Friend, i. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Apperson 237; Bradley 76; Hardie 461 ; Oxford 227; Tavlor 34; TF693. 2. Better make friends when you don't need them. Cundall 60: Mek fren' when you no need dem. 3. Everybody's friend, nobody's friend. Apperson 238, friend (8) ; T F698. 4. Old friends and old wine are best. Apperson 465 ; Ox- ford 470; T F755. 5. You look like you'd lost your best friend. Cf. J. C. Harris, Told by Uncle Remus (N. Y., 1905) 196: lookin' like he done los' all his fambly an' his friends ter boot. Friendship. Friendship is a plant that needs watering. Christy I. 416: Friendship is a plant which one must often water (German). Fritter. See Flitter above. Froe. As dull as a froe (2). Atkinson 88; Payne, 308 (frow) ; Woodard 37. Frog. I . A bull frog knows more about rain than the Almanac. Champion 622 (68) (American Negro). Cf. Vaughan 113 (806): No botanist that ever wrote, Had half the knowledge of a goat. 2. As cold as a frog's foot. As cold as a frog's toes. Cf. Snapp 69: Cold as a frog; Wilstach 61. 3. As fine as frog fur. 4. As fine as frog's hair. Berrey 4.8, 128.3; Brewster 264; Hanford 162; Time, April 22, 1946. 19: At the same time a lot of things were picking up — were fine as frog's hair; Woodard 38 (excellent) ; Woofter 354. 5. As scarce as frog hair. Cf. Apperson 239, frog (i) ; Fogel 83 : Ropp mol en grotehor. Pull a frog-hair ; NED Frog\ ib, quot. 1823. 6. Croak like a frog. Cf. NED Croak, i, quots. 1595, 1877. 7. Jumps like a frog. Bond 54. PROVERBS 413 Frost. About as welcome as frost on an early bean patch. Cf. Apperson 584: As seasonable as snow in harvest; Ox- ford 601 : As welcome as snow in harvest ; T S590. Fruit. I. Stolen fruits are always sweetest. Apperson 603; Bradley 76; Oxford 219, cf. 622; T F779- 2. The ripest fruit falls first. Bradley 76. Frying-pan. Out of the frying-pan into the fire (6). Apper- son 240 ; Bradley 75 ; Green 29 ; Hardie 470 ; Hyamson 153; Oxford 230; J'artridge 304; Taliaferro 129: I'd "jumped out'n the fryin'-pan smack inter the fire," as the parrabal runs ; Taylor 34 ; T l'"784. Out of the frying-pan. Gains. There are no gains without pains. You can't have gains without pains. Wilson 190. Cf. NED Gain, 2b, (juot. 1600. Gall. As bitter as gall (3). Apperson 50; Hyamson 47; T Gii ; Wilstach 19. Game. i. The game is not worth the candle. Apperson 242 ; Bradley 76; Hyamson 'J2; Oxford 232; Partridge 123; Taylor 18; T S776. 2. The game is up. Hyamson 155; NED Game, 6b; Par- tridge 314. 3. Stung at his own game. Cf. Taliaferro 237: It is diffi- cult to beat an experienced man at his own game ; it sometimes happens, however. Gander, i. As gray as a gander. Bernice K. Harris, Folk Plaxs of Eastern Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1940) 205: her eyes is gray as a gander's; Lean 11, 838: As grey as a goose. 2. As red as a gander's foot. Gap. Gap in the axe shows in the chip. Champion 621 (15) (American Negro). Garment. Cut your garment according to your cloth (5). Bradley 66. See Coat above. Get. Get while the getting's good. P>errey 58.6; Partridge 41, beat it, 339, going's ; Taylor 63, take. Get-out. As mean as get-out. .As slow as all-get-out. Berrey 20.13, 29.4, 53.1 ; Lean 11, 817, as common; NI^D Suppl. Get-out ; Patterson ix. Ghost. I. As pale as a ghost (2). Green 20; Hyamson 262; Wilstach 282. 2. As silent as a ghost. Wilstach 352. 414 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3. As white as a ghost. Hardie 468; NED White, ic, 5a, quot. 1897; Wilstach 470. 4. Run from a ghost, you meet a coffin. Champion 628 (313) : Run from a jumbie (ghost) and you meet up with a coffin (W^est Indian). Giant, i. As big as a giant (2). Cf. The Laud Troy Book, ed. J. E. \\'uffing (Early EngUsh Text Society, cxxi, London, 1902) 217, 1. 7367: mechel as a geaunt. 2. As strong as a giant (2). Cf. Roberts 81 : Love is stronger than a giant. Gibraltar, i. As firm as Gibraltar (3). E. D. Diggers, Be- hind That Curtain (Indianapolis, 1928) 236. 2. As solid as Gibraltar. Barnaby Ross, The Tragedy of Y (N. Y., 1932) 169. 3. As strong as Gibraltar. Guy Thorne, Tlie Ravenscrojt Affair (N. Y., 1924) 121. As strong as the Rock of Gibraltar. Gift. I. A noisy gift hushes thanks. 2. I wouldn't have it as a gracious gift. See Christmas (3) above. Ginger mill. As hot as a ginger mill. Cf. NED Ginger, 1, quots. 1 601, 181 1. Giraffe, i. As tall as a girafife. Bond 51. 2. Neck like a giraffe. Bond 51. Girl. A young girl never quite gets over her first man. Cf . Lean I, 474 : Maidens love them that have their maiden-head ; The Mysteries of Love & Eloquence, 3'd ed. (London, 1685) 207: Why doth a chaste woman love him ex- ceedingly that had her virginity ? T L478. Glass. I. As brittle as glass. Apperson 68; Hyamson 64; T G134; Yankee Phrases 114. 2. As clear as glass (2). NED Clear, 3. quot. 1798: T G135; W^ilstach 57. 3. As smooth as glass. Apperson 582; T G136; Wilstach 365. 4. As transparent as glass. Wilstach 431. Globe. As round as a globe. W^ilstach 328. Glove. I. Fits like a boxing glove. ( For poor or too tight fit.) 2. Fits like a glove (2). Berrey 16.8; Partridge 279. Glue. I. As thick as glue. Partridge 875. 2. It sticks like glue (2). Carter Dickson, The Peacock Feather Murders (N. Y., 1937) 34. Go. Everything that goes up comes down. What goes up must come down. Bradley 72. PROVERBS 415 Goat. I. As hot as a mountain goat. Lean 11, 842 : He is as hot in love as goats. Cf. NED Hot, 6c, quot. 1604; I'artridge 337, goat, play the goat, goats and monkeys; T G167; Wilstach 159: Free as a mountain goat. 2. As much sense as a billy goat. 3. Smell like a goat. Bond 48. 4. .Stinks hke a goat. Wilstach 391. God, I. As good as God ever blowed breath in. As good as (kxl ever let live. As good as Clod ever made. I. As holv as God. 3. As sure as God made little apples. Apperson 611 ; l.er- rey 164.4; Green 20; Partridge 849; Wilstach 402. As sure as God made me. 4. As sure as there's a God in heaven. T (ii/S; Wilstach 401. 5. Face looked like the wrath of God. Mignon G. Eber- hart, HasW IVedding (N. Y., 1938) 287. 6. God ain't choosey. Cf. Davidoff 87: Death is no chooser (Yiddish). 7. God can't cook breakfast with a snowball. 8. God can't rope a mule-headed cow by the horns. (Mule- head cd, more commonly muley, means hornless.) 9. God helps those who help themselves. Apperson 251 ; Bradley 79; Oxford 244; Poor Richard 81 ; Taylor 35; T G236; Way to Wealth 409. See Heaven (3) below. 10. God knows, but He won't tell. Berrey 150.7; Partridge 338. II. God looks after drunkards, fools, and children. God cares for fools and children. Hislop 83. Cf. Bradley 75 : Angels take care of fools and drunkards ; Lean in, 501 : Heaven takes care of children, sailors, and drunken men ; Oxford 289 ; Woodard 37 : God looks after drunk- ards and fools. 12. God sees all. Cf. Beckwith 53: (iodamighty neber shut him yeye. 13. God tempers the storm to the shorn lamb. Apperson 253 ; Bradley 97 ; Hardie 463 ; ^ Oxford 246 ; Taylor 68 ; T S3I5- ^, . 14. If God is for us, who can be against us.-- Christy i, 446: If God be with us who shall stand against us (Latin) ; John Flewlett. Cross on the Moon ( N. Y.. 1946) 160: When God is with you . . . wlio can be against you?; Romans 8: 31 ; T G238. 15. Where God puts his mark he sends his gift. Paul Green, Wide Fields (N. Y., 1928) 94: fer where Old Moster puts his brand he leaves his gift. Cf. T Gi 77. N.C.F.. Vol. I, ((28) 4l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1 6. You can't rush God. Gods. Whom the gods love die young. Apperson 254 ; Brad- ley '/J ; Hardie 465; Oxford 247; T G251. Cf. Taylor 92. Gold. I. All that glitters is not gold (3). All is not gold that glitters (2). Apperson 6; Bradley yj ; Hardie 461 ; Oxford 249 ; Taylor 36 ; T A 146. 2. As bright as gold. Wilstach 34. 3. As good as gold (6). Apperson 256; Berrey 29.4; Green 19; Hardie 467; Hyamson 163; Partridge 341; Taylor 36; Wilstach 183. 4. As pure as gold. Cf. NED Pure, la, quot. 1362. 5. As yellow as gold. Apperson 717; T G280. 6. Glitters Hke gold. Cf. NED Glitter, ib. gold, 3b. Goldfish. No more privacy than a goldfish. Alva Johnston, The Great Goldwyn (N. Y., 1937) 49 (ascribed to I. S. Cobb's Speaking of Operations) ; B. J. Whiting, "Some Current Meanings of 'Proverbial.' " Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, xvi (1934) 234. Good-bye. Good-bye is not gone. Kemp Malone, "Negro Proverbs from Maryland," American Speech, iv (1928- 29) 285: Every good-bye ain't gone. Cf. Woodard 38: Good-by, if you call that gone. See Eye (4) above. Goose. I. A setting goose never gets fat. See Hen (1) below. 2. A wild goose never laid a tame tgg. Apperson 686 ; Ox- ford 709. 3. As full as a goose. Allison 97 ; Bond 49. 4. As loose as a goose. Folk -Say, 1 (1930) 106. 5. As silly as a goose (2). Allison 100; Green 20; Robert W. W^inston, It's a Far Cry (N. Y., 1937) 24. 6. Don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Killing the goose that laid the golden egg (4). Apperson 266; Hyamson 164; NED Suppl. Goose, i; Oxford 334; Partridge 343; Taylor 36; T G363. 7. Don't smother the goose with the feather-bed. 8. His goose is cooked. Berrey 1 17.18, 1 18.3.5; Hyamson 163; Oxford 109; Partridge 178. 9. Like a goose's ass in mulberry time. See Bear (5) above. 10. Squirts like a goose. Goose grease. As slick as goose grease. Berrey 317.6; DAE Goose grease. Gosling. A gone gosling. (Meaning a person or thing is hope- less, lost.) Berrey 239.1. 262.1, 416.1. 431. i. Cf. Par- tridge 340. PROVERBS 417 Gospel. As true as the gospel (2). Apperson 647; Oxford ();_'; T Ci^yS; W'ilstach 340. See Bible above. Gossamer. As fine as gossamer. Wilstach 140. Cf. llyamson 222. Gotten. Soon gotten, soon si)ent. Ap[)erson 588; Oxford 604; Gourd. I. As green as a gourd (6). Allison 95; P.errey 150.6, 258, 3.9; Brewster 262; DAE (iourd. ih; Ilardie 467; Wdstach 187. 2. As hollow as a gourd. 3. As yellow as a gourd. Green 36. Grain. To go against the grain (anything distasteful is said to). Apperson 4; Hyamson 165; NED Grain, i6b; Oxford 5 ; T G404. Grandmother. You can't teach your grandmother how to pick ducks. Atkinson 79 : Teach your grannie how to pick ducks! Cf. Apperson 620-1; Berrey 295.2; Bradley /y; Green 31 ; Hyamson 166; NED (jrannam, b, quot., 1651 ; Oxford 645 ; Partridge 255. 348; T G406-9. (The examples have roast eggs, sup sour milk, spin, suck eggs, milk ducks, crack nuts, grope ducks, get children.) Granny. Don't wait for your Granny's side saddle. Grapes. Sour grapes (5). Apperson 268; Hardie 471 ; Hyam- son 166; Oxford 262; Taylor 36; T F642. Grapevine. You can tame a grapevine but that won't take the twist out. Champion 634 (572) : You can't take the twist out of the grape vine by cultivating it (American Negro). Grass, i. As green as grass (5). Apperson 273-4; Berrey 150.3.6, 165.5, -58-3-9; Hardie 467; Hyamson 168; Tay- lor 36; T G412; Wilstach 187. 2. Go to grass (3). Berrey 27.6. 1 17. 11. 16.19, I94-9' 554-2; DAE Grass, 3; Hyamson 166; Partridge 337, 349. 3. Grass never grows \\ hen the wind blows. Apperson 269. Grasshoppers. As poor as grasshoppers. Grave, i. As cold as the grave. Wilstach 61. 2. As dark as the grave. Wilstach 81. 3. As gloomy as the grave. 4. As silent as the grave. Apperson 571 ; Oxford 589; Wil- stach 354. Graveyard. As quiet as a graveyard. Wilstach 309. Gravy train. Riding the gravy train since Roosevelt came in. Berrey 277.1, 377.2, 467.6. 543-3-8. 4l8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Grease, i. As slick as grease. Berrey 255.5, 3^7-^'> Thornton II, 809; Wilstach 359. 2. He is fried in his own grease. Apperson 269-70; NED Grease, id; Oxford 230; Partridge 304; T G433. Grist. All is grist that comes to my mill. Apperson 275 ; Ber- rey 533. 1 I.I 5; Bradley 77; Hyamson 170; Oxford 268; T x\l22. Grit. She had grit in her craw. He ain't got no gut [sic] in his craw. Hanford 174; Payne 317, 365. Cf. Bond 49- Grundy. What will Airs. Grundy say? Berrey 231. i ; Hyam- son 171 ; NED Grundy- ; Oxford 427. Guinea. As speckled as a guinea (2). Cf. Parsons. Antilles 463 : Seven years no 'nough to wash speckle ofif guinea hen back. Gully dirt. Ain't worth gully dirt. As poor as gully dirt. Cf. Koch II, 123: Bert ain't never going to amount to his weight in gully dirt as a farmer. Gun. I. As sure as gun's iron. Berrey 164.4.6; Payne 377; Taliaferro 45, 53. 93 ; Wilstach 402. 2. As true as a gun. T G480 ; Wilstach 436. Gun barrel. As straight as [a] gun barrel. Taliaferro 24. Habit. Habit is second nature (2). Green 23; NED Habit, 9, quot. 1662; Oxford 125. Cf. Apperson 130. Haddock. As dumb as a haddock. Cf. Yankee Phrases 115: She, like a haddock, grew deaf. Hades. As hot as Hades. Berrey 33.7 ; Whiting 247. Hail. As thick as hail. Apperson 623 ; Green 20 ; Hyamson 340; T Hi I ; Wilstach 420. Hair. i. A person who never stole anything has a lock of hair growing in the palm of his hand. Cundall 84: Man dat no tell lie, hair grow a him ban' middle; Green 17 (verbatim). Cf. Bohn 139: Der Miiller ist fromm, der Haare auf den Zahnen hat ; Chaucer, Canterbury Tales 1(A), 563. 2. As thin as a hair. 3. Catch a long haired man where the hair is short. NED Suppl. Hair, Sp ; Partridge 367. 4. It hangs by a hair. NED Hang, 8b. 5. The hair of the dog is good for the bite. Apperson 278; Berrey 102.13; Bradley 62; Hardie 464; Oxford 271; Partridge 231 ; Taylor 28; T H23. P R V K R B S 419 Half-cocked. Never yo oft' li;ilt-cocked. DAE 1 lalf -cocked ; XKU Suppl. Half -cocked. Halifax. Go to Halifax (2). Apperson 279; NED Go, 30b; NED Suppl. Halifax; Partridge 368-9. Halter. Don't talk of a halter in a house where one has been hanged. Apperson 280; Oxford 548; T 11 59. Ham. Eist like a ham. Gf. Nh'.D Sui)pl. Ham. 3. (|uot. 1928. Hammer. 1. .\s dead as a hammer (3). Green 22; Par- tridge 210; "Some Lumber and Other Words," Dialect Notes. II. part vi (1904) 396 (Arkansas); Yankee Phrases 115. 2. Head like a hammer. Gf. Woofter 356: hammer-headed horse. 3. One must l)e either hammer or anvil. Bohn 22: II faut etre enclume ou marteau ; Christy i . 32 : One must be either anvil or hammer (Ascribed to Voltaire by Jefifer- son in C. G. Bowers, The Young Jefferson [Boston. 1945] 368). Cf. Bohn 2y : II vaut mieux etre marteau qu'enclume; Christy 11, 73: Once he was a hammer, now he is an anvil. Hand. i. As flat as your hand. NED Hand. 60a; Wilstach 144. 2. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Hyamson 47 : Taylor 37- 3. He never warmed his hand but he burnt it. Gf. Bohn 58: Tel croit se chauffer qui se brule ; Parsons 441: Some men bu'n dem hand whan they only mean to warm dem (Bahamas). 4. He puts in with one hand and takes out with the other. Cf . Davidoff 52 : With one hand he put a penny in the urn of poverty, with the other took a shilling out. 5. Lend a hand. Hyamson 174; NED Lend, 2e ; T H97. 6. Wash hands together, Eriends forever; Wipe hands to- gether. Eoes forever. Bergen i. 135: If two people wash their hands at the same time, it is a sign that they will be friends forever. If two people wipe their hands at the same time, they will be foes forever (Alabama). Cf. Green 34: Wash together, wipe together, fall out and fight forever; Hyatt 182 (3888): If two people wipe hands together, they will be friends forever (3890) : Two persons simultaneously wiping their hands and face on the same towel will have a quarrel at the same time next day, 183 (3899) : Two persons washing hands to gether in the same water will quarrel that day. 420 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Handsome. Handsome is as handsome does. Apperson 281-2 ; Bradley 78; Hardie 463; Oxford 274-5; Partridge 371 ; T D410. See Pretty below. Happen. What happens twice will happen three times. What happens twice will happen thrice. Fogel 215: Was zwet sich drit sich ; Hyatt 430 (8635) (thrice). Happy. Better happy than wise. Apperson 284 ; Oxford 38 ; T H140. Hare. As swift as a hare. Cf. L. O'Flaherty, TJic Tent (Lon- don, 1926) 265. Harness. Fine harness and no mule. Cf. Paige 71 : Of no more use than ... a saddle and no horse to ride. Haste. I. Great haste is not always great speed. Cf. Apper- son 427; NED Haste, 6; Oxford 281, 4^^; Taylor 62; TH197. 2. Haste makes waste. Apperson 288 ; Hardie 463 ; Ox- ford 281 ; Poor Richard 143 ; Taylor 38 ; T H189. Hat. I. As black as mv hat. Green 18; NED Hat, 5c; Wil- stach 20 (your). 2. He talks through his hat (2). Berrey 151.6, 180.2; Hardie 471 ; Hyamson 336; NED Suppl. Hat, 5c; Par- tridge 378. 3. Ready with his hat but slow with his money. Cundall 86 : Be ready wid you hat, but slow wid you money ; Cheviot 53 : Be ready wi' your bonnet, but slow wi' your purse; Hislop 55. Cf. Champion 107 (149) (Danish); Oxford 273 : Put your hand twice to your bonnet for once to your pouch. Hatchet. As dead as a hatchet. Green 22. Hatter. As mad as a hatter (2). Apperson 389; Hardie 470; Hyamson 229 ; Partridge 379, 503 ; Wilstach 249. Haunt. I. As wild as a hant. 2. Runs like a scared haunt. Hawk. I . As keen as a hawk. Hyamson 207 ; Wilstach 222. 2. As wild as a hawk. Apperson 686 ; Wilstach 476. 3. Eyes like a hawk. L. Brock, Murder on the Bridge (N. Y., 1930) 93. 4. He jumped on it like a hawk on a chicken (2). Collec- tions Relating . . . to Montgomeryshire, xi (1878) 290 (222). Cf. Cheviot 137 (cock . . . grosset) ; Han ford 169 (chicken . . . June bug) ; NED June, 2 (Hawk . . . June bug) ; Paige 272 (whippoorwill . . . fire-fly) ; Thornton i, 505 (night-hawk . . . June bug, quot. 1862) ; Wilstach 221 (trout . . . May-fly). PROVERBS 421 Hay. Make hay while the sun shines (3). Apperson 291; Bradley 80; Hardie 464; Hyamson 180; Oxford 398-9; Partridge 381 ; Taylor 38; f H235. Hay wire. As tough as hay wire. Muriel E. Sheppard, Cabins in the Laurel (Chapel Hill, N. C, 1935) 26: But Frankie was small like tough hay wire. Head. i. A hard head and soft mind. 2. He has a head, so has a pin. Apperson 293, head (15) ; Cheviot 406 (nail) ; Green 23, 24; Oxford 284. 3. Head cool, feet warm. Cf. Apperson 113: A cool mouth and warm feet live long; Davidoff 191 : A cool head and warm feet live long ; T H253. 4. It's hard to put old heads on young shoulders. Apper- son 464; Hardie 465; Hyamson 256; Oxford 470-1 ; T M500. 5. Keep your head up. Cf. NED Head, 50b. 6. Little head, big wit; Big head, not a bit (2). Big head, little wit. Apperson 271 : Great head and little wit ; Hislop 229: Mickle head, little wit; Oxford 422; T H245. Cf. Bradley 78: Little head, little wit; big head, not a bit; Brewster 261 ; Hyatt 650 (10780). 7. Old head and voung hand. Apperson 464; Oxford 470; T H263. 8. Put his head into the wolf's jaws. Cf. Hyamson 180: Head in the lion's mouth ; Oxford 370. 9. Two heads are better than one (2). Apperson 655; Bradley 78; Hardie 465; NED Head, 62; Oxford 680; Taylor 38; T H281. Two heads are better than one, even if one head is a horse's. Green 34 (verbatim). Two heads are better than one, even if one is a cabbage head (3). Fogel 113 (1015) ; Hofifman 50. Two heads are better than one if one is a blockhead. Bradley 7^. Two heads are better than one if one is a sheep's head. Apperson 655; Bradley 78; Oxford 680; Partridge 753; W'oodard 41. Two heads are better than one or why do folks marry. 10. What you lack in vour head you make up in your heels (2). Cf. J. M. Brewer, "Old-Time Negro Proverbs," Spur-of-the-Cock, Publication of the Texas Folk-Lore Society, xi (1933), 103: What yuh don' hab in yo' haid yuh got ter hab in yo' feet ; Christy i. 489 : Who falls short in the head must be long in the heels (German) ; Woodard 38 : make your head save your heels. 422 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Heap. To be struck all of a heap. Apperson 7; Berrey 178.4.5.6, 267.6, 703.6; Green 32; Hyamson 180; Par- tridge 382. Heart, i. Don't wear your heart on your sleeve. Apperson 295; Hyamson 181 ; NED Heart, 54f ; Oxford 698. 2. Faint heart never won fair lady (2). Apperson 198; Bradley 79; Oxford 185; Taylor 38; T H302. 3. His heart is in his mouth. Apperson 295 ; Hyamson 181 ; NED Heart, 54b; Oxford 288; T H331. 4. His heart is in his shoes. Berrey 283.4, 300.7.12; Ox- ford 287. Cf. (all reading boots) Apperson 294-5; Hyamson 181 ; Partridge 383. 5. Home-keeping hearts are happiest. Cf. Lean iv, 23 : Keep home and be happy. Heaven, i. As broad as the heavens. Cf. W'ilstach 37: Broad as Heaven's expanse. 2. As high as heaven. As high as the heavens. Hardie 467; NED Heaven, ib, quot. 1864; Wilstach 200. 3. Heaven helps those who help themselves. Davidofif 195. See God (9) above. Heck. Live in Heck's wood shed. (In more modern phrase- ology, The Devil's ante-room.) Koch i, 50: Heck's ol' pine field twenty miles t'other side o' hell. Cf. NED Suppl. Heck. Hector. Since Hector was a pup. Bond 45 ; Hardie 471. Heels. To take to one's heels. Berrey 58.6 ; Green 33 ; Hyam- son 183; NED Heel, 19. Heifer. You'd better watch a frisky heifer. Hell. I. An' he'd buy a load of cord wood to peddle out in hell if you'd gi' him till Christmas to pay for hit. Cf. Cheviot 153: He would rake hell for a bodle. (A bodle was one-sixth of an English penny. It is said of the Americans that "If there was a bag of cofYee in hell, a Yankee could be found to go and bring it out), 154: He'll gang to hell for hose profit; Kelly 225 (house profit) ; Oxford 242; T H402. 2. As cold as hell (3). Berrey 33.8; Whiting 231. 3. As crazy as hell (2). Berrey i5^-5; Whiting 231. 4. As crooked as hell (2). W^hiting23i. 5. As deep as hell. Whiting 231 ; \\'ilstach 87. 6. As dumb as hell. Whiting 231. 7. As funny as hell. Whiting 232. 8. As hot as hell (2). Berrey 33.7; Whiting 232; Wilstach 205. 9. As poor as hell. Whiting 233. P R O V E R « S 423 10. As sour as hell. 11. As strong as hell. Nl^D 1 lell. 10. (|u<)t. 1780. 12. As sure as hell. P)errey 164.4; Whiting 234. 13. As wide as hell. 14. Fight like hell. Whiting 236. 15. Hell is i)aved with good intentions. Apperson 297; Uradley 79; Hardie 463; Oxford 290; T II404. 16. I'd cross hell on a broken rail. See (21) below. 17. Looks like hell. Berrey 38.4; Whiting 237. 18. Not worth hell room. 19. Stinks like hell. Whiting 238. 20. Ugly women — so ugly look like they been driv out of hell for playin' in the ashes. W'oodard 39: Looks like he was kicked out of hell for sleej)ing in the ashes (He looks slovenly and dirty). Cf. Lean 11, 806: As big a liar as Tom Payne (or Pepper), and he got kicked out of hell for telling lies. 21. You'd better cross hell on a broken rail than be beholden to an enemy. See (16) above. Helve. Cast not the helve after the hammer. Apperson 632, throw (7); Green 33; Hyamson 183; NED Helve ib; Oxford 291 ; T H413. Hen. I. A setting hen is never fat. A setting hen never gets fat. Adams 62 (59); Christy i. 138; Cundall 59: Sittin' hen nebber get fat; Hardie 462. See Goose (1) above. 2. As busy as a hen with one chicken. Apperson 298; Ber- rey 245.18; Green 21 ; Hyamson 68; NED Suppl. Hen. lb; Oxford 71; Partridge 113: T H415; Wilstach 40. 3. As cross as a setting hen. 4. As fat as a hen's forehead. Apperson 205; Oxford 193; Partridge 267; T H416. 5. As fussy as a hen. Cf. Bond 49 : Fussy as a hen with one chicken and fussy as a setting hen ; Hardie 469 ; Hyamson 68. As hot as a hen in a wool blanket. See Chicken (3) above. As mad as an old setting hen. As mad as a setting hen (2). See (5) above. As mad as a wet hen (7). Berrev 284.8; DAE Wet hen; NED Suppl. Mad, 8. As proud as a hen with one chick. .\pj)erson 298. hen (2), quot. 1888; Wilstach 303. As scarce as hens' teeth (8). Berrey 25.9; DAE Hen, 2; Green 30; Hardie 468; Wilstach 335. 4^4 NORTH C A R L I X A FOLKLORE 11. As tedious as an old hen. Koch i, 8i. Cf. NED Tetchy, Techy. 12. As wild as a wet hen. Cf. Cheviot 49: As wanton (de- jected) as a wet hen; Hislop 45. 13. Jes like a settin' hen — a going to set whether er no (2). She's sorter like a settin' hen, she's going to do her way er not do. 14. Like a hen on a hot griddle. Green 27; Hislop 340; Patterson 51 ; Wilson 189; Woodard 41. 15. Makes more fuss'n an ol' hen with one biddy. See (5) above. 16. Never sell a hen on a wet dav. Apperson 298, hen (12) ; ^lacAdam 178 (12) ; NED Hen. ib; Oxford 573. 17. Setting hens don't want fresh eggs. J. C. Harris 150: Settin' hens don't hanker arter fresh eggs. 18. She goes about like a hen with her head chopped ofT (3). Berrey 266.7 (cut). See Chicken (8) above. 19. The black hen lavs a white egg. Apperson 298; Oxford 48;TH4i8. 20. Writing looks like a hen's scratching. Cf. Colyn Blow- hols Testament in W. C. Hazlitt, Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England, 4 vols. (London. 1864-66), I, 96, 1. 99 : For on booke he skrapith like an hen. 21. You look as nice as an old hen and biddies. 22. You look like a hen chawing nails. Hercules. As strong as Hercules. Wilstach 395. Herring, i. As dead as a herring (2). Apperson 137; Ber- rey 117. 18. 248.6, 276.8.9; Green 19; Oxford 131; Par- tridge 210, 388; Taliaferro S7, 161 ; T H446 ; Wilstach 83- 2. Not worth a herring. Apperson 457 (21). Hickory, i. As tough as hickory. Thornton 11, 624. As tough as a hickory stick. Cf. Wilstach 430; Tough as old hickory. 2. He looks like the very old hickory. He went like the old hickory. Hide. I. As fat as airy hide'll hold. Cf. Lean 11, 833: He is swolne as great as the skyn wyl holde. 2. Save your hide. Berrey 256.11. 3. Tan your hide till it won't hold shucks. Cf. 'A\'ord-List from Southwestern Wisconsin," Dialect Notes, v, part VI (1923) 238: Lick him so his hide won't hold shav- ings, won't hold hay. Higher. The higher up. the greater the fall. Cf. Apperson 645 : The highest tree hath the greatest fall ; Hislop I' K o \- K R n s 425 _>8i : The hiohiT clinil) the j,-rc;itcr fii' ; Kelly 3iates 40: Hog run fe" him life, dog run fe' him char- acter ; Beckwith 58 ; Franck 1 00 : Dog run f e character him no run fe him life ; Parsons, Antilles 460 : Hog run for him life; dog run for him character. Cf. Franck 105: .Spaniard chicken cry for life him no cry fe him character. 2. As dirty as a hog. Wilstach 95. 3. As drunk as a hog. Apperson 167. 4. As fat as a hog. Allison 95 ; Apperson 205 ; NI^D Rake, sb.\ lb, quot. 1694; T H483. 5. As greasy as a hog. Cf. Bond 49: greasy as a pig. 6. As greedy as a hog. Wilstach 187. 7. As lazy as a hog. Cf . Bond 48 : lazy as a pig. 8. As lousy as a hog. Green 19. 9. Eats like a hog (2). Wilstach 109. 10. Enough to make a hog blush. Cf. Apperson 58: To blush like a black dog; Oxford 53. 11. He'll have the whole hog or none. Cf. Apperson 249-50; Berrey 24.4.6.9.19, 243.4, 367.4, 754-13; DAE Whole Hog; Hyamson 186; Oxford 242; Partridge 13 (ani- mal). 336, 856 (swine); Taylor 39. (The examples mostly read Co the zvliolc hog, with or without or none.) 12. Root hog or die (5). Root pig (hog) or die. Berrey 245.12; DAE Root Hog; Green 30; NED Suppl. Root, le ; Taylor 57. 13. The greediest hog is the poore.st. Cf. Parsons. Antilles 460: Greedy puppy neber fat. 14. Wait like one hog waits on another. Pearce 230: We're waiting for you as one pig waits for another ; Snapp 67 (133). Cf. Lean 11. 797: To stay for a person as one horse does for another ; T H698. 426 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 15. You've got no more use for that ring than a hog has for a side saddle. Cf. Apperson 118: He becomes it as well as a cow doth a cart-saddle, 591, sow (12) ; Oxford 608 : As meet as a sow to bear a saddle ; Par- tridge 768, side-pocket. See Saddle below. Hog hair. As coarse as hog hair. Hogpen. As nasty as a hogpen. See Pigpen below. Holes. I. As full of holes as a sifter. 2. Don't go poking into holes. Stay away from holes. Cf. NED Hole, 3. See Finger (4) above. Home. I. He lives at home and boards somewheres else. 2. Home is where the heart is. T- Cleft Adams, TJic Secret Deed (N. Y., 1926) 116. 3. You have to go away from home to hear the news. Adams 62 (61); Green 36. Cf. Apperson 116: You must go into the country to hear what news at London. Homespun. As plain as homespun. Honesty. Honesty is the best policy. Apperson 306; Bradley 79; Hardie 463; Oxford 301 ; T H543. Honey. As sweet as honey (3). Apperson 614; Green 31: Hyamson 334; NED Sweet, ib; T H544; Wilstach 410. Honor. There's honor among thieves. Apperson 308 ; Bradley 94 ; Oxford 302. Hoo. Out of boo. (Out of line, out of square.) Apperson 303; Green 29 (verbatim); NED Ho, int. 2, B; Ox- ford 480 ; Partridge 393 ; T H477. Hook. Keep your hook baited. Cf. Christy i, 516: The hook without bait catches no fish (German). Hope. Live in hopes if you die in despair. Live in hope and die in despair. Live in hopes, if you die upstairs. Adams 62(62): Live in hope if you die in despair; Hislop 60 : Better live in hope than die in despair. Hops. As thick as hops. Apperson 623-4; Berrey 24.16, 332.9 ; Hardie 468 ; Hyamson 341 ; NED Hop, 3 ; Taylor 63 ; T H595 ; Wilstach 421. Horn. I. As hollow as a horn. 2. As loud as a horn. Apperson 383 ; T H61 5 ; Wilstach 241. 3. He toots his own horn. (He boasts) (3). Apperson 57 (trumpet); Berrey 302.2; NED Suppl. Horn, 13b; Oxford 52 ; Taylor 40 ; T T546. 4. I done blowed my horn. (Finished speaking) (2). Cf. NED Suppl. Horn, 13b. 5. The horns should go with the hide. Apperson 311, horn (6) ; Oxford 304. P K O \- K R K S 427 6. Traveling in • is like splitting a horn crosswise. Hornet, i. As ill as a hornet (6). /// means cross; cf. "Ten- nessee Mountain Word-List," Dialect Notes, i, part viii (1895) 362: Them's ill bees. 2. As mad as a hornet (2). Berrey 284.8; DAE Hornet, 2. 3. He got the hornets about his head. Cf. Berrey 256.10; Hyamson 190; NED Hornet. 2. Horse, i. A balking horse will not pull. 2. A lean horse for a long race. Samuel L. Bradbury, Hiram Harding of Hardscrabble (Rutland, Vermont, 1936) 25. See Dog (6) above. 3. A short horse is soon curried (5). ( ( )ne example terms it "Scotch.") Apperson 567; Bradley 79; Ilardie 461; Oxford 584, cf. 56, a bonny bride ; Partridge 407 ; Taylor 40; T H691. 4. A skittish horse won't carry double. 5. As balky as a horse. Cf. NED Balky. 6. As crazy as a horse in a windstorm. Cf. Partridge 395 : Like a hog in a squall or storm. 7. As fast as a horse can trot. Christy i, 662 ; Wilstach 135. Cf. Apperson 362, lie (4). 8. As strong as a horse (2). Apperson 312; NED Horse. 25a; Partridge 406. cf. lyz, come it. 9. Balky horse'll always take a hill. 10. Don't swap horses while crossing a river. Bradley 80; Hyamson 80, 334; Oxford 634; Taylor 40. 11. Eats like a horse. Berrey 94.12, 95.4; NED Horse, 25a; Partridge 406; Wilstach 109. 12. He looks for the horse he rides on. Cheviot 423: Ye're like the man that sought his horse, and him on its back ; Christy i, 2: You look for the horse you ride on (Rus- sian) ; Hislop 343 ; Oxford 403 (mare) ; Vaughan 271 (1880). 13. Hold your horses (2). Berrey 54.3, 252.4, 270.2; DAE Horse, 4 ; \\''oodard 38. 14. Laugh like that of a horse. Cf. NED Horse-laugh; Taliaferro 127. 15. Mad on a horse sho's proud on a pony. Hislop 123: He'll gang mad on a horse wha's i)roud on a pownie. Cf. Champion 232 (11): Who is proud on an ass will run mad on a horse (Montenegrin). 16. Never look a gift horse in the mouth (2). Apperson 245-6; Bradley 80; Hardie 464; Hyamson 159; Oxford 236-7 ; Partridge 493 ; Taylor 35, cf . 65 ; T H678. 17. One horse is allowed to eat the grass and the other is not allowed to look over the fence, Cf, Apperson 601 : One 428 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE may steal a horse while another may not look over the hedge; Oxford 619. 18. One white foot — buy him, Two white feet — try him, Three white feet — look well about him, Four white feet — do without him. (MS has foot throughout.) Apperson 313; Bergen 11. 28 (three examples from Maine and Massachusetts); Cheviot 194; Hyatt 104 (2233-35); Lean i, 446; Oxford 705; Thomas 253-4; T H641 ; W'oodard 14, fractious. 19. To ride a free horse to death. Bradley 80; Green 33; Oxford 542. Cf. Apperson 312; Hardie 462; Partridge 288 ; Taylor 40 ; T H638. 20. Works like a horse. Berrey 245.12; Hardie 472; NED Horse, 25a; Oxford 730; Wilstach 484. 21. Wouldn't trust him as far as could throw a (cow or) horse by the tail. See Cow (16) above. 22. You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink (2). Apperson 314; Bradley 80; Hardie 465; Oxford 356; Taylor 40; T M262. 23. You can't ride two horses at one time. Cf. Oxford 340: One cannot be in two places at once. Host. Do not reckon without your host. Apperson 525-6; Hyamson 191 ; Oxford 535 ; Partridge 408; T H728. Hostess. He's never met the hostess. (A dullard, common- place person.) Hot. I. Fear a man who blows both hot and cold. Apper- son 57; Hvamson 53; NED Blow, 2b; Oxford 52; T Mi 258. 2. He'll take anything that isn't too hot to hold or too heavy to carry. Apperson 639-40; Oxford 26; T N322. Hot cakes. Sells like hot cakes. Berrey 53.16; DAE Hot Cakes, 2; Hyamson 310; NED Suppl. Hot, 12; Par- tridge 120, 483. Hound. I. A man who kicks his hound will beat his wife. Cf. Champion 230 (73) : The man who strikes his horse strikes his wife too (Livonian). 2. As clean as a hound's tooth. Wilstach 55 ; \\'oodard 38 ; Woofter 357. 3. As hungry as a hound (2). Green 19. 4. As lazy as a hound. 5. As yellow as a suck-egg hound. See Dog (44) above. 6. He runs with the hounds and holds with the hare. Cf. Apperson 541 ; Bradley 78: You can't hold with the hare and run with the hounds; Hyamson 177: To hold with the hare and hunt with the hounds ; Oxford 553 ; Par- tridge 376, hare; T Hi 58. 1' R O V K R H S 429 Hour. I. ( )iK' hour's slcr]) hcfort- nii(lni,L;lU is worth two after. Appt-rson =,yj: Hradk'v v-' ; ( )xl()r(l ^17; 'lavlor ^9: T 11 744. 2. The hour niav break what time cau never mend. Apper- son 315. House. 1. A man's house is his castle. Apperson 316; Brad- ley 80: Oxford 308; T M473. 2. As' big as a house (3). Hardie 466; Koch i, 345; Wil- stach 18. 3. As high as a house. Taliaferro 163. 4. He was going like a house a-fire. Apperson 365 ; Berrey 20.5. 53.9.16, 255.5. 261.2, 277.4, 59I-2-5; Hardie 469; Hvamson 192; NED House, 18; Partridge 410, 483; W'ilstach 182. Household. Mind your own household. See Business (3) above. Housekeeping. Do your housekeeping in the mouth of the bag, not at the bottom, (iaclic Journal xv ( 1905) 21 : It is not in the bottom of the bag that one may do the house- keeping, but at the mouth. Cf. Apperson 45: Better spare at brim than at bottom ; Kelly 59 : Better hold at the brim, than hold at the bottom ; Oxford 41 ; Roberts 109: It is too late to save when the bottom of the sack is reached ; T B674. Hungry. Better to go hungry than be without reputation. Cf. Apperson 610: Better to go to bed supperless than to rise in debt; Oxford 40; T B183. Hyena. Laughs like a hyena. Oxford 352. Ice. I. As cold as ice (6). Apperson 106; T I2. 2. As slick as ice. 3. As slippery as ice. W'ilstach 360. 4. As smooth as ice. W'ilstach 362. 5. Don't skate on thin ice. Hardie 471. Iceberg. As cold as an iceberg. Valentine Williams & D. R. Simnis, Fog (Boston, 1933) 291. Idleness. Idleness wears away the frog's ass. Hearn 10: Bon-temps fait crapaud manque bounda .... Idleness leaves the frogs without buttocks (Louisiana). Cf. Beckwith iio: Too mtich si'-down wear out trousers; Parsons, Antilles 463 (137). Ignorance. Ignorance of the law excuses no one. Bradley 80; Oxford 314; Taylor 42 ; T Ik). Inch. I. Can't see an inch before his nose. Apperson 327; 430 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE NED Nose, 6a; Oxford 571 ; Partridoe 422; T I51. See Nose (4) below. 2. Give him an inch and he'll take an ell. Apperson 327 ; Bradley 69; Hardie 463; Hyanison 197; Oxford 238; Taylor 42 ; T I49. Indigo, As blue as indigo (5). Hardie 466; Wilstach 25. Injun. Injun giver. (Give something, then ask that it be re- turned.) DAE Indian giver; Hyamson 197; NED In- dian, 4b ; NED Suppl. 4b ; Taylor 35. Ink. As black as ink (2). Apperson 51 ; Berrey 32.7; Hardie 466; Hyamson 48; T I73 ; Wilstach 21. Iron. I. As hard as iron. Hyamson 177; Wilstach 193. 2. He has too many irons in the fire. Don't put too many irons in the fire. Apperson 328 ; Hardie 469 ; Hyamson 199; Oxford 405-6; Partridge 427; T I99. 3. Strike (smite) while the iron is hot (3). Apperson 605-6; Bradley 80; Green 31; Hyamson 199; Oxford 626 ; Taylor 42 ; T I94. Itch. I. As old as the itch. Apperson 466; Partridge 582; Wilstach 279. 2. As slow as the itch. As slow as the seven-year itch (4). Berrey 54.5; Hardie 471; Woodard 42; Woofter 364. 3. As welcome as the itch. 4. So slow you can't ketch the itch. Ivory. As white as ivory. Apperson 680 ; NED Ivory, 8b ; T 1 1 09; Wilstach 472. Jack. I. A jack of all trades and master of none. Apperson 330; Bradley 95; Hyamson 200; Oxford 323. Cf. Ber- rey 432.2, 456.6, 524.9; Partridge 430; T J19. 2. Every Jack must have his Till. Apperson 329 ; Oxford 322-3 ; T J6. Jack Robinson. i. Before you could say Jack Robinson. Apperson 330; Berrey 2.10, 53.16, 58.6; Hyamson 201 ; Oxford 29-30; Partridge 431. Quick as you can say Jack Robinson. Quicker than Jack Robinson. 2. Thought like Jack Robinson. (Jack Robinson was a local character who boasted he could spend the night at a stern farmer's house on Neuse River. The farmer refused to let him stay. Thus to think "like Jack Robin- son" is to think wrong.) Jackass, i. As stubborn as a jackass. Bond 46. 2. Laughs like a jackass. Cf. NED Jackass, 3. 1' K () V K K 1! S 431 Jay. I. As naked as a jay. lU.nd 55. Sec- Bird (12) above. 2. As noisy as a jay. Taybird. i. As happy as a javbird. (1. ••'! lu- .Sixlc-enth Ccn- tury Lyrics in Add. MS. iS.;5-';" -'".'//'"■ >^^>^"" (1910) 352. 1. 3 : As joycond as the jeye. 2. As naked as a picked jaybird. Leishton P.arrel. Though Yoiuu) (N. Y.. 1938) 45: As naked as a jaybird. 3. As naked as a jaybird's ass. lulward T. Walker, /:.'l- T. W : As bare as a byrdes arse. 4. As saucy as a jaybird. J. C. Harris 24. C f. I'.ond 55: saucy as a jay. 5. Git along about as well as a jay bird does with a sparrer hawk. 6. Sling her feet as spry as a jay bird in wild cherry time. Telly. Shake like jelly. [. C. Harris. Nights t.nth Uncle Remus (Boston. 1883) 154: shake Hke a piece of jelly; W il- stach 341. Jelly fish. As spineless as a jelly fish. Wilstach 379. Jerks I Can do it in two jerks of a rabbit's tail. Quicker than two jerks of a lamb's tail. "The Phonology of Western Reserve." Dialect Notes, iv, part vi (191/) 402: Two jerks of a lamb's tail; Anthony Reed, The Stuffed Man (N. Y.. 1935) 20: In two shakes of a dead lamb's tail. Cf. Vernon Patterson. .Ill Giants Wear Yellow Breeches (N. Y.. 1935) 49: in a shake of a dead lamb's tail. 2 I'll do it in two jerks of a sheep's tail. Before three jerks of a sheep's tail. I'll do it in three jerks of a dead sheep's tail. I'll do it in three jerks of a sheep's skin. R. P. Tristram Coffin, Lost Paradise (N. Y., 1934) 71: in three shakes of a lamb's tail; "Contribu- tions of the Cornell University Dialect Society," Dialect Notes. II, part iii (1901) H^: Three jerks of a lamb's tail. See Shakes below. Jessy. Give him Jessy (punish) (2). DAE Jesse; 1 lyam- son 203, Jesse; NED Suppl. Jesse; Partridge 437; Louise Pound, "(live him Jesse." American Speech, xxi (1946) 151-2. Jet. As black as jet (2). Apperson 51 ; Cireen 21 ; laliafcrro 191 ; T J49; Wilstach 21. Jew. I. As stingy as a Jew. 2. As tight as a Jew (2). 432 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3. That beats the Jews (4). Alhson 100; Brewster 267; DAE Beat, 3; Helen M. Thurston. "Sayings and Prov- erbs from Massachusetts," Journal of American Folk- lore, XIX (1906) 122. Jim-crow. Hop Hke old jim-crow. Cf. DAE Jim Crow, 2b; NED Jim-crow. Job. I. As old as Job's turkey. Thornton i. 495. quot. 1848: They must be as old and tough as Job's turkey. 2. As patient as Job. Hyamson 204 ; NED Job. i ; Oxford 49o;Tj59. 3. As poor as Job. Apperson 505; Oxford 510; T y6o; Wilstach 298. 4. As poor as Job's turkey (6). As poor as Job's turkey hen (2). Berrey 378.3; Dx^E Job's turkey; Green 29; Hardie 468; Hyamson 204; NED Suppl. Job, 2; Par- tridge 441; Taliaferro 175; Taylor 54; Thornton i, 495-6; Wilstach 298. 5. As slow as Job's turkey. Joneses. Beat the Joneses. (Examples: "He swore to beat the Joneses." "He could lie to beat the Joneses.") Cf. S. E. Morison, Builders of the Bay State Colony (Boston, 1930) 68: keeping up with the Joneses. Joseph. As colored as Joseph's coat. Cf. O. S. Adams, "Proverbial Comparisons from California," Calif orniu Folklore Quarterly, v (1946) 337; Partridge 445. Judge. I. As sober as a judge (2). Apperson 585; Berrey 105.9; Hardie 468; T J93 ; Wilstach 368. 2. As solemn as a judge. Wilstach t,/2. 3. As tight as a judge. Jug. As tight as a jug. Cf. Koch i, 40: tighter'n a rum jug; Lean 11, 884: As tight as a bottle. Jug-handle. All on one side like a jug-handle. DAE Jug handle; Green 18, 27; Patterson 2. June-bug. i. As happy as a June-bug (2). Atkinson 88; Wilstach 192. 2. Not wuth a june-bug with a cat bird ater her. See Hawk (4) above. Jura. As old as the folks in Jura, (jura is an island in the inner Hebrides. ) Kettle. Kee]) the kettle boiling. Cf. Oxford 331 : Keep the pot boiling. Kill. Dressed ht to kill (3). DAE Kill, i; Partridge 241, 279. P R () V K R H S 433 Kindness. Kindness cannot he buu.^lU. Oxford 336; T K45. King. I. As happy as a king (2). Apperson 283; Berrey 278.15; Hardie 467; Oxford 277; Partridge 517, merry; T K54; W'ilstach 193. 2. As proud as a king. Wilstach 302. 3. As rich as a king. T C832. 4. Live like a king (2). T P592 ; Wilstach 238. Kit (1). Kit and biling (all of vou) (2). P.errey 18.1. 24.4, 380.3 ; DAE Kit. 3 ; NF.D Suppl. Kit. Kit (2). As hot as Kit's glove. Cf. NED Kit. sb.^ 2. Kitchen. A fat kitchen makes a lean will. Apperson 205 ; P>()hn 148: ]^>tte Kiiche. magere Erbschaft ; Poor Rich- ard 66; T Kiio; Way to U'ajlfh 413. Kite. As high as a kite (2). Berrey 106.7; DAE Kite. 3; Wilstach 200. Kitten, 1. As cute as a kitten. 2. As gentle as a kitten. J. Latimer, The Lady in the Morgue (N. Y.. 1936) 175. 3. As lively as a kitten. Green 27. 4. As playful as a kitten. Bond 47; Green 20; Northall 10. 5. As spry as a kitten. Charles \V. Tyler, Blue Jean Billy (N. Y., 1926) 140. 6. As tame as a kitten. 7. He's a big shot where little shots ain't no more than kit- tens in a dog-house. 8. Stick to one like a sick kitten to a hot brick. Bond 47; Koch II. 16: actin' like a sick kitten ag'in a hot brick. He takes to it like a kitten to a hot brick. Like a sick kitten settin' up to a hot rock. Knee-high. i. Knee-high to a duck (3). Berrey 21.1 1, 1 16.5 ; DAE Knee-high. 2; Hardie 470; NED Suppl. Knee- high; I'artridge 459; Thornton i. 519. Knee-high to a duck's tail. 2. Knee-high to a grasshopper (5). Berrey 21. 11, 39.10, 116.5; DAE Knee-high, 2; Piardie 470; NED Suppl. Knee-high; Thornton i, 519. Knife, i. As sharp as a knife. Claudia Cranston, Murder Maritime (Philadelphia, 1935) 22; Lean 11, 871. 2. He who lives by the knife will die by the knife. Cf. Matthew 26:52: All they that take the sword .shall perish with the sword. Knocks. Little knocks rive [MS give] great blocks. Apper- son 372. Knot. I. As sound as a lightwood knot. Cf. DAE Lightwood 434 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE knot ; Bernice K. Harris, Folk Plays of Eastern Caro- lina (Chapel Hill, 1940) 98: tough as a light'ood knot. 2. As still as a knot on a log. Cf. Woofter 359: Like a knot on a log (motionless). See Bump (2) above. Know. Know thyself. (Jxforcl 344; Taylor 43 ; T Ki 75. Knowledge. Knowledge is power. Apperson 347; Bradley 81 ; ( )xford 345 ; Taylor 43. Laborer. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Bradley 81 ; Luke ]0 : 7 ; Oxford 347 ; T L12. Lace. As fine as lace. Cf. \\'ilstach 140: Fine as a mist of lace and Fine as point lace. Ladder, i. As steep as a ladder. Cf. \\'ilstach ^^y : Steep, like the ladder of a hay-mow. 2. Like holding a ladder for a thief. Bohn 180: W'er die Leiter halt, ist so schuldig wie der Dieb. Lady. A dainty lady takes a pin to eat a pea. Bates 42 : \\'hen dainty lady lib well, him tek a pin fe' eat peas ; I'eckwith 117; Cundall y-^. Lamb. 1. As gentle as a lamb (2). Oxford 234; T L34. 2. As innocent as a lamb. Wilstach 216. 3. As meek as a lamb (3). Oxford 234; T L34. Lane. It's a long lane that has no turning (2). Apperson 379; Bradley 81; Green 26; Hardie 463; Oxford 381 ; Taylor 56 ; T R207. Lark, i . As blithe as a lark. W'ilstach 24. 2. As gay as a lark (2). Green 23; Wilstach 168. 3. As happy as a lark (2). Berrey 278.15; Hardie 467; Wilstach 192. 4. Sings like a lark (2). Jesse Stuart. Foretaste of Glory (X. Y.. T946) I32;TL70. Latch-string. Keep the latch-string on the outside. You'll find the latch-string on the outside. DAE Latchstring, b; Green 36; NED Latchstring; NED Suppl. Latch- string; Pearce 234. Late. I. Better late than never. Apj)erson 44; Bradley 81; Hardie 462; Oxford 40; Taylor 44; T L85. 2. It's never too late to learn. Apperson 442 ; Oxford 450 ; T L153. Cf. Bradley 81 : It is never too late to mend; Hardie 463. See Old, adj. beknv. . 3. Too late to worry. Cf. Apperson 640: Too late to grieve when the chance is past. K () V K K H S 435 Lath. As thill as a lath. ApiKTscn (yJ^' ^'i"^'^'" -« ; '^^ ^'^^^' Wilstach 4-'-'- Laugh. 1. Lau-h and k'-w tat. Apperson 351-2; Bradley Si ; llyanison 217; Oxford t,S^ \ Taylor 44; 1 Kq 1 • 2. He who laughs last laughs hcst. .\i)person 331 : I'radk'V 81 ; Hardie 463; Oxford 353. Laughing. Laughing is catching. liradley Si; Hyatt 148 (3081) ; Thomas 288. Laurel. I'd druther be a knot in a log on Laurel than to live down at Sniokemont. (Laurel Top and Smokemont, Swain county, N. C, are in the Great Smoky Mountains. See U. S. Geological Surz'ey: Tennessee-North Caro- lina: Mt. Guyot Quadrangle. Laurel Toj). on the state line, is approximalely 5500 feet in height, while Smoke- mont, some ten miles from Laurel, is only about 3000 feet.) Lazy Lawrence. If ye don't watch ole Lazy Lawrence, 'e'U git ye. (This expression is generally used to urge lazy children.) Apperson 355; Oxford 355-6; Partridge 473; J. S. Udal. Dorsetshire Folk-Lore (Hertford. 1922) 301 : Laurence has got hold of you, 305 (9). Lead. As heavy as lead (4)- Apperson 296; Green 19; Hardie 467; NED Lead, ic; Taylor 39; T L134; Wilstach 198. Leaf. I. As fragile as a leaf. Wilstach 158. 2 Numerous as the leaves on the trees. Jackson Gregory, Kh the Conqueror ( N. Y., 1933) 88 (many). 3. Shaking like a leaf. Tom Powers, Sheba on 1 ram pled Grass (Indianapolis, 1946) 159; T L140. 4. Tremble like a leaf (2). NED Leaf, la, (|uot. 1413; T L140. 5. Turn over a new leaf. Apperson 652; Berrey 3-4-2: Hvamson 218; Oxford 676; Taylor 44; T L146. 6. We' all fade as a leaf. Wilstach 125. Leak. A small leak will sink a (great) ship (2). Apperson 372; Oxford 356; Poor Richard \\q: T L147: 1 1 ay to IV eaJth 412,- Lean. Don't eat the lean and leave the fat. Cf. Oxf(jrd 641 : You must take the fat with the lean. Leap, sb. It is a leap in the dark. Apper.son 336; Hyam.son 219; Oxford 357; TL148. Leap, vb. Better to leap before you look than always to look and never leap. See Look (1) below. Leather. As tough as leather. A])i)erson 642 : Berrey 310.6; T L166; Wilstach 430. See Shoeleather, Whit-leather below. 436 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Leech, i. Sticks like a leech. Sticks like a leech on a log. Sticks tighter than a leech. Hardie 471 ; NED Leech, la; W'ilstach 388. 2. You hold on like a leech. Left-handed. A left-handed person owes the devil a day's work. Green 17; Hyatt 158 (3326) : A left-handed person must work three days for the devil ; Thomas 85 ; Woodard 39. Leg. I. Like cutting from the leg to add to the arm. See Peter below. 2. To talk the leg off an iron pot. Green 33; Partridge 17 (argue), 863. Length. You never know the length of a snake until he is dead. Cundall 105: When yaller snake dead, you can measure him. (Le., You cannot measure a live snake. You can only appreciate a danger when it is past.) Leopard. As spotted as a leopard. Cf. NED Leopard, 2. Liar. A liar is not to be believed even when he speaks the truth. Apperson 361 ; Bradley 82 ; Oxford 362 ; T L217. Lick. I. A lick and a promise and better next time. (Allud- ing to a hasty wash given to a child, dish, etc.) Berrey 21.5, 156.2.3, 243.2; Green 17 (verbatim) ; Hardie 466; NED Lick, ib; Partridge 480; Partridge, Suppl. 985, cat-lick. 2. A lot of licks to drive a nail in the dark. Champion 630 (395) (American Negro). Life. I. As big as life (2). Berrey 169.11. 2. As large as life and twice as natural. Berrey 20.10, 1 69.11; Green 19; Hardie 466; Oxford 350; Wilstach 226. 3. As natural as life. Wilstach 272. 4. The biggest thing in life is a funeral at the end of it. Cf. Christy i, 221 : The greatest business of life is to prepare for death. 5. While there's life there's hope (2). Apperson 364; Bradley 83; Oxford 366; Taylor 44-5; T L269. Light. I. As fast as light. Wilstach 135. 2. Out like a light. Berrey 106.4.8, 11 7. 18. 703.3.4.6. Lightning, i. As fast as greased lightning (3). Berrey 53.7.9.16; DAE Greased; NED Greased, i; Partridge 482. 2. As fast as lightning (2). Taliaferro 64 (faster). 3. As quick as greased lightning. Wilstach 308. 4. As quick as lightning (3). Apperson 518; Berrey 148.9, 257.11; Green 30; Hyamson 287; Taliaferro 151. Cf. fL279. I' R O \' K R H s 437 5. Strike like liKlitiiin,^-. Wilslach 394. 6. l.ightning never strikes twice in the same place (3). Li.yhtnini^ never strikes in the same place (2). liradley Like, sb. I -ike knows like. Apperson 367-8; Oxford 368; Taylor 45 ; T 1 .2S6. Like with like. Like, vb. If you don't like it you may himp it. I'.errey 270.3, 279.4; DAE Lump; Lean ni. 511. Liking. Little liking where there is no likeness. Ai)i)erson 368 : Likeness causeth liking ; T L294. Lily. 1. As fair as a lily (2). Cf. NED Fair. 6. quot. 1554. 2. As pure as a lily (2). Hardie 468; Wilstach 403. As pure as the lilies of May. 3. As white as a lily. Apperson 680; Hyamson 359; i L296; Wilstach 471. Limbs. Dead limhs show up when the leaves (buds) come out. Champion 634 (559) ^ r)ead limb on the tree shows itself when the buds come out (American Negro). Line. i. As straight as a line. Apperson 604-5; Green 31; T L303 ; Wilstach 392. 2. Hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may. brad- ley 83; Green 24. Lion. I. As bold as a Hon (2). Apperson 59: Green 21; Wilstach 28. 2. As brave as a lion (2). W . Faulkner. The Unvan- quishcd (N. Y.. 1938) 260. 3. As fierce as a lion (3). T L308 ; Wilstach 139. 4. Beard the lion in his den. Hyamson 38; Oxford ^7- 5. Roars like a lion. NED Lion. la, quot. a 1687; Wil- stach 326. Lip. I. Keep a stifT upper lip. Berrey 270.3. 299.1 3 ; DAE Li]); NED Stifif, n ; Partridge 450- ♦'^31 ; Tahaferro 117. 2 Put your lip in somebody else's business. Cf. Apperson 552'; Oxford 564; T L328. Liquor. Good liquor needs no water. Listeners. Listeners never hear good of themselves. Apper- son 370; Koch II. 13: eavesdroppers; Oxford 371; T L336. Little, sb. Everv little heli^s (2). Apperson 188; Bradley 82; Oxford 177 ; Partridge 635 ; Taylor 45- See Bit above. Little, adj. Little but loud. Bradley 82 ; Oxford 372. Live I . Live and learn. Apperson 375 : Bradley 82 ; Oxford 37S-6; Tavlor 45; T L379- 438 NORTH CAROLINA F O L K L R K Live and learn, die and forget it all. Green 27 ; G. F. Northall, A IVarzvickshirc Word-Book (English Dialect Society, London, 1896) 276. 2. Live and let live (2). Apperson 375; Bradley 82; Ox- ford 376 ; T L380. 3. Live to learn and learn to live. Cf . Cheviot 387 : We're to learn while we live. 4. The longer we live the more we learn. Franck 100: De mor' you lib, de mo' you larn, 106 (368). Cf. Apper- son 375 ; Oxford 382 ; T L393. Lobster. As red as a lobster. Hardie 468 (boiled) ; T L405 ; W'ilstach 316. Locusts. As destructive as locusts. Cf. NED Locust. 3. Log. I. As easy as falling off a log (2). Apperson 175; Berrey 255.4 ; DAE Log. 3 ; Hardie 467 ; Partridge 253. As easy as falling off a slick log. Falling off' a log (for easily). 2. As easy as rolling oft' a log. Berrey 255.4; DAE Log, 3; NED Suppl. Log. lb; Partridge 704. 3. Sleeps soundly as a log. Slept like a log (2). Berrey 251.4; Hardie 471 ; NED Log. ib, quot. 1886; T L410; Wilstach 358. Look. I. Look before you leap. Apperson 380; Bradley 83; Hardie 464 ; Hyamson 226 ; Oxford 383 ; Taylor 45 ; T L429. See Leap, vb., above. 2. You may look farther and fare worse. Cf. James Shirley, Dramatic JJ'orks, ed. A. Dyce. 6 vols. (London, 1833) II. 299 : I may go farther and fare worse. See Farther above. Looked. Long looked for come at last. Apperson 379; Green 2-/ ; Hardie 464 (expected) ; Oxford 381 ; T L423. Loon. As crazy as a loon (7). Berrey 152.5, 171. 7; DAE Loon. 2; Hardie 467; NED Suppl. Loon, ib; Wilstach 73- Lord (1). He hollers Lord and follows devil. Cf. Christy i, 536 : God in his tongue and the devil in his heart ; DAE Holler, I, quot. 1917. Lord (2), As drunk as a lord (4). Apperson 166; Berrey 106.7; (]reen 19; Hardie 467; Hyamson 123; Partridge 405; Taylor 29; T L439 ; Wilstach T05. 2. As rich as lords. Wilstach 322. 3. Live like a lord. \\'ilstach 238. Lose, You can't lose what you ain't got. ( )xford 385. Louse. I. As dead as a louse. Shirlcv and .\. Seifert, Death p R o V i: R B s 439 Stops at the Old Stone Inn (N. Y., 1938) 144. Cf. Apperson 137 : As dead as a nit. 2. As gray as a louse. 3. As poor as a louse. Cf. Partridge 49^): As mean as a louse. 4. You move like the dead lice were (Iroi)pmg off you. (ireen 36 (verbatim ). Move like the dead lice wuz a drappin' off' 11 you. Apper- son 249 : To go as if dead lice dropped off you ; T L474. Cf. Paul Green, Wide Fields (N. Y., 1928) 254: She's slow enough fer the dead lice to be popping ofif'n her. Love, sb. I. All's fair in love and war. Apperson 384; Ox- ford 186; Taylor 46; T A 139. 2. Hot love soon cools. Apperson 315; Oxford 307 ; T L483. 3. Love is blind. Apperson 384: I'.nidley 83; Oxford 389; Tavlor 45 : T L506. , t. „ o 4. Love laughs at locksmiths. Apperson 3CS5 ; bradley «3 ; Oxford 390. 5. The course of true love never runs smooth. Apperson 116; Oxford 113. 6. True love is the weft of life. Hislop 307: True loves the waft o" life, but it whiles comes through a sorrowfu' shuttle. Cf. T L547. . ^ c- 7. You can't live on love. Cf. Christy i. 649. 652. See Beauty (4) above. Love, vb. I . Love me love my dog. Apperson 386-7 : P.rad- lev 83; Hardie 464; Hyamson 119; Oxford 391; T D496.' 2. Love me little, love me long. Apperson 386; Bradley 83; NED Love, 2a; Oxford 391 ; Taylor 45; T L539. Lucifer. As proud as Lucifer (2). Apperson 514; Hyamson 227 : Oxford 521 ; T L572 ; Wilstach 302. Luck. Thev's more good luck than they is good conduct in this world. Cf. Lean iv. 12: More by luck than good guiding: \Vilson 193. Lucky. It is better to be born lucky than rich. Apperson 45 ; P.radley 84. Mad. So mad he couldn't spit (spit straight) (2). Madman. Raved like a madman. Wilstach 313. Maggots. He has maggots in his head. Ai)pers()n 390; Ber- rey 143.3 ; Partridge 382 ; T M6. Magpie, i. As talkative as a magpie. Wilstach 415. 2. Chatters like a magpie (2). Wilstach 49. 440 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Make. i. As mean (rough, ugly) as they make them. Cf Berrey 20.13, ^^-l^ -94; Partridge' 18, as, 341, good, 506, make, 938, warm. 2. As we make it so we have it. Mammy, i. He's tied to his mammy's apron strings. Berrey 223.1; Hyamson 20; Oxford 13; Partridge 16; T A312. 2. He was raised under his mammy's coattails. Man. I. A drowning man will catch at a straw. Apperson 166; Bradley 'J2\ Hardie 469; Oxford 159; Taliaferro 137; Taylor 29; T M92. 2. A hairy man's rich. A hairy wife's a witch. Cheviot 12: A hairy man's a geary man, but a hairy wife's a witch ; Hislop 26; Wilson 187. 3. A man is never a hero to his own servant. Lean iv, 61 ; NED Hero, 3, quot. 1764; Oxford 455. 4. A man is not known by his looks. Cf. DavidofT 256: One must not hang a man by his looks. See Clothes (1) above. 5. A man's self is his worst enemy. Cf. Apperson 239, friend {2y), quot. 1831 : You 'may find your worst enemy, or best friend, in yourself. 6. A man who treats his own stock bad will treat others' bad. Cf . Bohn 245 : Quem mal quer os seus, no querra ben OS aliens. He that is unkind to his own will not be kind to others (Galician) ; Hislop 149: He that's ill to himsel will be gude to naebody. 7. A man without a knife Is not worth a wife. 8. A poor man with children has got a millstone about his neck. Cf. Kelly 326: The best thing that ever hap- pened to a poor Man, is that the first Bairn dye. and all the rest follow. 9. A silent man is a wise man. Cf. Aphra Behn, The Dutch Lover, in Works, ed. M. Summers (London. 191 5) i, 264 : A prudent Man speaks least, as the Spaniard has it. 10. An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes. 11. Better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave. Apperson 464; Bradley 87; Oxford 38; T M444-5 ; Woodard 40. 12. Beware of a smiling man. Cf. NED Smiling, i, quot. 1602. 13. Don't bother a man when he's busy. 14. Don't take a lazy man's load (3). Hyamson 218; Par- tridge 473; Pearce 241. 15. Everv man for himself and the devil take the hindmost, Bra'dley 91 ; Hardie 462; Oxford 178; T D267, Mi 14; P R () V K K U S 441 \\'hitiii}4- _'o8. L'\. AppcTson iH<;; Taliaferro J56: Ev'ry man fur hisself. and (iod for all; Taylor 31. 16. Every man has his price. Oxford 178. 17. Every man to his taste. Every man to his own taste. Every one to his own taste, said the old woman as she kissed the cow. Apper.son 191-2; Oxford 178; Taylor J4;TMi03. 18. Fat men are jolly. Cf. Hyatt 139 (2856) : A fat jjcrson is always good-natured ; Paige 282 : Blessed are they that are fat : for they shall he jolly and good natured, and poverty can't make them poor; Taliaferrcj 194: Hashliead dift'ered from most fleshy men, who are said to he good-natured; T F419. 19. Get a man drunk if you would know him. 20. Great men are not always wise. 21. It takes a wise man to play the fool. Cf. Apperson 696: He is not a wMse man that cannot play the fool; Oxford 455 : No man can plav the fool as well as the wise man. 7i8;TM428. 22. Man hrung nothing here and he'll take nothing away. Cf. I Timothy 6:7: For we hrought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 23. Man proposes, God disjKJses (2). Apperson 397; Brad- ley yy ; Oxford 403 ; Taylor 46, 94 ; T M298. 24. (a) Man works from sun to sun; Woman's work is never done, (h) Man ma}- work from sun to sun, A woman's work is never done. Bradley 98 ; Betty Mac- Donald, The Egg and I (Philadelphia, 1945) 161 : Man works from dawn to setting sun, But woman's work is never done. See Woman (5) helow. 25. Many men, many minds. Apperson 586; Green 28; Oxford 406; Taylor 47, 94; T M583. 26. Men are sorry witnesses in their own cause. Cf. Apper- son 55: Men are hlind in their own cause; Bohn 286: Xinguem he hom juiz em causa ])ro])ria; ()xfor(l 50; T M540. 27. Never hit a man when he's down. Uradlev 71 ; Hardie 462 (kick a fellow). Cf. Iniller 86 (2847): It is a base thing to tread upon a man that is down. 28. Old men are twice children, .\pperson 464-^; Oxford 472;TM57o. Once a man and twice a child. Ap])erson 464-5, quot. 1631. 29. One-legged man l)etter dance away from the fire. Cf. Champion 624 (138) : Man with half a foot always dance near his family (Jamaican). 442 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 30. Sleep like a dead man. W'ilstach 358. 31. Sweet talk him and feed him. No man stays fur from a sweet mouth and a good table. Feed him good and sweet-talk him and he'll hang clost around his own door step. Cf. Oxford 696, way. 32. There's more hope for a drinking man than a lazy man. 33. To know a man you must winter him and summer him. T W516; Wood 242: You must summer and winter a stranger before you can form an opinion of him. Cf. Hislop 176: I'm no obliged U) simmer and winter it to you, 336 : Ye maun hae't baith simmered and wintered ; O'Rahilly 24 (89) : To know a person one must live in the same house with him. 34. When all men speak, no one hears. Kelly 343 ; Oxford 8. 35. Wise men learn by other men's mistakes, fools by their own. Apperson 698; Oxford 718; T M612, 615. Cf. Way to Wealth 414: Wise men learn by others Harms, Fools scarcely by their own. Man in the moon. As high as the man in the moon. Cf. Erasmus, The Praise of Folic, trans. Sir Thomas Chal- oner (London, 1549) A ii : as farre wyde, as from hence to the man in the moone. Manage-good. Old "Manage-good" is better than Mr. "Big- wage." Cundall 84 : Manage good better dan big wage. Marble (1). As cold as marble. Wilstach 62. Marble (2). i. As round as a marble (2). Fauset 158 (74). 2. As slick as a marble. March, i. As windy as March (a March day). Cf. NED March, i, quot. 1500-20. 2. March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. Apperson 401 ; Bradley 99 ; Green 28 ; Oxford 407 ; Taylor 47 ;T M641. March hare. As mad as a March hare (3). Apperson 389; Green 28; Hardie 470; Hyamson 229; Oxford 396; Partridge 503; T Hi 48; Wilstach 249. As wild as a March hare. Mare. To find a mare's nest (2). Apperson 402; Green 24 (and is laughing at the eggs); Hyamson 234; Oxford 408 ; T M658. Marriage, i. Before marriage, keep both eyes open; after, shut one. Beckwith 18: Before you married keep you' two eye open ; after you married, shut one ; Cundall 85 ; Oxford 331 : Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half shut afterwards; Poor Richard 92. r R o \- 1: R B s 443 2. Marriai,a^s are made in lieaven. A])pers()n 404; I'.radley S4 : ( )xtc)rd 409 ; T M688. Marry. 1. (a) If you marry in l)lack. you'll wish yourself back. If you marry in red, you'll wish yourself dead, If you marry in yellow, you'll be ashamed of your fel- low. If you marry in green, you'll be ashamed to be seen. If you marry in blue, you'll always be true, If you marrv in brown, you'll live out of town. If you marry in gray, you'll live far away, If you marry in white, you are chosen all right, (b) If you marry in white, you have chosen right. If you marry in black, you will wish yourself back. If you marry in blue, your love will be true. If you marry in brown, you will live in town, If you marry in yellow, you will want another fellow (2). Emelyn E. Gardner, Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, Netv York (Ann Arbor, 1937) 301-2; Hyatt 366 (7269-71) ; Oxford 410-11 ; Thomas 64. (The parallels all ditTer in varying degrees.) 2. Marrv in haste and repent in leisure. Apperson 404; Bradley 84; Hardie 464; Oxford 411 ; T Hi 96. 3. M ore's 'married than's doing well (2). Cf. Apperson 426: More folks are wed than keep good houses; Kelly 334 (264). 4. Not married till bedded. 5. You'll get over it before you get married. Cf. Allison 99; Brewster 264 : The hurt child is consoled for his scratches or bruises by being told, "You'll get well be- fore you're twice married" ; Cireen 36 : You'll be well before you are twice married. Martin. As straight as a martin to his gourd. Irene Yates, "A Collection of Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings from South Carolina Literature," Southern Folklore Quar- terly, XI (1947.) 198. Master, i. A falling master makes a standing man. Hislop 19, cf. 41 ; Oxford 189. 2. An earlv master makes a long servant. Hislop 84. Cf. T M712.' 3. Like master, like man. Apperson 366-7. 646, trim ; Brad- ley 85 ; Oxford 412, 427. mistress. 671. trim ; Tavlor 47; T M723. 4. No man can serve two masters. Apperson 449 ; r)radley 84; Hyamson 311 ; Oxford 455; T M322. Match. As fat as a match (4). Green 19, 23; Lean 11, 827: As fat as a match with the brimstone off. Meal barrel. Always taking out of the meal barrel and never 444 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE putting in soon comes to the bottom. Apperson lo; Hislop 52; Oxford 9; JVay to IVealth 414-5. Mean. Too durned mean to get shot. Cf . Atkinson 82 : He's too mean to die. Meaning. There is as much meaning in a wink as a word. {Meaning substituted for inalice in the MS.) Meat. One man's meat is another man's poison. Apperson 410-11 ; Bradley 85 ; Oxford 416: T M483. Methuselah. As old as Methuselah (4). Green 19; Hardie si; Partridge si8; Taliaferro 254 (Mathuzlum) ; Tay- lor 51 ; T M908; Wilstach 278. ' Midnight, i. As black as midnight. Blakeborough 231 ; Wil- stach 21. 2. As dark as midnight. NED Midnight, 4b; Wilstach 80. Mile. As long as a country mile. Cf. Lean 11. 763 : Like a Welsh mile, long and narrow. (Tedious) ; Oxford 546: Robin Hood's mile; T M925. Milk. Don't cry over spilled milk (4). Apperson 126; Brad- ley 85; Hardie 462; Hyamson 104; Oxford 122; Par- tridge 809; Taliaferro 90 (grieve) ; T M939. Mill. I. I could ride to the mill on this knife. (Meaning it is so extremely dull.) Atkinson 83: You could ride to the mill on that knife without any blanket (it's so dull). Cf. Apperson 538, Romford; E. ]\L Fogel, Supplement to Proverbs of the Pennsylvania Germans (Fogelsville, Pa., 1929) 8 (2012) ; Oxford 542. 2. That's what they told me down at the mill. Cf. Apper- son 416, mill (2), 418, miller (13); Nicolson 79: A country-side smithy, a parish mill, and a public-house, the three best places for news, 369. Miller, i. As bold as a miller's shirt. Apperson 417, miller (3) ; Bohn 164; Oxford 55, cf. 708, as wight; Partridge 521 ; T M959; Wilstach 498. (The parallels explain that a miller's shirt, or collar, is bold because it takes a thief by the throat every morning.) 2. Drown the miller. (Too much water [milk] in flour in making bread) (2). Apperson 166, cf. 418, miller (14); Berrey 35.7; Hyamson 240; NED Miller, ic; Oxford 526; Partridge 521 ; T M962. Million. Looks like a million. Berrey 37.6.10. Millpond. As level as a millpond. Cf. NED ]\Iill-pond; Wil- stach 230: Level as a pond. Minds. The minds of great men run in the same channel. P R O V K R H S 445 l)r;ulley 85: (ircat miiuls run in tlif same channel; 1 laidie 463 ; Sna[)i) 87 ( j6 ) . Mine. What's mine is yours and what's Nours is mine. ( )x- ford 425; T M980. ef. K. C. (inrdon, County l-olk- Lorc, Suffolk (Fulk-Lore Society, London, 1893) 147: What's her's is mine. etc. Minute, i. As small as a minute. Cf. NED Minute, 5. _'. No higger than a minute. C. G. (iivens, All Cats Arc Cray (Indianapolis, 1937) 253. Mirror. As clear as a mirror. Wilstach 57. Misery. Misery makes us acquainted with strange bed-fellows. Apperson 418; Green 28; Oxford 426; Taylor 49. Misfortunes, i. Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than your own. See Man (35) above. 2. Misfortunes never come singly. Misfortunes rarely come alone. Apperson 419; Bradley 85; NED Misfortune, ic; Oxford 426-7; T M1012. ' See Trouble (7) 1)elow. Miss. A miss is as good as a mile (2). Apperson 419; Brad- lev 85; Oxford 427; Partridge ^2t,\ Tavlor 49. Cf. T I56. ^ Molasses, i. As slow as cold molasses (2). Wilstach 360. As slow as molasses (2). Berrey 54.5, 150. 5, cf. 184.12. As slow as molasses in January. Berrey 54.5. 150.5. cf. 414.3; Hardie 471 ; Wilstach 360. As slow as molasses in winter. Slower than molasses in winter. Partridge 526. As slow as molasses running up hill. Cf. H. W. Smith. "Notes from Cape Cod," Dialect Notes, iv, part iv (1916) 266: slowern' cold molasses in the winter-time running up hill. He is as slow as molasses down a tato row. 2. As thick as molasses (2). H. Ashbrook, Murder of Sigurd Sharon (N. Y., 1933) 48. 3. She saves the lasses skimmins. Mole. As blind as a mole (2). Apperson 55; Berrey 106.8 (for dead drunk); Hyamson 51; NED Mole ib; T M 1034 ; Wilstach 23. Monday. As blue as a Monday morning. Cf. Berrey 3.2, 107.2, 247.1, 283.2. Money, i. A little money is soon spent. Cf. Apperson 371 : A little good is soon spent ; T G299. 2. He would steal the money off a dead man's eyes (2). Berrey 145.6. 3. If you would know the value of money try to borrow it. 446 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Apperson 421; Oxford 344; Poor Kichard 147; T Mi 104; IV ay to IVealih 415. 4. Marry for money and you will be sorry you married at all. Cf. Fuller 66 (2238) : He that marrieth for wealth sells his liberty. 5. Money can do anything. Helen McCloy, Dance of Death (N. Y., 1938) 169; T M1084. Cf. Apperson 421, money ( I ), 423, money (47) ; Oxford 429. 6. Money is the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Berrey 559.1; Bradley 85; Hyamson 297; Partridge 705; Taylor 49; I Timothy 6: 10. 7. Money makes the mare go (2). Apperson 422; Bradley 86; Green 28; Oxford 430; Partridge 509; Taylor 49; T Mi 077. 8. Shines like new money. He's shining in Abraham's bosom like a piece of new money. His eyes shinin' like new money. Taliaferro 48 : shinin' away . . . like a piece uv new money, 76 : His eyes shinin' away like new money. Monkey, i. As agile as a monkey. Wilstach 5. 2. As funny as a barrel of monkeys. Wilstach 166. 3. As tricky as a monkey. 4. We had more fun than a barrel of monkeys (2). Berrey 280.1. More fun than a box of monkeys (7). Berrey 280.1. Month. A month of Sundays. Apperson 423, 673 ; Berrey 1.2.8, 2.12; Green 17; Hyamson 332; Oxford 431; Partridge 530. Moonshine. As slow as a pokey moonshine. Moor. It's a bare moor without a tuft of heather. Hislop 179: It's a bare moor that ye gang through an' no get a heather cow. (A "heather cow" is a twig or tuft of heath) ; Lean iv, 9; Oxford 22: It is a bare moor that he goes over and gets not a cow ; T M1133. More. The more the merrier. Apperson 428 ; Bradley 86 ; Oxford 433; Taylor 49; T Mi 153. See Fewer above. Morning, i. As fair as morning. Wilstach 129. 2. As lovely as the morning. Wilstach 246. Moses. As meek as Moses (5). Green 28; Hyamson 237; Wilstach 256. Mother. Like mother like daughter. Apperson 367 ; Oxford 435 ;T M1199. Mountain, i. As big as a mountain (2). Cf. James Shirley, Dramatic Works, ed. A. Dyce (London, 1833) vi, 46: Huge as a mountain. PROVERBS 447 2. As high as a nuumtain. Cf. NED Mountain, if ; Maurice Walsh, Nine Strings to Your Bcnv (Philadelphia, 1945) 18 : mountain high. 7. Never make a mountain out of a molehill. Apperson 430. cf. 514; Hyamson 245; NKD Molehill. 2; Oxford 436 :T M1035. 4. The mountains are calm even m a tempest. 5. The mountain labors and brings forth a mouse. Apper- son 430 ; Oxford 436 ; T M 121 5. Mouse. 1. As meek as a mouse. Wilstach 255. 2 As poor as a church mouse (4)- Apperson 505; Berrey 378.3, 418.1; Green 29; Hardie 468; Hyamson 278; Oxford 510; T C382. 3. As quiet as a mouse (2). Apperson 519; Taylor 55; Wilstach 309. 4. As still as a mouse (2). Apperson 519, quiet, quots. 1656. 1772; T Mi 224. 5. As timid as a mouse. Wilstach 426. Mouth. I. A closed mouth catches no flies. Oxford 98; T Mi 247. Cf. Apperson 220, fly (9)- 2. Every times he opens his mouth he puts his foot m it. Berrey 170.6.9, 188.17; Oxford 478. 3. What enters the mouth goes into the belly. Moves Three moves are as bad as a fire (4). Two moves are as bad as a fire. Three removes (moves) are as bad as a fire. Apperson 629; Bradley 86; Oxford 654; Taylor 56; Way to Wealth 41^- Moving days. Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for losses Friday for crosses, Saturday no luck at all. Oxford 428 (of marriage). Cf. Hyatt 364 (7^36-7) : Married on Monday, married for health, etc. ; Thomas 64. Much. I. That's too much of a good thing. Apperson 640; ]^,errey 24.15; Hvamson 345; Oxford 665; Partridge 898;tTi58. 2 You can have too much of anything. Cf. Apperson 640-1 : Too much of one thing is naught ; Oxford 665 ; Roberts 39; T T158. Mud I. As clear as mud (2). Berrey 172.4; Green 18; NED Mud, 3; Partridge 158. 539: Taylor 22. 2. As fat as mud (2). Green 23. 3. As mad as mud. Partridge 503. 4. As thick as mud (2). Green 20; Lean 11. 883 (gutter mud). N.C.F., Vol. I, (30) 448 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 5. As Ugly as mud. Cf. W'ilstach 439 : As ugly as were ever born of mud. Mud fence. i. As homely as a mud fence. Berrey 38.5, 428.1. Cf. Perkins 120: homelier than a stump fence. 2. As ugly as a mud fence. Brewster 261 ; DAE Mud fence. As ugly as a mud fence daubed with misery (3). As ugly as a mud fence daubed with terrapins. Cf. DAE Mud fence, quot. 1907 (stuck with tadpoles). As ugly as a mud fence trimmed with tar. Mud pie. As ugly as a mud pie. Mule. I. A mule's gallop is soon over. Beckwith 43 (don- key) ; Cundall 45 (donkey); Lean iv, 119: The dull ass's trot lasts not long ajid Trotta d'asina non dura troppo. 2. As balky as a mule. Bond 46. 3. As contrary as a mule. Allison 98 ; Bond 46. 4. As obstinate as a mule ( 2 ) . W'ilstach 2yy. 5. As stout (strong) as a mule. 6. As strong as a mule. Horace McCoy, TJicx Shoot Horses, Don't They? (N. Y., 1935) 22. 7. As stubborn as a bob-tail mule. As stubborn as a mule (3). Atkinson 90; Berrey 210.3; Wilstach 396. 8. As tough as a mule. Bond 46. As tough as mule's hide. 9. Blaze face mule, always a fool. 10. Brays like a mule. N. I. White, American Negro Folk- Songs (Cambridge, Mass., 1928) 320 (corn-fed mule). 11. Gray mules never die, they turn into Baptist preachers. Cf. G. W. Harris, 89: Thar am two things nobody ever seed : wun am a dead muel, an' tother is a suckit-rider's grave. Kaze wdiy, the he muels all turn into old field school-masters, an' the she ones intu strong minded women, an' then when thar time comes, they dies sorter like uther folks ; Thomas 257 : All bricklayers will turn to gray mules w'hen they die and A white mule will never die. Whoever saw a dead gray mule or a poach- er's grave? 12. Kicks like a Kentucky mule. Cf. Bond 49: kick like a Bay State mule; Hanford 168. Kicks like a mule. Bond 46. 13. You are as crazy as a hump backed mule. You crazy hump-backed mule you. 14. You look as nice as a blue mule. Mule skinner. Swears like a mule skinner. Cf. Bill Maudlin, Up Front (N. Y.. 1945) 112-3: It would have glad- PROVERBS 449 dened the hearts of those old sokhcrs at home, who were convinced that this new army was going crazy with newfangled inventions, to see long columns of halky mules heing cajoled and threatened up the trails hy their hearded, swearing, sweating skinners. (The h'ahitual profanitv of mule skinners was alluded to appreciatively hy John Kieran on Inforinaiion Please, April 22, 1946.) Murder. Murder will out. Appcrson 433-4 ; I'radley 86; Ox- l.ird 439: T Mi3i5- Mush. 1. As soft as mush (2). Wilstach 368. 2. As thick as mush (2). Cf. Apperson 624: As thick as porridge; Wilstach 421 (oatmeal), 422 (hasty pudding). Mustard. It's all to the mustard. (All to good.) Berrey 128.3. 279.6; DAE Mustard, 3; NED Suppl. Mustard if. Nail. I. As naked as mv nail. Apperson 436; NED Naked, ih; Oxford 442; Partridge 549; T N4; Wilstach 271. 2. As tough as nails. Wilstach 430. 3 Hit the nail on the head (4)- Apperson 435; ^iCrrey 169.6 (right nail). 188.13. 2S7-7-' Hardie 469; Hyam- son 247 :N)x ford 296; Taliaferro 144: Taylor 50; T N16. Naught. Naught is never in danger. Apperson 437 : Oxford 444;TN342. Necessity. Necessitv is the mother of invention. Apperson 439 : Bradlev 86 ; Hardie 464 : Oxford 445-6 ; Taylor 50 ; f N61. Neck. I. I'd rather mv neck felt the yoke than the a.xe. Roherts 121 : Choose either the yoke or the axe; X'aughan 98 (699): When the ox the yoke refuses, Then the ox the poleaxe chooses. 2. l.imlier necks live longer'n stiff 'uns. T, Their necks'll stretch hemp. (They are set for hang- ing.) Cf. NED Hemp, 3. Need. i. Need hath no law. Api)er.son 438: Necessity has no law ; P>radlev 86; Oxford 445 : Taylor 50; T N76. 2. Need lends speed. Cf. Apperson 439: Need and night make the lame to trot and Need makes the naked man run and Need makes the old wife trot; Oxford 446; T Needle. 'iV As fine as a needle. Cf. Nk:D Needle, la. quot. T c8zi 2. As nude as a needle. Apperson 436, naked. ([Uot. 1858; Partridge 549. naked ; T N94. 450 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3. As sharp as a needle (2). Apperson 561 ; Green 30; NED Needle, la; Taliaferro 56; T N95. 4. Like hunting for a needle in a haystack (2). It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Hard to find as a needle in a haystack. Apperson 440; Hardie 469; Hyamson 226 ; Oxford 446-7 ; Taliaferro 83 ; Taylor 50 ; T N97. Cf. Partridge 632. 5. Needles and pins, needles and pins. When a man marries his trouble begins (2). Apperson 440; Green 28; Lean i, 469 ; Oxford 447 ; Woodard 40. 6. Sews with a red-hot needle and a burning thread. Atkin- son 82 ; Collections . . . Relating to Montgomeryshire, XIII (1880) 329 (745) ; T N98; J. S. Udal. Dorsetshire Folk-Lore (Hertford. 1922) 302. Cf. Champion 527 22) : A hot needle burns the thread (Ga, Africa) ; Par- sons, Antilles 460: Hot needle burn thread. Negro (Nigger), i. A dead nigger in the wood pile. Berrey 166.1.3. 170.1, 207.2, 317.1 ; DAE Nigger 12; Hardie 466; NED Suppl. Nigger, ic; Oxford 452. 2. All niggers look alike to me. Jonathan Daniels, Tar Heels (N. Y., 1941) 202. 3. As black as a nigger. Lean 11, 807 ; NED Negro, i, quot. 1782. As black as a Negro in the dark. As black as a Negro shovelling coal at midnight. Cf. Hislop 192: It would be a hard task to follow a black dockit sow through a burnt muir this night. 4. As lazy as a nigger. 5. As shiny as a Negro's eye. See (9) below. 6. As sleepy as a nigger. 7. Give a nigger a book and you just as well kill him. 8. Give a nigger an education and you ruin a good plough- hand. J. C. Harris 223 : Put a spellin'-book in a nigger's ban's, en right den en dar' you loozes a plow-hand. Cf. TP437- 9. Shines like a nigger's heel. Hardie 468: As shiny as a nigger's heel ; Pearce 237 ; Wilstach 344. 10. Sweating like a Negro going to the 'lection (2). Sweat- ing like a nigger at election. Berrey 123. 11, 245.12; Brewster 265; Hanford 177 (Arkansas) ; Woodard 42. 11. Takes a deaf nigger not to hear the dinner horn. J. C. Harris 151 : Hit's a mighty deaf nigger dat don't year de dinner-ho'n. 12. Tastes like a Negro family has just moved out of my mouth. Cf. Partridge 132: To feel as if a cat has kit- PROVERBS 4SI tened in one's mouth ; \'ance Randolph, Ocark Mountain folks (N. Y., 193-^) 40: an' my mouth a-tastm' hke a cat had done littered in it. Neighbor Better a neighhor that is near than a brother that is far otY. Champion 562 (244) : Your neighbour who is near is better than your brother who is far away (Moor- ish) : Cundall 90: Near nabour better dan furra broder ; NED, Neighbour, i, proverbs, quots. 13. . . 1539'. Nicol- son 244; Proverbs 27:10. Cf. Apperson 437: A near friend is better than a far-dwelling kinsman; Oxford 444;TNiio. Nest. Smelled like a nest of grandaddies. Ct. Lerrey 120.5O. Nettle. Grasp a nettle hard and it will not sting you. Cf. Api^erson 442; Berrey 208.2; Hyamson 166; NbU Grasp. 3 ; Oxford 274 ; T N133. News. I. As far reaching as bad news. Bad news travels fast (2). Bradley 86; Green 21. ^, , . ^^ 111 news travels fast. Apperson 325; Oxford 31^; ^ N 1 47-8. 2. News'll keep. r, u q r\ 3 No news is good news. Apperson 450 ; Bradley «7 ; Ox- ford 457 ; T Ni 52. Nickel. As worthless as a plugged nickel. Berrey 21.3. Ct. NED Suppl. Plugged. Night. I. As black as night. Hyamson 47; NED Night, ib. 2. As calm as night. Wilstach 42. . , , 3. As dark as night (2). Green 22 ; NED Night, ib. 4. As different as night from day. See Day (3) above. 5. As gloomy as night. Wilstach 179. 6. As silent as night. NED Night, ib, quot. i795 ; 'i N165 ; Wilstach 353. . . 7. As sure as the night follows the day. Cf. Wilstach 401 : Sure as dav and night succeed each other. 8. He walked around looking like a black night on the seas. Cf. Northall 6: A face like a wet Saturday night. 9. In the night all cats are l)lack. Apperson 85 ; (Jxford 86; T C50. 10. Night makes no difference to a blind man. 11. There's no night without day. Cf. T N164. L2 To rest well at night let your diet be light or else you'll complain with stomach and pain. Diet light, rest well at night. "Prlain as print, llyanison 274; Xh:i) Plain, 18I); Wil-tach 3J3. Professor. .\s al)sc'nt-niin(le(l as a i)n)fess()r. Cf. 1 lu.^h Hol- man. (> This Crooked IVav (N. Y., 1946) 210: an ahsent-niinded professor's job; Lee Thayer. They Tell Xo Tales (N. Y.. 1930) 77: That was the proverbial absentniindedness of genius. Provider. A good provider is never without a mate. Prune, i. As wrinkled as a prune. Cf. Berrey 21.3: [Not worth a] (wrinkled) prune. 2. Full uf prunes. (Foolish.) Ik-rrey 280.9. Pudding. As thick as pudding. Cf. Wilstach 4^2: Thick as hasty pudding. See Mush (2) above. Pulpit. Preach in your own pulpit. Hislop 327: Ye canna preach oot a' your ain pu'pit. Cf. Kelly 386. Pumpkin (Punkin). i. As yellow as a pumpkin (2). Talia- ferro 125. As yellow as a punkin (2). Green 36. 2. Could bite a punkin through a crack. Cf . Apperson 307 : To lick honey through a cleft stick. Punch. As pleased as Punch. Apperson 502; Berrey 277.5; Green 20; Hyamson 284; Oxford 507; Partridge 640; Wilstach 295. Pup I As cute as a speckled pup. As cute as a speckled pup under a red wagon. Cf. Atkinson 88: As pretty as a speckled pup under a new-painted buggy ; John Hewlett, Cross on the Moon (N. Y.. 1946) 225: as purty as a spotted puppy dog under a red wagon. 2. As pretty as a spotted pup. As pretty as a speckled pup. Berrey 37.10; Bond 45; Brewster 261 ; Woofter 362. 3. As sore as a pup. Gregory Dean, The Case of the fijth Key (X. Y., 1934) 100. Puppy. T. As friendly as a i)ui)])y. Wilstach 163. 2. As playful as a puppy. I'ond 45. ^^ „r , 3. As weak as puppy-water. Cf. Wilstach 466: Weak as water. Purse You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's car. Apper- son 571-2; Bradlev 89; Hardie 465; Hyamson 317; Oxford 589 ; T P666. Putty. As soft as putty. Blakel)orough 231. 464 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Quagmires. Quagmires don't hang out no signs. Champion 631 (459) (American Negro). Cf. Parsons, Antilles 138: Trouble never blow shell. Quality. Quality before quantity. Cf. Oxford 527: Quality, without quantity, is little thought of. Quarrel. It takes two to make a (juarrel. Apperson 655 ; Bradley 89; Oxford 681. Queen, i. As happy as a queen. Wilstach 192. 2. As stately as a queen. Wilstach 386. 3. Live like a queen. Questions, (a) Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies (4). Bradley 89; Oxford 15; Taylor 55. (b) Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies, Give me no apples. I'll make you no pies. Green 20. (c) Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies; Bring me some peaches And I'll make you some pies, (d) Ask me no questions. I'll tell you no lies. Give me some flies and I'll bake you some pies. (White folks say "Cherries" instead of "flies.") Quilt. Split the quilt. (Divorce.) Cf. Brewster 264: split the blanket. Rabbit, i. Jumps like a rabbit. Bond 53. 2. No sleepier'n a rabbit. Cf. J. C. Harris, Nights with Uncle Renins (Boston, 1883) 93: Brer Rabbit, he one er deze yer kinder mens w'at sleep wid der eye wide open. 3. Quicker than a rabbit to his hole. 4. Runs like a rabbit. N. B. Mavity, The Fate of Jane McKenzie (N. Y., 1933) 11. Rag. I. As limber as a rag (2). J. C. Harris. Nights with Uncle Remus (Boston, 1883) 66: ez limber ez a wet rag. 2. As limp as a rag (2). Wilstach 235. 3. Feel like a boiled rag. Berrey 35.10; Partridge 75. 4. I lit a rag up the holler. He lit a rag up that holler for all the world like his shirttail was on fire. Paul (Jreen. Out of the South (N. Y., 1939) 82; Ke])bart 414. Cf. Brewster 266: light a shuck. Rail. I. As skinny as a rail. James T. Farrell. The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan (N. Y.. 1935) 207. 2. As thin as a rail (5). Wilstach 422. Rail fence. As crooked as a rail fence. Berrey 31 1.3 : Pearce 235- Rain, sb. i. A small rain will lay a great dust. Apperson 522 ; Oxford 531 ; T R15. PROVERBS 465 2. As right as rain. ApperscMi 531 ; lierrey 169.6.10; I'ar- tridge 698 ; Wilstach 324. 3. More rain, more rest. All fair weather's not the hest (2). Apperson 521 (12), =,22 (23) ; Bradley 90 (first half) ; Oxford 433, 531 (first half). Cf. Beckwith 85: More rain, more rest ; more grass fe niassa horse. 4. Sense enough to come in out of the rain (5). She hasn't sense enough to come in out of the rain (4). lierrey 150.2; DAM Rain, vl) ; Green 30; llardie 469; Par- tridge 685. 5. The rain doesn't know hroadcldth from jeans (.MS beans). Champion 631 (466): Raindrops can't tell broadcloth from jeans (American Negro). 6. \'oice like rain on a tin roof. Rain, vb. It never rains but it pours (4). Apperson 522; Bradley 90; Hardie 463; Oxford 531-2; Taylor 55. Rainbow, i. As beautiful as a rainbow. Wilstach 15. 2. As crooked as a rainbow (2). Hendricks loi. 3. Go to the end of the rainbow and you will find a pot of gold. There is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Apperson 523; Green 25; Oxford 171. 4. Rainbow in the morning. Sailors take warning. Rain- bow at night, Sailors' delight. Apperson 323 ; Bradley 99; Hardie 466; Oxford 531 ; Tavlor 35; 'Hiomas 200; T R20-1. Raindrop. One raindrop Can't make a crop. M. X. Work. "Geechee and Other Proverbs," Journal o] .Imcrican Folklore, xxxii (1919) 442: One rain won't make a crop. Rake. i. As lean as a rake. Apperson 356; Oxford 357; Partridge 474 ; T R22 ; Wilstach 229. 2. As poor as a rake (2). 3. As thin as a rake (2). Hanford 178; Xh:D Rake. ib. 4. Many bring rakes but few shovels. Hislo]) 115: He comes oftener wi' the rake than the shool ; T R24. Cf . Oxford 43. Ram. Butts like a ram. Taliaferro 198. Ram-rod. i. As stifif as a ram-rod. Wilstach 389. 2. As straight as a ram-rod (2). Hardie 468; Hendricks 91 ; Wilstach 392. 3. Looks like he had [a] ram-rod down his back. DAE Ramrod, quot. 1904. Rasp. I. As rough as a rasp. Green 20. 2. \'oice like the rasj) of a file. Cf. XED Sui:)])l. Rasp, vb. 4. Rat. I. As gray as a rat (2). Green 19. 466 NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE 2. As wet as a drowned rat. NED Rat. 2b ; T AI1237 ; Wil- stach 468. As wet as a rat (2). Cf. Bond 53: Limp as a wet rat. 3. Caught like a rat in a trap. W. S. ]\Iasternian, TJie Bloodhounds Bay (N. Y., 1936) 262. 4. Die like a rat. Nora and G. E. Jorgenson, The Circle of Vengeance (N. Y., 1930) 223. Dies like a rat in a hole. Wilstach 91. 5. Do you not smell a rat? Apperson 580; Hardie 472; Hyamson 289, 321 ; Oxford 598; Partridge 788; T R31. 6. Fled like rats from a sinking ship. Oxford 533 ; Taylor 55-6; T M1243; Wilstach 145. Cf. Apperson 524, rat (2). 7. Fought like a cornered rat. Cf. Bond 53 : To fight like a rat in a corner. 8. Trapped like rats. Wilstach 431. Raven. As black as a raven (2). Apperson 51 ; Wilstach 21. Raw head. Raw head and Bloodv bones will get you. Ox- ford 533 ; T R35. Razor. i. As keen as a razor (2). Hardie 467; Wilstach 2,2.2. 2. As sharp as a razor (2). Apperson 561 ; Berrey 128.3, 148.5.9, 241.8, 257.11, 281.16; Hyamson 313'; NED Sharp, id; Taliaferro 161 ; T R36 ; Wilstach 342. As sharp as a razor blade. Harry Miller. Footloose Fiddler (N. Y., 1945) 124-5. Reach. Out of reach is out of harm. Reap. He who would reap well must sow well. Cf . Apperson 591 ; Hyamson 290; Oxford 608; T S687. Redbug. As small as a redbug. Cf. "A List of Words from Northwest Arkansas," Dialect Notes, iii, part i (1905) 74, 92 : a redbug is a chigoe or chigger. Reel. Straight off the reel. Berrey 255.5 (I'ig'it off) ; DAE Reel, lb; Green 31 ; NED Reel, 2c. Remedy. The remedy is as bad as the disease. Apperson 528 ; Oxford 538; TR68. Repentance. Death-bed repentance is no repentance. Cf. Nicolson 260 : Death-bed repentance is sowing seed at Martinmas; Oxford 351: Late repentance is seldom true; T R77. Republicans. As rare as Repuljlicans in South Carolina. Revenge. Revenge is sweet. Apperson =,28; Oxford 539; T R90. P R O \- K R B S 467 Rhyme. There's neither rhyme nor reason in it. Apperson 529 ; Oxford 540 ; T R98. Rib. Gettin' hisself another rib. (Getting married) (3). Cf. NED Rib, 3. Ribbon. As sHck as a ribbon. W'ilstach 358. Ripe. Soon ripe, soon rotten. Appcrson 588; Green 31; NED Ripe, ic; Oxford 604; T R133. Rise, sb. The higher the rise the greater the fall Cf. Apper- son 301 : The higher standing, the lower fall ; Oxford 295 ; T S823. See Higher above. Rise, vb. He that riseth late must trot all day. Apperson 532-3, quots., 1659, 1736; Oxford 544; Poor Richard 107: T Duo; IVay to JVcalth 409. River, i. A noisy river never drowned nobody. Cf. Beck- with 22 : Bragging riber neber drown somebody ; Cun- dall loi ; Eranck 99; Parsons. Antilles 458 (Granada). 2. All the rivers run into the sea. yet the sea is not full. Cf. Apperson 7 : All rivers do what they can for the sea ; Ecclesiastes 1:7; Nicolson 188; T R140. 3. Do as they do over on the river (i.e., do without). Cf. Lean 11, 758: "Do as they do in the Isle of Man." "How's that?" "They do as they can"; A. G. Powell, / Can Go Home Again (Chajx^l Hill, 1943) 186: Do like they do in Alabama — do without. Road. I. Shortest road to the penny, longest to the dime. Cf. Champion 625 (177) : The man that always takes the shortest road to a dollar generally takes the longest road from it (American Negro). 2. You won't travel no good road ef you cross a crooked style to git into it. You won't hit no good road tother side a crooked style. Robin. A robin's song is not pretty to the worm. Champion 635 (600) : The worm don't see nothing pretty in the robin's song (American Negro). Robin Hood. All around Robin Hood's barn. (A speaker who takes a long time to tell anything is said to "go all around Robin Hood's barn" to get to the main point.) Apper- son 536; Berrey 167.4; Brewster 266. Rock. I. As firm as a rock (4). Apperson 671, weak (2). quot. 1900; Green 23; T R151. 2. As hard as a rock (5). Berrey 210.3; Green 19; Hardie 467 ; Taylor 38 ; T S878. 3. As solid as a rock. A. Williams, Polk-Songs of the Upper Thames J'allev (London, 1923) 262. 468 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 4. As Steady as a rock. NED Steady, 8 ; Wilstach 387. 5. Swims like a rock. Cf. Oxford 636: To swim like a stone; T S893. Rocking chair. Rides easy as a rocking chair. Cf. Atkinson 8y : This pony paces like a rocking chair. Rod. Spare the rod and spoil the child (4). Apperson 592-3; Bradley 65; Hyamson 295; Oxford 609; Taylor 57; T R155. Cf. Proverbs 13: 24. Rome. I. He that owns Rome must feed Rome. Nicolson 18: He that has Rome must keep Rome up. 2. Rome was not built in a day (6). Apperson 537; Brad- ley 90; Green 30; Hyamson 296; Oxford 547-8; Tay- lor 57; TR163. 3. When in Rome do as Rome does. W'hen in Rome do as the Romans do. Apperson 537; Bradley 90; Hvamson 296; Oxford 547; Taylor 57; T R165. Room. There's most room at the top. There's plenty of room at the top. Bradley 95 : There is always room on top ; Mary K. O'Donnell, Those Other People (Boston, 1946) 271 : There's always room at the top for people. Rooster. i. A good rooster crows in any hen-house. Hearn 10: Bon coq chante dans toutt pouleille (Martinique); T. M. Pearce, "The English Proverb in New Mexico," Coliforuia Folklore Quarterly, v (1946) 353: He that's a good rooster will crow in any henyard. Cf. Champion 620 (4) : A good cock will crow on any dung-heap (Mexican). 2. As game as a rooster. Bond 49. 3. Crows like a rooster. Bond 49; Taliaferro 205 (game- rooster). 4. Struts like a rooster. Rooter. Fattened up like a piny-ridge rooter in chestnut time. Rope. I. Ropes of sand. Apperson 538; Oxford 548; T R174. 2. Take in your rope. Rose. I. As fresh as a rose. Apperson 235; Green 23; T R176; Wilsatch 161. 2. As lovely as the rose. Cf . Wilstach 247 : Lovely as a bud- ding rose and Lovely as spring's first rose. 3. As pretty as a rose. 4. As red as a rose (2). Apperson 526; Hardie 468; Ox- ford 535; T R177; Wilstach 315. 5. As sweet as a rose. NED Rose, 4a. quot. o 1732; T R178; Wilstach 405. 6. Blushes like a rose. Snapp 75 (54). PROVKRBS 469 7. Blooming like a rose. Thornton i, 170, chipper, quot. 1837-40. 8. Every rose has its thorn. Tlardie 463; NED Rose, 4h. 9. Lie on roses when voung. thorns when old. Oxford 364; T R186. Roses in youth, thorns in old age. 10. Looks like the last rose of summer (2). 11. No rose without a thorn (4). Apperson 451; Oxford 549; T R182. Row. I. Hoe your own row. DAE Row, 5b; NED Row, 6c. 2. He kin weed his own row^ and keep it clean too. Talia- ferro 28, 257. Let him weed his own row. Rowing. As hard as rowing up stream. Ruby. As red as a ruby. Wilstach 316. Run. A good run is better than a bad stand (2). "Folklore from St. Helena, South Carolina," Journal of American Folklore, xxxviii (1925) 228 (Negro) ; Green 17; John- son 161. Cf. Joyce 116; MacAdam 230 (514) ; National Proverbs: Ireland 78: Better a good run than a long standing; NED Run, sb.\ 2a, Stand, sb.\ 4c; F. N. Robinson, "Irish Proverbs and Irish National Char- acter," Modern Philology, xliii (1945) 8: Better a good flight than a bad stand. Sack. I. An old sack needs much patching. NED Sack, 3, quot. 1546; Oxford 473; T S8. 2. It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright. Apperson 181-2; Bigelow 107: Sac qui vide pas connait rete debout ; Bradley 72: Hardie 461; Oxford 170-1 ; Poor Richard 134. See Bag (3) above. Saddle. As funny as riding side-saddle on a sow. Fits like a saddle on a sow's back. Apperson 591 ; Oxford 608: As meet as a sow to bear a saddle; Partridge 161 : Her clothes sit on her like a saddle on a sow's back, 721 : suit one as a saddle suits a sow ; T S672 ; Wilstach 427 : The title of a knight, on the back of a knave, is like a saddle upon a sow. See Hog (15) above. Safe. Better to be safe than sorry. See Sure below. Saffron. As yellow as saffron (2). NED Saffron la, quot. 1 778 : Wilstach 487. Said. I. It is easier said than done. Apperson 54^; Oxford 165; T S116. 2. Least said, .soonest mended (2). Apperson 357; Bradley 470 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 82, 91 ; Green 27 ; Hardie 464 ; NED Least, 4 ; Oxford 359 ; T L358 ; Woodard 39. Least said the better. 3. Little said is soon mended. Apperson 372-3 ; Oxford 359- Sail. I. Carry no more sail than you have wind to. 2. Set your sail as the wind blows. Oxford 712; Snapp ""j (17). 3. Take in your sail. Cf. Hyamson 301 : To haul in one's sails ; NED Take, 82i, quot. 1641. Sailor, i. As drunk as a sailor. 2. Curses (cusses) like a sailor (2). 3. Swears hke a sailor. Charles G. Givens, The Rose Petal Murders (Indianapohs, 1935) 28. Salt. I. Not worth the salt that goes in your bread. Cf. Apperson 549: Not worth (or Worth) one's salt; Ber- rey 21.7; Hyamson 304; Oxford 734. 2. Help me to salt, Help me to sorrow ; Brew me my malt, And on the morrow. Apperson 548-9 (first part only) ; Oxford 291 (as Apperson). 3. Put salt on a bird's tail and you can catch him. Apper- son 549; Berrey 314.6; Hyamson 304; NED Salt, 2c; Oxford 560; Partridge 724; T B401. 4. Take it with a grain of salt. Take that with plenty of salt. (Don't be too quick to believe that, skeptical.) Hyamson 303 ; Oxford 261 ; T G402. Samson. As strong as Samson (2). T S85 ; \\'ilstach 395. Sap-rising. Sap-risin' time is lovin' time and a lonesome heart haint good to bear. Sardines. Packed like sardines (2). Berrey 24.16; Partridge 727. Sassafras tea. So no-count he can't keep hisself in sassafras tea and rabbit terbaccer. Too triflin' to keep hisself in sassafras tea and poke sallit. Satan. As ugly as Satan. See Devil (10) above. Satin. I. As smooth as satin. NED Satin, 2, quot. 1706, Sleek, 2, quot. 1754. 2. As soft as satin. Wilstach 372. Sauce. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Apperson 266; Bradley 91 ; Hyamson 306; Oxford 561 ; Partridge 315; T S102. Saucers. Eyes as big as saucers. NED Saucer. 4. Cf. Talia- ferro 56 : head big as a sasser. Eyes like saucers. Wilstach 116. P R O V V. K I! S 471 Save. l)etter save a man from dying tlian salve him when he is (lead. Saw. W ould fight a circ'lar saw. Say. Say well is good, but do well i> I)eUer. AjJpiTson 551 ; Oxford 563; T S123. Say-so. Say-so is not say-true. Cf . Apperson 623 : They say is half a lie; Bohn 153: Horensagen ist halh gelogen ; XKD Say-so; Oxford 648. Scare-crow. As ugly as a scare-crow (2). W'ilstach 439. Scat. l>efore you could say scat (2). Berrey 2.10, 53.16, 58.6. Ouicker than you can say "scat." DAE Scat; NED Suppl. Scat. Schoolboy. As bashful as a schoolboy. Cf. Fuller 24 (843) : Bashfulness is boyish. Schoolgirl. As bashful as a schoolgirl. W'ilstach 14. Scissors. As cold as scissors. Scores. Don't rake up old scores. Cf . Apperson 84 : To cast up old scores, 467 : Old reckonings make new quarrels. Scotchman. i . As stingy as a Scotchman. Cf. Partridge 734. See Jew (1) above. 2. As tight as A Scotchman. Berrey 106.7 (drunk), 376.3.6.7. See Jew (2) above. Scratch. Scratch where it itches, b^liza Gutch and AI. Pea- cock, County Folk-Lorc. Lincolnshire ( Folk-Lore So- ciety, London, 1908) 405; Roxburghe v, 171. Screw. To have a screw loose. Berrey '/:2, 152.5, 433.8. Sea. I. As boundless as the sea. Wilstach 30. 2. As deep as the sea (2). Hardie 467; Wilstach 87. 3. As restless as the sea. Roberts 227 ; W'ilstach 320. 4. As wide as the sea. See Ocean (4) abo\e. 5. He goes to sea in a sieve. Cf. Cliristy 11, 238: "Tis hard to sail over the sea in an egg shell; T Si 75. 6. The sea cannot be measured in a quart pot. Secrets. Sell ( ?Tell) her secrets at the crossroads. Cf. Cham- pion 632 (487) : Cross-road's bad place to tell secrets (American Negro) ; J. Skelton, Works, ed. after A. Dyce (Boston, 1856), i. 30, 1. 36: It can be no coun.sell that is cryed at the cros : T C841. Seeing. Seeing is believing (2). Apperson 556; P>radley 61 ; Hardie 464; Oxford 571 ; Taylor 58; T S212. Self-praise. Self-praise is half scandal. Adams 63 (loi). The proverb was heard in Tryon, N. C, by l^-ofessor J. B. Munn in 1945. Cf. .\])pers()n •,-,■;■. Self-j^raise is 472 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE no recommendation; Christy ii, 153: Self-praise is half slander ; Hislop 257 : Self-praise comes aye stinking ben and Self-praise is nae honour ; Oxford 572-3 ; T M476. Send. You look like you were sent for and couldn't go. Alli- son 97 ; Brewster 264. Service. Otifered services are always refused. Cf. Bohn 296: Aangeboden dienst is onwaard ; Oxford 519: Prof erred service stinks ; T S252. Seven years. If one keeps anything seven years he will always find a use for it. Keep a thing seven years and you'll find use for it. Apperson 337 ; Oxford 330; T T141. Shadow. I. As close as your shadow. Cf. Blakeborough 230: Ez friendly ez yan's shadder. 2. Don't be afraid of your own shadow. Apperson 3 ; Hyam- son 312; NED Shadow, 4b; Oxford 3-4; T S261. 3. He could walk 50 mile and not stand nary time in his own shadder. He has to stand up twice to make a shadow. So thin she can't make a shadow. Fogel 137: 'R is so mager as 'r ken schatte macht ; Perkins 1 22 : Too thin to cast a shadow. Shakes. I'll do it in two shakes of a dog's tail. I'll do it in two shakes of a lamb's tail. In two shakes of a sheep's tail (3). Green 26. I'll do it in three shakes of a sheep's tail. Berrey 1.3, 2.10; Partridge 748; Taliaferro 75, cf. 127: afore three strokes ov a mutton's tail. Cf. Hyamson 312; Par- tridge 8y, Suppl. 1029. See Jerks above. Shank. Shank of the day. Berrey 3.10; NED Shank, 9. Share. Share and share alike. Apperson 561 ; NED Share, 6e; Oxford 579; T S286. Sheep. I. As docile as a sheep. Cf. Bond 48: docile as a lamb. 2. As naked as a shorn sheep. Apperson 436; Partridge 549- 3. Follow like sheep. Apperson 563 (iij. Cf. 1 S309; Wilstach 1 54 : Follow like a flock of sheep. 4. One bad sheep spoils the flock. Apperson 563 ; NED Sheep, 2a(d), quot. c 1530; Oxford 564; T S308. Sheet. As white as a sheet (3). Apperson 680; Green 35; Hardie 468; Taylor 67 ; Wil.stach 470. Sheriff. i. As welcome as the sheriff. 2. Every man should be sheriff on his own hearth. Cham- pion 59 (607) : Every man is a sherillf on his own hearth (Iri.sh). Cf. Apperson 189: Every man is a PROVERBS 473 kiii<:: at honu' ; Xicolson 286: A man is a king in his own house; Oxford 518: Every man is a priest in his own house. Shingle. As straight as a shingle. W'ilstach 392. Ships. Tass like ships in the night. W. S. Howard. Ihuic Acthclrcd (Sydney, X.S.W., 1944) 70: they were, so to s]')eak, ships that passed in a night. Shirt. r. Keep your sliirt on! Berrey S4-3. 251.4, 269.2, 270.2; DAE Shirt, 2a; NED Suppl. Shirt, 2f; Woodard 39 ; W'oofter 358. 2. Run like yer shirt tail is on fire (2). Cf. MaeAdam 181 : Do it as if there were fire on your skin; Xational Proverbs: Ireland 41. Shoe. I. As comfortahle as an old shoe. Hardie 467. 2. As easy as an old shoe. Apperson 175; Nh3D Shoe, 2m, quot. 1825; Wilstach 108. As easy as an old shoe. (Said of the fit of anything, or of any easy temper.) Green 19 (verbatim). 3. As plain as an old shoe (2). Green 20; Taliaferro 258. 4. He eares more for the shoe than the foot. Cf. Davidoflf 383 : Better cut the shoe than pinch the feet. 5. He knows where the shoe pinches. The shoe ])inches. Apperson 565; Bradley 91; Green 24; Hvamson 31s; Oxford 583: Taylor 58; T M129. 6. I hain't been in his shoes and T can't gauge his footsteps. 7. I wouldn't be in his shoes. NED Shoe. 2k. 8. If the shoe fits, wear it. Bradley 91 ; Hardie 463. See Cap (1) above. 9. Kicked around like an old shoe. Cf. NED Shoe, 2a. 10. ^'ou look as nice as new red shoes. Cf. J. C. Harris, Vnclc Remus and His Friends (Boston, 1892) 95: des ez ])urty ez red shoes wid blue strings in um. Shoe leather. As tough as shoe leather. NED Shoe-k-ather, a; W'ilstach 430. Sec Leather alxive and Whit-leather below. Shoestring. As slender as a shoestring. Shooting. I. As easy as shooting. T. E. Nichols. Forty Years of American Life ( Eondon. 1854) i. 387. 2. As sure as shooting (2). P)errey 164.4; DAl^ Shooting. I ; Green 20; Wilstach 401. Shop. Keep thy shop and thy sho]) will keep thee. Apperson 337; C3xford 331 ; Poor Richard 76; T S392 ; JEay to Wealth 412. See Place (2) above. Shot (1). I. As quick as a shot. Richard Curie, Corruption (Indianapolis, 1933) 246. 474 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 2. A long shot with a hnil) in the way. Shot (2). The had shot is a ready Har. Bohn 143 : Ein schlechter Schiitz. der keine Ausrede findet. 261 : Vallestero que mal tira, presto tiene la mentira. The archer that shoots badly has a lie ready, 269 : Besteiro que nial atira prestes tern a mentira. Shots. Rattles like shots in a gourd. Shoulder. Over the left shoulder. Apperson 478; Berrey 204.3; Green 29; Hyamson 219; Oxford 481-2; Par- tridge 476 ; T S405. Shovel. He must have been fed with a shovel. Show. I. As exciting as a wild West show. 2. As good as a show. Wilstach 183. Shroud. A shroud has no pockets. There are no pockets in a shroud. Bradley 92; Champion 180 (1231) (Ger- man) ; Jesse Stuart, Foretaste of Glory (N. Y., 1946) 81 : He would come back at his critics by saying that shrouds were pocketless. Shucks. He feeds shucks to the geese. Cf. Apperson 276: Not fit to carry guts to a bear ; Hanford 1 72 : pack guts to a bear; Oxford 80; Woofter 361: pack guts to a goose. (To work at dishonorable employment.) Siamese. As close as Siamese twins. Cf. Oxford 391. Side. I . As broad as the side of a house. Cf . Bertram Atkey, The Man ivith Yellozv Eyes (N. Y., 1927) 174: As broad as the side of a barn. 2. He laughs on the wrong side of his face. Apperson 352 ; Hardie 471 (singing); Hyamson 217; Oxford 352; Taliaferro 32 : you'd better be laughin' t'other side o' yer mouth. 150: I told 'um they'd laugh t'other side o' thar mouths afore it were done ; T S430 ; Woodard 39 : I'll make you laugh on the other side of your face. Laugh on the wrong side of your face (that is, cry). Green 27 (verbatim). 3. There are two sides to every question. Bradley 89 ; Ox- ford 680. Sieve. i . As empty as a sieve. Cf . Hardie 466 : a mind like a sieve ; T S435. 2. Leaks like a sieve. Oxford 356; Wilstach 228. Sigh. A sigh (MS sign) goes further than a shout. Cham- pion 76 (567) (Gaelic). Sight (1). I. Out of sight is out of mind. Apperson 476; Bradley 92; Hardie 464; Oxford 480; T S438. 2. The sight of you is good for sore eyes (4). The sight PROVERBS 475 of you is good for sore eyes, or, will cure sore eyes (i.e., I see you so seldom). Api)erson 589; Berrey 37.2.10. 277.1, 395.1, 427.1, 428.1; Green 32; Hardie 466. Sight (2). Their sights are set too high. Cf. Paul Green, //■/(/(' I'iclds (X. v., 1928) 88: her sights were set higher 'n me. Sign. I. All signs fail in dry weather (2). Bradley 99; Brewster 263 ; Taylor 29. See Drought above. 2. Signs don't produce money. Cf. Apperson 570-1 : The sign invites you in ; but your money must redeem you out. Silence. Silence gives consent (2). Apperson 571 ; Bradley 92; Green 30; Hvamson 316; Oxford 589; Tavlor 59; T S446. Silk. I. As fine as silk (6). Allison 97; Berrev 4.8, 128.3; DAE Silk, ic. 2. As glossy as silk. 3. As smooth as silk (2). Wilstach 362. 4. As soft as silk (3). Apperson 585; Green 31; NED Silk, ic; T S449 ; Wilstach 369, 371. Silver spoon. To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth. Apperson 572; Hyamson 317; Oxford 57; Partridge 82, 770 ; Taylor 61 ; T S772. Simon pure, Simon pure. P>errey 99.2, 169.5. 11, 456-3. 475-1, 505.12, 583.4; DAl'^ Simon-pure; Hyamson 317; NED Simon pure ; Partridge 770. Sin. I. As black as sin. NED Sin, 2c. 2. As crooked as sin. 3. As guilty as sin. S. Palmer, The I^ucclc of flic Red Stallion (N. Y., 1936) 27. 4. As uglv as home-made sin (2). Atkinson 88; Hardie 468. As ugly as home-made sin cooked in the fire-place. As ugly as sin (3). Apperson 658; Oxford 682; Par- tridge 923 ; T S465 ; Wilstach 439. As ugly as sin and nearly as agreeable. Green 20. Cf. Lean 11, 862: As pleasing as some sins. 886: As ugly as sin and not half as pleasant. 5. He finds his sin in his punishment. Hislop 129: He reads his sin in his punishment. Sink. Sink or swim. Apperson 574; Plyamson 318; Oxford 592 ; T S485. Sit. Sit down and rest yourself, settin's cheaper'n standin'. Apperson 92 : It is as cheap sitting as standing ; Fred 476 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Kitchen, Jesse and His Friends (London, 1945) 76; Koch I, 318; Koch II. 29; Oxford 89; T S495. Cf. Lean iv, 12. See Nothing (4) above. Six. I. At sixes and sevens. Apperson 575; Berrey 174.6; Hyamson 318; Oxford 594; Taylor 59; T A208. 2. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. Apperson 575 ; Berrey 28.1; Green 30; Hyamson 318; Oxford 594; Taylor 59. Sixpence, i. A nimble sixpence is better than a slow shilling. Christy i, 109 (a pawnbroker's maxim); Green 17; Lean iv. 133. Cf. Apperson 41, 445, 446, nimble penny; NED Nimble, 3d. 2. There's a sixpence difference between those who work and those who don't work, and those who don't work get the sixpence. Cf. Apperson 624 : There is not the thickness of a sixpence between good and evil. Skeleton, i. As loud as two skeletons wrestling on a tin roof . Noisier than two skeletons dancing on a tin roof. (There is a less decorous version.) 2. As poor as a skeleton. 3. As thin as a skeleton. Wilstach 422. Skill. Skill and patience will succeed where force fails. Cf. Christy 11, no: Patience and time accomplish more than force and violence (La Fontaine) ; T S500. Skin. I. A wrinkled skin conceals the scars. Cheviot 351: The wrinkled skin easily conceals a scar. 2. As tight as the skin. Taliaferro 153. 3. By the skin of his teeth. Berrey 209.2, 378.2.3; Hyam- son 319; Oxford 595; Partridge 775; T S510. 4. To come off wnth a whole skin. Northal 26. Skunk. I. Smells like a skunk. Bond 52. 2. Stinks Hke a skunk. Bond 52. Sky. I. As blue as the sky (2). Hardie 466; Perkins 130. 2. As high as the sky (2). Sky-high. Berrey 106.7 (drunk); Gaelic Journal, xvi (1906) 155; NED Sky- high. 3. To blow one up sky high. Green 32; NED Sky-high, quot. 1840. 4. When the sky falls we shall all catch larks. Apperson 576; Oxford 595 ; Partridge 777 ; Taylor 59; T S517. Sled-runner. Foot like a sled-runner. Time, February 4, 1946, 68: they'll have "sled-runners for feet." Sleep. Hours of sleep : Nature needs but five, Custom gives men seven, Laziness takes nine, And weakness eleven. Apperson 577 ; T H746. PROVERBS 477 Sleeping. There will be sleepiiii;- enough in the grave. (MS grove.) Apperson ^7^; Oxford ^ij(); Poor Richard \o4; Way to Wealth 409. Slice. A shoe from a cut loaf is never missed. Apperson 565. shive, (juot. 1901 ; Champion 628 (332) (Jamai- can) ; Northall 7; Oxford 582; T T34; Wilson 188. Slip. There's many a slip Twixt the cup and the lip. Apper- son 129; Bradley 92; Hardie 465; Ilyamson 104; Ox- ford 123; Taylor 25; T T191. Slow. Slow and steady wins the race. Oxford 597-8. Cf. Taylor 61, steady. Small. There's nothing too small to use. Cf. Apperson 455: There's nothing but is good for something; Bohn 156: Kein Ding ist so schlecht, dass es nicht zu etwas niitzen sollte. Smell. I f smell were all, the goat would win. Cf . Bohn 402 : \ar det giort med Skisegget, da vandt Giedebukken. If a beard were all, the goat would be the winner; Ox- ford 27: If the beard were all, the goat might preach. Smoke, sb. Where there's smoke, there's fire (2). Where tliere is smoke there is a little fire. Where there's smoke there's bound to be fire (2). Where there is so much smoke there's bound to be a little fire. Where there's so much smoke, there's some fire. Where there is smoke there must be some fire. Apperson 582; Bradley 75; Hardie 465; Oxford 454, 458; Taylor 60; T F282, S569. Smoke, vb. Better to smoke here than hereafter. Snail. I. As slimy as a snail. Bond 58. 2. As slow as a snail (3). Hardie 471; NED Snail, 2; T S579 ; Wilstach 360. Snake, i. As coldblooded as a snake. Bond 53. 2. As crooked as a black snake. As crooked as a snake (6). Bond 53 ; Snapp 69 (224). As crooked as a snake's path. 3. As hard to see as a green snake in the grass. 4. As hissing as a snake. Wilstach 200. 5. As low as a snake. Bond 53 : lower than a snake. 6. As low down as a snake's belly. Leslie h^)rd, The Strangled Witness (N. Y.. 1934) 120; Snapp 69 (234) : Lower than a snake's belly; Woodard 40: Low enough to crawl under a snake's bell v. Cf. Berrev 39.10, 145.6, 265. 7. As mean as a snake (2). As mean as a striped snake. N.C.F., Vol. I. (32) 478 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 8. As poisonous as a snake. Snapp 69 {^22'j). 9. As poor as a snake. Atkinson 89; Jesse Lilienthal, Gambler's IVijc (Boston, 1933) 226. Cf. NED Snake, 3. 10. As sinuous as a snake. Bond 53. 11. As slick as a snake in the grass. Cf. Thornton i, 387, greased lightning, quot. 1837: slicker than snakes. 12. As treacherous as a snake. Bond 53. 13. Don't stir up more snakes than you can kill. Cf. Apperson 341 : Kindle not a fire that you cannot extinguish, 523 : Raise no more spirits than you can conjure down; Ox- ford 532 ; T D319. 14. No more sense (money, etc.) than a snake has hips. Ber- rey 378.2, cf. 29.2. Snot. As slick as snot. Snow. I. As light as snow. Cf. Austin Dobson, Complete Poetical Works (Oxford, 1923) 64: Light as a snow- flake. 2. As pure as snow (2). John Dos Passes, The 42nd Parallel (N. Y., 1930) 371. As pure as the driven snow. John Dos Passos, The 42nd Parallel (N. Y., 1930) 364. 3. As seasonable as snow in summer. Apperson 584, quots. 1605, 1732; NED Snow, ic, quots. 1594, 1854; Oxford 568, 601, as welcome; T S590; Wilstach 338. 4. As soft as falling snow. As soft as snow. 5. Snow is the poor man's fertilizer. Christy 11, 285. Cf. Apperson 15 : Snow in April is manure. 6. As white as snow (4). Apperson 681; Hardie 468; NED Snow, ib; Taylor 67; T S591 ; Wilstach 471. Snowball. He's got as much chance as a snowball in hell (2). Lasts no longer than a snowball in hell. Berrey 163.6, 218.5. 10; Hardie 472; Taylor 20; Whiting 223. Cf. Partridge 132 (cat in hell) 386, 419. No more chance than a snowball on the Ijack log. Snyder. Take ofif like Snyder's pup. Soap. I. As slick as soap (2). As slick as soap grease. Wilstach 359. 2. As ugly as homemade soap. Soap maker. As slick as a soap maker's arse (ass). As slick as a soap maker's door string. Cf. Fergusson's Scottish Proverbs, ed. Erskine Beveridge (Scottish Text So- ciety, Edinburgh, 1924) 80 (1043). Soil. Be bare with the soil and the soil will be bare with you. Champion 60 (627) : Don't be bare with the soil or the soil will be bare with you (Irish). Cf. Apperson 592: !• K O V K R H S 479 Who sows little mows the less; Kelly 299: Sow thin. mow thin; Oxford 608. Solomon. As wise as Solomon (3). Lean 11, 894: NMD Solomon, qiiot. 1678; T S609 ; Wilstach 478. Something, Better something than nothing at all. Apperson S^j ; Oxford 603 ; T S623. Son. My son's my son till he's got him a wife. My daughter's mv daughter all the davs of her life. Apperson 587 ; lli-adley 67 ; Oxford 603'; T S628 ; Woodard 42. Soot. 1. As hitter as soot. Apperson 50; Green 21 (sut) ; XED Soot, la, quot. c 1302. 2. As black as soot (sut) (3). Apperson 51; Hyamson 47; NED Soot, la. cpiot. c 1420; T S642 ; Wilstach 21. Soup. I. As easy as drinking soup (uit of a sluice. 2. As thin as soup. Cf. \\'ilstach 564: Thin as boarding house consomme and Thin as homeopathic soup, etc. Sow, sb. I. Like the old sow, you have to pull her ears off to get her to the wash and pull her tail ofif to get her away. Christy i. 629 ( trough for wash ) ; (ireen 2y (ver- batim ) ; Woodard 38. 2. Suck a blue sow and see the wind.— Saying. As a blue sow was i>retty apt to be razor-backed, leggy, snouty, and tusky, this recipe was on all fours with the one for catching turkey buzzard [s] by sprinkling salt on their tails. (This saying is said in the MS to come from O. W. Blacknall's paper, "Old Plantation Signs and Wonders," and to have been "heard on the plantation in the 1850's and i86o's.") Cf. Apperson 494: Pigs can see the wind ; Green 24 : Hogs see the wnnd ; Hyatt 97 (2086) : Pigs can see the wind (2087) : Suck a nursing sow's tit and you \v\\\ be able to see the wind ; Oxford 500 ; Thomas 233 : Tf you drink a sow's milk, you will be able to see the wind; T P311 ; Whitney 60 (1273 A) : Pigs see the wind. 3. The still sow gets the wash. Apperson 602, (juot. 1920; Oxford 620-1 (drafY) ; Tavlor 60 (drafT) ; T S68r. Cf. NED Wash. II. Sow, vb. Whatsoever man soweth that shall he reap. Apper- son 591; IJradlev 92; (ialatians 6:7; Oxford 608; T S687. Spade. Calls a spade a spade. A]i])erson 592; n\amson 324; Oxford 75 ; Taylor 60 ; T S699. Spectacles. He looks for his spectacles while they are on his nose. Cf. Apperson 74, butcher (3), (4) ; Oxford 71. See Horse (12) above. 4^0 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Speech. Speech is silver, silence is golden. Apperson 594; Bradley 92; Hardie 464; Oxford 612. Spider. She'll put a spider in your biscuit. Payne 361 : To tell one a piece of bad news, to do one an injury. A facetious way of saying "poison one." Cf. Green 30: Put a spider in his dumpling. Spit. I. So dry he'd have to prime himself to spit. T. M. Pearce, "The English Proverb in New Mexico," Cali- fornia Folklore Quarterly, \r (1946) 352. 2. So much company there wasn't room to spit (crowded). Spit image. Spit image (likeness). Spit'n'-image (close re- semblance). Apperson 367; Berrey 430.8; NED Suppl. Spitting, 3; Oxford 614, 368; Partridge 810; T ]\Ii246. Cf. Hardie 469 ; NED Spit, 2e. Spring (1). As fresh as a spring. Wilstach 161, 162. Spring (2). As welcome as spring. Lean 11, 889 : As welcome as is the spring to the earth. Squirrel, i. As quick as a squirrel. Bond 53. 2. As thrifty as a squirrel. Cf. Bond 53 : provident as a squirrel. 3. Climb like a squirrel. Cf. NED Squirrel, i, quots. c 1592, 1726. Stable. It's too late to shut the stable when the horse is gone. It's too late to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen. Locking the stable door after the horse is stolen (2). No use to lock the door after the horse is stolen. Apperson 598-9; Bradley 80; Hardie 465 (barn); Hyamson 326; Oxford 587 ; Taylor 40-1 ; T S838. Shut the stable door after the horse is gone, (jreen 30. No use to lock the door after the money is stolen. Stack. As black as a stack of black cats. Berrey 32.7 ; DAE Stack, 5; Hardie 466; Thornton i, 238 (dark); Wil- stach 20. Stand. Strong enough to stand alone (6). Star. I. As bright as a star. NED Star, ib, quot. r 1450. 2. As countless as the stars. Wilstach 70. 3. Counting the stars won't pay the taxes. Champion 629 (354) : Counting the stars doesn't help the meat box (American Negro). Cf. Hyatt 641 (10697) • I am an old woman and I never did count a star in the sky. My mother told mc it was bad luck to count them ; Thomas 70-1 : If you count the stars, you will die. 4. Eyes like stars. Wilstach 117, 118, 119, 120, 122. 5. Glitters like the stars. Cf. NED GHtter, la, quot. 1675. PROVERBS 481 Statue. As still as a statue (2). NEU Statue. la. quol. iS_'3; Wilstach 389. Cf. T S834. Steam engine. Tuff like a steam engine. Hardie 470. Steel. I. As cold as steel. I). Vunnv, The Stnimje Death of Martin Green (N. Y., 1931) 141- 2. As hard as steel (2). T S839; Wilstach 193. 3. As strong as steel. L. Ford, The Simple II 'ay oj I uison (N. Y.;i937) 271 ;T S839. 4. As tough as steel. T S839. 5. As true as steel. Apperson 647; Hyamson 348; NhU Steel. 2b; Oxford 672; T S840; Wilstach 436. Steeple. As tall as a steeple. Wilstach 415. Steer. He's as crazy about licker as a steer is [about] pond water. Taliaferro 31 : "Licker" was at them all, and he (J. Snow) loved it as a thirsty ox does pond-water. Stick. I. A crooked stick makes a crooked shadow. Apper- son 123; Cundall 34; Oxford 617 (staiT) ; T S801. 2. As cross as two sticks (6). Apperson 123; Green 18; Hardie 467; Hyamson 102; Partridge 193, 830; Wil- stach 76. 3. As dry as a stick. Green 19; NED Cucumber, 2b. quot. 1760. 4. As fat as a poking stick. 5. As stiff as a stick. 6. As straight as a stick (3). Cf. Lean 11, 877: As straight as a wand. 7 He furnished the stick to break his own head. Apperson 601 ; Kelly 182; T R153. Cf. Lean iv, 43 : Many there be. . . . 8. More than you can shake a stick at (5). Berrey 20.3; DAE Stick, 4; Hardie 470. Stitch. A stitch in time saves nine (8). Apperson 603; Bradley 93 ; Green 1 7 ; Hardie 462 ; Hyamson 329 ; Ox- ford 622 ; Taylor 61. Stone. T. A rolling stone gathers no moss (3). Apperson ::,T,j: Bradley 93; Hardie 461; Hyamson 296; Oxford 547 '; Taylor 61 ; T S885. A rolling stone gathers no moss, but a stagnant pool stinks, (ireen 17 (verbatim). A rolling stone gathers no moss, but a setting hen never gets fat. Joseph C. Bridge, Cheshire Proverbs (Ches- ter, 1917) 5 (18). 2. As cold as a stone. Apperson 106; Green 22; Hyamson 92; NED Stone. 3c; T S876 ; Wilstach 61. 482 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 3. As dead as a stone. Wilstach 83. Cf. Berrey 1 17.18; NED Stone, 3c. 4. As deaf as a stone. Hyamson in ; NED Stone, 3c; T S877 ; Wilstach 84. 5. As hard as a stone. Apperson 284; Hyamson 177; NED Stone, 3c ; T S878. 6. As naked as a stone. Apperson 436. 7. Heart Hke a stone. Cf. Hyamson 181 : Heart of flint (stone) : NED Stone, 4b; T H311. 8. Leave no stone unturned. i\pperson 358 ; Hyamson 329 ; Oxford 359; T S890. Storm. I. After the storm the cahn comes. Apperson 604; Bradley 93 ; Oxford 4 ; T S908. 2. As rough as a storm. Wilstach 328. Stove. As warm as a stove. Wilstach 464. Stranger. Put the stranger Near the danger. Champion 61 (656): [Always put] the stranger near the danger (Irish). Cf. Maci\dam 231 (530): The bad and no good on the back of a stranger; Nicolson 189: Let the blame of every ill be on the stranger ; Oxford 624 : The stranger is for the wolf. Straw. I. Not worth a straw. Apperson 458; Berrey 275.2 ; NED Straw, 7a; Oxford 624-5 ; Partridge 571 ; T S918. 2. The straw that breaks the camel's back. Apperson 351 ; Hyamson 330; Oxford 351 ; T F158. That is the last straw. Dorothy Aldis, Murder in a Hay- stack (N. Y., 1931 ) 19. Streak. Ran like a streak. Berrey 53.7.9.16; NED Streak, 3c; Partridge 483, 838. Runs like a blue streak. Berrey 53.7.9.16, 189.3; Hardie 472; NED Suppl. Blue, 13. Stream. i. He swims against the stream. Apperson 606 (strive) ; Hyamson 331 ; Oxford 627; T S927. 2. He swims with the stream. Hyamson 331 ; NED Stream, 2f ; T S930. String. I. As long as a piece of string. 2. As straight as a string. Wilstach 392. 3. He harps on one string. Api>erson 287 ; Berrey 276.7 ; Oxford 280; T S936. 4. Pull the string, the latch will fly. Green 29. Strokes. Little strokes fell great oaks. Apperson 373 ; Brad- ley 82; Oxford 627. many; Poor Richard 135; T S94r ; Way to Wealth 41 1. Stuarts. All Stuarts are not kinsmen of the king. Hislop 45 ; Kelly 14; Oxfords. V K () V K R H S 483 Substance. He parts with tlu- suhstance for the shadow. Cf. Apperson 560: Catch not at the sliadow and lose thf suh- stance; Christy i, 162: Do not abandon the sul)stance for the shadow; T S951. Succeed. If you don't succeed at first, try and try again. l)radley 93 ; NED Try, 16a. ([uot. iS - ( popular melody). If at first you don't succeed, keep suckling- till you do succeed. Success. Nothing succeeds like success. Apperson 454; l^radley 93 ; Oxford 464. Sugar. I. As sweet as sugar (5). Lean 11, 881 ; Wilstach 405- 2. She is neither sugar nor salt. Apperson 441 ; TTyamson 304; NED Salt, 2f, Sugar, 2b; Oxford 630; Partridge 556; Patterson loi. Sulphur. As yellow as sulphur. Wilstach 487. Cf. NED Suljihur, ic, quot. 1725. Summer, i. If you can sing in the summer you may dance in the winter. Cf. Roberts 129: He who works while summer lasts will sing all through the winter. 2. No summer without a winter. A]:)person 608 ; Oxford 630. Sun. I. As bright as the sun. NED Sun, id, quots. a 1225, a 1300; Wilstach 35. 2. As dazzling as the sun. Cf. Wilstach i>T^. 3. As good as the sun ever shined on. XED Sun, leCb). Cf. Apperson 306 : As honest a man as the sun ever shone on. 4. As sure as the sun sets. Cf. Wilstach 401 : Sure as sun- rise and Sure as sun-up. 5. As sure as the sun shines. Wilstach 401. 6. As welcome as the sun after a rain. 7. The sun is the poor man's clock. See Snow (5) above. Sunbeam. As bright as a sunbeam. NED Snnljeam, la, fjuot. c 1290; Wilstach 34, 36. Sunlight. As bright as sunlight. NED Sunlight, la, quot. c 1205. Sunset. As beautiful as the sunset. W'ilstach 15. Sunshine. Sunshine follows the rain. Cf. A])])erson 520-1 : After rain comes sunshine; NED Sun, ie(h ) ; T R8. Sure. Better sure than sorry. Lean 111, 431; ( )xf()rd 38. See Safe above. Swallow. One swallow does not make a summer. Apperson 484 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 612, cf. 708; Bradley 93; Hardie 464; Oxford 634, cf. 'J2'j; T S1025. One swallow does not make a spring. Swan. As graceful as a swan. Bond 50. Sweet. Every sweet has its sour. NED Sweet, 3, quot. 1553. Swimming hole. She has carried herself to a bad swimming hole. (Said of a girl who marries a worthless man.) Sword. As sharp as a sword. Cf. NED Sword, 2, quot. 1513; Wilstach 343. As sharp as a two-edged sword. Wilstach 343. T. I. It fits to a T (4). Berrey 16.8; Hyamson 335; NED T, ic; Partridge 279. 2. We stand like a T. Tack. I. As sharp as a tack (2). AUison 95 ; Berrey 148.5.9, 241.8. 257.11, 281.16, 640.6; Hardie 467. 2. Head like a tack. Cf. Elsie Warnock, "Terms of Dis- paragement in the Dialect Speech of High School Pupils in California and New Mexico," Dialect Notes, v, part II (1919) 62: Tack-head. Tail end. Like the tail end of hard luck. Cf. Apperson 381 : To look like the picture of ill luck ; N'c^v York Folklore Quarterly, 11 (1946) 220: He's the tail end of nothing cut off and tucked in ; Taliaferro 258 : we'd look like the peaked eend uv nothin'. Tailor. The tailor to his needle, the shoemaker to his last. Cf. Apperson 104: Let not the cobbler go beyond his last; Bradley 92; Davidoff 415: Let every tailor keep to his goose; Hyamson 90; Oxford 99-100, 269, the gunner; T C480. Tales. Don't tell tales out of school. Apperson 619; Berrey 198.4, 206.2; Hyamson 336; Oxford 643; T T54. Talk, sb. I. Big talk and little deeds. Cf. Apperson 273; NED Talk. 5a; Nicolson 319: Much talk and little done; Poor Richard 65 : Great talkers little doers ; Smith and Eddins 244 : Big talker, little doer ; T T58. 2. Talk is cheap, and (but) it takes money to buy dirt (2). Cf. Apperson 619, talk, quot. 1678: Prate is but prate, it's money buys land ; Bradley 94 : Talk is cheap ; Pearce 237 : Talk's cheap, but it takes money to buy bread and butter ; T T59. Talk, vb. I. He talks a lot but says nothing. 2. He talks just to hear his head roar. Koch 11, 135. Tar. I. As black as tar (3). Berrey 32.7; Hardie 466. P K () \' K R B S 4^5 2. Slower than lar in cold moonshine. Sec Molasses (1), Moonshine ahove. Tell. Tell me who you go with and I'll tell ycni who you are. Apperson 621 ; Oxford 646; T T87. Tempest. Like a tempest in a tea-cup. Apperson 604 (storm) ; Ilyamson 338; NED Tea-cup, c. Thanks. Thanks killed the cat. Cf. Apperson 125: Cry you mercy killed my cat; I'ohn 119: IVr dir oraii merce, la mia gatta mori ; T C874. Thank"e starves the cat. Green 31. Thief. I. As thick as thieves (2). Apperson 624; P.errey 24.16, 332.9; Hyamson 341; Partridge 875; Wilstach 421. 2. As welcome as a thief. Wilstach 573. 3. When thieves fall out. Apperson 625 : When thieves fall out honest men come hy their own ; Bradley 90 : When rogues fall out, honest men get their dues ; Hardie 465 ; Oxford 649; T T122. Thing. I . A thing not needed is easily found. 2. All things come to him who waits. Bradley 96 ; Oxford 1 79-80 ; Taylor 66. 3. Good things are put up in small packages (2). Precious things come in small packages. Beckwith 54 : Good t'ing wrap in small parcel; Bohn 17: En petites boites met-on les bons onguents. 331 : Kostbaare dingen doet men in kleine doosjes; Bradley 89: Precious metals (gems, things) are put up in small packages. Precious things are put up in small packages (and so is poison). 4. If you want a thing well done, do it yourself. Apperson 156, cf. 322 ; Oxford 690; Taylor 67; T D401. 5. It's not the things you have but what they mean to you. Cf. Bohn 108: Le cose non sono come sono, ma come si vedono. Things are not as they are, but as they are regarded. Thorn. As sharp as a thorn. Ap])erson 561 ; T T230. Thought. I. As invisible as thought. Wilstach 218. 2. As quick as a thought. Apperson 518-19; Green 30; Hyamson 287 ; Wilstach 309. Cf. T T240. 3. Second thoughts are best. A])person SS^: Hvamson 309; Oxford 568-9; T T247. Three. i. As thick as three in a bed. Ap])erson 624; Green 20; XED Thick, 10; Partridge 875 ; \\V)odard 43. 2. The three merriest thiniLis under the sun : .\ cat's kitten, A goat's kid, And a VDung widow. .\(ifi())ial Pnn'crhs: 486 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Ireland 15: The three most pleasant things, a cat's kit- ten, a goat's kid, and a yoving widow. 3. Three without rule — A mule, A pig, A woman. U. J. Bourke, The College Irish Grammar (Dublin, 1883) 301 : Three without rule — a woman, a pig and a mule ; National Proverbs: Ireland 31 ; (3'Rahilly 71-2 (248) : The three most difficult to teach — a woman, a pig, and a mule. Cf. Apperson 615; Collections . . . Relating to Montgomeryshire, xii (1879) 299 (491): Three things that will have their own way — a lass, a pig. and an ass ; Nicolson 332; Oxford 637, swine; T S1044. Thriftiness. Thriftiness is the same thing as stinginess. Thumb. Stands out like a sore thumb. Robert G. Dean, The Sutton Place Murders (N. Y., 1936) 104. Thunder, sb. i. As black as thunder. Apperson 52; Green 18; Hyamson 47; Wilstach 20. 2. As loud as thunder (3). Wilstach 241. 3. As ugly as homemade thunder. Thunder, vb. So loud you couldn't hear it thunder. Tick. I. As fat as a tick. England 72. 2. As full as a tick (3). Apperson 241; Berrey 24.15, 106.7; DAE Tick, 2; Green 19; NED Suppl. Tick, ic; Partridge 306; T T281 ; Wilstach 166; Yankee Phrases "5; 3. As tight as a tick (4). Desmond Holdridge, Pindorama (N. Y.. 1933) 33. 4. Holds fast as a tick. Cf. J. C. Harris, Uncle Remus and His Friends (Boston, 1892) 119: he helt on, like tick on a cow. Tiger, i. As fierce as a tiger. Cf. NED Tiger. 2a, quot. 2. Fights like a tiger. V. Bridges, The Girl in Black (N. Y.. 1927) 271. Time. i. As fast as time. Cf. DAE Time, 10: To run like time. 2. As old as time. Wilstach 278. 3. Be ruled by time. 4. Half past kissing time and time to kiss again. Berrey 3.12, 191. 5; Partridge 368; "A Word-List from Western New York," Dialect Notes, iii, part vi (1910) 442. 5. There is a time for all things.. Apperson 192. 634; Brad- ley 94; ( )xford 659; Taylor 64; T T314. 6. Time and tide wait for no man (2). Apperson 6\^, 6^4; liradley 94; llardic 465; Oxford 658; Tavlor '64 ;' T 'r3-^3- P K () \- l". K H S 487 Time and truubli' wait for iid man. 7. Time flies in winter; liorse Hies in snnimer. Cf. I'.radley 94 : Time flies ; Oxford 659 ; T T327. 8. Time gets around, there's no warts on its tail. 9. Time heals all vvomids. P.radley (M- Cf. Aijperson 634, time (i6):TT325. 10. Time lost is never found. Apperson 383; Oxtord 660; Poor Richard 128; T T332 ; Way to Wealth 409. Time lost is never regained. Cf. Apperson 635: Time lost we cannot win ; ( )xford 660. 11. Time will tell. J. J. Connington, TJic liyc in the Museum { P.oston. 1930) 232. Tinker, Not worth a tinker's dam. Worth as much as a tinker's dam. Apperson 456 (6), 458; Berrey 21.3: (ireen 28 (cuss) ; Partridge 128. Tit. Tit fur tat. Apperson 635-6; Kelly 310; Oxford 661; T T356. Cf. Berrey 191. 4. Tit for tat, You kill my dog and I'll kill your cat (6). Bradley 95 ; Green 32. Titty. I. As useless as titties on a man. No more use than a man's titties. Cf. Marguerite Eyssen, Go-Dcvil (N. Y., 1947) 57: useless as tits on a tomcat. 2. It is a tough titty to suck, but she sucked it. (Hard trials.) Cf. F. H. Brennan, Meino to a Firijuj Squad (N. Y., 1943) 126: Dr. Lincoln is chewing a tough titty. Toast. I. As crisp as toast. 2. As dry as toast. NED Toast, ih. quot. 1842. 3. As warm as toast (2). Apperson 315, quots. i860, 1901 ; Partridge 408, hot ; T T363 ; Wilstach 463. Tobacco. Don't chew your tobacco twice. Bradley 65 ; Wood- ard 43 ; Woofter 350. To-day. i. Give me to-day's meat, yesterday's bread and last year's wine and the doctor can go. Beckwith 52; Franck loi. Cf. F'oor Richard 118: Give me yester- day's bread, this day's flesh, and last year's cyder ; T \t,2. 2. To-day's to-day and to-morrow's to-morrow. 3. Use not to-dav what to-morrow may want. Apperson 660. Tom Tyler. As crazv as Tom Tyler's old bitch. Cf. Partridge <^95- Tomb. As cold as the tomb. Wilstach 61. To-morrow. .\ever leave for to-morrow a thing that can be done to-dav. Never put off till to-morrow what yon can 400 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE do to-day. Apperson 517; Bradley 95 ; Hardie 464 ; Oxford 526 ; T T378. Tongue. i. A tongue hung in the middle and wags at both ends. A tongue tied at both ends and loose in the mid- dle. Her tongue is hung in the middle and loose at both ends. Her tongue is tied in the middle and loose at both ends (3). Her tongue runs as if tied in the middle and loose at both ends. Her tongue's fastened in the middle and loose at both ends. His tongue is hinged in the middle and wags at both ends. Tongue wags as if it were fastened in the middle and loose at both ends. Tongue wags like it is tied in the middle and loose at both ends. Cf . Apperson 638 : His tongue is well hung. 2. He talks with his tongue in his cheek. Hyamson 345 ; NED Tongue, 4d, Suppl. Tongue, 4d. 3. Lock up your tongue or it will lock you up. Cf. Apper- son III: Confine your tongue lest it confine you. Tooth. I. As painful as a sore tooth. 2. He didn't cut his teeth yesterday. Cf. NED Cut, 38; Partridge 201. He has cut his wisdom teeth. Berrey 148.5, 17 1.2, 257.8. 432.1 ; Partridge 201. He hasn't cut his eye teeth yet. Apperson 197; Berrey 148.5, 171.2, 257.8, 432.1; Hyamson 135: Partridge 201, 898; Taliaferro 11 1 : Fse cut my eye teeth long ago. 3. Teeth don't show mourning. Bigelow loi : Dents pas ca poter dei ; Hearn 18: Dens pas ka pote dei. . . . Teeth do not wear mourning — meaning that, even when un- happy, people show their teeth in laughter or smiles (Trinidad) ; Parsons, Antilles 458: Dent pa ca po'te dei (Trinidad), 484: Teeth don't wear mourning (St. Croix). Cf. C^hampion 509 (28) : When one suflfers in the entrails, the teeth smile (Amharic). See Bone (2) above. Toothpick. I . As thin as a toothpick. Allison 95 ; W'il- stach 422. 2. Legs like toothpicks. Top. Spin like a top (2). Taliaferro 117; Wilstach 378. Tortoise. As slow as a tortoise. Bond 53. Trap. Caught in his own trap. They who lay tra]:)s for others are often caught by their own bait. Cf. Apperson 598, spread nets; Bohn 179: Wer Andern eine Grube grabt, fallt selbst hinein ; Christy 11, 205: Subtlety .set a trap and was caught itself ; J. C. Harris, Xiglifs with Uncle p R o \' V. R n s 489 Remits (lioston. 1S83) 120: Dey wuz allc-rs a-layin' traps fer Brer Rabbit en gittin' cotch in um deyse'f ; R. Williams. Poorc Mau's Pittance {c 1606), in Ballads from Manuscripts, ed. T'. J. Furnivall, 2 vols. (London, 1868-72), II, 44, 1. 155: riiie selfe weare caught in the trappe thou didst lave. Trash. If von associate with trash, \()u'll B(»under with trash. Tree. i. A tree is known by its fruit. Api^erson 645; Brad- ley 95; Oxford 670: Taylor 65; T T497. 2. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. Apperson 644-5 : ^ '503- 3. Flourish like the green bay tree. Green 27; NED Bay, 2: Psalms 37: 35; Wilstach 150. 4. Hanging from a tree. (Doing something ridiculous which results adversely to the doer.) 5. There's alius a tree laying across the road. Cf. Apper- son 540: There will be rubs in the smoothest road. 6. You are barking up the wrong tree (2). Berrey 320.2, cf. 418, 170.7; Green 21; Hardie 468; Hyamson 34, 347; NED Wrong, A. 7b; Partridge 2>i'y Taylor 13; Woodard 34. Trick. He who plays a trick must be prepared to take a joke. Cf. Oxford 325: If ydu give a jest, you nuist take a jest. Trojan. i. His boys are regular Trojans. (Stalwart, brave.) Cf. Hyamson 348; NED Trojan, 2. 2. To fight like a Trojan. Laurence Housman, The Duke of Flamhorough (N. Y., 1929) 166. 3. To work like a Trojan (2). Apperson 646; Berrey 245.12; Hardie 472; Partridge 911 ; Wilstach 484. Trooper. i. Cur.se like a trooper. Thorne Smith, Turnabout (N. Y., 1933) 136. 2. Swears like a trooper (2). Apperson 613; Berrey 194-3; Green 33 ; Hardie 471 ; Hyamson 334; Oxford 635 ; Par- tridge 852, 911. Trouble, i. Don't borrow trouble. Bradlev 95; Partridge 82. Don't borrow trouble, it'll come soon enough. 2. Don't go looking for trouI)le. DAE Trouble, 2; Hyam- son 226. 3. Never go to meet trouble. Hyam.son 237; Oxford 417. 4. Never trouble trouble till troul)le troubles you. Apper- son 646; Bradley 73. 5. Trouble don't last always. 6. Troubles, like chickens, come home to roost (6). See Chicken (5) and Curses above. 490 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 7. Troubles never come single. Apperson 419. misfortunes; Bradley 95; Oxford 426; Taylor 49. See Misfortunes (2) above. Troubles never come alone Init in battalions. Trout. I. As healtbv as a trout. Apperson 590, sound, quot. 1891. 2. As speckled as a trout. Cf. NED Speckled. 2a, quot. 1832. Truth. I. As naked as truth. Apperson 436; T T561. Cf. NED Naked, 6b. 2. Truth is stranger than fiction. Apperson 650 ; Bradley 95; Hardie 463 (fact) ; Oxford 185. Trying. As easy as trying. Cf. Oxford 165: As easy as lying. Tub. Every tub must stand on its own bottom (3). Let every tub stand on its own bottom. Apperson 193; Bradley 96; Green 22; Hardie 463 (sit); Oxford 675; Par- tridge 84 ; Taylor 65 ; T T596. Tune. You'll whistle another tune. Green 36 (verbatim). Cf. Berrey 12.2. 304.5, 322.4; Hyamson 317; NED Tune. 4b. Turk. Works like a Turk. Allison 94 ; Brewster 265. Turkey. i. As fat as a Christmas turkey. Cf. Hyatt 644 (10724): Christmas is coming. Turkeys are fat; NED Suppl. Turkey, 6, quot. 1836. 2. As full as a Christmas turkey. 3. As hot as a roasted turkey. Cf . Wilstach 204 : Hot as a basted turkey. 4. As red as a turkey snapper. As red as a turkey's snout. Cf. Allison 96; Bond 50: red as a turkey gobbler's snout ; Green 20 : As red as a gobbler's snout ; Lean 11, 867: As red as a turkey-cock's jowls; T T611. 5. Never said turkey to me! (Failure to give some in- formation or to invite one to some gathering or party.) DAE Turkey, 4a. Cf. Berrey 188.14, 191. 6. 559.34; Hyamson 337; NED Turkey, 2d; Thornton in, 684. Turkey egg. As speckled as a turkey egg. Allison 95. Cf. Brewster 261: As freckled as a turkey egg; Perkins 130. Turn. I. One good turn deserves another (3). x'Xpperson 470-1 ; Bradley 96; Hardie 464; Oxford 257; T T616. 2. Turn about is fair play. Apperson 652 ; Bradley 95 ; Green 34; Oxford 676. Turnip. As round as a turnip. Wilstach 328. Turtle. As slow as a turtle. Bond 53. p R o V i: R H s 491 Two. 1. As suro as two and two arc four. Oxford 678; \\il>tach 401. Ct. T T641. 2. To put two and two together. Apperson 653; Green 33 ; Hyanison 350. 3. Two's company, three's a crowd. Api)erson 655 ; Brad- ley 66; (heen 34; llardie 465; Oxford 680. Cf. Par- tridge 878. 4. Two to make a hargain. one to hreak it. ( l""irst ixirt only) : Bradley 60; Hardie 463: Oxford 08 1. Cf. Tay- lor" 13. Two cents. I feel like two cents worth of soap. Cf. Berrcy 304.5. 305.4 : feel like two cents. Valley. Act in the valley for those on the hill. Bohn 370: (lior saa i Dalen. at du frygter ei hvo staaer paa Valden. Act so in the valley, that you need not fear those who stand on the hill. Velvet. I. As glossy as velvet. 2. As smooth as velvet (2). Wilstach 365. 3. As soft as velvet (2). Wilstach 371. Vine. I. As crooked as a vine (2). 2. Clings like a vine. Cf. Wilstach 59: Clings fast as the clinging vine. Vinegar. As sour as vinegar (4). Fogel 55: So sauer as essich; A. L. Rowse, U cst-Coitnfry Stories (London, 1945) 63. Violet. As blue as a violet. Cf. NED Violet, la, quot. 1838, lb, quot. 1697. Virtue, i. Make a virtue of necessity. Apperson 663 ; Hyam- son 354 ; Oxford 688 ; Taylor 66 ; T Wy^. 2. \'irtue is its own reward. Apperson 663; Bradley 96; Oxford 687; T V81. Vise. Grips like a vise. Wilstach 188. Wafer. As thin as a wafer. Green 32 ; NED Wafer, i ; Wil- stach 422. Wagon. I. As full as a little red wagon. Cf. England 7S: Hot's a red wagon (very drunk) ; Hardie 467: As hot as a little red wagon. 2. An empty wagon rattles most. Cf. Apperson 1 82 : Empty vessels make the most sound ; Beckwith 47 ( 284 ) : Empty dray mek de mos' noise; Bradley 72; Cundall 47 (438) ; Hardie 464: An emptv wagon rumbles loud; Oxford 171 ; Jim Tully, Blood' on the Moon (N. Y., 1931) 70; Empty wagons make the most noise; Henry William- son, Life in a Devon Village (London, 1945) 274: A 492 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE leary [light] cart maketh the most noise. See Cartbody above. Walls, I. Cold walls make unhappy wives. Champion 62 (731) : Cold walls make dissatisfied wives (Irish). Cf. Apperson 25 : Bare walls make giddy housewives ; Cheviot 379: Toom stalls mak' biting horses ; T \\'i8. 2. Four walls do not make a home. 3. Walls have ears. Apperson 665-6, cf. 210, fields, 296, hedge ; Bradley 'jz ; Oxford 690 ; Taylor 66, campus ; T W19. Wash. Wash on Monday, you will have all week to dry ; Wash on Tuesday, not so much wry ; Wash on W' ednes- day, not so much to blame ; Wash on Thursday, wash for shame ; Wash on Friday, wash for need ; Wash on Saturday, you are a big goose indeed. Apperson 668; Hyatt 401 (8044) (slightly varied and rearranged). Washing. It's a lonesome washing that has not a man's shirt in it. Champion 62 (714) ; National Proverbs: Ireland 7- Wasp. 1. As ill as a wasp. Cf. Apperson 668, wasp ( i) ; T W76. See Hornet (1) above. 2. No bigger than a wasp. Cf . Bond 56 : slim as a wasp. Waste, sb. Wicked waste makes woeful want. Wilful waste makes woeful want. Apperson 687, wilful ; Bradley 96 ; Green 35 ; Hardie 465 ; Oxford 694. wilful ; T W81 ; Woodard 43, wilful. Waste, vb. Waste not, want not (2). Apperson 668; Brad- ley 96; Green 34; Hardie 465; Oxford 694. Water, i. As free as water (2). Wilstach 159. 2. As weak as water (3). Apperson 670-1; Green 34; Hyamson 357: T W88; Wilstach 466. See Puppy (3) above. 3. He pours water on the other man's wheel. Cf. Apperson 190: Every man wishes water to his own mill, 570: To put one's sickle into another man's corn. 627, thrash ; Nicolson 65 : Each draws water to his own mill ; Ox- ford 156. 4. In hot water. Berrey 256.2.13; Hyamson 191 ; Partridge 409. 5. Just like putting water on a duck's back. Rolls like water ofif a duck's back. Sheds water like a duck's back. Allison 100; Apperson 169; Hyamson 356; Ox- ford 695. 6. Loves water like a duck. Cf . Bond 49 : as a duck takes to water. V R () \' I-. K H s 493 7. Loves w;ikT like :i fish. Roberts _>_'5 : 1 Jkc lish for water. 8. Still waters run ckv]) (J). Apperson 602-3; r.radley 9O ; llardie 464; Oxford 6ji ; Taylor 67; T Wi-W 9. Takes to water like a duck. Cf. Bond 49: as a duck takes to water; Oxford 642: To take to a thing like a duck to water. 10. That won't hold water. Berrey 169.7, 170.4; (ireen 31; Hvamson 356; NED Hold, 32I). 11. To "throw cold water on a thing. 1 lyamson 92. 12. Water seeks its level. Adams 64 (127); B.radley 96; I'earce 22,S. 13. Why pour water on a drowned rat." Apperson 669, water (4) quot. 1738; T W102. Cf. Hislop 189. 14. You never know the worth of water till the well is dry. Apperson 670; Bradley 97; Hardie 465; X1<:D Well, 4; Poor Richard 122; IVay to Wealth 415. Waves. As wild as the waves. Wilstach 476. Wax. I. As close as wax. Apperson 102; Berrey 376.7; P^artridge 161, 941 ; T W134; Wilstach 60. 2. As slick as wax. 3. As tight as wax. Dorothy ( )gburn. Death on the Moun- tain (Boston, 1 931) 78. 4. Mehed like wax. Oxford 418; T W137; Wilstach 2=,><. Way. I. He looks both ways. Cf. Apperson 380-1 : To look both wavs for Sunday ; Partridge 494. 2. Looking nine wavs for Sunday (2). Apperson 380-1, look (18, 24) ; Berrey 137-8. 13. 162.3; ^ireen 33 (two) ; XED Way. 9c; Partridge 494, 562; T W145. 3. See your w^ay out before you venture in. Weakest. The weakest goes to the wall. Apperson 671 ; Hy- amson 357; Oxford 697; Taylor 67; T W185. Wear. Better wear out than rust out (2). Apperson 46; Bradley 97 : Oxford 42 ; T W209. Weather, i. All bad weather ain't foul and all the shine ain't sunnv. See Rain, sb. (3) above. 2. As changeable as the weather (2). Cf. Apperson 91 : As changeable as a weather-cock ; Roxburghe i, 296, 1. 41 : fickle as the weather ; T W223. 3. As uncertain as the weather. Wilstach 441. 4. Ill weather and sorrow come unsent for. Ai)person 325-6, cf. 589. sorrow; Lean iv. 6; T W219. 5. Never mind the weather if the wind d(jn"t blow. P.radley 99; Christy 11. 430: Green 28. Cf. Api)er.son 689: There's no weather ill when the wind is still ; Cheviot 260 ; Oxford 698 ; T W220. N.r.F.. Vol. 1. (ii) 494 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 6. Sorter under the weather. Apperson 658-9 ; DAE Weather, i ; NED Weather. 2f. Wedding. Weddin' without courtin' is Hke vittles without salt. Cf . Apperson 423 : Money without love is like salt with- out pilchers. Wedge. I. A wedge of elm to split an elm. Gaelic Journal, XVI (1906) 167 (468); O'Rahilly 95 (299): A wedge of itself splits the elm. (Well known in Southern Irish.) Cf. Champion 620 (24) : There is no wedge like that of the same wood (Mexican) ; National Prov- erbs : Ireland 38 : A man may be his own ruin, a wedge from itself splits the oak-tree ; Nicolson 202 : A wedge of itself splits the oak. 2. As dead as a wedge. Paul Green, Wide Fields (N. Y., 1928) 99. 3. As dumb as a wedge. 4. Strong enough to hold up a wedge. (Said of coffee usually.) Cf. Helen Hamlin, Nine Mile Bridge (N. Y., 1945) III : The tea was scalding and strong enough to float a spike ; Vance Randolph, "A Fourth Ozark Word- List," American Speech, viii (1933) 53, wedge floating; Woodard 42: Strong enough to bounce (float) an iron wedge. (Said of coffee, tea, etc.) See Stand above. Weed. I. Grows like a weed. Hardie 469. 2. The weeds outgrow the corn. Apperson 6/2-7, ; NED Weed, id; Oxford 699; T W242. 3. Weeds grow fast. Cf. Apperson 326; NED Weed, id; Oxford 317; T W238. Well, sb. I. A shallow well is soon dry. 2. As deep as a well. Green 19; NED Well, 4, quot. i860. 3. Can't stop to dig a well to put out a house on fire. Christy i, 3 : To dig a well to put out a house on fire (Tamil). 4. Don't wait to dig a well to drown the cat in. Well, adv. Let well enough alone. Apperson 361 ; Berrey 155.2, 275.2; Bradley 97; Hardie 463; Oxford 360; T W260. Whale. I. As big as a whale (2). Wilstach 18. 2. As low as whale manure. What. She know's what's what. Apperson 677-8 ; Berrey 149.8, 150.3. 153.2, 169.3. 257.8; Green 30 (verbatim); Hyamson 358; Partridge 463; Taliaferro 170; T Ki 78. Wheat. I. As good as old wheat in the mill. Cf. Taliaferro 176: Good as wheat in the niill-hopper ; Wilstach 183: Good as wheat. P R O \' K R H S 495 2. As yellow as wheat. Cf. Nl*:!) Suppl. Wheat, 4, qnot. i9i5- Wheel. I. A wheel that can't turn can't spin. 2. As good as the fifth wheel on a wagon. .\i)i)ersun 210; HarcHe 468: liyanison 142; Oxford 200; T W-'^^^- As useless as the hfth wheel on a wagon. Wilstach 570. 3. Old wheels run hest in deep ruts; New wheels want to cut new ruts. Whip. I. As (juick as a whi|). C"f. Xh^D Whi]), n . 2. As smart as a whip. DAE Smart, 2; Hardie 46;; Wil- .stach 361. Whippoorwill. i. As poor as a whippoorwill. Atkinson 89 (physical state): Paul Green, Wide Fields (N. Y., 1928) 173. Cf. Jesse Stuart, Foretaste of Glory (N. Y., 1946) 57: As thin as a whippoorwill in the spring. 2. Xo higger than a whipperwill. Cf. [Elhridge G. I'aige], Daw's Patent Seniioiis: Second Series (Philadelphia, 1857) 205: For, like the whippoorwills. when you come to^strip the feathers off, there is nothing left of them. Whirlwind. 1. He was going like a whirlwind. 2. We go at lit] like a whirlwind o' woodpeckers. Taliaferro 138 : away went the har like a whirlygust uv woodjieckers were arter it, 177: at it we went like a whirlygust uv woodi:)eckcrs. Whisker. As close as a whisker. Whistle, sb. i. As clean as a whistle. Apperson loi : P.errey 4.9, 24.19, 176.2; NED Whistle, ib, Sui)pl. Wliistle; Wilstach 55. 2. As clear as a whistle. Berrey 24.19; Nl^D Whistle, ih; W^ilstach 56. 3. As keen as a whistle. Green zy. 4. As .slick as a whistle (2). Herrey 24.19, 128.3, 255.5: Hardie 468: Wilstach 359. 5. He paid dear for his whistle. He paid too niucli for his whistle. Cheviot 375: To pav dearly for his whistle; DAE WHiistle, ib; NED Whistle, ib(c): Oxford 49i- Cf. Adams 64 (128) : Don't buy a whistle just because it's cheap. See R. Franklin, Jl'orks (1840), 11, 181-2. Whistle, vb. (a). A whistling girl and a crowing hen Always come to some bad end. (b). A whistling girl and a crowding hen Never come to a very good end (2). (c). A whistling girl and a crowing hen Will surely come to some bad end. ( d ). Whistling girl and crowing hen Always come to some bad end. (e). WHiistling girls and crowing hens will come to some bad end. 496 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE (f). Whistling girls and crowing hens Always come to some bad ends. (g). Whistling maids and crowing hens Never come to any good ends. (h). A whistling woman and a crowing hen Never come to any good end (2). ( i ) . A whistling woman and a crowing hen never came to any good end. (j). A whistling woman and a crow- ing hen Are neither fit for God nor men (2). (k). Whistling woman, crowing hen — Neither fit for God nor men. (1). A woman who whistles and a hen that crows Will always find a way wherever she goes. Apperson 680; Bradley 97; Cannell 26; Green 18; Hofifman 198; Edgar MacCulloch, Guernsey Folk Lore (London, 1903) 540; Nicolson 181; Oxford 119. crooning; Tavlor 35; Whitney 158. Cf. Hyatt 79 (1758-9). 2. (a). A whistling girl and an old black sheep Are the only things a farmer can keep. (b). A whistling girl and a bleating sheep Are the best stock a farmer can keep. (c). Whistling girl and a bleating sheep Best property a man can keep. Cannell 26-7; Fauset 187 (209) ; Hyatt 642 (10711-2) ; Thomas 290. White. Every white has its black. Oxford 705-6. Whit-leather, As tough as whit-leather (4). Apperson 642, tough as leather, quot. 1678; NED Whitleather, ib. Suppl. Whitleather, ib; Taliaferro 184; T L166; Wil- stach 430. See Leather and Shoe leather above. Why. Every why has a whyfore. Apperson 683 (wherefore) ; NED Why. 6c ; Oxford 707 ; T W331. Widow. He that marries a widow with two daughters has three back doors to his house. Oxford 410. Cf. Apper- son 683 ; T W335. Wife. I. A good wife makes a good husband. Apperson 264; Oxford 257; T W351. 2. A wasteful wife throws out in the dishwater more'n her husband can tote in. Cf. Money Does Master All Tilings (York, 1696) 53: Unthrifty Wives wast more than Hus- bands gaine. See Back door above and Woman (2) below. Wildcat. Fight like a wildcat. Anthony Gilbert, The Body on the Beam (N. Y., 1932) 103. Wildfire. Raining (Spread) like wildfire (2). Berrey 53.9; Hyamson 360; NED Wild-fire, 5c; Wilstach 381. Wild oats. He sowed his wild oats in a briar thicket. Sow his wild oats and settle down. Apperson 686-7 ; Berrev 438.1; Hyamson 323-4; Oxford 709; Partridge 577; T .06. P R O \- K R B S 497 Will, sb When there's a will tliere's a way. Apperson 687; ilradley 97; Oxford 710; Taylor 67-8; T \V157. Will, vb. I. He that will not when he could cannot when he would. .Apperson 292; Oxford 710; T N54. 2. What will he, will be. Apperson 560, shall he; P>ohn 'j'j : Che sara, sara. Willow. As slick as a ix^cled wilier shoot and as clost as the hark on a tree. Wind. I. As changeable as the wind. Green 21; NED Wind. 7, quot. 1500-20; Roberts ii" \ T W412. 2. As fast as the wind (2). Cf. llvanison 334: As swift as the wind; NED Wind. 7; T ^'41 i. 3. As fickle as the wind. T W412; Wilstach 138. 4. As fleet as the wind. Wilstach 147. 5. As free as the wind (2). Apperson 234-5; NED Wind, 7, quot. 1610; Wilstach 159. 6. As strong as the wind. Wilstach 395. 7. Do not argue with the wind. William Morton. The Mystery of the Human Bookcase (N. Y., 1931 ) in. Cf. T W438. He could fight at the change of the wind. He was gfting like the wind (2). Berrey 53.16. Cf. NED Wind, 7. He was going like the wind sent him. It's an ill wind that blows nobody good (4). Apperson 326; Bradley 97; Hardie 463; c5xford 317-8; T W421. Like trying to catch the wind in a net. Apperson 690, wind ( 19) ; Hyamson // ; Oxford 85; T ^^'4I6. Runs like the wind. S. Rohmer. Tales of Chinatown (N. Y., 1922) 208. Splitting the wind. DAE Split. 9: Taliaferro jt,. He tries to fence in the sea. the wind, etc. ^'ou can't fence in the wind. Cf. R(jl)erts 225 : Like tying the wind in a sack. 16. When the wind is in the east. The fish bite least ; When the wind is in the west, The fish bite best ; \\'hen the wind is in the south, The fish bite at the mouth. Cf. .\i)per- son 215, fish (2). 691, North wind, (3), South wind (4) ; Bradley 99: When the wind is in the south it blows the bait int(j the fish's mouth; Hyatt 447 (8987) : Wind from the south, hook in the mouth. Wind from the east, bite the least. Wind from the n(jrth. furthest oflf. Wind from the west, bite the best; ()xford 712; Thomas 239; T W443. Winding blades. .\rms a-going like winding blades. (]. W. 498 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Harris 166: his hans a-flyin roun his hed like a par ove windin blades. Wine. I. Keep the good wine for the last. 2. When the wine is in, the wit is out. Apperson 164; Oxford 6; T W471. Wink. As quick as a wink. Wilstach 308. Winter, i. As bad as de winter of de big snow in '57 when de nails popped on de roofs. 2. There won't be a winter like last winter. (Apparently this remark is used to disparage overoptimistic state- ments, whether one's own or someone else's. Possibly rhetorical understatement, after the English fashion, with slight irony or sarcasm.) Cf. Chenet 18: L'annee passe toujoti pi bon. L'annee passee est tou jours la meilleure. Wisdom. Wisdom is better than strength. T W-^2y. Cf. Ap- person 695 : Wisdom goes beyond strength. Wise. He is wise who is wise in time. NED W'ise, ia(f), quot. 1879. Cf. Apperson 697: He is wise that is ware in time; Oxford 718; T T291. Wishes. I. If wishes bide, beggars ride. Apperson 699; NED Wish. la; Oxford 719; T W538. 2. If wishes were haystacks, there'd be more fat cows. Cf. Brewster 267 : Mistakes don't make haystacks or there'd be more fat cattle. 3. If wishes were horses, beggars might ride. Apperson 699; Bradley 61 ; Hardie 463 ; Oxford 719: T W538. Witch. Feel like a stewed witch (4). Payne 375. Wiving. Wiving and thriving go hard together. Cf. Apper- son 701 : It's hard to wive and thrive both in a year ; Oxford 721 ; T Y12. Wolf. I. A wolf in sheep's clothing. Apperson 701 ; Hyam- son 362; Oxford 723. Cf. Berrey 616.4. 2. As gaunt as a wolf. Wilstach 168. 3. As hungry as a wolf (3). Apperson 319; Berrey 95.6; Hyamson 194; T W601 ; Wilstach 207. 4. He cries wolf ! wolf ! Apperson 702 ; Hyamson 362 ; Ox- ford 122; T W609. Woman, i. A bad woman will ruin any man. 2. A wasteful woman throws out with a spoon faster than her husband can fetch in with a shovel. Allison 98; Brewster 265 ; Lean i, 466. See Wife (2) above. 3. A woman convinced against her will, Is of the same opin- ion still. Snapp 83 (40) (man). Cf. Oxford 106: He that complies against his will, is of his own opinion still. P K O \' l'. R B s 499 4. A woman's excuses are like her apron, easily lifted. Cf. Apperson 704 : A woman need but look upon her apron- string to tind an excuse; Lean i, 475: A woman has no excuse readier than her apron ; Oxford 724 ; T \V659. 5. A woman's work is never done. Apperson 704 ; Cheviot 402; Oxford 724; T \\'679. See Man (24) above. 6. A woman will have the last word. Apperson 707 ; Ox- ford 726; T \yj22. 7. An old womans' dance is soon over. Fogel 27 : Alter Weiber danz halt net lang a ; Smith and Eddins 244 : The morning rain is like an old woman's dance, soon over. Cf. Hohn 146. 358. 8. As changeable as a woman. Cf. T WYjqS; IvKvard Ward, A Humble Offering to the Best of Queens, 14, in A Collection of Historieal and State Poems, . . . being the Fifth Volume of Miscellanies (London, 171 7) : For woman is by Nature giv'n to change. 9. Between a woman's yes and a woman's no There's not enough room for a pin to go. Bohn 192 : Zwischen eines Weibes "Ja" und "Nein" lasst sich keine Nadelspitze stecken ; Champion 273 (/?rl(l. William Marcli, Conipaiiy K (X. v., 1933) yj. 3. He wants the world with a fence around it. Hardie 469 (and a shoe of the moon) ; Snapp 83 (35). 4. I've got the world by the tail. Berrey 261.4; Oxford 731 : World in a string; T W886. 5. Let the world slide. Let the world wag. Apperson 360-1 ; Nh:D Wag. 7c. World. 3; Oxford 732; T W879. 6. The world and his wife were there. Apperson 711 ; Ber- rey 380.3; Hyamson 364; Oxford 731. 7. The world is a small place after all. Oxford yT,i. 8. The world will not last forever. Oxford y^J. Worm. I. Like a worm in hot ashes. Like a worm in the fire. 2. The worm will turn. Apperson 712; Bradley 98; NED ^\'orm, 3b; Oxford 669; T W909. Worst. Worst done first; easiest done last. Cf. T \\9i7. Wounds. Wounds made with words are hard to heal. Cf. Cheviot 99: Evil words cut mair than swords. Wrongs. Two wrongs don't make a right. Apperson 657; Bradley 90 ; Oxford 681 ; Taylor 69. Yardstick. Looks like he had swallowed a yardstick. DAE Yardstick, 2. Year, i . As long as a hundred years. 2. As sorrowful as the year. 3. It will all be the same a hundred years from to-day. Apperson 7 ; Bradley 69 ; Oxford 8 ; Taylor 57 ; T Y22. 4. One year's weed, Seven year's seed. Cf. Apperson 474: One year's seed, seven years' weed ; Oxford 477-8. One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding. Yelling. Any yelling, Do for selling. Cf. Champion 622 (72) : Any cry do for buyin' (Jamaican). Zebra. As strii)ed as a zebra. Wilstach 395. FOLK SPEECH GLOSSARY • SALUTATIONS AND REPLIES Edited by George P. Wilson FOLK spi:p:ch GLOSSARY INTRODUCTION MA^■^' P1-:0I'LE try as hard to get rid of local peculiarities in their speech as scholars try to preserve them, at least for the record. Neither the scholars nor the people who are trying to avoid provincialisms ever quite fully succeed, fortunately at least for the latter. Standard English, of course, is a necessity of edu- cation and culture; but the language of anyone forced to speak and write exclusively from handbooks and dictionaries would prob- ably be as flavorless as a drink of distilled water. There is a saltiness and tang in local speech which even Dr. Samuel Johnson recognized in practice. He favored slightly the language of his own native Lichfield both in his speech and in his dictionary, and he grumbled about one of his dependents that "she was wiggle- waggle, and I could never persuade her to be categorical." The terms wliicti are listed here have other values, however, than their homely, natural saltiness. The dialect words are the most important ones, but space does not allow me to go into their worth as fully as I should like to (elsewhere I have published an article on this subject). Since dialect is not a corrupt form of standard English (often the reverse is true), it can help us under- stand many difficult passages in our authors — the Beowulf poet, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Tennyson, Browning, etc. I am convinced that Shakespeare, for example, wrote some puns which scholars without a sufficient knowledge of dialect are unable to detect as puns or to interpret with any degree of good sense. There are puzzling passages in old diaries and letters, like Wil- liam Byrd's and Henry Purefoy's, that can be understood only with a knowledge of dialect. Many terms which such writers used have not been recorded in any lexicographical work. Phonologists are aware of the light that dialect can throw on the earlier stages of English. The British scholar Henry C. Wyld says: "Those who have given attention to the sound system of any English dialect and have traced the vowels back to their Old and Middle English ecjuivalents, know with what perfect regularity the old sounds are represented in the modern dialect. The same vowel always changes under the same conditions, in the same direction. Any apparent exceptions can be accounted for either through the influence of the literary language, through that of some neighbouring dialect, or as 506 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE the result of analogy with other forms, which have developed quite normally."^ Seventy years ago two European linguists recognized the value of dialect in a study of comparative grammar : "The liv- ing popular dialects are of the greatest possible importance for the methods of comparative grammar. "- Another practical value of dialect is the use which writers can make of it. It helps portray character, depict local color, present humor and pathos. Many of our best writers from Chaucer to our own times have made use of it. Every alert historian, sociologist, and anthropologist is aware of the ethnological value of two closely related folk cultures — folklore and folk speech. Dialect often brings us breathtaking surprises with its poetic words : accord, denture, evening glom, a fellow and a zvench, handful of days, proffer, rain-seed, sun-ball, tarry, wanton. and many another such word. And finally, dialect helps us to understand those who speak it — something of their occupations, their culture, their religion, their history, their wit, their joys and sorrows. The entries in this glossary include most of the materials com- prising Groups 7, 9, and 10 in Dr. Brown's classification of folk- lore: namely, peculiar or unusual interpretations of Scripture (7); unusual pronunciations and meanings, peculiar salutations and re- plies, the origin of words, animal calls, figurative expressions (over- lapping somewhat with proverbs as edited separately by Dr. B. J. Whiting), humorous rhymes, unusual names, dance calls (9) ; and the origin of place-names (10). The entries represent a number of linguistic aspects : mainly the meanings of words, some pro- nunciations, some usages in grammar — plurals, verb forms, nega- tives, etc. Most of the words here are dialect ; some are literary ; some are creations in America or even North Carolina ; a few are slang. Some of the words are very familiar but have unfamiliar meanings. I have tried to avoid giving nonce words, words created by individuals and used by them only, personal slips in grammar, mere mispronunciations, and other verbal idiosyncrasies. The reader may wonder why I have put into this list some rather commonplace words. I have put these in, for the most part, be- cause I have tried to show that they are historically older and liave a better literary ancestry than most people think; I felt that the reader would be enlightened and pleased to learn that so many expressions now on the lips of living North Carolinians — though sometimes held in contempt by the half -educated — have been em- ployed over the centuries by some of the greatest writers — Alfred, Chaucer, Shakespeare, the translators of the Bible, and others who have handled our language with precision and beauty. ^ Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, 1904, p. 20. ^ Hermann Osthoff and Karl Brugmann, Introduction, Morphologischc Untersuchungen, vol. i (1878). FOLK SPEECH 507 Sumc explanatidii of my mctliod ol" trcatinj^' tliis material sliould prove helpful. Unless 1 had some reason for not doing so, I looked up eacli term in six lexicos^raphical works and indicated its pres- ence or ahsence in each of these works, whether the term had the same or different meanings in eacli of these works as in the list. (See the Key helow.) I regret that some of my definitions are not more full and specific. In many instances the contrihutor gave only the most general definition or none at all : banstransUc, gowl, hypochitis, magrnduscs, etc. Very few contributors indicated any pronunciation. The locales of many words were not given. Sel- dom was it pointed out what class of speakers used the terms, or the frequency of their appearance. Through correspondence and personal consultation with persons who could supply information, and through my own knowledge of the speech of this state, I have attempted to supply much of the missing information. Even so, I have been compelled to put down some words not so well supported by explanation as I should like them to be. But 1 have observed, to my comfort, that some of the best English and American lexi- cographers sin likewise in such omissions. They doubtless feel as I do: that some information about a word is better than none. If, however, I have sinned in some instances by omissions, I have atoned for this — or have I sinned again ? — by giving long discus- sions on and many quotations for some entries : cooler, lay-overs to catch meddlers, lynch, moon-calf, oi, techy, etc. These par- ticular terms, I thought, needed more light than some others, since there is more misunderstanding about them or less known about them. When it seemed desirable to clarify the meaning of a term or its usage at certain periods of our language, I have given quota- tions ranging from Anglo-Saxon times to our own. Not every quotation has the exact w^ord under which it is entered; but if not, it has a kindred word. Nor does every quotation employ the word in the exact sense given in the glossary; it may give the word in a related sense. However, most quotations do illustrate the term as used in North Carolina. In quoting I have attempted to give the exact spelling, punctuation, etc., that I found in the original. But for the sake of emphasis and clarity, 1 have taken the liberty of italicizing the term illustrated. With so much material to look up in six lexicographical sources and with a few thousand (juotations to be copied from several scores of books, it can hardly be expected that I should not fall into some errors. These errors will provide an intellectual feast, of its kind, for the Tom Folios. I hope that readers will not be annoyed by some minor discrepancies here. Titles and tlieir accom- panying dates are not always entered the same way. If I quote from the Oxford Dictionary (NED), for example, I put down the 5o8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE form of the title found there (usually abbreviated) and the date of the work given there. When I quote independently from Shake- speare, for example, I give a fuller title and the date accepted by some good scholar, which may be at variance with the date of that same title given in the Oxford. As far as possible, I have tried to quote from uncorrupted versions — Shakespeare, the Bible, Milton, etc. — versions having the original spelling, punctuation, and capi- talization. But I have not always been able to secure pure versions. Hence there will appear some discrepancies on this score. In presenting these words as folk speech in North Carolina, 1 do not imply that they are thereby North Carolinian. True, some of them may be of North Carolina origin. Many of them are found elsewhere in the South and even the United States and Great Britain, as so many of the accompanying quotations will show. Some of the terms here have been listed and dealt with in other publications. But very few, if any, have been so fully treated elsewhere and accompanied by so many quotations. Key to Abbreviations and Symbols a. before a date = ante, "before." A-S = Anglo-Saxon or Old English. A. V. = Authorized Version of the Bible. c. before a date = circa, "about." c. after an arabic figure = "century." central = in central part of N. C. DAE = Dictionary of American English. DN = Dialect Notes. east = in eastern part of N. C. HDD = English Dialect Dictionary. EETS = Early English Text Society publications. general = found generally throughout N. C. illiterate = having no learning or almost none. ME = Middle English. MnE = Modern English. NED = Nezv English Dictionary, later entitled O.vford English Dictionary. north = in northern part of N. C. PADS = Publication of the American Dialect Society. phr. = phrase, prone. = pronunciation, south = in southern part of N. C. q.v. = quod vide, "which see." T = Thornton's American Glossary. FOLK SPEECH 509 T-D = Thornton's American Glossary in Dialect Notes. W = Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd ed. west — in western part of N. C. The following? symbols are used in connection with the six lexi- cographical works consuhed: W, NED. EDD. DAE, T, and T-D: + = the lexicographical work so marked gives the same or prac- tically the same meaning (s) which the glossary here gives. — = the lexicographical work so marked gives different meanings from the onefs) which the glossary gives. ± — the lexicographical work so marked gives one or more meanings which the glossary gives but lacks one or more mean- ings which the glossary gives. * preceding an entry = not in any of the six lexicographical works consulted; probably of American origin; 547 entries so marked and with (*). (*) preceding an entry = the numbered definition in the glossary preceded by an asterisk not found in any of the six lexi- cographical works consulted; meanings so marked are probably of American origin. § = not listed in any of the six lexicographical works consulted, but probably in use at some time in British (and perhaps American) English; eleven such entries. Key to Pronunciation Knowing the pronunciation of a word is extremely important, for the pronunciation of a word is a prime essential of that word; if we had no pronunciation, we could have no words. I have, accordingly, indicated the pronunciation of those words about which there might be some doubt. But there is one exception: I found some words in the Collection whose pronunciation was not given and which I did not know and could not discover through inquiry. I make use of the alphabet of the International Phonetic Asso- ciation because I believe that this is the most accurate and logical phonetic alphabet yet invented. It is also the simplest phonetic alphabet to learn. The professor who taught it to me said that any person with average intelligence could learn it within thirty minutes; it took me longer. With some alterations. I give below what I wrote for Instruc- tions to Collectors of Dialect (in Publication of the American Dialect Society, No. i). The phonetic symbols are placed in brackets below and in the text. N.C.F., Vol. I. (.U) 510 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE ALPHABET OF THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ASSOCIATION VOWELS IPA Key IPA Symbol Word Transcription i like ca in seat [sit] I i " sit [sit e a safe [set] 8 e " set [set] ^] a " sat [sast] a] a " Fr. /(/ between [^ ] and [a] [la] uj 00 cool kul] u] 00 good gud] 0] " 90 [go] Aj It cup [kAp] >] a " call [kDl] a a " father ['fa9c^. 3^ ir " bird [bs^d] 3^] er *' West, bu tter ['bAt2^] 9l a sofa ['sofa] er " So. and N.E. butter ['bAta] DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS: COMBINATION VOWELS ai] like i in ride [rmd] au] " OH house [haus] au] OU houses when first element is back and very low ['hauziz] [«uj OU •' house when first element is front and 1 OW [haeus] [ei] a place [pleis] [di oi " oil [ad] [ju " 3"' yule [jnl] eu " Europe ['jurap] ue " due [dju] [m] ue due [diu] [aua] ou " di. house [hauas] [jsi] " a " di. cat [kj-.-eit] [j^a] a " di. yal [gjaeal] !•• O L K S P K V. C U SI I CONSONANTS I PA Kcv I PA Syiiihol Word Transcription [Pl like t HI peak h-ikl bj b beak |l.ik| t] t ten Itnil d] " d den |(lrn| k " c eoai |knt| g " (/ ■' (J oat l,^^<'t| nij like in " meat Iniitl n] " n " neat Inill [y] "0 the velar sing [siijl nasal " sink [Siljk] IJ •• / " leaf [lif] r] " r rise [raiz f] " I " fine [fain' V " " vine fvain] " )h thin [B.n] a s " th then fcVn] s •• loose fins] z •• s lose lluzl J •' sh " ship l.hpl 3 " g roiige^ |ru3| il " V you [j"l IH •' h " 'hat fhst] [wl " zv " zi'in [wm] COMBINATION CONSONANTS [tfl like ch in chureh ftj^^t/l cl5l " j and dg judge [(l3A(l3| hwj " wh '* zclien [hwrn] MARKS INDICATING ACCENT, LENGTH, AND QUALITY ['] ahove the line indieates primary accent; all accent marks are placed before the sylial)le concerned: provoke [pro'vok] . [,] below the line indicates secondary accent: provocation [iprava'kej^n]. f :] after a symbol indicates long (|nantity : /'(/;- [bo:]. I ■ I over a vowel rir diphthong symbol indicates nasal (|nality : aunt lot]. [at|. pant |pcet|. hunh [h.\|. [,] nnder a sonorant symbol indicates that it is syllabic with- out a vowel : ['bAtn], I'tebl]. ^ Cf. Asher ('jej^f. -a] and azure ['a?5T. -a]. NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE A. GLOSSARY a, ah [a. 9]: pron. (+W, +NED. +EDD) /. NED: "In most northern dialects a new unstressed form originated from the diphthongal / by dropping the second element, and retaining the first . . . eh, a; by the lengthening of this again there has been developed a new stressed form [se, a, d] written ah, aa, oa, which is now the ordinary form of the pronoun in north Eng. and Sc. dialects." Cf. Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, III. iii : " 'Miss Vye was there too?' 'Ay, 'a b'lieve she was.' " Journal of the Lakeland Dialect Society, Nov., 1944, 16: " 'Ah hed to git them doon an' sec a bit o' shootin' theer was an what Ah wad git if Ah brock owt.' " — General. Illiterate. a [a, 9] : vb. (+W. +NED, +EDD, +DAE) Contraction of have. "I would a gone, but I had to work." NED: "Ex- ceedingly fre(|uent in 1 3-1 7th c." Sometimes redundantly: "I like to a not a knowed ye." Cf. Cursor Mundi, 14 c, Cotton 5284: "pat wald a don me o mi lyf." Paston Letters, Ap. 16. 1451 : ". . . and it is fond that your fader shuld a died seysyd. and that ye shuld a entyryd ther in after your fader dysseys. ..." Shakespeare, Hamlet, c. 1600, iv, v. 197: "God a mercy on his soul." — North and central. Common among illiterate ; rare among educated. a [9] : prep. ( + W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE) On. at. in. "He works a Monday." Cf. Shakespeare, / Henry IV, c. 1597, II, iv. 78: "No, Francis; but to-morrow, Francis; or, Francis, a Thursday." a, a- [a, 9] : prep. (+W, +NED, +EDD. +DAE) On. in; used with gerund. Cf. Shakespeare, King Lear, c. 1605. v, iii, 274: "I killed the slave that was a-hanging thee." — General. Mainly illiterate. a [9] : sign of infin. Contraction of to or (//. f + EDD) "I'm going a see what I can do about it." — Somewhat rare. See quotation under frani-pole. abide: vh. C+W, +NED, -l-EDD) To tolerate, to en- dure; generally with a negative. "I can't abide that oldest l)oy of hern." Cf. Shakesi:)eare, Merry Wives, c. 1597. i, i, 297: "By my troth, I canncjt abide the smell of hot meat since." able: adj. i+W, +NED, +EDD) Rich, possessing con- siderable means. Cf. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, c. 1597. IV, i, 208: "Is he not able to discharge the money?" !■ L K S P K K C U 5 1 3 Pepys, Currcsp., 1005: "It was the child of a very ahlc citizen in Ciracious Street." (NED) aboon: prep, and adi'. ( + \\'. +NKD, +KDD) Above. Ci. Burns, To William Simpson, 1785, 44: "Ramsay an' famous I'Vryuson (iied ln)rth an' Tay a lift aboon."' — West. Rare. accord: rb. (+\V, +EDD) 'Yo digrtt. Ci. Morte Arthure, 14 or 15 c, 343: " 'Cosyne. (|uod the concjueror, Kyndly thou asches : 3fe my concelle accordc to concjuere 3one landez.' " ]\Iilton, Paradise Lost, 1674, 11, 503: ". . . Wasting the earth, each other to destroy: As if (which might induce us to accord) I\Ian had not hellish foes enow besides." Scott. U'az'crly, 11, xix, 293, 1817: "Proceed as we accorded l)efore dinner," (NED)— East. Rare. addled: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Mentally weak, crazy. — West. Rare. admiration, to make: phr. ( + NED) To show^ surprise. Cf. Shakespeare, Cynibeli>u\ c. 1610, i, vi, 38: "What makes your adjuiration': It cannot be in the eyes." afeared: adj. ( +W, +NED, +EDD) Afraid. Cf. Mark, c. 1000, 9, 6: "Me wies ajccred mid e3e." Chaucer, Shipman's Tale, c. 1385, 400: "This wyf was not affered ne afTrayed." Pepys, Diary, Sept. 6, 1666: "I became afeard to stay there long. . . ." Hardy, Return oj the Native, 1878, i, viii : "Then I came down here, and 1 was afeard." — General. Illiterate. Somewhat rare. afflicted: adj. ( + W, -NED) Idiotic— Rare. afore: prep, -dwd adv. (+W, +NED, ±EDD) Before, in fnjnt. Cf. AS Chronicle, yr. 894: "[He] 3egaderede . . . micelne here onforan winter." (NED) Queen Elizabeth, trans. Boethius, 1593, 6, 15: "Have we not wrested with follies rash- ncs among the elder sorte afore our Platoes age . . . ?" Shakespeare, Ki)ig Lear, c. 1605, i, v, 4: "If your diligence be not s])eedy, I shall be there ajore you." — General. Illiterate. aforetime: adv. (+\\', +EDD) Formerly, a long time ago. Cf. Coverdale. Daniel, 1535, 6, 10: "Like as his maner was to afore tyme." (NED) *against: adj. Injurious to. "Drinking bad liquor is cer- tainly against hini." *ageful: adj. CJld, becoming old. — Guilford county. agg on [aeg] : I'b. (+EDD) To incite, to egg on. *agg'avate: prone. Aggravate. agin: prep., adv., and con j. (+W) Against. al)out. by the time that. C\. Chaucer. Nim's Priest's Tale, c. 1385, 4262 : "But on a day, agayn the even-tyde. The wynd gan chaunge. . . ." 514 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Paston Letters, May 25, 1455: ". . . preyng you to rembre my systir Margrete ageyne the tyme that she shal be made nonne." agribble by me: phr. Agreeable ivith me; suitable, pleas- ing to me. *a-heating and a-hustling and a-boiling: phr. Busy with housework. — Edenton. ahere: prep, and adv. ( + DAE) Here. "Look ahere." — General. Illiterate. ahint: prep, and adv. ( + W, +NED) Behind. Cf. Scott, Black Dwarf, 1816, iv, 26: "I ance heard ane whistle ahint me in the moss." (NED) aholt: n. (+EDD) Ahold, a hold. Cf. Dargan. Call Home the Heart, 1932, 20: "I kain't git aholt o' her." — West. See holt. *ahoo: adj. Awry. — Chapel Hill. *aig [e(i)g] : prone. Egg. *aily: adj. Not well, ailing, complaining. — West. *airn [?ern, aean] : pron. (Any) one. "Have you got a knife?" "No, I ain't got aim with me." See arro and ary. — Illiterate. *alas and ochone (ochrone) : phr. See ochone (ochrone). §allhow: phr. How, completely how. "He told all hotv he beat that fellow up." Cf. Layamon, Brut, c. 1205, 28250: "And hu he wolde taken on, and al hii he wolde don." all-outdoors, as . . . as: phr. (—DAE) Extremely, very, "He's as mean as all-outdoors." "It's as hard as all-outdoors to make money now." — General. all-overs: ;;. (+W) Nervousness, uneasiness. — West. all the: phr. (+W) Used before adjectives and adverbs, generally the comparative, to imply a comparison or a super- lative. "Is that all the fast you can run?" = "Is that as fast . . . ?" "Is that all the better you can do?" = "Is that the best . . . ?" allow, 'low: vb. ( + W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE, +T) To consider, to be of opinion. "I 'lozc it might rain." alter: 7'/;. (+W, +DAE) To castrate. ambitious: adj. ( + DAE, +T) Vicious. "That dog is mighty ambitious." an: prep. ( + NED) In, on. "There is ba'm an Gilliad, To cure a sin-sick soul." — A spiritual in N. C. Cf. Shake- speare, Winter's Tale, 161 1, iv, iii, 7: "Set my pugging tooth an edge." (NED) I- I, K s r K 1". ill 515 an: conj. (+W, +NED, +EDD) If. "An it ain't here when 1 git back, I'm gonna raise the devil In the Cumberland Gap." — Old song in N. C. Cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, c. 1599, I, i, 137: "Scratching could not make it worse an 'twere such a face as yours were." Hardy, Return of the- iWattve, 1878, I. iii : ■' 'We'll give 'em a song, an' it please the Lord.' " *and those: phr. Used after another substantive to mean one or more persons. "Helen and those were there." — For- syth county and east. For further discussion, see PADS, No. i p. 39- aneath: fyrcp. and adr. (+\V, +NED, +ED1)) Beneath. angry: adj. (+W, -l-NED, -l-EDD) Of a sore or wound: inflamed, red. Cf. Gosson, Sch. Abuse, 1579, 21 : "Curst sores with often touching waxe angry." (NED) anigh: adj., prep., and adv. ( + W, +EDD, +DAE ) Near. *'ant [ 5t, Dut] : prone. Want. "I 'ant a pound of coffee." — Illiterate. Occasional. *antigodlin : adj. and adv. Leaning, not parallel. — West. See PADS, No. 2, pp. 17, 53. apassed, apast: prep, and adv. (+W, +NED, +EDD) After, beyond. "It's a little apast meal's time." apern: n. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Apron. Cf. Cover- dale, Genesis, 1535, 3, 7: "They . . . sowed fygge laues to- gether, and made them apurns." (NED) appearant: adj. (+W) Apparent. Cf. Meric Casaubon, trans. M. Aurelius's Meditations, 1634, viii, 127: "The first [relation], to the appearant secundarie cause. . . ." appearantly: adv. ( + EDD) Apparently. Cf. Lucy Fur- man, Lonesome Road, 1927,. 192: "Well, hit hain't my world! I never planned it — or, I gonnies, I'd feel a sight more respon- sible for it than Him that did appearantly does." ^archives of gravity, to record (file) in: phr. i. Tn re- sponse to a ([uery of the lulitor. Dr. J. C]. de Roulhac Hamil- ton, of the University of N. C, writes: "The story, as I recall, is this. Wilson Carey, a Negro member of the so-called 'carpet bag convention' of 1868, according to the newspajier account, expressed himself as follows: T wishes to expatiate and I want what I say to be recorded in the archives of gravity.' It's pretty characteristic stuff, but I have always wondered if the story did not originate on some slim foundation in the fertile brain of Josiah Turner." — Old j^eople. Now rare. 2. To tal)le a motion ; to dismiss or forget an idea as worthless or undesirable. — (juilford county. ( )1(1 pe()])le. Facetious, jocular. Now rare. 5l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *arm baby: n. A baby small enough to hold in the arms. — Central and east. am [am] : prone. (+^^ ) Iron. — West. See fire. PADS, No. 2, p. 29. arro ['aero]: adj. ( + NED) E'er a. any. Cf. Fielding, Totn Jones, 1749, v, 13: "I don't believe there is arrozv young gentleman in this County. . . ." — Illiterate. See aim and ary. *arter ['a:t9, -a^] : prep, and adv. After. I have heard my father quote a rejection letter to a wooer purported to have been written bv the slaves of a rich white woman in southern Va: "I hain't not yours, I shan't not be — So no mo Don't you come arfer me." — Illiterate. ary ['an] : odj. ( +W, +DAE. +T) E'er a. any. "Have you got ary cow you can sell me?" Cf. Shakespeare, Winter's Tale, c. 1610, IV, iv, 810: "Has the old man e'er a son, sir. do you hear . . . ?" Sheridan, The Rivals, 1775, iv, iv : ". . . and I'd foot it with e'er a Captain in the country. . . ." — Illiterate. See aim and arro. as: pron. ( + \V, +NED, +EDD. +DAE) Who, that. "These folks as go around meddling with other folks' business ought to be shot." Cf. Shakespeare, Merry Wives, c. 1599, v, V, 57: "Those as sleep and think not on their sins." — Illiterate. as: conj. (+W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE) That. "I don't know as I can go today." — Illiterate. as how: eonj. ( + W. +NED, +EDD, +DAE) That, whether. Cf. Smollett, Huuiph[ry] Clinker, 1771, i, 274: "I believe as liozv your man deals with the devil." (NED) — Illiterate. *ash potato: ;;. Irish potato. — Granville and Swain counties. Illiterate. Rare. (*) ashy (pale) : af//. i. (-W, +NED, +DAE) Angry, out of sorts. Cf. Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, 1503. 75: "Still is he sullen, still he low'rs and frets. Twixt crimson shame and anger, ashy pale." *2. The greyisli color of the Negro's skin when he is sick or frightened. — Rare. ast [ccst] : vh. ( + W, +NED) Present, past tense, and past participle of ask. Cf. Pasfon Letters, Sept. 6, 1454: ". . . he sent for me and ast me how I fared." — General. Older persons ; educated and uneducated. *asted: ?'/'. Past tense and past participle of ask. — Central and east. Rare. Illiterate. FOLK SPEECH 517 atowards: prcl^. ( + EDD) Towards. "He went at oiuards Jim's." — Rare. *atter | '.xt^, o ] : /re/', and adv. Ajtcr. — General. Illit- erate. Rare. *atter while: l^hr. .Ijfcr a while. — Illiterate. *auger-eyed : (/(//'. 1 laving sharp eyes. — Swain county. *away: )i. Way. "1 don't know which 07cay would he best." — General. Illiterate. ay-la [ai-la, -Ise] : infcrj. ( + EDD) Exclamation of assent (yes), surprise, grief. — West. Old persons. Rare. aye Gad [ar c]xd] : intcrj. By Ciod. — General. *baby-cradle: ;/. Cradle. — Mainly west. back: vb. (+\V. +EDD, +T) To address a letter. Cf. Barrie, Thrums, 1889, ix : "He had written a letter to David Alexander and wanted me to 'hack' it." — Old persons. Obso- lescent. back and to: pJir. ( + EDD, +DAE) To and from. "He goes hack and to Altamahaw-Ossipee every day." — Alamance county. *back, to break the: fhr. To be over the main or worst part. "I think that the hack of i^'iutcr is broken now." — Guilford county. Old people. Rare. §backdoor: u. The anus. Cf. Piirejoy Letters, Eeb. 27, 1749: "My mother is very glad to hear George the Second [not the King] & his mama have so good health, & wishes she may be able to suckle him till hee has bred his teeth. & when hee is on breeding his teeth she desires his back Door may be kept a little open with some Syru]:) or Violets & if that dos not do give him at a Time from a quarter of an ounce to half an ounce of manna ... & heartily wishes George 2"^ blessings of health & long life." — General. Rare. backin's: ;/. ( — NED, +T-D) Eow wine or low-proof li(|uor. — West. back-jaw: ;;. (-l-b'DD) Back-talk, insolent reply. "D(jn't give me no back-jaiv, big boy!" — Central and east. Mainly Negroes. *backstall: vb. To hold back; "to stall back." — General. Rare. *backwater: z'b. To retreat, to change front. — Central and east. *bacon-meat: n. Bacon. — West. bad man: ;;. (—DAE) The devil. Usuallv to children to 5l8 NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE induce good behavior. "If you don't stop crying the (old) bad ma)! will get you." — General. Obsolescent. *bad off: plir. Very sick. — Central and east. ballet ( ['bseht] : M. ( + W, +NED) Ballad. NED: "In 1 6th and i/th c. the termination —ad was commonly changed into the more familiar —at {e, —ct ( [sic] cf. salad, sallet). . . ." The Song of Solomon of the A. V. appears in the Bishop's Bible. 1568, as "The Ballet of Ballets:' Cf. Shakespeare, Mid- suuuner Night's Dream, c. 1595, iv, i, 225: "I will get Peter Quince to write a ballet of this dream." Pepys, Diary, Jan. 2, 1665: "To my Lord Brouncker's ... in Covent Garden; where I occasioned much mirth with a ballet I JDrought with me, made from the seamen at sea to their ladies in town." Hardy, Re- turn of the Native, 1878, i, iii :"'... we can drop down across the Quiet Woman, and strike up a ballet in front of the married folks' door.' " — West. ballup ['bsebpj : n. (-W, +NED) The front or flap of the breeches; the codpiece. Cf. Rob. Hood, c. 1600, xxiii, 58: "Then he put on the old mans breeks, was patch'd from ballup to side." (NED)— Chapel Hill. ballyhack: vb. (— W, —DAE) To impose on. — Central and west. band, to beat the: phr. ( + DAE) To be surprising, unex- pected. — General. *bandadooing about: phr. A joyful journey from place to place. ban(d)-dog: ;;. (+W, +NED, +EDD) A fierce dog, one that has been chained up. Cf. Promptorium Parvuloruin. c. 1440: "bonddogge, molossus." Peter Levins, Manipulus Vocabulorum, 1570: "A Bandogge, canis catenarius." Shake- speare, 2 Henry VI, c. 1592, i, iv, 21 : "The time when screech owls cry and bandogs howl." *banstrauslie: adv. Boisterously. bantlin': n. (+W, +NED, +EDD) A child. EDD : "The word prop, means 'a child begotten on a bench and not in the marriage bed.'" Cf. Drayton, Eclog., 1593. vii, 102: "Lovely Venus . , . Smiling to see her wanton Bantling game." (NED)— West. baseborn: ;;. and arfy. (-f-W, +NED) A bastard ; illegiti- mate. bassalon: //. (—NED) A ragged man. (NED: "basselan. Some kind of fabric") — West. battling-stick : ;/. (+EDD) A stick used to beat clothes while washing them. See beating-stick. K L K SPEECH 519 beak: n. ( + \\) The peak of a house.— Central and cast. beat down: rb. ( + W, -NED) To cheat.— Central and east. beat of, the: f^lir. (+DAE, +T) That which or who sur- passes sonu'thino- or somebody else. 'T've never seen the beat of him." — (ieneral. *beating-stick: ii. A stick used to beat clothes while wash- ing tlK'Ui. See hattlinij-stick. bed-blanket: ii. ( +DAE) Blanket.— West. bed-stick: ;;. ( + EDD, +DAE) A smooth stick about three feet long used to level a feather bed when making it up. — North. been: vb. (+DAE) Part of have been with the auxiliary omitted. Used even by educated persons who would never use taken and seen in the same way. 'AVhere you been all day, Henrv ?" — General. Common. *begredge [bi'cjred5] : prone. Begrudge. — General. Illiterate. *behin'est: adj. Behindest; the one behind, late; some- times used as a noim. "He's the behin'est one in the field." — Occasional. being (as): eonj. ( + W, -fNED, -t-EDD) Since, be- cause. EDD: "Being (not used by late writers), since. Ash." Cf. Shakespeare, -' Henry IV, c. 1598, 11, i, 199: "You loiter here too long, being you are to take soldiers up in counties as you go." — General. Illiterate. bell-cow: ;/. (—DAE) The lead cow of a herd, the one that wears the bell ; figuratively a leader. — West. belong: rb. (+EDD) To deserve, to behoove, to be api)r()priate, should. "He belongs to come here today." Cf. Shakespeare. So)inef, 1609, Lviii, 11 : "... to you it doth belong Yourself to pardon of self-doing crime." Hebrezvs, 161 1, 5, 14: "But strong meate belongefh to them that are of ful age. . . ." — General. Illiterate. See long-. belshnickling : n. (—DAE) Dressing in old clothes and masks during Christmas holidays, and going from house to house. Pranksters so engaged were usually given cake, candy, nuts, etc. — \'alley of Va. *berlaskin: ;/. A hurting, an annoyance. bescrow and bescrew: phr. (-I-NED) To curse. Cf. Chaucer, Wife oj Bath's Prologue, c. 1385. 844: "Now elles, frere, I bishreice thy face. Quod this Somonour. and I bish- rewe me." More, Debell, 1533, 948/2: "I durste well in the 520 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE same work (Some saye) bcshrcii.'c hym, and bcshroive hym agayne." (NED) — Chapel Hill. best: vb. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) To get the better of one; to cheat one. "He bested me in that trade." — General. better: vb. (+W, +NED) To improve, become better. "He's betterin' every day." Cf. Shakespeare, Richard III, c. 1594, IV, iv, 122: "Bett'ring thy loss makes the bad cause worse." Carlyle, Chartism, 1839, 11, 116: "The general con- dition of the poor must be bettering instead of worsening." (NED) — General. Not frequent. better'n: contraction. (+EDD) Better than; hadn't . . . better. "He give better'n a hundred dollars for that horse." "We'd better go, better'n we?" — North and west. Rare. between whiles: phr. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Between times. Cf . J. Phillips, Toiternier's Trav., 1678. v, xviii, 242 : '"Betzveen whiles they have Sweetmeats, Coffee, and Fruits." (NED) *beyeck and beyack: vbs. To trifie with one, to make a fool of one. — Chapel Hill. *Bible-book: ;/. Bible.— West. Illiterate. *biddykin: ;/. A little person; a little chicken. Suffix kin = "little." Biddy may be related to Gaelic bideach, "very small"; thus biddykin would be a double diminutive. — Harnett county. '*big: vb. To make pregnant. — General. *big-butt: ;;. An aristocrat, a "bigwig," "bigbug." biggin: ;/. (+W, +EDD) A house, a dwelling.— Chapel Hill. biggity, biggedy, bigety, bigotty: adj. ( + W, H-EDD, + DAE) Self-important. — General. bight [bait] : n. (+\V, -NED, -EDD, -DAE) A suc- tion current. — Edenton. *big-leg: ;;. Common name for "milk-leg." — Durham and Duplin counties. hing: vb. ( + EDD) To slap or hit. *birtle: vb. To cut up. "Aye, birtle a bit, lad, a wee bit." — Chapel Hill. Rare. *biscuit-bread : n. Biscuit. — West. bit, a: n. (-W, -NED, -EDD, -fDAE: short bit, ten cents; long bit, fifteen cents). Fifteen cents. *bit and grain, every: f^hr. Completely, all, just as. "He's every bit and grain as good as you are." — General. *blackberry storm : ;;. The cold season that sometimes I* O L K SPEECH 521 comes wIk'U l)lackl)rrri(.'s arc in bloom. See blackberry winter and (hxj'n'ood ^ciiitcr. *blackberry winter : n. '^nuw -ds bhickbcrry storm. (VA)D: "blackberry sitJitiiier, a spell of fine weather in the hlackherry season." ) — \\'est. *black cloud: /;. A crowd of Negroes. — Central and cast. *black story: ;;. A decidedly bad lie. — (jencral. See story. black-strap: ;/. ( -W, -EDD, -DAb:, -T ) \'ery strong l)lack molasses; New Orleans or Puerto Rico molasses. — General. bless God: interj. ( + EDD) A mild oath.— General. *bless out: I'b. To berate. — (General. *blind: 7'/'. To confuse or fool; to surprise a teacher by knowing the correct answer (used at University of N. C). — Central and east. blink: ;;. ( +W, +NED, +EDD) A view, a look. "I haven't had a blink at him since he came." blockade (liquor) : ;;. ( +DAE, +T, +T-D) Licpior made unlawfully. — General. Obsolescent. *blow (one's) horn: phr. To be through with a task; to boast. blutter: adj. (-NED, +EDD) Dirty, unclean. Cf. Rob. Hood, c. 1550. I, iii : "That w^e two can be dung with any blutcr base beggar/' ( NICD) *body-waist: ;;. A child's luider-waist. — Alexander county. boodler: ;/. ( + W, +DAE, +T-D) A grafter. booger ['bucja, -a-]: n. (—NED, —DAE) A friendly term applied to some object previously named. "I ran back and climbed that booger [a flagpole]." Eor other meanings of booger, see PADS, No. 2, pp. 28, 40; and No. 6. ]). 7. *booger at: rb. To start at from fright (?). "The horse kinda boogered at him." — Central and east. Rare. booger man: /;. (— W) The devil. — General. 01)solescent ('■)■ *books: interj. .\ call ( in former days) to lessons. "Books, books, come to booksl'' — Central and east. *book-schoolin' : ;/. Education. — Caldwell county. *book-write: 7/'. I'o write a book. "Mrs. Dargan is always book-zi'riti)ig." (I had just seen Mrs. Dargan after she had completed one of her novels; hence the luountain woman's comment.) — Swain county. *book- writer : n. One who writes books. "Oh, he's prob- ablv another one of them book-writers." — West. 522 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE boomer: ;/. ( + DAE) A mountain squirrel — "light brown, between a grey squirrel and a ground squirrel" (said a moun- taineer) ; a mountaineer. The village Boomer, Wilkes county, is said to derive its name from this little animal. See mountain boomer. born days: ;;. (+W, +EDD) One's life. "Never in all my bor)i days have I seen such a fool." Cf. Motteux, trans. Don Quixote, 1701, Pt. I : "... if I ever saw a finer thing in my born Days." — General. *borrow: z'b. To lend. — North. Rare. *borrow trouble: phr. To assume that one is to have trou- ble ; to look for trouble. — General. *bother: n. The shift a fox makes to cause dogs to lose his trail.— West. *bound: z'b. The past participle of bind. To be strongly impressed from the view of the speaker ; to be under necessity of doing something. Never used except in passive. The auxil- iary is omitted in the first person but not in the second and third. "I bound he'll come." "He's bound to die if he can't get that doctor." — General. bounden: z'b. (+W, -l-NED). To be sure; to be obliged. In the passive form. "He'll be bounden to go to see her." — Caldwell county. Cf. Cursor M[undi], 1300, 12117: "pou es vnder and ]?ar-in bounden." (NED) *box: n. A stringed musical instrument, generallv a guitar. —West. *boys: n. The rebounding raindrops after they hit a sur- face. — A child's word. Granville county. Obsolescent ( ?). brag cotton (corn, tobacco, etc.) : ;;. (+W, -I- DAE, -f-T) Prize cotton (etc.) ; that on which the owner brags. — Central and east. '^branch, to make a: plir. To urinate. — General. *brand-spank-firing-new : adj. Brand new. EDD gives: brand-span, brand-spankiu (new), span-nezv. — West. bread: vb. (-HW, -hNED, +DAE, +T) To provide with bread. "We get enough corn to bread us through winter." Cf. Tourgee, Fool's Errand, 1879, xviii, 19: "They had enough to bread themselves." (NED) break: z'b. (+W, -f-NED) To age, to become weak as one grows older. Cf. Swift, Cadenus and l'., 1713. in, iii, 15: "I'm sorry Mopsa breaks so fast." (NED) *break: I'b. Of school : to close. — Central and east. breath: n. (H-EDD) The least idea, word, conception. "I didn't think a breath of what he said." — Central and east. I- () I. K S P K E C H 323 breech, britch: rh. ( +\V. +XED. +1':DD) To put l)recclies on one. If. Thackeray. Poniciuiis, 1850, Liii : ". . . when the hero was breeched." — \\'est. breeches, to wear the : />//;-. ( + \V, +NED, +EDD) To act tlu' niak', tn he the hoss ; said especially of a woman. Cf. Tlu)nias Wilson, Klietoric, 1553, 89: "As though the good man of the house weare no breecks or the Graye Mare were the hetter horse." (XED) Shakespeare, 3 Hen. VI, 1593, v, v, 24: "That you might still have worne the Petticoat. And Xe'er have stolne the Breech from Lancaster." (XED) — General. Common. breechless, britchless : adj. (—XED) Flenpccked. — Cald- well county. Rare. *bresh broom [hrejj : prone. Brush hruont. — (ieneral. Illit- erate. brickly: adj. (-hEDD. +DAE) Brittle.— Central and east. bridal wreath: ;;. (NED does not define; -EDD, -DAE) A her]) bath supposed to restore virginity. — Central and east. *brief : adj. Poorly, not well. "Pm feeling pretty brief to- day." — Central and east. brigaty, briggety, briggoty: adj. ( + W, +DAE) Aggres- sive, "forward." — \\autauga and Durham counties. *bright: adj. Of the color of a Negro : yellow. — Central and east. ^British soldier: ;?. The spider lily. — Central and west. brogue: 7'/^ (-W, -DAE) To walk about— West. broke up, (all) : adj. ( + W) Distressed over some misfor- tune. "She's all broke up over the death of her son." — General. bruise (along): ib. (-W) To go around slowly with no particular aim; to stroll. — Central and east. *bruise around (among): -rb. To go (among), to associate with. "He's bruising around among the women." — Ciranville county. Obsolescent. brute beast: n. (+XED) An animal. Cf. Robynson. Trans. Utopia, 1551. II, 127: "For they beleue that the soules of brute beastes be immortall and everlasting. . . ." Bk. Quintessence, 1460-70, 1 1 : "Fro fleisch of alle brute beestis." ( KKD) *buck-eye log, to jump the: phr. To die. "Ol' Daisy [a horse] has juni])ed the buck-eye log. First time I ever knowed her to d(j that." — Swain county. *buckle off: rb. To hurry off. bugle: n. (+\\) Any kind of horn for blowing. 524 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE bulge, to get the: n. ( + W, +DAE, +T) To get the ad- vantage of one. — Central and east. buUet-patchin' : n. ( + DAE) A cloth placed around a bullet to be used in a muzzle-loading rifle. — West. bull-pen: n. (— W) A ball game played by school children two generations ago. — Yancey county. Obsolescent. *buinswiggle : vb. To surprise. buncombe, bunkum: adj. ( + W, +DAE) Great, massive, rank. "There was a tree grew on a hill, And what a hnncomhc tree that was." —Old folk song in N. C. *buncombe also : phr. An aspersive comment on a woman's character as being no better than that of other women of low- class. — West. bundling: n. (-W, -NED, -EDD) Courting.— Cald- well county. bungle: vb. (-W, -NED, -EDD) To confuse. bunting: adj. (— W) Having no tail. — West. *burn up: %'b. To cheat; to make one very angry. "Boy, he sho burnt you up in that trade." — General. *burntmaul: ;/. A general term for a weapon. Caldwell county. bush-whacker: ;/. (-W, -NED, -DAE, -T) A South- erner who fought on the Northern side during the Civil War. *buss-head: ;/. Illicit whisky. — West. buttercups: ;/. (—EDD) Patent leather pumps (shoes) with straps. — West. *butter-hearted : odj. Tender-hearted. *buzzard lope: n. and vb. Running in an awkward, loose- jointed manner ; to run in this fashion. — Central and east. *buzzard talk, to make: phr. To quarrel. — Central and east, cabbage: vb. (+W, +NED, -hEDD, +DAE) To take possession of without right, to steal. Cf. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, 1712, Pt. I, x: "Your tailor, instead of shreds, cabbages whole yards of cloth." — West. *calabosh: n. The entire crowd. — McDowell county. call: ;/. (+W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE) Occasion, cause, need, excuse. "He ain't got no call to complain about his treat- ment." Cf. DeFoe. Crusoe, 1719. 423: "What ca//, what occa- sion, much less what necessity I was in, to go." (NED) Dickens, D. Copperfield, 1850,'xxxii: "There's no call to be afeer'd of me." (NED) — Swain county. Illiterate. K L K S P E E C H 52$ call over: I'b. (—NED) To mention, to speak of. "You called over that fellow's name just a minute ago." — Caldwell county. *candy-cracking: ;/. A party at which candy is jjroken and served. — West. Obsolescent. cank: ■:■/'. (-KDD) To annoy. "That's Ijeen canking Bill's heart for years." — Caldwell county. *caper: ;;. A vicious animal. *card: vb. To go home, to move on. "Well, I'd l)etter be carding." — West. keep (a) care: phr. (+XED, +EDD) To take care of, to look after. Cf. Shakespeare, Tempest, 1610, 11, i, 30: "If of life you keep a care, Shake olT slumber and beware." (NED) — Caldwell county. *carpet, to be on the: pJir. To be courting. "Well, I hear he's on the carpet again, and his wife ain't been dead more'n a year." — West. carry: rb. (+W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE, +T-D) To accompany or to take. Cf. 2 Kings, 161 1, 9, 2: "Look out there jehu . . . and carry him to an inner Chamlier." (NED) — General. See PADS, No. 2, p. 7. carrying-on: n. (^-W^ +NED, +EDD) Foolish or im- moral behavior. Cf. Butler, Hitd [ibras], 1663, i, ii, 556: "Is this the end to which these carryings-on did tend?" (NED) — General. catawampus: adj. ( + W, -NED, -1-DAE, -T) Cross- wise. — General. I-^requently jocular. catawba [ka'toba] prone. (-I-DAE) Catalpa. — General. caterwauling: n. (+W, +NED) The crying of a cat or a similar noise. Cf. Shakespeare, Tzveljth Night, c. 1601, ii, iii, 76: "What a catertvauling do you keep here?" *cateslunkit : adj. Crosswise ; a carpenter's term. (*) catface: n. i. (+W, +NED, +DAE, +T-D) A knot or bruise in lumber. — Chapel Hill. *2. A wrinkle or pucker in clothing ironed when too dry. — Granville county. cat's-foot, the: intcrj. (-I-DAE) An exclamation indicat- ing disgust or disbelief. — General. See dog's foot, the. cattle: n. (-I-W, +NED, -t-DAE) Low, worthless people. Cf. Gosson, Sch. Abuse, 1579, 27: "We have infinite Poets, and Pipers, and suche peeuishe cattel among vs in Englande, that Hue by Merrie begging." (NED) Evelyn, Diary. Jan. 24, 1682: "The Duchess of Portsmouth. Nellv, . . . concubines, and Cattell of that sort." (NED) H. W^alpole, Hist. Doubts, N.C.F., Vol. I. (35) 526 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 1/68, II: "To have consulted astrologers and such cattle." (NED) *cauglit, to get (be) : vb. To become pregnant unintention- ally. — Granville county. Obsolescent. *cauglit short, to get (be) : phr. To have a sudden urge to defecate. — Granville county. Obsolescent. cavil: rb. (+W,, +NED, +EDD) To find fault, to dis- agree. Cf. Shakespeare, / Hen. IV, 1596, in, i, 140: "But in the way of Bargaine ... He caiiil on the ninth part of a hayre." (NED) *chainy berry ['t/eni] : prone. China berry. — Central and east. Illiterate. chamber-lye: n. ( + NED, +EDD) Urine. Same mean- ing in Grose. Cf. Shakespeare, / Henry IV, 1596, 11, i, 23: ". . . and your chamber-lye breeds fleas like a loach." — Gran- ville and Guilford counties. Rare. chance, (big, nice, great, whole) : n. ( + DAE, +T) A great number, many. "I have a nice chance of potatoes this season." — General. Mainly rural people. chance: 7'/;. (+W, +NED, +EDD) To risk. "I wouldn't chance getting there before the rain." — General. Rare. chance on: vb. (-t-NED) To come upon by chance. "If you cliance on any good melons, buy me one." chap: ;/. (+W, —NED) A child of either sex. — General. Common. character [,kj£e'rsekt9, -a^] prone. NED: "In the i6th-i7th c. often [accented on second syllable]." — General. Illiterate. chawS chawed [t/o] : vb. (+W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE) Cheiv, chciced. Cf. John Baret, Alvearie, c. 1574: "Purslane hath a binding power ; being chazved in the mouth, it helpeth teeth that be on ec'ge, and taken in sallets asswageth heate of the stomach." Pepys, Diary, June 7, 1665: ". . . so that I was forced to buy some roll-tobacco to smell and chaw. . . ." chaw-: z'b. (+\V) To embarrass. "What that fellow said to you last night certainly did chaw you." — Caldwell county. check: ;/. (+DAE) A light meal. cheep: vb. ( +\\\ +1'J)D) To reveal confidential matter. "Don't you (last cheep what 1 just tcjld you." — Central and east. *cheer Itjto. ->] : prone. Chair. chimley |'tjunh| : prone. (+W. +NED. -fEDD, +DAE) Chimney. Cf. Unton Invent., 1596, 5: "One paire of dogges in the Chynily." (NED) Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, FOLK SPEECH 527 VI. iii : " ' 'Tis a pity to make two (7!n;(/('\'-corncrs where there need be only one.' " *chinch-den: //. A bed infested with hedhngs. *chipperdale: ;/. A worthless woman, a strnmpet. chist: prone. (+\\\ +NIvD) Chest. Cf. Chaneer, Wife of Bath's Prologue, c. 1385, 309: 'AVherfor hydestow . . . The keyes of the chist away fro me?" (NED) (*) chomp |tj,-)mp]: proiie. i. (+\\', +k:Dl)) champ. *2. ( )f persons: restless, anxious to go. — West. chouse: :•/). (+\\', +NED) To cheat. Same meaning in Grose. Cf. Drvden. ]]'ihi (lallant, 1662, 11, i: "You shal chouse him of Horse. "Cloaths, and Money." (NED) *christmas: /;. Liquor — usually a supply supposedly for the Christmas holidays. — General. *church, the big: phr. No church at all. "He belongs to the biif church." — Granville and Guilford counties. church-house: u. (— W, — DAE) Church. — West. circumstance, a: phr. ( — DAE, +T. +T-D) An unusual or distinctive person. "Mr. Jim sho' is a circumstance." — Granville county. civil: adj. ( +W, +NED. -EDD, -DAE) Polite, cour- teous, kind. Cf. Shakespeare, -' Henry IV, c. 1598, 11, iv, 328: ". . . how vilely you did speak of me . . . before this honest, virtuous, civil gentlewoman." Goldsmith, Cit. W ., 1 760, Lxxxvii: "They were certainly the civilist people alive." (NED) *clavers will get you, the: clause. This would ai)pear to be a threat, perha])s like lay-overs to catch ineddlcrs, q.z'. NED gives clavcr as n. and vb. : "Idle garrulous talk. . . ." "To talk idly. . . ." EDD gives claver as n. : "A rabble or crowd. a numerous and disorderly community." *clay-root: n. An uprooted tree. — Central and east. dumb, clomb: %'h. (+W, +NED) Past tense and past particii)le of r//;;;/'. Cf. ./-.S'. CZ/ro//.. a. i 123. an. 1070 : "Hi . . . cluuihen upp to the [sic; for /)f]hal3e rode." (Nh3D) Mil- ton. Paradise Lost, i66y, iv, 192: "So clomb this first grand Thief into God's fold." *coat-tail: ;;. A woman's skirt. — Granville county. Obso- lescent. *cold-cock: vh. To knock one unconscious. — W^est. collop: ». (+W, +NED, -l-EDD) Cold pork. Cf. Borde, Dyctary, 1542, xvi, 273: "Bacon is good for carters and plow- men . . . but and yf they haue the stone . . . coloppes and egges 528 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE is as holsome for them as a talowe candell is good for a horse mouth." (NED) Gent. Mag., 1790, 719: "Most places in England have eggs and callops (slices of bacon) on Shrove Monday." come through: vb. i. (+EDD) To recover from sick- ness. 2. ( + DAE) To confess religion. — General. common: flrf/. ( + NED, +DAE) Pleasant, agreeable, like- able. Cf. Wyclif, 2 Mace. 1382, 9, 27: "For to be eomoun to 30U." (NED) Douay version, ibid., 1609: "I trust that he wil deale modestly and gently . . . and that he wil be eoinnwn unto you." (NED) — Old people. *common, like: phr. As usual. "I didn't knock and go on in like eoimiion. — Guilford county. Old people. *common, right: phr. Friendly. — Central and east. *compellment: ;/. Compulsion, necessity. "I didn't want to give up that house, but eoinpellment driv me to it." — Durham county. Illiterate. confidence: z'b. (—DAE) To have confidence in. "I don't confidence that fellow nohow." — West. Illiterate. consentable: adj. (— W, —NED) Willing. — East. contrarious: adj. { +\N , +NED, +EDD) Contrary, stub- born, annoying. Cf. ^. Eng. Leg., c. 1290. 59/181 : "Laste }?e pope were Contrarious a-3ein is Ordre." (NED) Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Prologue, c. 1385, 780: "Thay ben so wicked and contrarious, Thay haten that her housbondes loven ay." (NED) Shakespeare, / Henry IV, c. 1595. v, i. ^2: "The contrarious winds that held the king so long." — West. Old people. contrary: z'b. ( + W, -l-NED, +EDD) To annoy, to irri- tate ; to oppose the wishes of one. "You shouldn't contrary a sick person." Cf. Chaucer, The Squire's Tale, c. 1385, 705: "I wol yow nat contrarien in no wyse as fer as that my wittes wol suffyse." Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, c. 1596, i, v, 87: "You are a saucy boy: . . . You must contrary me!" contriving, contrivingest: adj. ( + NED) Shifty, shrewd. — General. *cookinghot: phr. CooA'/nir/, a gerund used adverbially. 1. Of persons: hot from cooking. 2. Of a stove: hot enough to cook on. *cook pot: n. A pot used for cooking. — West. cook room: n. ( + W, +NED, +DAE) A kitchen.— Cen- tral and east. coon a log: phr. (-t-NED, -hDAE, -l-T) To crawl on a log on all fours like a coon. — West. FOLK S P K i: C H 529 *coon muddle: n. Ihunswick stew.— Cliapcl I lill. coon's age://. ( + W, +DAE, +T) A Ion- time.— General. cooler: ;/. (+\V. +NED, +DAE, +T) A turtle. Cf. P\DS No 3 p. 26: Gullah "l'kutD|, 'tortoise. W. L. Mc- Atee, 'Nomina Abitcra, pp. 21, 22: "Loggerhead '1 urtle (Carctta rarc/Za)— Samuel Clarke (A true and faithful account of the four chiefest Plantations of the English in America, etc., 1670. p. 21 ). writing of loggerhead turtles in the Bermudas says: •Shortly after their coming to these islands, the male and female 'couple, which thev call cooting, this they continue about three days together, during which time they will scarce separate though a boat come to them, nor hardly when they are snutten. This'' may he toned down from H. Stubbe's account m the Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society of London, 2, 1667, p soo) which asserts that 'The Tortoises . . . coot for fourteen daies together.' . . . [McAtee quoting from John K Strecker, Contrib. Baylor Univ. Mus., 16, 1928, p. 20:] Among the negroes of the Gullah district of South Carolina, a cooter is any kind of hard-shelled turtle. The name has spread all over the South. . . .' " cooter around: z'&. (+W) To travel aimlessly.— West. copper-toed shoes, brass-toed— : ». ( + DAE) Children's shoes equipi^ed with a brass or copper piece at the toe to guard against wearing out. — Central and east. corn-fed: adj. (-W, +NED, +DAE) Of persons: husky, prosperous. Probably figurative use from the fact that animals fed on corn are lively and husky. Deloney, Jacke Nezvb., 1598, VIII, 104: "My folkes are so come jcd we have much adoe to please them in their diet." (NED) *corn John: //. A hoecake. *corn-rows: //. The divisions in the hair when combed and plaited close to the skin.— Duplin county. Negroes. *corn-wagons: //. The rattle of thunder.— Central and east. corpse bird: //. (+EDD: "the tawny owl, Syniinm aluco") Perhaps the owl. .V. & Q., 5th ser., i. 1 14: "Thomas Edwards, in his English and IVclsli Dictionary . . . , gives the translation of the word 'night raven' as bran nos, i.e., night crow, 'which, said he, 'is called the corpse bird.' ... it is regarded by the peasants in some parts of Wales as foreboding 'luckless time'— a death generally. Pughc, in his IVelsli Dictionary . . . , says that the corpse bird ('Aderyn y corff' of Thomas Edwards) is the brown owl. One rhymer wrote of that bird as follows:— 530 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE 'The corpse bird with his dog's nose.' [That is, the bird was thought to be able to smell as well as a dog.]" corruption: n. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Pus. Cf. John Baret, Alvcarie, c. 1574: "Matter, or corruption coming out of a wound or sore, pus." Shakespeare, Hamlet, c. 1600, iii, iv, 148: "It will but skin and film the ulcerous place, Whiles rank corruption, mining all within. Infects unseen." — General. cotton: vh. (-NED, +EDD) To obey, to bow down to. — Central and east. countenance: vh. (+W) To approve of. "I couldn't countenance such goin's-on." Cf . Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 1594, 343: "As if the heavens should countenance his sin." Exodus, 161 1, 23, 3: "Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause." country: adj. (+DAE) Of meat, butter, eggs, etc.: pro- duced on the farm. — General. *'couterments ['kuta^mmts] : ;;. Various little articles. Per- haps from accoutrements, q.v., PADS, No. 2, p. 38. — Avery county. *cove-cull: n. A mountaineer. — Caldwell county. *cove-juice: ;/. Whisky. — Caldwell county. cow-beast: /;. (+EDD) A cow, any member of the bovine family. — West. cow-brute: n. (±DAE) Same as cow-beast. — West. cow-critter: n. (±DAE) Same as cow-beast and cow- brute. — West. cowcumber ['kaukAmba, -sr] : prone. ( + W, +NED, +EDD, + DAE) Cucumber. The common pronunciation of the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries. EDD : "It is not pronounced ['kiukAmba, -a^] in any of the dialects." Cf. R. Scot, Discv. Witches, 1594 XIII, 246: "The cowcumber loveth water." (NED) See PADS, No. 2, p. 41. *cowi ['kA:wi], cowin ['kAwinJ: intcrj. A call to cows. Lowth records the old plural cowen for kiiie, in his Short Intro- duction, iy62, pp. 23-24, note 2. *cow-stonip [stamp] : n. A cool, shaded place where cows seek refuge during the heat of the day and "stomp" when at- tacked by flies.— West. *cowy: adj. Of milk: Coivy milk has an un]:)leasant taste somewhat like "oniony" or "weedy" milk, Init the "cowy" taste is supposed to result from tlie cow's being in heat. — Granville county. Old people. Rare. FOLK SPEECH 531 crack, creek, of day: /^Itr. (+W. +XED, +K1)D, +DAE) The break of day. "He got up by the crack of day." C"f. Dutch: ". . . bet kricckcn ofte aenbreken Van den dagh.'' (EDD) Turbev., Ecjlogs, 1567, in, 251 : "He wak'd at creek of day." (KED) — General. Old people. *crack: I'b. To leave slightly open — fo crack a door. Guil- ford county. Old people. *creasy, creesy (sallet) ['krisij : ». The cress. — General. creation, all over: f'hr. ( + DAb') ICveryvvhere. — Central and cast. creeper:;/. (+W. +NED. +DAE) A frying pan. crope: rb. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Past tense and past participle of creep. Cropen, crope were common in the thir- teenth century ; crope was the common form in the sixteenth century. (NED) Cf. Lay., c. 1275, 18472: "Somme hii crope to ]?an wode." (NED) Coverdale, / Sam., 1535. 13, 6: "They crope into caues and Dennes." (NED) crouse around: vh. (—EDD) To walk stealthily. *crying: adj. Least, any. Generally modifies thing. "I haven't a crying thing to wear." "I don't know a crying thing." — Granville county. culch: n. ( + NED,' -j-EDD, +DAE) Clean rul)bish— paper, strings, cloth, etc. *cull list, to be on the: phr. To be no longer on the mar- riage list. — West. cumfluttered : adj. ( + \\') Excited. — Caldwell county. *cush (molly) : n. (-W. +DAE, -T-D) Corn bread (generally stale ) cruinl)led and fried or stewed in water and grease, sometimes flavored with onions. — General. See mush. *cush hominy : ;/. Corn meal hominy. Same as cush (?). — Central and east. cutout: rb. ( -+-\\', —NED, —DAE) To win someone else's sweetheart. — General. cut the dust: phr. (T: cui dirt) To go fast. *cutting room: n. Room where feed is cut for cattle. — Cald- well county. cyar [kjci:, -r | : prone. Car. John W'dlkev, Pronouncing Dictionary, 1791, sec. 92: "When the a is preceded by the gut- turals, hard g or c, it is, in polite pronunciation, softened by the intervention of a sound like e, so that card, cart, guard, regard, are pronounced like kc-ard, ghe-ard, ke-art, re-ghe-ard." dab: ;;. (+^^^ —EDD) A small amount. — General. 532 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Maddy: vb. To beget a child. "He's daddicd more children than he can feed."- — West. dandy: adv. ( + EDD) Very. "She is feeling dandy fine today, thank you." — Central and east. M'ant [dont, d5(t)] : contraction. Don't zvant. "I d'ant a thing to eat." — Granville county. diSittQT'.vh. ( + EDD) To confuse, embarrass. — West. dauncy ['donsi] : adj. i. ( + \V, -NED, +DAE) Sick, sickly.— Central and east. 2. (-W, -NED, -DAE) Bad tempered. — Central and east. 3. (— W, +NED, —DAE) Mentally unstable. 4. (-W, +NED, -DAE) Particular.— West. *day, to have a bad: phr. To give birth to an illegitimate child.— West. day, to pass the: phr. ( + EDD) i. To spend the day visit- ing one. — Granville county. 2. To have no other words with one except those of salutation or response. — Granville county. *day and time, in this: phr. Now, at this time. — Caldwell county. *daylight, to see daylight through (one): phr. i. Said of a very thin person. — Central and east. 2. Said of a woman not wearing enough petticoats to keep the light from showing her legs. — Duplin county. dead of night, the: phr. (+W, +EDD) The middle of night. Cf. Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrcce, 1594, 162: "Now stole upon the time the dead of flight, When heavy sleep has closed up mortal eyes." — Central and west. *dead on (one's) feet: phr. Tired, worn out, with, perhaps, the additional idea that one must continue to keep going. — General. Old people. *dead to the world: phr. Unconscious — asleep, drunk, in a faint, etc. — Central and east. denture: n. ( + NED, +EDD) An indentation, a slight depression. "My foot made a denture in the moss." Cf. Act I Jas. II, 1685, c. 22 {Parish St. James's IVestm.) : "Crossing from the south-west corner of the wall of the said house in the said Portugal Street to the middle dentcr thereof . . . Proceed- ing from the said middle dcnter westwards. . . ." (NED) depreciate: vb. (-W, -NED, -DAE) Negative of appreciate — not to appreciate. *dern [ds^n] : pron. Theirn. — Granville county. Illiterate. *desk together (with) : vb. To sit at the same desk with an- other. — Central and east. Obsolescent. FOLK SPEECH 533 devise: rh. (+W, -f NED) To tell, to narrate. Cf. Cax- ton, Myrr., 1481, i, v, 16: "We shal dcitisc to vow heraftcr the fourme of the world." (NED) *dib: ;;. .\ little chicken. — Piedmont. *dicky breakfast: n. A breakfast fashionably late. — Central and cast. *diddy: ;;. A little chicken. *dingle-berry: ;;. A testicle. — Orange county. dingus, dinkus: ;;. (+W, +DAE) A thing. — Swain county. *dip: ;;. A cliickcn. disbehave: :•/'. (+EDD) To misbehave. — Central. *discerning of day: plir. Daybreak; the first appearance of day. — West. dismals:;/. ( + NED, +EDD) The melancholies, low spirits. Cf. C. Lamb, Final Mem., 1834. v, To Mrs. Haslitt: "When we are in the dismals there is no hope from any quarter what- ever." (NED) *div [div] z'b. The past tense and past participle of divc.^ General. Illiterate. *do how (what) : phr. Used in asking one to repeat what he said = "What did you say?" — Central and east. do (one) out of : phr. ( -W. +NED, -EDD) To cheat.— Central and east. §do (one) right: plir. To treat one fair. Cf. Meric Casau- bon. trans. .Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, 1634, Note 40: "I am glad I have had occasion here in this subject to do Plato some right. '^ *doctor-medicine: ;/. Medicine i)rescribed or given by a doctor. — -West. *doctor-woman : n. A midwife, a herb woman "doctor." — West. *dog finger: ;;. The index finger. — West. *dog's foot, the: inter j. A mild exclamation. — General. *dog-stud: ;;. A childless husl)and. — Chapel Hill. dog-tired: adj. (-I-NED) Very tired. Equivalent to Shakespeare's dog-weary, Taming of the Shrczv, c. 1596, iv, ii, 60: "O master, master, I have watched so long That I am dog- zveary." Mar. Edgeworth. Ennui, 1809-12, vi, 47: "Wretched little dog-tired creatures." (NED) dogwood winter: n. ( + T-D) The cold period that some- times comes when dogwoods bloom. Cf. T-D : "A man from N. C, who was visiting Philadelphia, in the course of the con- 534 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE versation used the expression dogzi'ood ivinter. . . . He ex- plained it : 'There is always a cold spell of it in May, when the dogwood tree is in bloom. For several days there is cold, disagreeable, cloudy weather, and often a touch of frost. . . .' " — West. See blackberry storm and blackberry zvinter. do-less: ;/. and adj. (±\V, +NED, +EDD, -1-DAE) A person who does little ; a lazy, worn-out person. — Guilford county, west. *do-lolly: n. A generalized term applied to some object not named, perhaps because the name is not known or cannot be recalled, or because the speaker holds the object in contempt. — Central and east. Money (gal) ['doni gjaeal] : n. A female sweetheart. — West. *don't [do] prone. Don't. — General. Illiterate. *dot : adj. Crazy. doty: adj. ( ±W,, ±NED, ±EDD, ±DAE) Of wood : rotten; of people (figuratively and disparagingly): simple, crazy. — Central and east. Rare in latter sense. dough: vb. (— W, —NED) To feed dough to chickens. "Jane, go out and dough the biddies while I get supper." — Harnett county. dour: adj. (-W, -EDD) Dark.— W^est. *dourie, doury: adj. Uneasy, worried. — West. down: adv. (+EDD) Very, exceedingly. "He's a dozvn good hoehand." — Central and east. *down-go: n. Economic descent; in a worse condition — age, health. "That family is surely on the dozvn-go." — West, *dramster: ;;. One who drinks — takes a dram. — General. drift: ;;. (-I-EDD) A great number. Cf. Shakespeare, King John, c. 1596. ir, i, 412: "Our thunder from the south Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town." — Central and east. droll: adj. (-EDD) Lifeless, not well. "I feel kinda droll today." — Granville county. Old people. drooped up: adj. (NED; without up; EDD: draupit) Sick. "The old hen is all drooped up." — Central and east. *droozly-make : n. Jerusalem oak — a kintl of plant used to make medicinal syrup. — West. drop: rb. ( +W, +NED, -l-EDD, ±DAE) To give birth to a child or an animal. Cf. Pepys, Diary, June 22, 1662: "A Portugal lady . . . that hath dropped a child already since the Queen's coming." (NED) 'drought |drM| : prone. Drought. — West. Rare. FOLK SPEECH S35 *drug-Out: adj. lired out. "I'lu alius so driKj-oitt when dinner is over. I can't hardly git out of niy cheer."— Caldwell county. drumly: adj. ( +\V. +NKU, +EDD) Muddy.— West. drunk': adj. (-W, -NED) Of a cake or lightbread: heavy, not risen. — General. Rare. *drunkard: ii. A small yellowish lly that sucks fermenting juices. — Central and east. duckatoon: ii. (W and NED: a silver coin = 5 or 6 shil- lintis ) Something of little value. — West. Mulcimore ['dAlsi,mor] : ;/. Dulcimer.— West. *duly: adz'. Sincerely, honorably. "He courted that gal duly." — Caldwell county. Mumb-devil: n. "A bucket with a stretched sheep-skin rosin string." — Central and east. Mumifutchet ['dAmi,fAtJit] : n. A gadget; a term used humorouslv or because the speaker is unable to think of the name of some object. — West. dunty, dunt: adj. ( + NED, +EDD) Stupid. Cf. Grose, 1790: "A dunt sheep; one that mopes about from a disorder in his head." dust: u. ( + NED, -l-EDD) A small amount of meal or flour. "I'd like to borrow a dust of flour till I can go to the mill." — General. ea [e(i)] : prone. The following words spelled with ca are pronounced here and there in the state as indicated. The per- sons using this pronunciation are generally the older ones, but their culture and education may vary : bead, bleat, dead, head, measure, pleasure, real, treasure. There is. of course, good background for such pronunciation, as anyone may readily prove who turns to the rhymes of Pope and other eighteenth- century poets. ear: See er. -ed: vb. ending. (Individual w^ords not checked in the six dictionaries.) Past tense and past participle of many strong or irregular verbs appear in N. C. folk speech as regular weak verbs. Some illustrative examples from earlier English — mainly standard usage of the time — are given. blowed: Cf. Shakespeare, Henry V, c. 1599. in. ii. 98: "I would have bloi^'ed up the town. . . ." catched: Cf. Milton. Paradise Lost, 1667, x. 542: "And the dire hiss renewed, and dire form Catched by contagion." 536 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE costed: Cf. Wyclif. Office of Curates, after 1383, ch. 25, 8: ". . . litel costid }?er aboute." growed: Cf. Chaucer, Prologue to IVife of Bath's Tale, c. i^^S' 759- "That in his gardyn grozved swich a tree." hurted: Cf. Caxton, Sons of Aymon, c. 1489, iii, 78: "It is the man among all oure enmyes that . . . more hath hurted vs." (NED) knowed: Cf. Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, i, vi: " 'Folk would say — folk that knozved what a true stone was — . . . .' " seed: Cf. Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, v, ii : " 'Yes, sir; at your house was where I seed her first.' " *edzact: vb. To reason out. "I'd better edzact that out for myself." — West. *e'er one [ea] : pron. Either one. "Which horse do you want?" ''E'er one will do." — Granville county. Rare now. Egyptian; ;/. ( + W^ +NED, +EDD) A Gypsy. Cf. Fitzherb., Just. Peas, 1514, 98, b: "It is ordayned agaynste people callynge themselues Egypcians, that no such persons be suffered to come within this realme." (NED) Shakespeare, Othello, c. 1604, III, iv, 56: "That handkerchief did an Egypti-an to my mother give." Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749, xii : "A com- pany of Egyptians, or as they are vulgarly called gipsies." (EDD) — Central and east. elenient(s): n. ( + NED, +EDD) The sky, the weather. Cf. Digby Myst., c. 1485, 11, 371 : "A mervelous ly3t from thelement dyd glyde." (NED) Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV, c. 1598, IV, iii, 58: ". . . and I in the clear sky of fame o'ershine you as much as the full moon doth the cinders of the element. . . ." ell and yard: phr. (+W, +NED: king's ell) The three stars in the belt of Orion. — Central and east. ellum ['ebmj : ;/. ( + NED, +DAE) Elm. One of many examples of svarabhakti. — General. Illiterate. enamoured: vb. Used as a past participle in the literary sense. "That boy is sho enamoured of that girl." — Buncombe county. enduring, (whole): adj. (DAE: as prep.) Entire, whole. "He loafed the zchole enduring time he was supposed to work." — Granville county. *entitlements: ;/. Just rights. "I have some entitlements to that land myself." — West. er, ear [a:, ar] : prone. Many words having the spelling er and ear, coming from Middle English er, are i)ronounced by K O r, K SPEECH 537 old people of little or no education as indicated here. This type of pronunciation is more prevalent in the central and east than in the west. II. C. Wyld says of this pronunciation in early Modern English: ". . . we may say that the -ar- pro- nunciations appear to have heen almost universal for at least two and one half centuries |i6th, 17th. and first half of i8th cent.], among the political speakers. . . . During the sixteenth century these South-lCastcrn forms hecame fashionahle, and were much used hy (Jueen Elizabeth herself. ... As a matter of fact, the -ar- forms are more fre(|uent in the Oueen's later letters and in her translations than in those written in her girl- hood.'' {History of Modern Colloquial English, pp. 215, 216) Here are some words having this pronunciation : certain, con- cern, desen'e, mercy, sermon, serpent, servant, vermin, verse; bear, early, earn, earnest, earth, learn, pear, search, sz^'car, tear ( to rend ) , wear, year. -er: suffix. The comparative and the superlative degrees of the adjective and the adverb are generally formed by adding the suffixes -er and -est rather than by using the adverbs more and most, regardless of the length of the word. This principle is in conformity with early English. -es: pi. Some words which form their plural in current standard luiglish by adding -.y form their plural among the uneducated by adding -es: deskes or destes, ghost es, listes, ncstcs, postes, vestes, xvaistes. See gystis in quotation from Paston Letters under oi, and cosfes, ibid., under passel. *'e's [es] contraction. Let's. " 'It's go to fo'H'n today." — General. Young people mainly. -est: suffix. See -er, suffix. Cf. Spenser, Epithahunion. 1595, 106: "Heli^e adorne my beautifullest bride." Shakespeare, Much Ado, c. 159S, II, i, 392: "And Benedick is not the unhopefullesf husband I know." R. L'Estrange, Erasm. Colloq., 1699, 92: "This is the talkingest Place that ever I set mv foot in." (NED) *even to boot: pJir. To make a trade without boot being given on either side. "Let's trade even to boot." — West. evening: n. (+\V. +EDD) Afternoon. Cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, c. 1598. Ill, ii, 84: "Good den, brocker." Kit- tredge says, Si.x'teen Plays of Shakespeare: "Good den: good e'en — i.e., good even ; good afternoon. The regular salutation after midday." EDD : "The day is divided into morning, mid- dle of the day, and evening. Night begins at six o'clock." — Rural sections mainly. 'evening glom [glani] : n. The melancholy close of day ( ?). —West. 53^ NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *ever' ['evs] : adj. Every. "I've worked ci'er day this week." — Granville county. Illiterate. *ever* bit and grain : phr. All there is of a thing. "I'll bet he's spent ever' hit and grain of his poor wife's savings." — West. everly: adv. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Always, continually. Cf. Barbour, Bruce, 1375, 11, 58: "He . . . Duelt in hys chambyr with him evirly." (NED) *evern ['eva^n] : adv. and conj. Whenever, if. From ever an = "if ever" (?). "Yes, and I'll put the law on you evern you do that." — West. *everwhat: pron. IJliafever (metathesis). — General. *excuse: prep. Except. "I will work with anybody on this farm e.\-eit.<;e him." — Central and east. See excusing. excusing: prep. ( + W) Except. "Everything is clean excusing that spot on the rug." See excuse. extra: adj. ( + NED) Excellent, very good. Perhaps an ellipsis for "extra good." "This cotton is extra." — Central and east. *eyeballs: ;/. One's favorite person; "apple of the eye." "She [a wonian of her daughter] is mv exeballs.^'' — (niilford county. Rare. §failing disease : ;?. Tuberculosis. Ci. Deuteronomy, 1611, 28, 65 : "And among these nations shalt thou find ease . . . : but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and jailing of the eyes [Heb. killayon]." *faintified: adj. On the point of fainting, weak. "This hot-dry weather makes me feel sickly and faintified." — Guilford county. Rather illiterate. fair: (K (+W, +NED) A female sweetheart. Cf. Shake- speare. Mid. N. D., 1590, I, i, 182: "O hapie fairel Your eyes are loadstarres." (NED) Pope, Rape of the Lock, 1714, 11, loi : "This day, black omens threat the brightest fair." — West. fair-weather friend : n. ( + W, +NED) A friend only when tilings are going well. Cf. Pope, Letters, Oct. I, 1730: "]\Iy jair-Zi'cather jricnds of the summer are going away for London." (NED) — Central and east. family way, in a (the) : phr. (— W, +NED) Pregnant. "Louis's wife is in a family icay again." Cf. Mrs. E. Parsons, Mysf. JVarn., 1796, i, 90: "The Countess was again in the family zvay." *far, farther, further, all the: phr. As far as. "This is all the far I can go today." — Central and east. FOLK SPEECH 539 farrer, furrer: udj. and adv. ( + NED, +EDD) Farther, further. Cf. Barbour, Bruce, 1375, 19, 537: ". . . on the farrer syde Toward thame slely can he ryd." — General. Ilhterate. *farrest, furrest: adj. and adv. Farthest, furthest. Cf. Bar- bour, Bruce, 1375, 19, 530: ". . . And cum apon the ferrest syd." fau't \i:>i\: prune. ( +\V, +NED, +EDD) /-(/;///. Henry Bradley. Shakespeare's lingland, 11, 541 : "There were also pedants [in Shakespeare's time] who took the written form of words as a guide to pronunciation, and insisted on sounding the letters which in unaffected speech had become silent ; and in a few words, such as jault, they succeeded in inducing the educated classes in general to follow their example." And thus, what was once correct in usage has now become incorrect. Cf. Queen Elizabeth, trans. Plutarch's De Ciiriositate, 1598, p. 132, 25: ". . . Than if adultures part be plaid as jaiit no Less." Pope, Essay on Criticism, 171 1, i, 170: "I know there are to whose presumptuous thoughts Those freer beauties, ev'n in them, seem faults." (Note rhyme: thoughts, faults.) Journal of the Lakeland Dialect Society, Dec, 1946. 28: ". . . than thowt his hearen mun be et faut cos aw wes es still es t' grave." — (General. Mainly illiterate. fau'ty: prone. (+NED. +EDD) Faulty. Cf. Gawain and the Green Knight, c. 1360, 2386: "Al fazvty is my fare." — General. Mainly illiterate. *favorite ['fevo,rait] prone.- — West. Illiterate. feather into: vb. (-W, FDD: "feather, to beat") To fight, to light into. — West. *f eather up to : vb. To show fight. "He feathered up to them big fellers eechin' [itching] for a fight." — West. *feather-legged : adj. Frightened, cowardly. 'T get sorta feather-legged when 1 get around her !" — West. *feathers, to get (one's), up: phr. To become angry, to make one angry.-^West. 'fellow, a and a *wench: plir. A pair of mismatched socks (jr stockings; that is, a companion and a noncompanion. I have heard the expression used only in reference to socks or hose, but I susi^ect that it may apply to a mismatched ])air of any wearing apparel. Cf. Shakespeare, lien. /', 1599. iv, viii, 42 : "Give me thy Gloue Souldier : Looke, heere is the fellow of it." (NED) Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, vi, ii : " 'Have you seen one of my lost new gloves about the house, Rachel ?' inquired Thomasin. 'It is the fellow to this one.' " — Rockingham county. 540 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE (*) fernent, fernint [tVnint, t>-] : prep, and adv. i. ( + \V, +NED, +EDD) Opposite.— West. *2. Beneath.— South. See fenicnth and foment. *fernenth: prep, and adv. Opposite, beyond. "If it was me, I would put hit right yonder ferneutli the sassafac bush." — West. See jernent and foment. *Ferro ['fero] : n. Fharoah. — West. fift [fift] n. and adj. ( + NED) Fifth. From A-S fifta. Cf. Barbour, Bruce, 1375, xvii, 594: "And thai [that] at the sege lay, Or it wes passit the fift day. . . ." Tyndale, Revela- tions, 1534, 9, I : "xA.nd the fyfte angell blewe, and I sawe a stare fall. . . ." Cranmer, 1539, ibid.: "And the fyft Angel blewe. . . ." Geneva, 1582. ibid.: "And the fyfte Angel blew. . . ." A. v., 161 1, ibid.: "And the fift Angel sounded. . . ." Stationer's Register entry, Aug. 4, 1600: "[Shakespeare's] Henry the Ffift / a booke ... to be staied." —General. All classes. See fitli, twelft, and tivelth. 'fighty-fied: adj. Inclined to fight, easily angered. — Gen- eral. Old people. *fillilu ['fili,lu] : n. Some jocularly mysterious thing. Somewhat like lay-overs to catch meddlers. When an in- quisitive child (or adult) asks what one is doing, the answer may be: "I'm making a fillilu." — Granville county. find^: z'b. (+W, +NED, -FEDD, +DAE) To supply a person (usually a worker) with provisions. Cf. Barbour, Bruce, 1375, i, 323: "Na thar wes nane that euir [him] kend Wald do sa mekill for him, that he Mycht sufficiantly fundyn be." Chaucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, c. 1385, 2829: "By hous- bondrie of swich as God hire sente She foond hirself and eek hir doghtren two." Steele, Guardian, 1713, No. 58: "The king of Sweden finds me in clean linen." (NED) find-': vb. ( + W) To give birth to, especially of animals. "The old cow found a calf last night." — General. *fire, to put a out: phr. To set a fire to a field or the woods, generally with an incendiary intent. The standard meaning, to extinguish a fire, is also used.- — ^West. fire-board: n. (-W, -NED, -DAE) The mantel.— West and north. fire-stick: n. (-W, -NED, +EDD, -fDAE) A fire poker, generally of wood. — Central and east. *firing-new: adj. Brand-new. Cf. Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, c. 1593. i, 179: "A man of fire-new words." 'fishing: pres. part, or adj. Nodding, asleep. — General. Rare. FOLK SPEECH 54I fith llil)|: //. and adj. ( + NED) /'/////. Cf. Bk. St. Al- bans, i486, "The /////(' yere a grete stagge." (NED) Caxton, Encydos, 1490, EETS, No. 57, p. 166, 1. 8: "The jythe yere of the Regne of Kyngc IlcMiry the scueiith." — (jcncral. All classes. See fijt. fitten: adj. ( + \V, +NED, +EDD) Eit, suitable. "He ain't fit ten to be a officer." Cf. H. More, Song of Soul, 1642, IV. XXX : "Sensation The soul some fittoi hint doth promptly lend to find out plantall life." (NED) *fixM 7'/'. To cheat. — General. *fix-: 7'h. To castrate or spay an animal. — General. I'^arm- ers mainly. *fix^: x'b. To make pregnant. — Central and east. 'fix'*: I'b. ( + DAE) To be on the point of doing something. "I was just fixing to go to see you." — -General. All classes. See PADS. No. 2, p. 9. *fixy: adj. Dressy, particular about clothes or arrange- ment of things in the house. — Caldwell county. *flamdonia: ;;. A pancake or lunch stand. *flatform: /;. Platform. — Central and east. fleech: rb. (+W, +NED, +EDD) To flatter. Cf. Douglas, Encados, 1513, 11, 72: "The false flechand Vlixes." Burns, Duncan Cray, i/g2, 11: "Duncan flecch'd and Duncan pray'd." (NED) flesh, to carry: phr. (+W) To weigh more; to weigh heavier than one is supposed to. — Central and east. Old people. flesh, fleshen, up : rb. (NED : flesh, tr. vb. ; EDD : fleshen) To take on weight, to become fat. — Central and east. Old people. flesh crawl, to make the: phr. ( + NED) To make the flesh creep. — Central and east. Common. fletch: n. (-f-NED) Flitch; smoked bacon. *flibbity: adj. Limp; not crisp. "This bacon is mighty ^/7)/';7y."— East. *flirting at the heart: phr. Fluttering at the heart. 'flitter: ». A fried meat cake of any kind. flower-pot: n. (EDD: "flozuer-plot, a nosegay") A bou- quet. — West. *fluke. I'b. To withdraw; to go back on one's word. fly-flapper: n. (+\\\ +NED, -DAE) A fan used to drive away flies. Cf. Bi>. Lavington, Enthus. Method. Papist, 1749, I, 90: "If a Fly-flapper be held up to blow it ofT. . . ." N.C.F.. Vol. I. (36) 542 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE (NED) Darwin, Origin Spec, 1859, 133: "The tail of a giraffe, which serves as a fly- flapper. . . ." (NED) — North. See fly-minder. *fly-minder: ;/. A fly-fan. At Prestwould, near Clarks- ville, Va., is still preserved Sir Peyton Skipwith's large mechanical fly-minder, which was operated by a slave boy who stood some distance from the table from which the flies were being kept away. A picture of this device may be seen in Thomas T. Waterman's The Mansions of Virginia, p. 196.— Granville county. See fly- flap per. foot, to take (one's) in (one's) hand: phr. ( + NED, + EDDj To depart, to set out walking. Cf. Smollett, Don Qiiix., 1755, IV, iv, i, 232: "Andrew . . . made his bows, and as the saying is, took his foot in his hand." (NED) foot-adz: ;;. (EDD: does not list but defines another word, foot-cich, as a joot-adz; +DAE) An adz. — North and west. footback: n. and vh. ( + DAE) In jocular phrase: on jootback ; to walk. — West. *foot-slipper : n. A slipper, a light shoe. — West. forgive: rb. ( + W, +NED) To release from obligation. "He wouldn't jorgive me my rent." Cf. Cursor Mundi, 12 c, 25109: "Lord /or^/Zj^ )70u dettes ours." (NED) Shakespeare, Merry Wives, Qi, 1. 1562 (v, v, 178) : "Nay husbands let that go to make Ameds, Forgiue that sum, and so weele all be friends." Matthew, 1611, 6, 12: "And forgiue [ a(f>irjfiL ] vs our debts as we forgiue our debters." *form (thing): ;/. The least thing; generally accompanied by a negative. "I don't owe him a form thing." — General. Old people. foment, fornint: prep, and adv. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Opposite, in front of. — West. See fernent and fernentJi. *fotched-on: adj. Mainly of persons but sometimes of things : not of the community or section ; educated ; used in con- tempt. "He's one of them fotched-on school teachers, and knows everything." — West. Illiterate. fought ffaut] : /^rowr. ( + EDD)— South. Rare. fraction: ;/. (+W, +NED. -hEDD) A fight, disturbance, disagreement. Cf. Ord. Crysten Men, 1502, iv, ix. 193: ". . . on y^ whiche there maketh ony fraction." (NED) Shake- speare, Timon, c. 1607, 11, ii, 220: "After distasteful looks and these hard fractions." *fram: x'h. To whip, to beat. — West. *f ram-pole: n. A weapon; a stick or some other object with FOLK S P E E c n S43 which to beat one. "Coin' a get me a jram-pnlc and beat you up." — West and DupHn county. franzied: adj. ( + NED, -EDO) Crazy.— West, franzy: u. (+\\'. +NED, +EDD) Variant of jrcnzy; temper, anger, despair. Cf. Hoccleve, Jcrclaus' Wife, c. 1422, 715: "Tlie^Shipman liad also the jrancsic." (NED) 'freckle's difference: phi: A small difference. "There isn't a freckle's difference between those twins."— Central and east. •free gratis: adj. Free: gratis.— (ieneral. Illiterate. Not common. .See mortified to deatJi. *free hand: n. One who is liberal, generous. Cf. Chaucer's jrce. Shipwan's Talc, c. 1385, 1366: 'They wolde that hir housbondes sholde be Hardy, and wyse, and riche, and ther-to jrcc." — General. Old people. *fresh out of: phr. Just out of. "I'm jresh out oj coffee; I'd like to borrow a little from you."— General. Old people. Sometimes jocular. fretty: eople. Rare. frog-sticker: u. ( + DAE) A pocket-knife; used jocularly or contemptuously. — General. frousty: adj. (W: jroway, jrousy; FDD: f rousted) Slouchy. disorderly. — West. fruit-orchard: n. ( + DAE) An orchard for fruit.— West. furder: prone. ( + NED. +EDD) Further, farther. Cf. Gamuicr Curton's Needle, 1575. 11, ii, 5: ". . . that same man saith furder he neuer offended you in word nor intent." Queen Elizabeth. Letters of Elizabeth and James 11, Oct. 18. 1591 : ". . . Robert Bowes ... is in danger of furder loss if he may not in tyme prevent the same. . . ." Milton, Animadv.,\6^\, 187: "Ere a foot furder we must bee content. . . ." (NED) — Illiterate. furer: adj. and adv. ( + NED. +EDD) Further, farther. Cf. Wyclif, Sel. IVks., c, 1380, in, 184: "Sum fcrrer and sum nerrer." — Illiterate. 544 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *gaggl6 ['gsegl] : z'b. Garylc. — Central and east. Illiterate. gaily: adj. ( + NED, +EDD) Gay, frisky, well. Cf. Kelly, Scot. Proverbs, 1721, 400: "How dee yee. . . . Bra'lv, finely, Gcily at least." (NED) *galax out: z'b. To earn money by gathering galax. "Well, I've gala.vcd out a pair of shoes this week." — West. *ganibling-stick: ;;. The gambrel.— West. See gamble, PADS, No. 6, p. 14. gander: vh. (— W; NED: "gandcr-uionth, the month after a wife's confinement" ; "gander-iiiooner, a husband during this period" ; EDD : "to be on the gander-hill, a term used of a husband when his wife is confined.") To remain near one's pregnant wife. — West. *gant-lot [gsent-] : ;/. A lot in which cattle are confined to make them gaunt (gant) so that they may travel better. — West. *gar [g(j)a] : vb. To open wide. "Gar your mouth open, son, so I can see your throat." "Don't gar that door ; it's al- ready too cold in here."' — Granville county. gauster ['gosta] f^;. (+W, -NED, +EDD) To domineer. gentle: rb. ( +W. +NED, +EDD) Of an animal: to make gentle; to treat kindly. Cf. R. Lee. Va. Hist. Mag., 1735, iii. 356: "Y'r colts have not been gentled any, so Charles can't lead them up." (NED) — General. get away with: phr. (-W\ -EDD, -DAE, +T-D) To embarrass. — Central and east. *giggle-soup : ;;. Strong drink. — Chapel Hill. gimlet-eye: ;/. ; gimlet-eyed: adj. (-W, +NED, -EDD) Piercing, watchful eyes ; having such an eye ; an uncompli- mentary term. Cf. Hughes, Tom Broivn at Oxj., 1861, in: "A head . . . from which one lively little gimlet eye went glancing about." (NED) — Granville county. gin [gin]: vb. ( + NED, -f-EDD) Past tense (and past participle) of give. Cf. Burns, On a Scotch Bard, 1786. 5: "Our billies gi'en us a' a jink." (NED) J. C. Harris, Hoxv Mr. Rabbit Saz'ed His Meat, c. 1880: "Ez de tale wer gim to me des dat away I gin it unter you."— General. Illiterate. *gin-rollers, to be put through: phr. To be subjected to rough or un])k'asant treatment. — Granville count}-. *git (get) further: 7'b. Of gossi]) or a rt-mark: to allow to be repeated; generally with a negative. "I'll tell you some- thing if you zvon't let it git no further." — Central and east. giveout^: z'b. (-t-EDD) To lose hope that something 1' L K S P K K C II 545 (favorable) will occur. "I can't wait for that man any longer; I gk'c him out." — Central and east. give out-: vb. { + \\, +NKD) To announce, to state. "He (jirc out that he'd preach next Sunday." Cf. Cursor M., c. 1340, Cott. Galba 29518: "And )?at cursyng vnlawful es . . . ]?e whilk es gifcn out ouer tyte. . . ." (NED) Caxton, Reynard, 1481, Arb. 113: "And thenne by goddes grace I shal ycve out the sentence and lugement." (NED) Steele, Spect., 1712, No. 503 : "When the i)salm k'hs yivcn out, her voice was dis- tinguislu'd above all the rest." (NED) — General. Old people. give out'': vb. (+W. +NED, +EDD, +DAE as «.. + '1') To become exhausted, to fail. "I completely give out climbing them mountains." Cf. Fitzherb., Ilusb., 1523, 32: "Those plowes give out to sodeinly, and therfore they be the worse, to drawe." (NED) Swift, Grand Quest., 1729: "Madam. I always believ'd you so stout, That for Tw^enty denials you would not give out." (NED) — General. Old people. *give out^: z^b. To acknowledge, to accept as; generally in the passive. "He's gii'en out to be the best shooter in this sec- tion." — General. Old people. *giv(en) up to be: plir. Acknowledged to be; accepted as. — General. Old people. glaiket, glaikit ['glekit] : adj. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Lazy, careless, foolish. — Rare. "gnat's bristle: n. Something very small or insignificant. Cf. Bentley, Boyle Lect., 1642, iii, 86: "To discern the .s-;;;a//- cst Hair upon the leg of a Gnat.'" (NED) — General. go:vb. ( + W, +NED) To walk. Ci. Paston Letters, Oct.^ 28, 1455: "Sir, your men haue robbed my chambre, and thai haue myn hors, that I may not ride with you to my lord your fadir, wherfor, I pray you, lete me ride, for I am old, and may not -go.' It was answerid hym ageyn, that he shuld walke forth with them on his feete." Shakespeare, Tempest, c. 161 1, III, ii, 22: "We'll not run . . . Nor go neither." Luke, 1611, 12, 38: "Beware of the Scribes, which love to go [irepiTraTeco] in long clothing." Sir Thomas Browne, Letter to his son Dr. Edward Brown, Ap. 8, 1677: "I was surprized yesterday with a payne in my loynes wch makes nu- unable to go or stand." — East. Rare. *go' [go] : vb. Going as part of a verb phrase. "Em go' spank you if you don't stop crying."— Central. Many jK-rsons who use it are unaware that they do. *go and come, a (great) : phr. Confusion. There was a 546 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE great go a)id come over at Harry's house last night." — Central and east. goat: n. ( + NED) A lustful man, generally an old man. Cf. Shakespeare's goatish. King Lear, c. 1605, i. ii. 140: "An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish dis- position to the charge of a star." Traherne, Cli. Ethics, 1675, VII, 90: "When a covetous man doteth on his bags of gold . . . the drunkard on his wine, the lustful goat on his women . . . they banish all other objects." (NED)" *God-a-niassy [,gad-3-'ma;siJ interj. A mild oath. iM'om God a (hare) mercy. Cf. Shakespeare, / Henry //', c. 1598, III, iii, 58: ''God-a-mercy\ so should I be sure to be heart- burn'd." *Godfry, by: interj. A mild oath. godlin(g)s: interj. (-NED, +EDD) A mild oath. Cf. Wheeler, Dial., 1790, 17: "But ea godlins I'll match him." (EDD)— West. *gog: z'h. To eml)arrass. — West. gone [gon] : prone. Survival of an older pronunciation. Cf. Peter Levins, Manipuhis Vocahulorum, 1570, who rimes gone with hone, drone, hone, prone, stone, etc. Spenser, Epithalaniion, 1595, 311 : "Now it is night, ye damsels may be gon. And my love alone." Pope, Dnnciad, 1728, 11, 311: "Fast by, Hke Niobe (her children gone) sits mother Osborne, stupefied to stone !" H. F. Page, Lyrics and Legends of the Cape Fear Country, 1933, 136: "Sits a ham bone, JVIos' de meat gone. . . ." — Harnett, Robeson, and Sampson counties. See on. gone, get: phr. ( + EDD) To disappear, get lost. "I don't know how that knife got gone." — Granville county. *goobies: n. Peanuts; a child's word. — General. Some- what rare now. Goodman: n. (-NED, +EDD, -DAE) God; Jesus Christ. — West. goose: z'b. ( — W) To make a person jumj:) or Hinch by thrusting him in the side (or elsewhere ) with the finger or the thumb, or to make a pretense of doing so. W. L. ATcAtee, Supplement to Rural Dialect of Grant County. Indiana, in the 'Nineties, has further information on the leruL — General. See goos(e)y. goos(e)y: adj. (— W) Susceptible to being goosed. Mc- Atee (see source of term just above) : "... I have noted indi- viduals who, when goosed, jumped in the air and squealed like a horse. Some were so responsive as to shy at a gesture made with an uncocked thumb. . . ." — General. !• L K SPEECH 547 *go-poke: ;/. A traxeliiig bag. — West. *gourds, to saw: plir. To snore while asleep. — (jeneral. *gowl: ;;. A horse. grain: ;;. (-W, +NED, +EDD) The least bit; a very small amount; generally of the abstract. C"f. Chaucer. Troilus and Criscydc, c. 1384, in, 1026: "And wolde a busshel venim al excusen. For that o greyn of love on it shove !" Shakespeare, King John, c. 1596, iv, i, 93: "O heaven! that there were but a mote in yours, A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair. . . ." Amos, 161 1, 9. 9: "I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted . . . , yet shall not the least grain [Heb. tscror] fall upon earth." Hearne, Collect., Ap. 9, 1706, I, 221 : "A . . . stupid Blockhead, without one Graiji of Learning." (NED) *granny sakes: intcrj. A mild oath. — General. *grannys alive : intcrj. A mild oath. — General. grass, goto: phr. (— NED, +DAE) A friendly impreca- tion. "Oh. you go to grass. I don't believe he said it." grass, in the : phr. (+DAE) Of a crop: overcome by grass. — Granville county. gravel: vb. (+W, +NED. -f-EDD. +DAE) To annoy, to embarrass. Johnson, Dictionary, 1755: "To gravel, to puzzle ; to stop ; to put to a stand ; to embarrass. . . . To stick in the sand. William the Conqueror, when he invaded this island, chanced at his arrival to be gravelled; and one of his feet stuck so fast in the sand, that he fell to the ground. Cam- den." Cf. Shakespeare, As You Like It, c. 1600, iv, i, 74: "Nay, you were better s]>eak first ; and when you were grav- ell'd for lack of matter, you might take occasion to kiss. Very good orators, when they are out, they will spit." Sir Thomas Urquhart, trans. Rabelais. 1653, i, 13: ". . . will not you be con- tent to pay a puncheon of Breton wine, if I do not blank and gravel you in this matter, and put you to a non-plus?" Burns, Letter to George Thomson, Oct. 19, 1794: "These English songs gra:rl me to death." graveyard cough: ». (-I-DAE) A cough indicative of death; a tuberculous cougli. Granville and Guilford counties and Chapel Hill. great big old: pitr. See little old. *green hand, to have a: phr. To have the knack of grow- ing fruits and vegetables; "to have a grccii thiiiiib." — Granville and Guilford counties. green (out): vb. (-I-NED) To outwit; to make a fool of. Cf. Pall Mall C, Sept. 7/1, 1884: "Some of the little victims 548 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE of overpressure had, at any rate, enough spirit in them to 'green their visitors pretty freely." (NED) — West. grey (up) : vb. ( + NED) To become grey; to become old. Cf. Shirley, Bird in Cage, 1633, v, i, i, 4b: "Canst thou . . . change but the complexion of one Hayre? Yet thou hast f/rayr^/ a thousand." (NED) — General. Old people. *grez [fjrez] : vb. Past tense and past participle of grease. — General. Illiterate. grit: vb. (+DAE) To grate (corn on a grittcr). — Swain and Graham counties. See gritter. gritted bread: n. ( + DAE) Bread made from gritted corn. —Swain and Graham counties. See grit and grittcr. gritter: n. (+DAE. +T-D) A perforated piece of tin (about 8 X 24 inches) used to grate green corn on to make gritted bread. — Swain and Graham counties. gritty bread: ;/. ( — DAE) Variant of gritted bread. — Swain and Graham counties. Guinea, go to: inter j. (EDD: ''giiiny, an expletive") A mild imprecation. Probably a euphemism for go to gehentw. Greek , Hebrew Gc Hinnoui: a place of sacrifice, tor- ture, fire, hell. Cf. Nashe, Unfort. Trav., 1594, v, 131 : "This is our custome . . . When the poor fellowes hax'e gone to Gehenna, [and] had course bread and whipping chere all their life after." (NED) S. Smith, Major Doxvning, 1833. 151: "I've wished the Bank to Guinea more than fiftv times." (DAE)— General. *gullick [VjAlik] : ;;. Gullet. — Central and east. Illiterate. *gully-washer : n. A heavy rain. — Central and east. gun: vb. (4- EDD) Past participle (and past tense) of give. See gin. gun for: vb. ( + DAE) To pursue with a gun. — West. guttle: vb. (-W, +NED, +EDD) To swallow liquid noisily and avidly. Cf. Gayton, Pleas. Azotes Don Quix., 1654, 11, iii, 42: "Sancho durst not gormandize, and guttle and guzzle too." (NED) hack: vb. (EDD: "/locfe, to jeer") To embarrass, to tease. — General. Somewhat rare. See haivk. *hack, to put (one) under: pJir. To liack, q.v. — Central. Less comuKjn than hack. *half after, ten (etc.) minutes till: phr. A term used in ex- pressing time. "It's ten minutes till half after twelve." That is: 12 :20.— Rare. I" (1 I, K S 1' K E C H 549 *half-brindle-to-buck: adj. ()f uncertain iic(li,t guode wyfman |?et of hiren l?et flour l?er to dede." (NED) Wyclif, Selected English Works. 14 c. iii. 310: ". . . ]:>e child was hern j^at wolde have it on lyve, and not liern that would have it deed." Dr. Otto Jespersen quotes an old rhyme, undated, in his Modern English Grammar, II, 403 : "He that prigs what isn't his'n. When he's cotched, is sent to prison. She that prigs what isn't hern, At the threadmill takes a turn." — General. Illiterate. het [bet]: rb. ( + W, -f-NED, +EDD, +DAE) Past tense and past participle of heat. Cf. Lydgate, Minor Poems, c. 1430, 40: "She het his bak." (NED) Marlowe and Chap- man, Mitsccus, 1616: "Her blushing Jiet his chambers." (NED) — General. Illiterate. *high, as as: phr. As many as. "I've killed a.y /n'^/z as twenty squirrels a day." — General. Old people. (*) high-ball: ;;. i. ( + DAE) A railroad signal to move on. — General. *2. A girl's refusal to go with a man, or to accept a drink. — West. *high cotton, to be (walk) in: phr. i. To be prosperous; in good social standing. — General. 2. To be wearing a short cotton dress. — Guilford county. *hilt: n. Hold. "I got a hilt of that coon by the hind leg." — Granville and Swain counties. Illiterate. hilt: rb. ( + NED, +EDD) Past tense and past participle of hold. — Granville and Swain counties. hing: z'b. ( + NED, +EDD) Past tense of //cn/r/. "They hing him some years ago." Cf. Cursor Mnndi, c. 1340, 17035: "While he Jiyng on that tree. (NED) Capgrave, Oiron., 1460, 214: 'Anon the King . . . hing the Januensis and mad a new Capteyn." (NED) Hing is now current in Yorkshire dialect. Writes Edward P. Clayton, Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, viii, xlviii, 39: "The dialect form [of hang] FOLK S P E K C H 551 is [hnj|. n.l':. hdii, M.K. Iiaiu/c, l)iU ( ).X. Iiciujju. The M.l'-. form of the verh lunujc would normally become Pinchinthorpe [haij] like such words as |Uraij) Ihramj or busy, [stOraij] strong, [laijj long, all of which have -ang in ALE. But the dialect form is not [haij] but [hiij|, which presupposes a M.E. Iicngc, from O.N. hcngja, with the raising of c to [i] before the following nasal, like dialectal [drni/J drench, [linGJ length, and [strinO] strength. These all had e in M.E." — West. Rare. hisn: /^/-o». (+\V, +XE1), +1<:DD) His. Cf. Love. Bomn'ent Mirr.. c. 1410, lx.xii, 119: "Boote )?at was oure iove and no3t hxse)te." (NED) Dickens, Bleak House, 1853. xxxvi -"Whose- .... Charley?" 'His'n, Miss.'"' (NED) See hisself, \Asse i: prun. ( +\V, +NED, +EDD) Himself. The forms hisself and theirself [theirsehes) have both logical and analogical grounds for use. Self, although originally an adjec- tive, has since the fourteenth century often been used as a noun ; consequently his and their, possessives, are normal forms to attach to self. Some of the current standard forms of com- pound pronouns are made up of the possessive form, rather than the objective, plus self: myself, ourselves, yourself, your- selves. Cf. Cursor Mundi, c. 1340, Fairfax, 1726: "Noe . . . wro3t his-self in )?at labour." (NED) Dickens, Nich. Nick., 1838, xxxiv: "Gorging his-self with vittles." (NED) — Gen- eral. Illiterate. hit: pron. (+\V. 4-NED, -f-EDD) It. A number of writers on the use of hit and it, among them the editors of NED and EDD, say that //// is the emphatic form and it the unemphatic. I have been unable to detect any such distinction in Southern use. Our dialect si>eakers will use, without dis- tinction, both hit and it in the same sentence. Hit continued in writings till the end of the sixteenth century. Queen Eliza- beth used hit more often than it. I have noted in thirty-two of her letters fifty-nine uses of hit and twenty-two of it. Queen Elizabeth, Letters of Eli::obeth and James VI, Let. XV : ". . . and make hit ])laine that we delt plainly . . . that I may know what you wcjld tliat I should do . . . that constrained you did /;//. . . ."' I heard this sentence in (niilford county : "That bass hit //// [the live minnow] as soon as hit struck the water." — Very common in west ; heard even among educated. Elsewhere rare except among those of no education or but little. *hobby of bread : phr. A piece of bread. *hoe crop: ». A crop cultivated onl}- with a hoe, no plow being used. — General. *hold: vb. To examine, to look at. "Lei me ludd your program." — Rare. 552 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE hold up: vb. I. ( + NED, +EDD, -T-D) To continue working.— Central and east. 2. ( + NED, +EDD, -T-D) To keep well— Central and east. 3. (±W, -NED, ±EDD, —T-D) Almost to cease raining, snowing, or hailing. — General. holp [hop, holp] : rb. ( + \V, -hNED, +EDD) Past tense and past participle of help. Cf. Shakespeare, King Lear, c. 1606, III, vii, 62 : "Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain." — Illiterate. holpen: z'b. ( + W, -hXED, +EDD) Past participle of help. This was the normal form of the past participle in Anglo-Saxon and was very common in Middle English. Cf. Tyndale, Luke, 1526, i, 54: "He . . . hath holpen his servaunt Israhel." (NED) Mrs. Browning, Aurora Leigh, 1856, 24: "I who was Entreated thus and holpen." (NED) — West. Illiterate. Rare. holt: ;/. ( + W, -fNED, +EDD. +DAE) Hold. Cf. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems, c. 1375, 241 : "Alas! helle me hath in holt." (NED)— General. Illiterate. See aholt. homely: adj. (±W, -hNED, +EDD) HomeHke. friendly ; familiar ; applying oneself to matters about the house. Cf . Wyclif, Gal., 1388, 6, 10: "To alle men; but most to hem that ben homliche of feith." (NED) Caxton. Preface to the Aeneid, 1485 : ". . . some gentlemen desired me to use old and homely terms in my translations." Shakespeare, Macbeth, 1605, IV, ii, 68: "If you will take a homely mans aduice. Be not found heere." (NED) hongry ['hoggri] : adj. (+W, +NED. -fEDD) Hungry. Cf. Tyndale, Luke, 1526, i, 53: "He hath filled the hongry with goode thinges." (NED) — Illiterate. hooks: n. (-(-DAE. -I-T) A disease of the eyes of horses, believed to be caused by the natural "wiper" just al)ove the eyeball. Sometimes a person will cut ofiF this wiper in the be- lief that this oi:)eration will cure the disease. — West. hoop and holloa, a: plv. (— EDD) A general term ex- pressing a short distance. "He lives just a hoop and a holloa from here." — General. hopping mad: phr. ( + NED. -fEDD, +T) Very angry. Cf. Cotton, Scoffer Scojt, 1675, 52: "I us'd to make him hop- ping mad." (NED) — (Central and east. *horny: adj. Sensual, lascivious. — General. Somewhat rare. horse-beast: ;/. (-I-EDD) Horse.— West. *horse-critter: ;/. Horse. — West. horses, to hold (one's) : phr. ( + DAE) To calm down ; cease exaggeration.— Central and cast. FOLK s p r i: c II 553 boss |lios|: vb. ( + \\') To annoy, hlacks^uard. "\)(>n\ lioss UK', l)i^ hoy." — (ieneral. Negroes. hostel: ;;. (+W, +NED) A lodging i)lace.— West. *hot-shots: ii. The first of (hstilled h(|uor tliat eonies from the worm. — West. 'house, at (to) the: /^/;r. At (to) home. Gf. German Nach Ifaiisc. "He is at the Iioiisc." "Let's go to the house." — Granville county. how soon: f^hr. (— XI^D) Soon. (|uickly. "I liope hoiv soo)i }-oiu- mother will come back." — Iredell county. *hull: /;. A cartridge for a rifle, gun, etc.— West. huzzy-pocket: n. (NED: "hussy-case, a case for needles, threads, etc.") A ])ocket which is hung on the wall to put little things in. — Avery county. *hyah-hyahing [hjo-'hju inj | : //. A ruckus, a disturbance. — Gentral and east. *hyeard [hjs'd] : prone. Heard. — General. Illiterate. *hyearn [hjVn] : vh. Past tense and past participle of liear. — General. Illiterate. *hypochitis: n. A disease. *idol: n. A duck decoy. — Central and east. *igonnies [ai'ganiz] interj. Mild oath. Cf. Lucy Furman. Lonesome Road, 1927. 192: "Well, hit hain't my world! I never planned it — or / goniiies, I'd feel a sight more responsible for it than Him that did appearantly does." — General. Old people. Rare. ill: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Angry, vicious. "Better not go crost that field where that bull is ; he's powerful ///." Cf. Barbour, Bruce, 1375, in, 103: "Of¥ thar cowyne the thrid had tliai That wes rycht. stout, /'//, and feloune." — Mainly west. ill-convenient: adj. ( + NED, +EDD) Inconvenient. Cf. Garrick. Lying J^alet, 1740, 11: "It will be ill-convenient to pay me tomorrow." (NED) Scott, Rob Roy, 1817, xxvi : "Whilk wad be iU-convenient to your father's aflfairs. (EDD) infair, infare ['infsa, -a-]: n. (+W, +NED. +EDD, + DAE, +T, +T-D) A feast given at the groom's home after the marriage. From A-S infccr, "entrance," from in + jaran. "to go." "Old Tom Ray was powerful rich, but when his son got married, all they had at the injare was corn bread and sour buttermilk. They put this stufT on a board laid over two bar- rels." Cf. Gen., c. 1250, 3. 24: "Da gesette God set )7am infccrc engla hydrsedene." Barbour, Bruce, 1375, xvi. 340: "For he 554 NORTH CAROLINA F O L K L R P: thoucht for till iiiak Iiifair, And till mak giul cher till his men." (EDD) Spalding, Trunb. Chas. I. 1670, 11. 54: "Upon the 25th of October he brought over his wife to his own house in the Oldtown, where there was a goodly iiifarc." (XED) — Mainly west. Old people. Rare. ingen ['njan], ingern ['nja^nj : ;/. (+\\', +NED, +EDD: ['iijganj Onion. Cf. Compt. Bk. D. U'cddcrburnc, 1596, 71: "Half a last of lug^conics." Scott, Leg. Montrose, 1818, 11: "Our Spanish colonel, Whom I could have blown away like the peeling of an ingan." (NED) *insect: ;;. A crawling baby. — Hatteras Island. Reported. *iron man: u. A silver dollar. *isshy ['i/i] : ;/. A child born of a white mother and a Negro man. 1 have heard isshy-jrcc Xcgro, referring to a slave that had I)een issued his freedom. — Central and east. *itch [it/|: prone. Each. — Central and east. Illiterate. izzard: //. ( +\\', +NED. +EDD) The letter ^-. Heard in the phrase "from a to iczard." — Central and east. *jab [d5cebj : /;. A chimney corner. — West. *jack-house: /;. A privy. Vrom jacjites. Cf. Burton, .-^naf- omy of Melancholy, 1621 : "There was a goddess of idleness, a goddess of the draught, or jakes." (EDD) Shakespeare, King Lear, c. 1606, 11, ii. /2: "I will daub the walls of your jakes." Shakespeare puns on jakes and Aja.v in Love's Labor's Lost, c. 1593, V, ii. 581 : "Your lion that holds his poleaxe sit- ting on a close-stool, will be given to Aja.v." Grose. 1785: "Jakes, a cacatorium." See johnny-house. jail-house: n. (-f-NED, +DAE) Jail, the building.— West. *jam by: phr. Near by. "He went 7(7/;/ by me and didn't see me." — West. jant fd3cXMit| : prone. (+NED. -fEDD) Jaunt.— West. *jay-hole: ;/. S]xice on a mountain road where a vehicle or a team may pass another vehicle or team. — West. *jedge fd3ed3| : prone. Judge. — General. Illiterate. *jigger of sense, a: phr. A small amount of sense. "That fellow hasn't got a jigger of sense." — Central. jimber-jawed : at/y. (-W, -l-NED, +DAE. +T) Crooked- jawed. — Central and east. *jimmie-john: prone. Demijohn. — (ienend. Illiterate. jim-swinger : n. (4- DAE) A long-tailed coat, a frock coat. — General. Old people. *jindice ['d3amdis] : prone. Jaundice. — Central and east. Illiterate. I- L K S P E E C H 555 *jiiie off [d-vunl : vh. To go t,. bed. that is. "join ofC — West. •jip-jawed: adj. 1 laving jaws that do n..t meet.— W est. jist l(hisl| : /^ro^u-. ( + l':i)l)) .//(-s/. -illiterate. * John Brown, I'll be: iiiWrj. A mild impreeation.— (n-an- ville cnuntv. Rare imw. •John Henry: ;;. 1 landwritiny.— Central and east. Joeular. johnny (jonny) cake: ;;. ( +\V. +XED. -I'DD. +l)Al£. + 7 +T-D ) Corn cake. From jouniev cake. B. W. Green, Word-Book of llrcjwia folk Speech: "Made from corn meal mixed with water or milk, seasoned with salt, and baked on a board set on edge before the fire." Cf. Bishop Reicbel, Diary, June 8, 1780 (in Archives of Salem College) : "Unser Nacht- Camp war an einam schone freyen griinen Platz. wo wir die ersten Journey Cakes mit Appetit essen."— Central and east. *johnny-house: ;;. A privy.— General. See jack-house. join-up: vh. ( -W ) To join a church.— Ciranville and Swain counties. •Joneses, to beat the: phr. To lie egregiously. jounce: vb. (-EDD, -T, -T-D) To whip, beat.— West. (*) journey-proud: adj. i. (+EDD) So excited over the prospect of a journev that one cannot eat or sleep.— Surrey countv. Old people. ' Rare. *2. Acting in a superior manner because one has traveled.— Duplin county. Common. jow ld5au]:7'/'. (+KDD) To talk loud and angrily.— General. jower, jour ['dsaua, -3^]: n. and vb. (±W, +NED, -EDD. +DAE) Quarreling, incessant talkmg ; to quarrel to talk constantly. Cf. Hayman, Quodlibcts, 1628, 11, 37: I pray that the Lord that did you hither send, you may your cursings, swearings, jourings, end." (C. F. Smith, Irons. Am. Phil. As., xiv, 50) Boston Evening Post, Nov. 23. 1707: "The dog snarls and joii^ers at friends as well as foes." (T) jubus ['d3ub3s] : prone. ( + EDD) Dubious, doubtful. Cf. Pinnock, Blk. Cv. Ann, 1895: 'T'm allays jubus o" eggs from that shop." (EDD)— Central and east. Illiterate. *jularker: ;;. A beau.— Avery county. *jusem-sweet: ;;. A beau.— Avery county. kick: 7'^. (+DAE) To jilt.— General. *kill-pot: ;/. A water-terrapin.— Granville county. kindly: fl.' in mind he did." — Central and east. See know in reason. *know in reason: phr. Same as kiiozi' in mind. — Swain county. knowledgeable: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Possessing knowledge ; intelligent. "She's a knozdcdgeable womern if ever I seed one." Cf. S. Lover, Leg. Ire!., 1831, 45 : " 'A gintleman like you, that ought to be knozcledgeable.' " (NED) lalligag riuh.cjaHj, Id-] z'b. ( -DAE) To talk in an idle manner. Related to Greek AuAayew ( ?). — Guilford county. lap child: ;/. (±XED) A child small enough to sit on one's lap ; a sjxjilt child of any size ; a child that likes to sit on one's lap. Cf. Ftiller, Ch. Hist., 1655, 111, iii, 3: "Canterbury his servants dandled this lap-childe with a witness." (NED) la rose |l(i roz | : pJir. See la\-oz'ers. "lasting water: ;;. A si)ring that never goes dry. Match pin: ;;. A safety pin. — West and Guilford county. *lay a fire: phr. To put wood and kindling in a hreplace or stove ready to make a fire. — General. Rare. lay by: z'b. ( -W, -NED, +DAE) To ])ut the last fur- rows to a cro]) of corn, tobacco, etc. — General. layoff: vb.^ ( + EDD. +DAE) To plan, to intend to do something. "I've \aid off to come to see vou for a month." — North. lay out: z-b. (+W. +Xl':i). -DAI-:) To plan, to intend to do something. Cf. Stanley, Hist. Philos., 1624, v, 169/1 : "Diony- 1- L K SI' !•: K c II 557 sius /(//(/ out to take him. l)ul could not li.uht on him." (NED) j. II. Xc'wman. /'(/r. Scriii. X , 1S34, 1, 150: "To he seen of nu-n. to /(7\' (till for human i)rai,se." (XI'^I)) — Central and cast. lay-overs to catch meddlers: f^hr. (+\V. +Xh:i). +1':DD) An cxprcs.sion used hy elders to in(|uisitive children to stop them irum further en(|uiry or search ahout matters they should remain ignorant of. The expression varies greatly as to the first word and somewhat as to the form in which the whole phrase is expressed, whether: "lay-overs catch meddlers." ". . . for . . . ." or ". . . are traps for. . . ." It is more common in the South than any other part of America. It a])])ears in the British Isles also. Here are some of the variant forms for the first word as they are found in different states :•'• aloes — Ga., Tenn. ; larocs, laros, la rose, larroi'.'s (I assume that these are different spellings of the same or nearly the same sound) — Va., N. C"., (ia.. La.; larcovcrs. larovcrs — Va. ; larojomcdlcrs — Md., I'enn., Ohio, Ark. ; larnis. \'a. ; layers, layers — Cia. ; layo — Ga. ; layoes — S. G.. Ga. ; layoles — Ga. ; lay-overs — Va., N. C., S. C.. Cia., Fla., Miss., La., Tenn., N. J., Ind. ; lay-rozvs — S. C., Ga., Miss., Ala., La. ; lee oters — S. C., Ga. ; lee rozvs — S. C., Ga. ; lee roys — Ga. ; leodables — Ga. ; leos — Ga. ; lie rose — Tenn. ; lorries — X. C. ; make rows — Fla. ; middlers to eat eh fiddlers — Ga. ; traf^s — Ga.. In the British Isles are such variants as: lao::;e, lare-over( s), layer-overs, layers, lay-holds, lay-houds, layors, lay-(n'cr( s). lay-o'ers, lay-o's, lee-o'ers, loze, rareouers. Many persons have attempted to explain the origin of some of these terms, but no one has given a completely satisfactor\- explanation. Here are some explanations : B. W. Green, JVord-Book of Virginia Folk-Speech: 'lare- over. n. From larva, a ghost, spectre, mask, skeleton ; used to frighten children." Mrs. Katharine C. Gregory, Greensboro Daily Neivs, Jan. 19, 1937: "[My father's] interpretation [of laroes] was of the manner of the day, classical. . . . He told me the story of the Lares and Penates, of which I afterwards read in my Latin l)ooks. He said that in old Fnglish families [these Latin] household gods were often alluded to, and no doubt the early families in the south talked of these hou.sehold gods that, mythically at least, they brought with them overseas. Lars . . . was the guardian and protector of the hou.sehold, esix?ciallv i)ro- tecting its i)eace from invasion, by 'ketching the meddlers.' " I give the next two quotations because the two i)ersons who attempted the explanation of the term hit u])on the same solu- " I am indebted mainly to Professor Lowry Axliy, Savaiiiiali, (la., for most of the information in tliis paragraph { .hiicrictiii Sprccli, u, p. 409). X.C-.F.. Vol. 1, (,i7) 558 NORTH C A R L I \ A FOLKLORE tion, right or wrong. in{le})en(lciitly. and neitlicr person knew the other then or later. George P. Wilson, (ireenshoro Daily Xcws, Jan. 23. 1937: "It is possihle that the French "la ruse,' or its English equiva- lent 'a ruse,' a trap, a trick, a snare, may be the corrupted expression la rose. Otosis and folk-etymology can work strange changes with words. . . ." A. B. Andrews, Raleigh, in the Iw-ank C. Brown Collection, 9, 198: "Some years ago I read an . . . article, which I think appeared in the Charleston News & Courier, upon the expres- sion Larosc to cafcli meddlers. ... It stated that the expression arose among Huguenot settlers' children of South Carolina, who playing with other children could communicate with each other in French, which . . . could not be understood by their playmates, who spoke only English. When they were asked what they had told, or what was that, they answered in French 'La ruse pour attrapier le curieux,' which easily became cor- rupted into 'Larose to catch meddlers.' " Cf. Grose, Classical Dictionary of the J'lilgar Tongue, 1785: "Lareovers for meddlers, an answer frequently given to chil- dren, or young people, as a rebuke for their impertinent curi- osity, in enquiring what is contained in a box. bundle, or any other closed conveyance." lay up: vb. (— FDD) To intend. — Central and east. *layaway: 77). Waylay. — Central and east. One of several examples of metathesis. Cf. backset, hoppergrass. — Central and east. Illiterate. lazy-bed: n. (-NED, +EDD) A patch of land in which Irish i)otatoes are planted and covered with straw, leaves, etc., to make work after the crop is planted imnecessary ; hence "/(/.cry-bed." — (Jranville comity. *lazy-tom: ;/. A water-run hominy beater. — West. *lazy worm: //. Laily x^'orui, in ballads sung in N. C. A folk pronunciation resulting from otosis. — Caldwell county. learn: vb. ( +W, -fNED, +EDD) To teach. Cf. Cover- dale, Psalms, 1535, 25, 5: "Lede me in thy trueth and lerne me." / Timothy. 161 1, i, 20: "( )f whom is Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I haue deliuered vnto Satan, that thev may learne iTnuScvwJ not to blaspheme." Coleridge, Lett., 1801, I, 365: "They /(•(/;■;; u.s to associate a keen and deep feeling witli all the good old phrases." (Ni'.l)) Tennyson, Merlin and the (,'leam, 1889, 14: "Mighty the Wizard Who found me at sum-ise Sleeping, and woke me And learn'd me Magic!" (l>ut in line 115: "Who taught me in childhood.") — Illiterate. *leedamoren [ 'lide.moon | : luh'. Little more than; almost. I' O I, K S P E K C II 559 "That fall Icc'doiiiorcii killed him." — (iranville county. Negroes. C)l).sole.>^ceiit. leetle I'litll: prone. ( + \V. +NKD, +h:i)n) Little. Johnson, Grammar in Diet., 1755. cj : "There is another form of diminution among the English, by lessening the sound itself, especially of vowels ; as there is a form of augmenting them [sic] by enlarging or even lengthening it ; as . . . little pro- nounced lee-tle." (XRD) *leg, to break a: fhr. To give birth to an illegitimate child. Same meaning in (irose. — West. leg-bail, to take (give): phr. ( + \V, +XKD, +EDD) To run away; to absent oneself from appearing at court or the like. Cf. Ferguson, Poems, 1774, 234: "They tcjok leg-bail and ran awa \\\' pith and speed." (NED) Hughes, Totn nro7C)i at O.vf., 1861, XI. 107: "He was giving them leg-bail as hard as he could foot it." ( NED) — Central and east. lentil [lene, line|: n. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Length. Cf. Cursor Muudi, 14 c, Gottingen 1642: "Has fild )?is world on Icnth and brede." Sc. Poem Heraldry, 30, in Q. Eliz. Acad., c. 1500, 94: ". . . (|uhiche at linth I did write." (NED) — Gen- eral. Not common. lessen f'lesn] : eonj. (+NED, +EDD) Unless ; /c\s\s- ///a;;. "I won't go lessen you go with me." Cf. Paston Letters (no month given), 1449?: "My cosyn Cler thynkyth that it were a foly to forsake hym lesse tlian ze knew of on owdyr as good or better." let up: vb. (-NED, -EDD, +DAE, -T) To cease, to slacken ; used mainly of weather. "The rain is letting up ; we can go now." *liebill: n. A paper signed Ity a man acknowledging that he has been guilty of making false statements against some per- son. Marshall DeLancey Haywood, Law Notes, Oct., 1919, p. 138: "In your issue for . . . July, 1919, you have an article headed 'The Founder of the Ananias Club,' quoting an old court record of Cumberland county. North Carolina, . . . 1822, one William Jones had an entry made that 'T do hereby acknowledge myself a Public Liar, and that T have told un- necessary lies on Jesse Northington, and his family,' etc. ... a paper of this character is still in use in some rural communities of the South and is known as the 'Lie Bill.' " lift: ;/. (+\V. +NED, +h:DD) The sky. Cf. Cursor Muudi, c. 1300, 495: "Somme in ]>e er]>e somme in |?e lift." J. Wilson, Noct. Anibr., 1826, i, 130: "The sweet calm moon in the midnight lift." (NED)— East. 560 \ R T H C A R I. I N A F O L K I. R E lift, on the: f^lir. ( +\V, +XKD. -DAE) Mainly of an animal : to be sick or injured to the point that the animal is unable to stand and must be lifted. — General. *lift, down on the: /^hr. Same as on the lijt. — Granville county. *lift: Z'b. To take food from the stove or fireplace to be served on the table. "Janie, //// the beans while I go get some onions." — West. *light, to get up by:/'//;-. To get uj) before sunrise. — General. light in: z-b. ( — IXAIC) To begin. — Central and east. like to have: l^lir. (+NED) Almost, nearly, to come near. Cf. Shakespeare, As Y'oit Like If, 1600, v, iv, 48: "I haue had foure quarrels, and like to haue fought one." (NED) Swift, GnUivcr's Travels, 1726, Pt. i. v: ". . . and had like to have ended in my utter destruction." *lint-dodger: ;/. (EDD: "eoftoti-uocjger, a Lancashire cott()n-s])inner" ) A stunted, sickly cotton-mill worker. Cf. Daniels. Tar Ifcels, 213: "She is not just a lintdodger but a girl." ( Wentworth, .-/;;;. /^Z. /^/r/. ) I-".. II. I lartsell," "\\'(jrds- worth's 1S35 "rdstscri])!.' " Siudics in Fhiloldf/y, xi.ii (1945), 622: "just as his | Wordsworth's | ])ortrait of the forlorn little 'liiit-doilj/cr' in The T.xnirsio)! |\'iii, 297-334] had anticipated by a generation the revolting evidence introduced beftjre the Factory Eaw Commission of 1833. . . ." *liquor-head : ;/. A drunkard. — West. "listen at: :/'. Listen to. Used in some places by educated as well as by the uneducated. See PADS, No. 2, p. 46. *little bit, every: phr. A short time. "He stopped to rest every Utile hit." — (ieneral. little-house: /;. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) A privy.— General. *little old, li'l ol' : ears in the Memorabilia and Sketches of his life and work prepared by Dr. Dame. They are in manuscript form, typewritten copies being owned by the Church of the Epiphany, Danville, Hampden-Sydney College, and the Virginia Diocesan Library, Richmond. "'Her [i.e.. Mrs. J^'ontaine's | husband was a clerk or man- ager for "Judge" Lynch,'' who had a store in the neighborhood of Fall Creek Depot, and after the Judge removed to near Lynchburg, Mr. Fontaine occupied the house in which he had formerly lived, where he summarily dealt justice to horse thieves, and where the law known by his name had its origin. The Judge was said to be a very fine man, and the evidence must be very clear before he would permit the people to "give the accused the ro]}e" : which lueant to take him to the tree before the door, and less than a hundred yards from it. and hang hiuL The tree was still standing when I came to the county [i.e., in 1840I, and for years afterward, and only lately has rotted down. The house in which the Judge lived is, I * Rev. George Washington Dame was horn in Rocliester, New Hamp- shire, 1812, and died in Danville [X'irginia], 1805. . . . Mrs. Fontaine was one of his parishioners living in Pittsylvania County." [Dr. Dame was the grandfather of Dr. Brydon.] ''■"Judge Lynch was Col. John Lynch, wlio was a justice of the peace of Pittsylvania County. He later removed to Camphell County. He owned Lynch's Ferry, on the James River, where the town of Lynch- burg was later estaiilished." FOLK S P K E C H 563 believe, still standing a few hundred yards to the west of h'all Creek Depot.' "'' *mad, to fly: plir. To become suddeidy angry. — Central and east. *magru(iuses : ;/. The ingredients. *make (right) out: I'h. To hurry, to escape. — Central and east. *male-cow: ;/. A bull; an ox. — West. *inale-hog: ;;. A lioar ; a barrow. — West. *man: ;;. i. A small block or wedge of wood placed in the timbers of a contrivance to hold the timbers together or to act as a set-screw. 2. A cake. — W est. §inan: vb. To apply manpower. "He was cutting up so much that we had to luan him." Cf. Shakes])eare, Othello, c. 1604, V, ii. 270: "Mail but a rush against Othello's breast, And he retires." — Central and east. See inan-pcnvcr. *man-critter : ;;. A human being. — General. Illiterate. *man-person : ;;. .\ human being; a man. "Yes. these are right good shoes; maybe some man-person could b.x them up like new." — General. Illiterate. *man-power: vb. To employ the force of man. "I don't know whether I can inan-pon'cr this boat against that current or not." — West. See man, vb. man-sworn: adj. ( + W, +NED, -l-EDD) Perjun-d, break- ing one's oath. Cf. Cursor Mundi, 14 c, Cotton and Gottingen 231 12: "Murtherers mansuorn als." Scott. Hrt. Midi.. 1818, XV : "I shall be man-szvorn in the very thing in which my testi- mony is wanted." (NED) manner, in a: phr. (— W. -I- NED) Almost, after a fashion, not quite satisfactorily. "I've finished my plowing in a man- ner." Cf. Shakespeare, King John, c. 1596, v, vii, 89: "Nay, it is in a manner done already ; for many carriages dispatch'd it to the seaside." *mark: z'b. To castrate; probably a euphemism. — General. Obsolescent. *mash on, to have (get) a: phr. To be in love with. "Tie's certainly (/of a mash on that girl." — (General. Rare now. mash-tub: n. ( — W, +NED) A tub in which mash is fer- mented to make whisky. "The revenue, the revenue — Canipe and ( )ld Sams — " "This sketch was written about 1890." 564 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE They'll cut down your niasJi-tiibs And drink up your drams." — Moonshiners' song in X. C. *masterest: adj. Greatest, most remarkable. "He's the master est worker I've ever seen." Cf. Dargan, Highland An- nals, 1925, 205: "He'd set and tell the niastcrcsf tales." masterly: adj. (—NED) Great, strong, remarkable. Cf. Shakespeare, Hamlet, c. 1600, iv, vii, 97: "He made confes- sion of you ; And gaue you such a masterly report For art and exercise in your defence. . . ." *mauler: ;;. An iron rod some twenty inches long and an inch and a half in diameter, part of it hollow and tapering to a point. The hollow portion is filled with powder and a fuse is inserted through a small lateral hole. The tapered end is driven into a log an inch or two ; then the fuse is ignited. When the explosion takes place, the log is split, "mauled." — ■ Granville county (and Mecklenburg and Halifax counties, Va.). Called powder wedge in Guilford county. may: //. ( +W, +NED, +EDD)' A maid, a girl. Cf. Cursor Mitndi. 14 c, 3238: "pe mai l^at 3ee \\'ald haue.'" Col- lier Cobb, Early English Sitrz'ii'als on Hatteras Island, 1910, 4: "'Won't vou make a picture of my may and me?'" — East. Rare. measley: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Poor, inferior, contemptible. "He's a measley scoundrel." "Oh, I've got a measley ])atch of corn. I won't get the seed back." — General. melt: /;. ( +W, +NED. +EDD) The spleen, milt. Cf. Museum Rust., 1764, 11, li, 146: "The melt or spleen was very small and thin." — Melt used by all classes. *mergens: n. See murgens. mericale ['menkl] : prone. (NED, EDD : meracle) Miracle. Cf. Cursor Mwidi, 14 c. Cotton 2066: "Fild o mirth and o mericale." — General. Illiterate. mess^: ;/. (W, NED. EDD: a group of four jieoj^le) A crowd of people. Cf. Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost. c. 1593. v, ii, 61 : "A mess of Russians left vs but of late." ( Prob- ably means four here.) *mess-: ;/. A person regarded as more witty, lively, enter- taining, etc., than most people; a "show." "Now ain't Mr. Jim a messl" — General. mess around (about): vb. (-hNED, +EDD) To idle, kill time, ])utt(.'r around. Cf. Mrs. Lynn Linton, in Life, ii^53. vii, 8^ : "1 mess about my flowers and read snatches of French." (NED) I- L K SPEECH 565 mich, meech [niitj] : 7'b. ( + NED, -EDD. -T) To \vhimi)cr. to gnuiihle. C'f. Florio [ll'orld IVords?], 1598: •'Xicchiarc, to lament ... to iiiichc, to gruml)le closely or show sonic signe of discontent." (XED) See PADS, No. 2, p. 46, for another meaning in Xortli Carolina. — West. 'middling peart lpJ3t|: f^Jir. Vn'wW well. "I'm feeling middUiuj peart today."'— West. Illiterate. See peart. 'might nigh: pJir. Xearly, very nearly. — Illiterate. 'might (mought) could: vb. Might he ahle.— Illiterate, th(>u,L;h occasionally used hy persons of some education. 'mightily: adj. Aliglity. i)owerful. great. "He's mightily in his own light.'" — Central and east. 'mighty heap more : phr. A great deal more. — Central and east. 'mighty long: phr. A great while. "He didn't live here so iiii(/hty loiu/.^' — Central and east. 'mighty much: phr. A great deal. "I never thought so ini(/lity much of him." — General. 'milk-gap: 11. The gap through which cows and calves pass at milking time. — West. million: prone. ( +W, +NED) Melon. Cf. W. Coles. Adam in Eden, 1657, xcix : "Citruls or Turkey Millions are of the same temperature as the Gourd." (NED) *mincy ['mnisi] : adj. Over particular, over exact, finicky. "You're mightv miiiey ahout your breakfast today. Are you sick?" — West. mind, to have a great (good) : phr. ( + T) To he inclined, to have a strong desire. Cf. I^irquhar, Beaux' Stratagem, 1707. Ill, i: "We have a great mind to know who this gentle- man is. . . ." mind: rb. (+W, +NED, +EDD) To remember. "I ;;;;';/(/ the very day you were born." — General. 'mindful: adj. Obedient. — Central and east. *minister's-face: n. A hog's head. — Granville county. 'misbehave: z'b. Of children: to urinate or defecate in an im])ro})er jtlace or at an im])roper time. 'misery, in the : phr. In uncomfortableness ; in a state of nervousness. "I alius sit /;; the misery in a doctor's of^ce." — Guilford county. Rare. Illiterate. 'mislick: n. A misdirected bknv. "I made a misliek and hit my thumb." mizzle: rb. ( + \\'. +NED, +EDD) To rain in fine or 566 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE foglikfc drops. Cf. Caxton, Encydos, 1496. EETS, No. 57, p. 55, 34: ". . . the sayde cloudes were well thyk . . . and tormented [them] Rygth asperly with Rayne mysell. . . ." *mojos: n. A charm or spell. moldwarp, mouldwarp: ;;. (— W, — XED, — EDD) A stupid person, a dolt. "That fellow's always doing the wrong thing ; he's such a moldivarp he hacks me to death." Cf. Wyclif, Oj Prelates, c. 1380, xxvii, 3: "... & he ]?at can not ]>es, worldly statutis maad for singular wille and coueitise is hoolden but a fool and vnable to teche & reule cristene peple ... & to J?is ende ]?es worldly moldzcerpis taken keies of helle in stede of keies of \>e kyngdom of heuenes." — Caldwell county. mommick: n. and vb. (±W, -NED, +EDD) A foul, torn-up mess ; to tear up, mess up, befoul.^ — General. See mouunock, PADS, No. 6, p. 21. *monkey-suit : n. An elevator boy's uniform. — Chapel Hill. moon-calf: n. i. (+W, +NED, —EDD) "In mountain- eer's [of North Carolina] superstition, a shapeless thing, with- out life, that a steer causes in a cow by worrying her." (H. Kephart, Dialect Notes, iv, 415) ''Mooncalf: abortion, monster. The moon was thought to have an influence in forming such creatures." (Kittredge, Tempest) Cf. Shakespeare, Tempest, 1610, II, ii, no: "How cams't thou to be the siege of this mooncalf?" Carlyle, Sar. Res., 1858, iii, x, 168: "England . . . ofifers precisely the elements ... in which such moon-cah'cs and monstrosities are best generated." (NED) — West. 2. (-hE, +NED, +EDD) A fool, an idiot. The quotations from Shakespeare and Carlyle also agree with this second meaning. Cf. Ben Jonson, Nezvs from Xezv IForld, Pr.: ". . . Moone Calves\ What Monster is that. . . ? ... A very familiar thing, like our foole here on earth." (NED) Dickens, B. Rndge, 1840, vi : ". . . standing gaping at her, like an old mooncalf as I am." (NED) 3. (-W, -NED, -EDD) A bastard. — West. moon-eyed: adj. (+W, -hNED, -EDD) Of horses: blind during certain phases of the moon. Cf. Markham. Masterp, 1610, II, xii, 239: 'T haue scene many a slothfull and heauy horse brought to be moone eyed by the follv of his rider." (NED) *moon-fixer: ;;. A very tall person. — Granville county. *mop the hair: phr. To wash the hair. — West. *more than half : plir. Scarcely, hardly, incompletely. "He don't mure'n half tend to his business." — Central and east. §morning, in the: plir. On the morrow — not confined to FOLK S P K F. C II 567 nioriiings. Skoat, Jity. Did.: "'Oii the iiior)i' = on tlu' mor- row; Barbour's Bnicc, 1, 601 : to-iiiorn = to-niorrovv, id. i, 6ji. Morn and morrow are merely doublets. . . . AS. morgcu, morn, morrow." "I'm yoing to town //; tlic iiioniiiKj al)out two o'clock [tbat is, in the afternoon of tomorrow].'' — (Jranville county. Rare now. mort, a: ;/. ( +\\', +NED, +EDD) A great many; very much. Cf. Echard. I'lautus, 1694, 94: "They had a mart o' Prisoners." (NED) Sheridan, The Kifals, 1775, i, i : ". . . here's a mart o' merrymaking, heh ?" 'mortified to death: pJir. Chagrined, embarrassed. "I was mortified to death when he told me that I was the fellow who'd bent his fender."^ — Guilford county. Rare. Cf. free gratis, tooth-dentist, etc. mose, mosey: z'b. (+W, +NED. +EDD, +DAE, +T, — T-D) To move reluctantly, to prowl, to move about slowly or stupidly. Cf. H. F. Page, Lyrics and Legends of the Cape Fear Country, 1933, 158: "'Long came Aunt Rhody: 'Chile, you daid? Get up en' mosey off tub yo' baid.' " — General. mought [maut] : vb. ( +\\'. +\EU, +EDU, +T. +T-D) Past tense of may. Cf. O. E. Chron., an. 992 : "5if hi muhton J?one here ahwaer betrae]?]7en." (NED) Hampole, c. 1330, Lxxxvii. 6: "Thai did me till nioste wrechednes that thei mought." (EDD) Shakespeare. 5 Henry VI, c. 1592, v, ii, 45: "And more he would have said . . . That mought not be dis- tinguished." Bacon, Nezv Atlantis, 1627: ". . . such a vast sea mought cause it." — General. Illiterate. mountain boomer: )i. (— ^^^ —DAE) A mountaineer. — West. See boojiier. mouth: ;;. (-t-NED) The voice, especially of a hunting dog. "That young dog o' mine's jest naturally got the best mouth I ever heard in a race." Cf. Shakespeare, Midsummer Niglit's Dream, c. 1595, iv, i. 127: "My hounds are . . . match'd in mouth like bells. Each under each." — West. mouth, down in the: /'/n-. (+W, +NED) Dejected. Cf. Bp. Hall. Cases Consc., 1649, i, vi, 43: "The Roman Orator was downe in the mouth." (NED) Freeman in Life & Lett., 1891, II, 426: "I got down in tlie ntoutJi yesterday." (NED) — Central and east. *mouth, to put (one's) on (a person) : phr. To curse one. — Chapel llill. much: adj. (+N1^D) Strong, great. "He is a much man in his arms." Cf. Lav., c. 1205, 28036: "Al ))ere muche halle rof hire honden beo to-droh." ^(NED) Langl.. P. PL, 1362, IX, 61 : "A Muche Mon." (NED)— Central and east. 568 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *much of: plir. Strong, great, valuable; followed ])y a sub- stantive: ''much of a man, car," etc. — Central and east. mud-fat: adj. ( + NED, +EDD) \'ery fat; generally in reference to an animal. — General. mud flat: n. ( +\V. +XED, +DAE) The muddy bottom land along a stream. — Central and east. murgens, mergins: n. (EDD: "mcrgiu, adj., most numerous, largest") A great many. "He has miirgcns of watermelons this year." — Central and east. mush: n. ( + W, +NED, +DAE; T and T-D : "anv kind of porridge") A dish made of boiled corn meal seascme'd with gravy or butter. See cnsh. m\xs\i\Q:vb. (-EDD) To shuffle cards. ^^ name: vh. ( + W, +NED. +EDD) To speak of by name. "Don't name that fellow around me ; I can't stand him." Cf. Shakespeare, Merry Wives, c. 1599, iv, i, 65: "Never name her, child, if she be a whore." — General. nappy: adj. (-NED) Kinky-headed. "Colored folks comes into this world nappy, and they goes out nappy.'' — Guilford county. *nard [na:d] : ;;. and adj. Yellow homespun cloth; said to be a corruption of "northern." I have heard [na:d] and ['nara], which I took to be forms of "narrowed (cloth)" and "narrow (cloth)." — Illiterate. narn [na :n, narnj, naern, nairn [naean. nsern] : pron. ( + EDD) Not a one, never a one, none. "I don't own a dog. and I don't want naern." — Illiterate. See nary. nary, nairy ['naeri] : adj. (+W, +NED. +EDD, +DAE, +T, -l-T-D) Not one, not a, never a; from ne'er a. Cf. Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew, c. 1597, i. ii, 80: ". . . an old trot with ne'er a tooth in her head." Shakespeare, Much Ado, c. 1598, II, i, 336; "Hath your grace ne'er a brother like you?" Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749, xviii, 8: "And if she will but be obedient to me, there is narrow a father within a hun- dred miles o' the place, that loves a daughter l)etter than I do." Sheridan, Rivals, 1775, i, i, 2: ". . . ne'er a Sir Lucius O'Trigger in the kingdom should make me fight. . . ." See narn. nater ['nets, -a^] : prone. ( -l-EDD) Nature. So pronounced in the eighteenth century ; Walker condemned it ; Webster approved it. Cf. Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878. vi, iv : "Really all the soldiering and smartness in the world in the father seems to count for nothing in forming the uater of the FOLK S P K E C II 569 sons." Dargan. Call I Ionic the If cart. 193-', 20: '"Iluit would be iiatcr. \\'c kain't he'p that. 'A gal she ninst marry, an' a wife she must carry.' " — General. Illiterate. 'nation of a time, a: {^lir. A very good time. "We had a nation oj a time at that party." — Central and east. 'nature, to take (one's) : plir. To unsex a ])erson or an ani- mal. "If I have that operation, I'm afraid it will take my nature." — (inilford county. Rare. nearabout, nearbout: adv. ( + W, +EDD, +DAE) Nearly. — Central and east. necked |'n}kid|: prone. (VA^V): I'nt-skid]) Naked. — Gran- ville county. Practically all classes of a community. necktie party: n. (-hDAE, +T) A hanging; a lynching. Sometimes used facetiously. — General. Ned, by: ////(t/. (-hDAE) A mild oath. — General. needcessiiy: ;;. ( + NED, -fEDD) Necessity. Cf. Scott, //;■/. Midi, 1818, x.xi: "'Is this necessary?' said Jeanie. . . . 'A matter of ahsolute needccssify,' said Saddle-tree." (NED) *neen |'ni:n|, neene ['nina] : z'b. plus ucg. Xecdn't. "You ;/(•(•/;(' come for it; I'll take it to you." — West. [negatives]: 1. M ulti-negativcs. Speech of the uneducated still clings to the early English feeling that the more negatives used, the more emphasis gained. Cf. Chaucer, Prologue to C. T.. c. 1385, 70-71 : "He never yet no vileinye ne sayde In al his lyf, un-to no maner wight." Paston Letters, May 10, 1465: ". . . he sayd ... he durst not take no sute ayenst hem nother. . . ." A. B. Shelley, IVord Study, Oct.. 1945, reports as heard in Raleigh, N. C. : "Naw, suh, Ah ain't got nothin tuh give tuh nobody tuh do no good for nothin' nohoiv.'" 2. Ncga- tiz'c = positive. "I wouldn'f care to go" = "I should like to go." — Caldwell county. *nellify: vb. X'ariant of ;/H////y ; to balk. — l*'ast. *news-toter: //. A tatler, a gossip. — Granville county. next: adj. (-fhLDD) The one following the immediate one. "I am coming to see you next week" means the second week hence. — Granville county. nigger: :•/'. ( — ^^^ —NED. =!=EDD: "nigger, to work hard" ) To do hard work, and generally without proper recom- pense or appreciation. — West. Nimshi: ;;. ( + W. -FDAE, -fT, -hT-D) A blockhead. In New luigland : a mischievous child. — Central and east. *no not one, to: phr. Indefinitely. "This rubber band will stretch to no not one.'' 570 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *notice: vb. To court. "I hear Clem is noticing again." — West. *nullify: vb. Variant of ncllify; to balk.— East. obleege [o'l)lid5] : prone. ( +\\\ +NED) Oblige. Cf. Pope, Epistle to Dr. Arbiithnot, 1735, 208: "Dreading ev'n fools by flatterers besieged. And so obliging that he ne'er obliged.''— General. Illiterate. *occasion, no: phr. Equivalent to "You're welcome," "Don't mention it," etc. Used in response to "Thank you."— General. Old people. *ochoiie (ochrone), alas and: inter j. H. F. Page. L\rics and Legends oj the Cape Fear Country, 1932. p. 162 (and 99) : "Ochone, an exclamation of deep regret." W: "Oclione, an Irish and Scottish exclamation of grief or lamentation." NED : "Ohone, ochone, from Gael, and Ir. Ochdin, oh! alas!" — Central. Oder ['Ada], anoder [a'uAda] : prone. ( + XED. +EDD) Other; another. Cf. Paston Letters, Ap. 29, 1459: ". . . and on of hem was indosyed to yow . . . and to fyve or sexe odyr gentylmen ; and anodyr was sent onto your sone. . . ." of: prep. (+W, +NED, +EDD) On, upon. "He put that fellow flat oj his back." Cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, c. 1595' III' V, 40: "An two men ride oj a horse, one must ride behind." — Central and east. offish: adj. i±\\, ±NED. +EDD, +DAE, ±T, ±T-D) Sick. shy. not sociable. Cf. Betsy Bobbett. 1842, 289: "I am naturally pretty offish and retirin' in my ways with strange men folks." (NED) Hardy, Far from ^the Madding Crowd, 1874, Lii : "She's not fond of him — quite offish and quite care- less, I know." (EDD) oi [ai] : prone. ( + W. +NED, +EDD) We know from the rhymes of the poets of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries and from the discussions and phonetic indications of the lexicographers of the eighteenth century that many — per- haps most — words spelled with oi were pronounced fai], or similarly, in those centuries. Dialect speakers, therefore, are again merely following a good historical tradition when they pronounce o/- words with the "long" /. The following words are thus pronounced in many sections by the uneducated : anoint, appoint, boil, coil [kwail], groin, hoist, join, joint, joist, oil, point, poison, roil (even by the educated), soil, spoil, toil. Cf. Cursor Miindi, 14 c. Trinity 601 1 : "Bile & blister bollynge sore." Wyclif, Luke, 1382, 16, 20: "Houndis camen. and . . . lickiden his bylis." Paston Letters, Feb. 4, 1445: "Wetith of FOLK SPEECH 571 yourc hrotluTc John now |lio\\?| manic (/ystis wolle serve the "parler . . . and what Icnj^th they most be. ..." Shakespeare, Cor., 1607, I, iv, 31: "Vou Shames of Rome; you Heard of' Byles and Plagues Plaister you o're." (NED) John S. Ken- yon, American Pronunciation, nth ed., sec. 340, says: "Sliakc- speare has only bylc [for boil\." I'ope, Essay on Criticism, 171 1, 524: "Good nature and good sense must ever join; To err is human, to forgive divine." Gray, Elegy, 1750, 29: "Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, . . . Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile. ..." Hardy, Return of the Natiz'e, 1878, II, vi : "'He's not one of the old set, but have jined us be- cause t'other couldn't come.' " However, as far as I have observed, some o;-words are not pronounced [ai] but [di] : choice. coi)i. )ioise. voice, etc. Old Ned: ;/. (-EDD, -DAE) The devil.— General. 'oman ['\m^n] : prone. ( + NED ; KDD: uman). IVoinan. a. Pasto)i Letters, ?I455, i, 343: "Youre pore bede oman and cosyn. Alice Crane." (NED) Shakespeare, Merry Wives, c. 1600, I. i, 233: "But can you affection the 'oman?" — General. Illiterate. See 'ooman. §on^ [on I : prone. On. A. J. Ellis observed that one Eng- lish dialect pronunciation of on was [on] (EETS, No. 56, pp. 12, 21). — Robeson and Sampson counties. All classes. See gone. on-: prep. (-(-EDD) About, concerning. "She knows a right smart on gardening." Cf. Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 1594, 187: "For unstained thoughts do seldom dream on evil." (Also = of here.) ovi^: prep. (+NED. +EDD) Of. Ci. Prod. Hen. HI , 1258, I: "Henr' Jnn'z godes fultume king on Engleneloande, Lhoauerd on Vrlounde. Duk on Norm' on Aquitaine and earl on Aniow\" (NED) Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1575, i, iii, 6: "Cham sure on it." Shakespeare. King Lear, c. 1606, i, iv, 114: "Why, this fellow hath banish'd two ons daughters." Suckling, Constant Lover, a. 1642. 9: "P)Ut the spite on't is. no praise Is due at all to me." *on the up and up : phr. Getting better, improving. "He's on the up and up since he got that Indian medicine." — West. on- fjn-, on-| : /^;r/7> and /^r(;/;r. ( + N l-.D. + b:DD ) Un-\ oncertain. andean, onless, oiinuinnerly. ontd (until), onto, etc. Cf. Paston Letters, Oct. 31, c. 1449: "Item, for as moche as that I am bonden for my Lord Scales to my Lord Cardnale in ¥"= mark, the qu[ech] somme he kan not fynd no way to pay hit. onlese then that he sel a parcel of his "land." Eng. Gilds, 1607, 442: "Margory Davies . . . wold not remoue her habi- 572 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE tacion onles she might haue a way ... to passe. . . ." (NED) See onto (= tinto) in Paston Letters, under oder, above, *one: pron. One or the other. "Jane or Mary one went to see her." — Polk county. onliest: adj. ( + EDD) Only. "This is the oiiliest child living with me now." — General. Mainly Negroes. *'oii't [ont] : prone. \\'on't. "Sam 'on't be back till to- morrow." — Granville county. 'ooman ['Aman] : prone. ( + \\', -hNED) \\'oman. Cf. 0. Tzvist, 1838, LViii : "'Ah, and so's the young 'ooiuan of property that's going to take a fancy to me.' " (NED) Illit- erate. See 'oman. *open winter: n. A winter with but little snow. — Central and east. ourn ['ciwan. arn, aurn] : pron. (-hW, -|-NED, -hEDD) Ours. Cf. Wyclif and Purvey, Mark, 1380. 1388. 12, 7: "This is the eire ; come 36, sle we hym, and the eritage schal be ourun." J. Greenwood. Eng. Gram., 171 1, 105: "Hern, Ourn, Yourn, Hisn, for Hers, Ours, Yours, His, is bad English." (NED) Foote, Trip to Calais, 1778, 11, 52: "Instead of doing like our'n, they wear their woollen smocks over the rest of their clothes." (NED) — Illiterate. See hern. ourns [ 'awanz, arnz, aurnz] : /)ron. (-hNED. -I-EDD) Ours. —Illiterate. out: 7'b. ( + W, +NED. -hEDD) To put out. "Out that wet dog before he shakes hisself." — General. Rare. out'n ['autn]: prep. (-W, -l-EDD) Out on = out of. "My wife kin throw more out'n the window than I can bring in at the door." Cf. Gushing, 1888, 11, vii : "If they met to- night, the miller 'ud cuss him outen his sight." (EDD) — General. Illiterate. See on^. outlandish: adj. ( + W, -f NED, -f EDD) Foreign, not of one's community, bizarre. Cf. Chaucer, The Former Age, c. 1374, 22: "No marchaunt yit ne fette outlandish ware." Cover- dale, I Kings, 1535, i, i : "But Kynge Salomon loued many outlandish w^emmen." (NED) Neheniiah, 161 1. 13. 26: ". . . nevertheless even him did outlandish [Heljrew nokri] women cause to sin." — General. Mainly old people. *outlandishest : adj. Most outlandish. The common way of forming the superlative among the users of dialect. See -est. *outrageable : adj. Outrageous. — Rare. outsider: n. (— T, — T-D) An illegitimate child. "That oldest youngun of hern is an outsider." — West. FOLK SPEECH 573 *own: 7'/'. *i. To give birth to. "I've ozviicd nine chil- dren, and dichi't have no trouble when they come." — Duplin county. 2. { +\\' ) Of a mother animal : to nurse and take care of her young, thus acknowledging them as hers; frecjuently in the negative. "That old sow wouldn't uzcn her pigs ; just fought them and threw them around." — Granville county. *pack off on: phr. (h21)D: to pack if upon a person) To blame another for something one is guilty of himself. "He tried to pack that stealing off on Ed." — General. pair: ;/. ( +\V, -hNED, +EDD) A set of things— not necessarily two — closely related or connected: a pair of balances (or scales), a pair of beads, a pair of stairs (or steps), etc. Cf. Tyndale, Revelation, 1534, 6, 5: ". . . and he . . . had a payre of balances in his honde." (Same for Cranmer, 1539; Geneva, 1557; and A. V.. 161 1.) Baret, Alvearie, 1580: "Balances or a payre of balance." Chaucer, Prologue to C. T., c. 1385, 159: "Of smal coral aboute hir arm she bar A peirc of bedes, gauded al with grene." Paston Letters, 1426, i, 12: "Certeyns maitTfaisons . . . the seyd John Grys ... by the s])ace of a myle to a payre gah^'cs ledden." (NED) Pepys. Diary, Sept. 2, 1666: ". . . or clambering from one pair of stairs by the waterside to anotlier." *pair of minutes (seconds) : phr. A short time. "I'll be with you in a pair of >niiiiites." — (ieneral. All classes. 'pallet: ;/. A task, an allotted amount of work. "I done finished that pallet. Do you have anything else for me to do?" — Duplin county. pant: z'b. (+\V) To put pants (trousers) on for the first time. "I knowed him before he was panted." — Caldwell county. panter ['penta, -a^] : prone. ( + NED, +EDD) Panther. Cf. Bestiary, c. 1220, 733: "Panter is an wilde der." S. Hawes, Examp. Virt., 1503, ix, 4: "And bv a swete smelle 1 knewe a panter." (NED)— West. *parable, to speak a : pJir. To say something to the point, something wise. — Central and east. paradise apple: ;/. (— W, —NED) The tomato. particular : (/(/;. ( + NED, +EDD) Careful, cautious. "Be particular when you cross the street." pasnip [ 'pccsnip I : /TOHf. (-I-NED) Parsnip. Eolk speech is again historically correct : the word comes from M.E. passcnip, pasnep ; that from O.F. panaie ; and that from Lat. pastindca, which is from the verb pastinare, "to dig up." Cf. Trevisa, Earth. De P. R., 1398, xvii, cxxxvii. Bodl. 22^/2: N.C.F., Vol. I, (38) 574 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "Euriche herb \vi]? a rote of meche norissching haj:> seede ]?at is nau3t norissching; as it fare]? in Pasiicpis and in rapis." (NED) pass, make a at: phr. (-NED) To make an at- tempt or pretense at doing something. "He's been making a pass at plowing all day." — Granville county. pass the time of day : phr. (-W, +NED, +EDD) To visit leisurely and informally. — Central and east. *pass words: phr. To quarrel. "They passed some words before John hit him." — Central and east. passel ['psesal] : n. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Parcel (of people) ; a crowd, a group of anything. Cf. Past on Letters, a. 1468, II, 332: "Pies yow to send me passels of costes and expences 3e here and pay for the said causes." (NED) — Gen- eral. Illiterate. pateroll ['past9,rolJ : ;/. {DXE: patrol (I jer) Patroller. See PADS, No. 6, p. 22. *pattyroller['paeti,robj : prone. Patroller. — Granville county. Obsolescent. *patternize: vb. To pattern or model after a copy. "I pat- terniced my dress after Mary's." *peacified: adj. Peaceable. peanut, names for: goober (African dialects: [ijguba, olurjgupa] ). goober-nut, goober-pea, gooby, ground-nut, ground- pea, gruber, peanut, pender (pinder), pinda, pindal. peart [pjVt]: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD, +T) There is a vast difference in meaning between the words [pjs^t] and [ps^t]. The writer of the following has expressed this differ- ence well : "No word in literary English precisely expresses the idea of peart, least of any does pert. Peart conveys the impres- sion of sprightly liveliness, of a joyous, healthy, fresh, happy condition, in the person or animal to which it is applied." — F. T. Elworthy, A^ & Q., 9th ser., iv (1899), 461. Cf. Shake- speare, quartos of Midsummer Night's Dream, c. 1595, i, i, 13: "Awake the peart and nimble spirit of Mirth." Dunbar, Poems, 1500-20, Lxxv, 10: "He wes townvsche, peirt, and gukit." (NED) pearten (up) ['pjVtn] z'b. ( -f\\\ -fEDD. +T) To en- liven, to cheer up; to become lively, cheerful. "That fellow certainly peartens a body up with his lively jokes." "I hear that Mary's baby is peartening up some." — General. Illiterate. peartish ['pjs^tij] : arf;. (-HEDD) Somewhat well, some- what lively ; showing improvement. I- L K SPEECH 575 peartly Ipj'^l'ii: '"/•'• (+\V') Lively, ciuickly. Cf. W. Browne, Hrilaiinia's I'dsforals, early 17 c., 135: "'riien a nimble S(|uirrill . . . sits f^cartly on a houyii his brcnvne nuts eracking." (Cent. Diet.) peartness ['pj-i inisj : /;. ( +\\', +1^DD) Liveliness. *peas: ;;. Any shelled beans or peas. — Central and east. *peck: ;/. The aet of nagging. — West. peck: vh. ( — W, +NED) To dress a millstone. Cf. J. Smith. Old .U/c, 1666, 79: "Because they cannot make their mills grow, as they daily decay by grinding; they are fain to supply that want by often pcck'nuj their milstones." (NICD) R. B. House, Miss Site and the Sheriff, 1941, 21 : ". . . Ananias would peck the millstones to sharpen them." peck at (on): vb. (+W, +NED. +EDD) To nag at, to find fault with. Cf. "Smectymnuus," Viiid. Auszv., 1641, v, 70: "The Scripture hee pecks at.'' (NED) peck for oneself : phr. ( + EDD) To work for oneself, to have to look out for oneself by working. *peckerwood : ;/. A poor, low-class white person. — Chapel Hill. peckish: adj. ( + W. +NED. -EDD) Hungry; incHned to nag. Cf. (jrose, Diet. J'lilg. Tongue, 1785: ". . . peckish, hungry." (XED) — (iranville and Guilford counties. peel (one's) eye: phr. (-I-DAE) To be on the lookout. "When you go over there, keep your eye peeled for a good horse."- — Granville county. *peepy: ;;. A small chicken or turkey ; perhaps onomatopoeic. - — (ieneral. *pee-weezy: ;;. A little dried-up person. — Nash county. pestle-tail: ;/. (EDD: "a horse's tail denuded of hair") A mule ; perha])s because the tail of the mule is trimmed to the shape of a wooden pestle, or small maul. *petitious: adj. Intricate, difficult to do. *pew: t7). 1'o go to church — that is. occupy a pew. "I'm going a-pcccnu/ toniglu." — Gaston coimty. *plilegni fflim] : prone. — Central and east. phlegm cutter: ;/. (-I-DAE) An early morning drink of li(|uor. — Central and east. piece: ;/. (-W. +X1-:D. +b:DD, +T. -T-D) A con- temi)til)le girl or woman. The word is usually ])rece(led by an adjective — brazen, jresli, hateful, sassy, sluttish, sorry, etc. Cf. Shakespeare, Winter's Tale, c. 161 1, "And thou, fresh piece Of excellent witchcraft, who of force must know The royal fool 576 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE thou copest with. . . ." Burton, Anat. Mel., 1621, i, iv, i, 143: "A waspish cholerick shit, a craved peece." (NED) Shirrefs, Poems, 1790, 117: "There's a few wad think her sic a saucy piece." (NED) *pieded: adj. Spotted, streaked but not in a well-defined manner. "That's a right pretty pieded calf." — West. *piedy: adj. Same as pieded. — Swain county. piggin: //. (— W, —NED; EDD : "a small iron pot with two ears"; —DAE) A skillet. The word is, of course, also used in its usual sense. — Central and east. pilau ['pilo, -d] ; in Sumter county, S. C. ['ps^lo] : ;;. ( +W, 4- NED) A dish of meat — chicken, squirrel — boiled with rice. I am unable to account for the r-sound in Sumter county, S. C. Cf. Byron, Don Juan, 1818, iii, 243: "Pilaus and meats of all sorts met the gaze." *pimp jennet, pimp jenny: n. A pimple. — Central and east. See pip jenny. *pine-bark stew: n. Fish and vegetables stewed together. — Central and east. piner: n. (— W, —NED, —DAE) A person who carries a (pine) torch to assist with landing fish. *piney -woods rooter: ;;. A common pig or hog. — Central and east. pink of the evening: phr. (EDD: "pink and shank, first in the morning and last at night.") Early twilight. — Central and east. See shank of the evening. pinking in of the day : phr. (-I-EDD) The time just before dusk. — Central and east. *pipjenny: n. A pimple. — Chapel Hill. See pimp jennet. pitch a crop: phr. ( + W, +NED, +DAE) To plant a crop. Cf. Clave, PJiil. Trans., 1688, xvii, 946: "In stifi^ Soyles, if the Crops be not early pitch' d, . . . the Roots neuer spread or shoot deeper." (NED) — General. pitch in: vb. (+\V, +NED, +DAE) To begin; to assist. Generally followed by and plus another verb. "Henry, pitch in and help me finish before dark." Cf. Kipling. Captains Courageous, 1897, ix : "He's paid me half now; and I took hold with Dan and pitched right in." (NED) — General. *pitch out: I'b. To begin. Generally followed by a gerund or and plus another verb. "He pitched out dancing." "He pitched out and ran." — Central and east. *pity-sake, to take on: phr. To take pity on. "He took pity-sake on me and give me some work." — West. 1- L K SPEECH 577 *pizen (poison) (one's) pasture: />//;■. 'JV) oret revenge on one. "That scoundrel will piccii ycr pasture if you don't watch him." — Central and east. plague take (one): plir. ( + NED, +EDD) A mild impre- cation = may the phujitc take yon. Cf. Edwards, Damon & Pythias, in Hazl., Dodslcy, a. 1566, iv, 102: "A phujiic take Damon and Pithias !" (NED) Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, c. 1596, 111, i, 94: "I am hurt. ./ phujiie o' both your houses." *play-children : ;/. Children that play together. — Central and east. *play-pretty: ;/. A toy. pleasure: -Ak (+W, +NED, +EDD) To please. Cf. Peter Levins, Manipitlits I'ocabulontm, 1570, To the Reader, XXI : "Considering therefore, that Whereas he that writeth, meaneth euer to pleasure some body. . . ." Shakespeare, Merry Wiz'es, c. 1599, I, i, 251 : "What I do is to pleasure you, coz." Dickens, Pickzc, 1837, vi : "The wall must be crumbled, the stone decayed. To pleasure his dainty whim." (NED) plug (along, at): I'b. (— W, —NED) To move or work slowly but steadily. *plum(b) sight: ;/. That which or who is surprising, out of the ordinary. — Central and east. *plum(b) nellie: phr. Completely out of town ; nearly in the country. plunder: n. (-W, -NED, -DAE, -T) Trash, worth- less odds and ends. "Pve got a lot of plunder in my garage that ought to be thrown away." — General. *plunder: vh. To hunt around for something. "He's plun- dering in the kjft for something to fish with."- — Central and east. *plunder-room: ;/. A store room; a room in which to store "plunder." — Central and east. poke: ;/. (+NED. -hEDD) A bag. CI Rot. Hundred, a. 1276, I, 398/2: "yuidam judei Lincolnie . . . furebantur unam pokam lane." (NED) Chaucer, Cant. Tales, c. 1386, A4278: "They walwe as doon two pigges in a poke.'" (NED) Wyclif, Trac'tus de Pseudo-Freris, 14 c, EETS, No. 74, p. 319: "(jC- |7us )?ei faren ofte as don doggis in a poke." poke around (about, along): -Ak (-KNED. -HEDD. -hDAE) To move about skjwly and, generally, without any definite pur- pose. Cf. E. Fitzgerald. Lett. 1839, i, 49: "I dare say you think it very absurd that [I] should poke about here in the country, w^hen I might be in London seeing mv friends." (NED) 57?) NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE poke-easy: ;/. (+W) A very slow, easy-going person. — General. *poii horse: n. Corn meal cooked in stock from liver pud- ding. — Central and east. *poor barkery: Ji. "Poor white trash." Prohal^ly a cor- ruption of Gullah hiickra, "white man," which is related to Efik and Ibibio [mbakara]. — New Hanover county. poor mouth, to talk: phr. (T: make a poor mouth) To plead poverty. poor-stock manners : n. Manners indicative of poor (in- ferior ) background. — West. posy-pot: n. ( EDD : ''posy, a bouciuet") A bouquet. — Guilford count}'. pot hooks and hen scratches: phr. (NED: "pot-hook, crabbed or illegil)le writing") Illegible writing. Grose, 1785: "Pothooks and hangers, a scrawl, bad writing." — Central and east. *pounce: ;/. An explosion. "There was a terrible pounce over in the south." — Central and east. *powder wedge: n. Same as mauler, q. v. power, a: n. ( +W, -l-NED, -l-EDD) A great deal, very much; a great many, a crowd. "She's got a poz^rr of hair." Cf. Fuller. Worthies, a. 1661, i, 194: "Imploying a power of poor people. . . ." (NED) Crowne, Misery Civ. War, 1680, I, i: "They have a poiver o' money." (NED) Gray, Corr. W. N. Nicholls, 1770, 113: "It will do you a power of good one way or another." (NED) Dickens, Old C. Shop, 1840, Liii : "It has done a pozver of work." — General. Mainly old people. powerful: adj. and adv. ( + NED, +EDD, +DAE. +T) Great, considerable ; very, exceedingly. "A pozverjul sight of folks came." "I'm pozverjul glad to see you." Cf. W. Irving, Tour Prairies, 1835, xiii: "He was pozverjul tired." (NED) Dickens, Mut. Fr., 1865, i, v: "He took a pozverjul sight of notice." (NED) precious little (few): phr. ( + NED. +T) Very little. "He knows precious little about farming." Cf. Asa Ciray, Lett., 1839, 268: "While on the Continent I have received precious jezv letters." (NED) preparate: vh. (— W, -hNED) To prepare. Cf. Bk. Quin- tessence, 1460-70, 8: "Who so coude reparate and preparate kyndely |^is tier." (NED) — Central and east. [prepositions, several together] : "Oh, Gal, ain't you a-going across down over to Rose's?" Cf. Alfred, Voyages oj Ohthere FOLK s r E K c n 579 ami U'lilfsta)!. 9 c. : ". . . and Hci^ad wikk- iiKiras witt eastan and Tv'/'(/ ///^/' on cmlangc )?aem hynnin lande." * press, in the: pJir. Foetus in itlcro. "lie has eiglit chil- dren and another one in the f^rcss."— DnpHn county. 'pretty, bet (give) a: f^hr. A form of lis^ht verhal wager. "I bet a f^rctty he never told her where he'd heen. — General. *pretty, not to do: phr. Said of woman who has been guilty of immoralitv. — Central. [price, different ways of asking the] : Ihra' do you sell this? How nnieh are yoit asking for this? I low nnieli are you getliiu/ for this? How much arc you lioldimj this for? How much are you letting this go jar? How much docs this cost? Hozv much do you want for this? Hozv much will this set uic back? What arc you asking for this? Jlliat arc you letting this go for? JVhat do you charge for this? What do you get for this? Jlliaf do vou sell this for? W'hat is this? What is this zvorth? What will this bring (fetch) ? What will this cost mc? proffer: vb. ( + W. -fNED, +EDD) To offer as a gift: to tender one's assistance. "He proffered to help me build the boat." Cf. Piers Plowman, c. 1362, A. vii, 41 : "And 3if pore men prof re f^ ou presentes or 3iftes, take]? hem not." Shake- speare, / Henry IV, c. 1598. v, i. 19: "The Earl of Armagnac . . . Proffers his only daughter to your Grace." — West. Illiterate. prog [pracj] : /;. (—\\\ +NED, — EDD) A kmch given to a traveler (member of the family or departing guest), to be eaten during his trip. Cf. Fuller. 1665, Ch. Hist., vii. ii, 290: "The Abbott . . . every Saturday was to visit their beds, to see if they had not shuffled . . . purloyned some progge for them- selves." (NED). — Low-Country. S. C. prog [prag]: vb. (-W. +NED. +EI)D) To work aim- lessly, piddle; to roam around idly. Cf. Ouarles, Pmbl., 1635, II. ii : "We travel sea and soil, we pry. we prowl, We progress, and we prog from pole to pole." (NED ) O projeck ['prad5ek] : rb. i. ( +W. +DAh:. +T) To play, .show lack of seriousness, cut up.- — General. *2. To wan- der about, walk about aimlessly; to pry. — General. *proofvial: ;;. A small vial used to proof newlv made whisky. — West. *proon over: -.■b. To brood over. — Central and east, proud^: adj. (+\V, +NED. +EDD) Pleased, happy. "I'm proud you came to see me." Cf. Gen. & Ex., c. 1250, 1414: "Wid gold, and siluer. wid srud. Dis sonde made de maydcn pnid." (NED) Shakespeare, Rich. //. 1593, iii. S80 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE iii, 191 : Faire Cousin, you debase your Princely Knee, To make the base Earth prozud with kissing it." (NED) Dry- den, Apol. Heroic Poetry, 1677, i, 182: "The author of the Plain Dealer, whom I am proud to call my friend." (NED) *proud-: flc?y. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Of female animals : maris appetens. Cf. Turberv., Venerie, 1575, vii, 17: "A fayre Bitch . . . the whiche you may make to goe proude in this wyse." (NED) P. Beckford, Hunting, 1781, 62: "Watch over the bitches with a cautious eye, and separate such as are going to be proud before it is too late." (NED) — General. *pulley-bone: n. The wishbone. — General. pullykins: n. ( + DAE) Forceps, pincers. — Central and east. *pump-knot: n. A knot on the head produced by a blow. — West. *puny list, on the : phr. Sick, indisposed. "He's on the puny list today and can't work." — General. *puny-turned : adj. Delicate, sickly. "All his wives have been puny-turned." — West. pushed for: phr. ( + EDD) In need of. "He's powerfully pushed for something to eat." — General. *pushy: adj. Unpleasantly aggressive. — Granville county. *pussy-gutted ['pAsi-] : adj. Fat-bellied. Probably from pursy, "fat, corpulent." — Granville county. *put above one : vb. Not to believe a person mean enough to do dishonorable things; generally with a negative. "His neighbors say he burnt that house, and I wouldn't put it above him." — Granville county. See put past. put away: 7'&. ( + NED, +EDD) To bury.— Central and east. put down: rb. (— EDD, —DAE) To snow or rain a great deal. — Granville county. put off on: I'h. (—DAE) To speak disparagingly of one. put out: rb. ( + NED. -DAE, -T) To embarrass, to disappoint ; generally in the passive. "Henry'll be powerful put out if he can't see Mary tonight." Cf. Shakespeare, L. L. L., 1588, v, vii, 102: "Ever and anon they made a doubt, Presence maiesticall would put him out." (NED) *put past, not: vb. To believe a person mean enough to do dishoiioral)le things. "1 wouldn't put it past him that he stole that car." — Central and east. See put above. put up at: phr. (-FDD) To lodge at or with. — Gran- ville county and west. Cf. Philip Quarll, lyzy, 32: "We put F O L K S P F. E C II 581 . , th r,r t rotticrr" (NED) Dickeiis. Barn. Rudgc, 1840, '^^^ eitS go i to lindon, sir, or put up at once." ^^^pu^t^upfor- pJu: In need of. not having. "They tell me the c.ld man is put up jor enough to eat. *put up for-, phr. To endure, to stand for. I wont put up for his lying any longer. ' auare |kNva>o -r| : pronc. (+\\\ +VA)\1) Queer. Cf. B^'l^^::^ of tl Lir.^^^, ^-,);" Vene^al'"""^ this isn't the quarest that ever I knowed. -Cxeneral. *quartering time: n. Resting time for workers between fore- noon and afternoon.— West and north. other a q„cyne from a queene." /^ED) S akespeare^^ t/.„..., TV r TCQ8 I i =;i : . . ■ cut me oft the villains neau . ft "w the'g- nt h 'channel." Scott. Abbot. .820. .v. "My *rg ma/er «ill stick nothing to call an honest woman a sU,t or aucau." (NED) querry \'k^^■ev.\ : prouc. (+NED) QHom- (an excavation querry I K J y , s r^^ j^ Fannande. Inscr. St. from which stone is taken), yi. -lv "Thin rrafti Helais. Abingdon in Leland. Itm., 1458. vi . ^^J}]''^^'^^^ men for the gnrrry made crowes of yre. (NED) bwain countv. ^ . TT r- nuick- ;/ (+NED) Quicksand. Cf. Bancroft m H. Gary, quick ''; /|.^ ' "^ 40:*Tamherein Sloughland, in the midst of quicks and quagmires. (NED)-Central ana east quirl [kw^l] : ». and z^&. (\N : vb ; T : "a tangle") A coil ; ^° Vote: vb. To sound, to make a noise. "I heard a gun quote over in the woods."— West. [r, intrusive]: A number ot words here "™| J^'^^^" ^orth rniolina folk speech have act|iured an r. Uns / is neitner of fte two transitional .-sounds. Exantpks '-^ ^^^' ^^ iX ■/.) To hiut, to make known. signify (round). c/>. '+'\'\-'' , ^.j ... .'Teeth luulst C\ Shakesneare. . //c/zrv / /. ^- i .i9-' ^' y.- :'-+■ .,„ lou in thv head To sunnjy thou cam'st to hite the world. _ *sin- 'rh To hiss hke a goose. I'robahly of onomatopoeic ori!n' "1 think that old goose has a nest. She has been sm- Inui a't me all the morning."-Granville county. .inkers- ;/ ( -W. -^AE) Dtmiphngs cooked with ch'kJ:^"- some other meat.-Granville and Swain coun le. <;i«.tren- n ( +\V. +EDD) Sisters. Cf. English Gilds, i2>^9, EFTS No. 40. p. 29: ". . . al bretheren and systcrcn schulyn helden 'and kepen upon here power." size of: /'/n-. (+EDD) The truth ot (the matter ).-Cen- ''tklmi^on: n. A small an.otmt ; not enough to be concerned "'skipping-jenny: .. Rice and peas cooked together.-East. •slack, to keep up: pin: Not to work much^East. slack talk: ..and W. (+NED,+EDD) Gossip, idle talk . to gossip, to talk idly.— \\ est. *slam: adr. luitirely.-Central and east. *slam, a whole: />/n'. A great many .-Central and east ; , w +\ED +EDD) Completely, directly. Cr'l?iket; kI:/) H». ^^•. X. -A turnstile leading s,a, avvav into the meadows." (NEO) , , , , ■slapping-high: .uij. Of a child : hiRh 0,00.,!, to he slappcl. —Kandoli)h county. •slaunchways r.K>n,jwe.l : ,.,//. and a,h: Slan.uays •slew, slue: ,0 A .n-at nnmher. -A ,*.. of people was "luckenslide: »,/y. (-NED. -I'-"") SU.ping.-Central "'"'."""■ , vv +NFD -EDD, -DAE. -T) A small ■'^^'l l.,n,l Cfl/two" />•<-»»<,/> b.frf... 1624, Bundle .08 Fry "One kttdii,; orbuildin. ('w„h a little ,*>-• of .round thereunto . . .)•" (NED) 592 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *slipper-slide : ;/. A shoe horn. — Central and east. *sloosh [shij] : «. A great many. "I got a big sloosh of chickens this spring." — Central and east. slosh out [slaj] : vb. ( + DAE) Of liquid: spill out; to cause to spill out. — Central and east. *slow-joe: ;;. A water-run hominy beater. — West. slud [slAdJ : z'b. Past tense and past participle of slide. Cf. Morte Arfhurc, 14 or 15 c, 3854: "His hand sleppid and slode o slante one the mayles." — Illiterate. *slunch: vb. To slant. smack: odz'. ( + EDD) Completely. — Central and east. *small: n. A dime. *smidgum: ;;. Smidgin, a small amount. — Rare. smooch up: ( — DAE: without h/i) To dress up. snippy: odj. (-W, -NED, -EDD) Proud.— Central and east. snollygoster: 11. ( + DAE) DAE : "A Georgia editor kindly explains that 'a snollygoster is a fellow who wants office re- gardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy.' " — Wake county. snouch up: rb. To dress up. snurly: adj. (NED: "snarly, full of snarls or knots"; 4-EDD) Twisted, knotty. — Caldwell county. so as: conj. (+W, -fNED) So that. Cf. Queen Eliza- beth, Letters of Queen Elizabeth and James ]1 of Scotland, 16 c, Letter xliii : ". . . we doe therefore return our said seruant to reside with you as our ambassadour as heretofore he hath been, so as all former intelligences may continew betwixt you and us. . . ." sob: Z'b. (+W. +NED, -hEDD) To be thoroughly wet. soaked. "Your shoes are sobbing." Cf. Evelyn. Fr. Card., 1658, 267: "When the tree being sobb'd and wet, swells the wood, and loosens the fruit." (NED) sobbing: adz'. (-I-EDD) Very (wet). "Your clothes are sobbing wet." sock into: z'b. (T : def. not same as here, but illustration fits definition here.) To thrust or drive into. "This is the toughest meat I ever socked a fork in." — Granville county. soft sawder: n. and vb. ( + W, -f NED. +EbD) Flatterv ; to flatter. Cf. E. Fitzgerald, Lett., 1889, i, 232: "He ... by dint of good dinners and soft sawder finally draws the country gentry to him." (NED) FOLK SPEECH 593 some-time: adj. ( — W, —NED) Undc'iK'iulahk' ; acting only at such time as would seem favorable to oneself; ()])]X)r- tunistic. "She's a soinc-timc friend; I don't want to have any- thing to do with her." — Guilford county. See somctimcy. sometimey: adj. Same as somc-tiiiic, q.:'. — Chapel Hill. *song ballit: ;/. A ballad, a folk song. — West. sont [sont|: rb. (-I-NED) Past tense and past participle of jiv»i/.— Mainly illiterate Negroes. soogan: n. (+W, +NED, +EDD) A kind of saddle used on an ox to transport objects on. — Avery county. See sugan. soon: adj. (±\V, +NED, +EDD) Early. "Cf. Wyclif, ScL Wks., c. 1380, I. 235: "Rut Crist tolde hem of souncre perils. . . ." (NED) I.angley, tr. Pol. Verg. dc Invent., 1546, II, 105: "The old proverbe is true; that as soone sow^ing somewhat deceaveth, so late sowing is always naught." (NED) — General. sow [sau] : ;;. (—DAE: sozv-bug) The silver fi.sh (Saccha- riiia). — Granville county. spang: adv. (+W, -f NED'; T : definition does not agree with the one here but the illustrative sentence does.) Directly, completely, quite. "He jumped spang in the middle of the water." — General. speciment: prone. ( +NED, — EDD) Specimen. Cf. Cave, Eeclesiastiei, Creg.-Nac, 1683, 282: "He had scarce given a Spceiinenf of his Learning." (NED) — Yancey county. spell: vb. (+W, +NED, +EDD) To narrate, to tell.— Forsyth county. sperit ['spent] : prone. ( + W) Spirit. Cf. Mortc Arthure, 14 or 15 c, 4227 : "And thus passes his speryt." spit cotton: plir. (— W) To spit froth from the mouth caused by drinking whisky. "Way down South where they all spit cotton, Poor man dies, he's .soon forgotten." — Parody on "Dixie" made by a North Carolina mountaineer. Cf. PADS, No. 2, pp. 50, 54. Same as spit ivhite, q.v. spit white: phr. (+NED) NED: "To eject frothy-white sputum from the mouth." Cf. Massinger & Dekker, Virg. Mart., 1622, jii, iii : "Had I bin a Pagan stil, I could not haue spit li'hite for want of a drink." (NED) See spit cotton. *split (one's) load : phr. To beget twins. — Central and east. spondulix: n. ( — W, —NED, — T) The usual meaning is money, but in some sections the term refers to sexual de- sire. — Central and east. square (a) round: vb. (-fEDD) To make room for one. 59 !- NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE "Square around for John and let him have a seat." — Central and east. squirts: ;/. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Diarrhea. C£. Promptorium Parvulorum, c. 1460: "Scqzvryf, idem quod flvx, supra." (NED) *stomping: adv. Very, excellent. "Mr. Charlie is a stompin' good man to work for." — Guilford county. start: vh. ( + NED) To find. "I've lost my cow and I can't start her anywhere." start-naked: adj. ( + \V, +XED) Stark-naked. Older forms are stcort-nakct, steort-nakcd , stert naked. A-S steort, means "tail." Stark-naked comes from stcort-naked. NED : "The literal sense would seem to be 'naked even to the tail.' " This is another of the many examples which show that the dialect form is the older and the historically better form. Cf. Juliana, c. 1225, 16: "& he het hatterliche strupen hire steort- naket." (NED) step aside: vb. ( + NED) To commit (sexual) immoral- ity. Cf. Burns, Addr. to Unco Guid. 1786. vii : "To step aside is human." (NED) *stick-broom : ;;. "A store-bought" broom — one that has a stick for a handle ; the "bresh-broom" (a home-made broom) has no stick. — Central and east. stink: vb. (-1-NED) To emit a pleasant odor. "That pumgranny shore stinks good." Cf. Aelfric, Grammar, 11 c, 37: "Ic stinee swote oleo." (Bosworth and Toller, A-S Diet.) Ormin, c. 1200, 8194: "To strawwnenn gode gressess J^ger, j^aet stunnkenn swi]?e swete." (NED) *stinking-jim: n. A small terrapin (Sicrno-notJierus odora- tus). Other names are: stinking turtle, sti)iky pot, and stinky turtle. — Central and east. *stomach, to turn (one's) : phr. To make one sick or dis- gusted. — Central and east. *store-bought : adj. Bought at a store rather than made at home. "Is that a store-bought shirt you got on?" — Central and east. story: n. and vb. (W: "a falsehood"; -l-NED) A liar; a lie; to tell a falsehood. Generally euphemistic. "You storied to me about going to that dance." Cf. Aubrey, Lives, Sir H. Blount, a. 1697, i, no: "Two young gentlemen that heard Sir H. tell this sham so gravely . . . told him they wondered he was not ashamed to tell storys. . . ." (NED) W. S. Gilbert, Utopia, 1893, 11: "Oh, you shocking story." (NED) stout: adj. ( + W, 4- NED, -fEDD) Healthy, strong. Cf. I- O L K S P E !•: C H 595 Shakespeare. Timon. c. 1607. iv. iii. 3-': "^Y^<^ '^""' '"''"' pillo^ves from ])elow their heads." rurcjoy Letters, I742, h, ^4- "I would have made it a hrace [of hares] hut now the green wheat is come up the hares ^row stout & are exceedmg hard to catch."— West. See last ([notation under give out- . g^jj^g. .,/, (+NED. -T) Past tense and past participle of stave (^)- to thrust in. drive in with great force. "He store thai knife in Lem's hack."— General. Illiterate, stove-room:;;. (-NED) The kitchen. stove up: adj. (-EDD. -T-D) Stiff, sore, lame hecause of hard work or jihysical injury.— Central and east. *stow: ;;. A rahbit burrow.— Central and east. 'stracted: prone. (EDD: ''straet, an aphetic form of the obs pp. "distract' ") Z);^/;-ar/rc/.— Central and east. straddle-bug: ;;. (-W. -NED, DAE: some illustrations fit meaning here: -T. -T-D) A politician who tries to seem on both sides of a question.— Central and east. strenth fstrenG. strmB] : prone. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Strenqth. Cf. Barbour, Bruee, 1375. i. 5^4: "Then slayn wes mone'thowsand Off thaim with-owt, throw strenth of hand. James VI of Scotland, Letters of Queen Elizabeth and James VI of Scotland, 16 c. Letter xxvii : "... I looke that ve will gene me at this tyme suche a full satisfaction ... as sail be a meane to strenthin and unite this yle. . . ." *stretch: vb. To wait on the table. "I'll cook, wash dishes, and do such thini,-s; but vou'U have to do the sirefehmej."— \\'est. *stribbly: adj. and adv. Untidy: untidily.— Catawba county. strike (up with) : rb. ( + NED) To meet, to come in con- tact with. "If you strike up with Jini. let him know I'm here. "This is the coolest place I've struek." — General. strollop: ;;. (-EDD) A woman of loose or questionable character. — West. 'stroy: prone. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Destroy. Cf. Morte Arthurc, 14 or 15 c, 1927: "But 3if thowe wolde alle my steryne stroye fore the nones." Shakespeare. Antony and Cleopatra, c. 1607, in, xi, 53: "See How I convey my shame out of thine eye By looking back What I haue left behind Stroy' d in dishonor." *struck: ;;. A bushel. From "struck" bushel (?).— Chapel Hill. *strut, in a: phr. To be under strain, hard pressed, usually by work. "I've been ;;; a terrible strut trying to finish my plowing before it rained again."— Granville county. 596 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *stud horse: n. A man who has fathered many children. — Central and east. study (about): z'b. ( + EDD) To take under considera- tion; to think about. "I'll study about helping him pay that debt." Cf. Shakespeare, RicJiard II, c. 1595, v, v, i : "I haue been studying how I may compare this prison unto the world." Yks. Comet, 1844, i, i : "Moare Ah studied aboot it an' war it pottered me." (EDD) — Central and east. *studyinent: n. Consideration, study, reverie. "He's in a powerful studymcnt trying to figure out how to get the money." Illiterate. Mainly Negroes. stump: vb. (-W, -hDAE) To confuse, to outdo. "What he said has got me stumped." — Central and east. *stun: vb. Past tense and past participle of stand. — Guil- ford county. Rare. *such a matter as : phr. Of time: about, approximately. "He was here such a matter as two hours ago." — Central and east. sug(g)an: ;;. (-W, -NED, -EDD) A bag-wallet. Probably same word as soogan, q.v. sugar loaf: ;/. (-W, -NED. -DAE) Whisky. *sugar-mouthed: adj. Deceitful, "sateful," "sweet-mouthed." — Central and east. sull (up): Z'b. ( + DAE) To be sullen ; to sulk. DAE: "? Back formation from sullen, a." — West. *sun-ball: n. The sun. — Central and east. sun-pains: ;/. (-I-DAE) Severe pains in the limbs and body, as reported by slaves. The pain began with the rising of the sun and ceased w^hen it set. — Granville county. Obsolete. sun-time: n. (— W, — NED) Standard time as opposed to daylight-saving time or war time. — A modern term. General. survig(e)rous [s3'vaig(9) ras, sa^-] : adj. (+W, +DAE, -1-T, +T-D) Fierce.— West. swag: n. (-1-DAE) A depression, a sag. "Tliis floor has a szt.'ag in the center." — Swain county. swag: Z'b. ( + W, +NED, -hEDD) To sink down, to sag. — West. swage [swed5] : vb. i+W, -f-NED, -I- EDD) To assuage. Cf. Wyclif, Hereford, and Purvey, Proverbs, 1381-88, 26. 10: ". . . and he that settith silence to a fool, szvagith iris." Milton, Paradise Lost, 1667, i, 556: "Not wanting power to mitigate and szvage With solemn touches, troubl'd thoughts." *swamp dollar: ;;. A large penny. — Duplin county. FOLK SPKF. CH 597 *sweeling: n. A loaf of bread. — West. *swink: i-b. To shrink. — Granville county. *swunk: vh. Past tense and past participle of szcink, q.v. — Granville county. *tabernickle ['toebDinikl] : prone. Tabernacle . — Granville county. tacky party: ;;. (+DAE) An informal party attended by persons dressed in "tacky" clothes. — Central and east. Obso- lescent. *taddick: ;;. A small amount. Same as tod dick, q.v. take and plus another verb: phr. (-I-DAE) Cf. Gen. & Ex., c. i2^o, 1751 : "He tock and tvenfe and folwede on." (NED) fzvo Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, EETS, No. 91, p. 31 : ''Take and sethe a gode gobet of Porke. . . ." Cax- ton. Eneydos, 1490. EETS. No. 57, p. 2/: "But dydo . . . toke and hydde priuily in a certyn place of hir shippe all the grete tresours. . . ." — Central and east. Illiterate. take (a)way: vh. ( + NED, +EDD) To go, to go away. Cf. R. G. Gumming, Hunter's Eije S. Ajr., 1850. 125/1 : "Thev set the dogs after him, when he took awa\ up the river." (NED) take in, school: phr. ( + DAE) To begin school after a recess or a vacation. "School takes in next Monday." — Central and east. take on: vh. (+W, +NED, +EDD) To make a great ado, to grieve. Cf. Syr Gener, c. 1430. 5200: "That yondre knight on the white stede Taketh on as a devil in dede." (XED) Coverdale, Num., 1535. 14. i : "Then the whole con- gregacion toke on and cryed. ..." ( XED) Shakespeare, Merry IVives, c. 1599, iv, ii, 22: "Why, woman, your husband is in his old lunes again. He so takes on yonder with my hus- band, so rails against all married mankind, so curses all Eve's daughters . . . that any madness I ever yet beheld seem'd but tameness, civility, and patience to this his distemj)er. . . ." *take out^ : ( — NED) To unliitch an animal. — Central and east. takeout-: f-NED. +EDD) To set out; to go. Gen- erally indicates hurry. "He took out to town." "He totdc out and run." take up at: phr. ( + NED) To live at or with, to turn in. Cf. Pepys. Diary, Oct. 14, 1662: "To Cambridge . . . , whither we came at about nine o'clock, and took up at the 'Beare.' " (NED) — Central and east. 598 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE talk (to)i: vh. ( + EDD) To court. "We been talkin about two years." Cf. Shakespeare, Lear. c. 1605. iv, v, 30: "My lord is dead ; Edmund and I haue falk'd." talkto^: vb. (+W, +NED) To abuse, to give a cur- tain lecture. Cf. Clark Russell, Jack's Courtsh., 1884, xvii: "A person capable of giving a seaman a talking to." (NED) — Central and east. *tall pin: ;/. A safety pin. *'taren't [ta:nt] : cl. A contraction = "it is not." " 'Tarcn't no matter for 'em; they got what was comin' to 'cul" — Cen- tral and east. tarry: vh. {+\N, +NED, -hEDD, -FDAE, +T) To stay, to wait, to abide — the usual literary sense. "I'd be glad if you would tarry with me till the evening." Cf. E. E. Allit. P., 14 c, c, 87: "I schal tarry J?ere a whyle." (NED) Psalms, 161 1, 68, 12: "She that tarried at home, diuided the spoile." — West. Mainly illiterate. taste, a: n. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) The least bit, a little. "Your car is a taste better than mine, but there isn't two hundred dollars difference." — Central and east. *tater riffle ['teta-] : ;;. Light bread. — West. team: n. (+W, +NED, +DAE) A vehicle drawn by a horse or horses. In New England a farmer will say: "I will put some apples in my team, hitch up my horses, and drive to town." This same usage occurs in the South. In Homeric times the Greeks and Trojans did not ride on horseback ; yet Homer tells us (in the Iliad) that a warrior "dismounted from his horse" — that is, from his chariot. (Condensed from a re- port by Dr. George W. Lay.) *tear up the house: phr. To disarrange, throw into dis- order, things in a house. — Central and east. techious, tetchious ['tetjias] : adj. Same as techis. tetchis; techy, tetchy, q.v. — General. Illiterate. techis, tetchis ['tetjis] : adj. Same as techious, tetchious; techy, tetchy, q.v. — General. Illiterate techy, tetchy ['tetji] : of//. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Of persons or animals : irritable, easily provoked, sensitive ; of things, conditions : that which brings about irritation, etc. Half- educated persons believe that techy (etc.) is a corruption of touchy. But the reverse is true : the "learned" word touchy is a corruption of the older (now folk) word techy. (Just as the half -educated have taken IW^lsh rabbit and "corrected" it to Welsh rarebit. Verily "a little learning is a dangerous thing.") Cf. Shakespeare, Rouieo and Juliet, c. 1593, iv, iv, r L K s p F r c IT 599 i68: "A grievous hiirllK'u was thy l)irth ti) me; Tetchy and wayward tliy infancy." W . Perkins, in Liiisinore Papers, 1639, Sec. II. iv, 53: "lie is as tcachy as any wasp." (NED) Tfhomas) Adams, Works, 1629. 111, 266: "Now, God is never anyry without cause ; he is no froward God, of no tetchy and pettish nature. . . ." (Cent Diet.) — General. tell: vb. i+W, +NED, +EDD) To distinguish, to recog- nize. "Ik' fore I got these glasses, 1 couldn't tell a man across the street." *tell out in front: phr. To tell one frankly to his face.— Chapel Hill. tetched in the head: phr. (— EDD) Insane, crazy, t(juched. — Cirainille and Guilford counties. thank-you-ma'm: ;/. ( -W, -NED, -DAE, -T-D) Some- thing of slight worth. "1 wouldn't give him a thaiik-\oi(-iiia'iii for every dog he has." — Central and east. *thanky-poke: ;;. A lady's purse. thanky-suit: /;. A suit given away; hence a rather worth- less one. that: adv. (+\V, +NED, -fEDD) So, to such an extent or degree. "She's that pretty she'll soon he married." Cf. St. Ciithbert, c. 1450, Surtees 6279: "His sekenes pat encrest, He gert beere him . . . Aboute l^e contre on a here." (NED) — Central and east. that 'air: prone. ( + NED) That there. Cf. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, 1825, i, 224: "Is that 'air fellow gone yet?" ( NED) the I art. (-I-NED, -I- EDD) Used before names of many diseases or sicknesses: the cold, the headache, the pneumonia. Cf. Sax. Leechd., c. 1000, 11, 314: "Wid pccre 3eolwan adle . . . 3enim ]-?es sceorpan moran and belonican." (NED) Pepys, Diary, Mar. 26, 1662: "This being, by God's great blessing, the fourth solemn day of my cutting for tlie stone this day four years. . . ." Shakespeare, Tiuwn, c. 1605. \\, iii, 433: "Go, suck the subtle blood o' the grape. Till //;<• high feuer seethe your blood to froth. . . ." — General. the, in bed: phr. In bed. — Central and east. theirn \d3\\\: pron. ( +W, +NED, -f-EDD) Theirs. See Jiern. — General. Illiterate. *theims ffi^-nz] pron. Theirs. — General. Illiterate. theirself, theirselves ['Qs^self, -selvz] : pron. ( +\\' , -I- NED, -l-EDD) Themselves. Cf. Cursor M ., 14 c, Cott. 537S: "To ches }?am ware pair-self will neuen." (NED) Caxton, Rule St. Benet., 1490, xxxiii, 129: "Nor is it leefull ony to haue a thyng to theyrselj propre." (NED) Morgan, Algiers, 1728, i, 6oO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Pref. 22: "They aver that they tJicir selves have been no less scandalized than I myself." (NED) them: dcm. adj. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Those. Some linguists believe that tJicui in "fJicni boys," etc., is a survival of the dative plural of the Anglo-Saxon definite article and demonstrative 9aein (6ain); that the word survived in Early Modern English as a dative and then was used as any case. Cf. H. Clapham, Bible Hist., 1596, 92: "To Samaria and them parts." (NED) Topsell, Foiir-f. Beasts, 1607, 126: ''Them few dogs which be kept must be tyed up in the day time." (NED)— Illiterate. then: conj. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Than. Than and then were the same word originally, but later were differen- tiated in meaning. Shakespeare's First Folio has many ex- amples of then — than. Cf. Malory, Arthur, 1470-85, ix, xxxv, 395 : "I am more heuy that I can not mete with hym, thenne for al the hurtes." (NED) Coverdale. Ps., 1535, 95, 4: "He is more to l)e feared tlien all goddes." (XED) Shakespeare, Cymb., c. 1610, iii, v, 10: "To shew lesse Soueraignty then they, must needs Appeare vn-Kinglike." — Illiterate. *they: e.vpl. There. "They's a sight o' fruit this year." — Illiterate. thick-neck: n. (-EDD) A bully.— Chapel Hill. thing: //. (— EDD) A lively, interesting person. "Mr. Henry sho' is a thing." — Granville county. thing-um-a-jig: n. ( + NED) General term for some ob- ject whose name the speaker does not know or cannot recall ; or a name for an object regarded jocularly or with ridicule. Cf. L. Carroll, Hunting of Snark, 1876, i, 9: "He would answer ... To 'What-you-niay-call-um ?' or 'What-was-his-name !' But especially 'Thing-iim-a-jigV " (NED) think: vb. (+NED, -FEDD) To cause one to think, to re- mind one. "Jim, think me to go by your grandma's and get that pig." Cf. Ayenh., 1340, 100: "pis word uader }'e bcpengp ]?et ]?ou art zone." (NED) this here: pron. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) This. Cf. Toxmie- ley Mysteries, c. 1460, 137: "The best wyse that we may hast vs outt of this here." Meric Casaubon, trans. Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, 1634, To the Reader, 3: ". . . M. Aurel. Antoninus his booke : which either must bee this here, or none." — Illiterate. thoughted: 7'b. (-fEDD) Past tense and past participle of think. "I thoughted he'd come back." Cf. Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, I =,g^, 5: "Skk-thoughted Venus makes amain to him. , . ." — Central and east. Illiterate. FOLK SPEECH 6oi thoughty: adj. ( + \V. ±NED, ±KDD) 'I'houghtful, kind. — Illiterate. 'thout lOautj : /'/r/'. ( + N1^1)) Without. "Don't go out- doors thout your coat on." *'thouten ['5uutii|: /rc/i., conj.. and adv. Without. "1 won't go 'thoutcn him." "1 won't go 'fhoiitcii you go." — Illiterate. threaten: rb. ( +\V, -NED, -j-EDD) To plan, intend ; to he on the point of doing something. "I've heen threatening to come to see you for a long time." "It's threatening to rain any minute." thribble: r/'. andaer moved from page to page to protect a l)ook against "thumh- spots." — Central and east. *thunder, to play: f^hr. To commit an error or a hlunder. — Central and east. thunder-struck: (/(/;'. (— \\') Lightning-struck. 'tidier: ;;. A good housekeeper, a person who tidies up things. — Central and east. *tobystruck: adj. (EDO: ''toby-trot, a half-witted per- son.") Cgly ; mentally unbalanced. — Central and east. toddick: n. (+W) A small amount. Same as taddiek, q.v. NED: "Tod is app. the same word as Mod. E. Eris . . . todde "bundle, pack, small load.' " — General. §toder, todder, tudder ['tAda, -a^] : pron. and adj. The other. Cf. Paston Letters, June 29, 1454: "And Gyl^oun seyde that he wolde endyte as many as he cowde understonde that wer of the toder party. . . ." Jrl. of the Lakeland Dieilect Soeiety, Dec. 1945, II : "Tudder stoo-ary consarns his lordship when he was owt shuttin' (jn f mosses." tolerable: adj. (+W, +NED, -HEDD) 1-airly well, fairly satisfactory. Cf. Shakespeare, All's Well, c. 1603, 11, iii, 212: ". . . thou didst make tolerable vent of thy travel; it might pass." Daniel Boone, Letter to His Sister, 181 6. in Thwaite, Daniel Boone. 233: ". . . I . . . am at present at my sun Nathans and in tolarable halth. . . ." *toni-cat: i-b. To call on the ladies at night. — West. *Tommy tart: ;;. A Johnny cake. *tooth-dentist: ;/. A dentist.- — General. Illiterate. toreckly: adv. (+EDD) Directly. totched: vb. (NED: toche) Past tense and past participle of toueh. Cf. Cursor Mundi, 14 c. Cotton 21549: ")^e thred J?ai toched til his hide." — General. Illiterate. 6o2 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE tote on: rb. (EDD: "foit, to totter, play the fool. . . .") To act foolishly. — Gaston county. toting: ;/. (—DAE) The surreptitious carrying home of food by a servant. — Durham county. See PADS, No. 2, p. 13. *toting-papers: ;/. A warrant. "The sheriff was here look- ing for you. He had fotiiig-papcrs for you." — West. *tough titty: ;/. A dangerous person. — Chapel Hill. tourer: ;?. (+\\') A tourist. — Swain county. *trace, to break a: phr. To be headstrong; to make a spe- cial effort. "He'll do it or break a trace.'" — Central and east. tracks, to make: phr. (+NED, -hDAE) To run, to walk rapidly. — Central and east. traipse, trapse, trapes: vb. (±W, +NED, +EDD) To walk slowly and aimlessly. Cf. Verney Mem., 1647, i, 368: "What soever wether comes I must go trapesing a foote to y^ end of y^ lane." (NED) Swift, Jrl. to Stella, Mar. 2, 1710- II : "I was traipsing to-day with your Mr. Sterne." (NED) trash^: ;/. (+W. +NED, +EDD) Any waste matter, a small piece of loose matter. "He got a piece of trash in his eye." — Central and east. trash^: n. (+W, +NED, +EDD. +DAE) A common worthless person; also used as plural. Cf. Shakespeare. Othello, 1604. V, i, 85: "I suspect this Trash to be a party in this Iniurie." (NED) *trash-breaker, trash-washer: ;/. A big and sudden down- pour of rain, a g 11 1 1 y-2casher. ^Genera.]. travel: z'b. (+W, +NED. +EDD) To walk, to go by foot. "Did you come by boat or travel?" Cf. Proverbs, 1611. 24, 34: "So shall thy poverty come as one that fravelleth [Aramaic halak]." tree-molasses: n. (-I-DAE) Maple syrup. tree-sugar: ;/. (+W') Maple sugar. *trim: vb. To castrate. — Granville county. trollop: ;;. (-W, -f-NED, -I- EDD) A worthless person, generally a woman. Cf. Wither, Sheph. Hunt., 161 5. Eel. 11: "Such wide-mouth'd Trollops that 'twould doe you good to heare their loud-mouth Echoes teare the Wood." (NED) — West. trollop: vb. ( + W', -I- EDD) To get around in a slovenly manner. — Central and east. *trout-fish: ;/. Trout. — West. trysting-out: ;;. (— W, —NED) A clandestine meeting between a married man and a married woman who are not married to each other. — Caldwell county. !• L K S 1' E K C H 603 tuck: rb. (+\\\ +X1^0. +1^U1)) Past tense and past participle of take. Cf. Sc. Ley. Saints, c. 1375, i, 36: "He hym tiik to 1)0 hyni " (NEUj tune up: vb. ( + KDD) To cry. Also: tioic up and cry.— Granville county. turn^: ;/. (-EDD, +DA1*:) A load, a quantity, an armful. —West. *turn-: ;/. Manners. "She'll get along all right ; she's got a good tiirn.^' — Central and east. turn (one's) back: phr. (-XED) To turn around momen- tarily ; to he off guard. "I can't tiir)i my back hut what you get into trouhle." — Central and east. turn loose plus another verb: plir. (+DAI':) To act ini- pulsively or suddenly. "She turned louse and (jot married." "He turned loose and hit ;;/t'."— Granville and Guilford counties. twelth [tweiej : /Tonr. ( + NED. +EDD) Tzvelfth. Cf. O. E. MartyroL, a. 900, Dec, 216: "On ]?am ticelftan montae." (NED) Cursor Mundi, 14 c, Trinity 22653: ">e tzvelthe token is sorwes sere." undercoat: ;/. (+W, +NED, +EDD) A woman's under- skirt. Cf. Ann. Keg. Chron., 1759, 73/2: "She was stript of all her cloaths to her shift and under-coatJ'—Gtn^vTiX. Old people. up and plus another verb: phr. ( + NED) Cf. Chaucer, Troylus, c. 1374. iii, 548: "Pandare vp and . . . streight a morwe vn-to his nece went." (NED) Bunyan, Holy War, 1682, 240: "At the sound of their feet he would up and run. ..." (NED) — General. (*) upping-block: ;/. i. ( + NED, -hEDD) A block used by ladies to mount a horse. Cf. Grose, DicL Vulg. T., 1796: "Vpping-block, steps for mounting a horse." (NED) — Cleve- land county. *2. A stile. *ups, the: /;. The advantage. "He's got the ups on you now." — Central and east. upscuddle: ;/. i+W) .\ (luarrel, a disturbance. *up yonder: adv. In front of the house.— Central and east. use: vb. i+W, +NED, -hEDD. -hDAE) To live at, to frequent, to feed at. Cf. :Malory, Arthur, i470-<^5- ^^^^^ /^S; "1 am a gentil- woman that -vseth here in this forest huntynge." (XEDj usen: vb. ( + EDD) Past participle of use, to be accus- tomed to. "Pass me the beans; I want something to eat I'm usen to." — West. 604 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE vigrous ['vaigras] : adj. ( — NED) Angry, out of sorts. — West. vigrously: adv. (—NED) Angrily, testily. — West. Vines, to be in the: phr. To stagger from drunkenness. — West. *wag: z'b. To carry about an object. "I got tired of zvag- ging that young un on my hip." — West. *waist baby: ;/. A baby tall enough to reach one's waist. — South. wait on: vb. i. (+NED, +EDD, +DAE) To wait for. Marten's Voy. Spitsbergen in Ace. Sez'. Late Voy., 1694, 11,7: "We were forced to zcait on him above half an hour, before he came from underneath the ice." (NED) — General. 2. (+W, -NED, -EDD, +DAE) To court. "He's been z^'aiting on the widow now for nigh on four year." — Old people. Obso- lescent. waiter: n. (+W, +NED) A man or woman attendant for the groom or bride at a wedding. — Central and east. walk with: vb. (+W. +NED, +EDD) To court. Cf. Hardy, Return of the Native, 1878, i. ix : "'The great reason with my own personal self for not letting you court me. is that I do not feel the things a woman ought to feel who consents to zvalk z^'itJi you with the meaning of being your wife.' " walking-boss: ;/. (+DAE) An overseer. — West. wall, waul, the eyes: phr. (+W, +NED, +EDD, +DAE) To roll the eyes towards one without any or much movement of the head; generally indicative of dislike or contempt. Cf. Douglas, Aeneis, 1513, viii, vii, 154: "In the breist of the goddess graif thai Gorgones heid, . . . wyth ene zvauland." (NED) Scott, Pirate, 1821, xxx : "Presently recovering him- self, he zvazvls on me with his grey een, like a wild cat." (EDD) wall-eyed, waul-eyed: ac/;. (-FW, -fNED, -hEDD) Cross- eyed. "wandering dew: 11. The zvandering Jezv. Same as zvon- dcring dezc. — Duplin county. wa'n't [wont, want] : vb. plus neg. (±W, -l-NED) Con- traction of zvas or zvere plus not. "He zva'n't there yesterday." Cf. Vanbrugh. False Friend, 1702. v, i: "Who did you let in? it z^'an't your Master, sure?" (NED) — Central and east. wanton: n. (+W, -HNED) A word used in its usual liter- ary sense. — Caldwell county. wasting-away : n. (NED: without azi'ay; H-EDD) Tubercu- FOLK SPEECH 605 losis. Ct. I^lyot, Ihct., 1538: "Tabu, ii c()nsuni[)tion, zvastyngc, or putri faction of things." (NED) §watch: fb. To notice, observe. "You can zvatcli it when you will: a drunken man never gets hurt." Cf. Shakespeare, Troilits and Crcssida, c. i6o2, ii, iii, 138: "Yea, zvatch his pettish lunes, his el)l) and flows." — Central and east. water-brash: ;;. ( +\V, +NED, +EDD) Violent nausea. —Central and east. water-head: )i. (+\\') A person who has a very large head and who is supposed to be of low mentality. — CJranville county. water-jack: 11. ( + NED) A man or boy who brings water to wt)rkmen. — Cencral. way, in a bad: plir. ( + NED, +EDD) Dangerously ill. "I hear poor Sam's in a bad way — not expected to live." — Central and east. *weak trembles, to have the: phr. To be worried. — W^est. weather-breeder: ;/. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Good weather which is sui>posed to presage bad weather. Cf. J. Arrowsmith, CJiai)i Princ, 1659. 391 : "Look at a very fair day, as that which may prove a zveathcr-brceder, and usher in storms." (NED) wed^: z'b. (+\V, +NED, +EDD) Past tense and past participle of zved, to marry. Cf. Morte Arthur e, 14 or 15 c, 700: "That warnes me wyrschippe of my zvcddc lord." Shake- speare, Com. Err., 1590, i, i, 37: "In Siracusa was I borne, and zvedde Vnto a woman. . . ." (NED) — General. Common even among educated. wed-: Z'b. (+\\', +NED) Past tense and past participle of zvccd. "I zvcd my tobacco last week." — General. Common even among educated. weddinger: n. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Member of a wed- ding party. Cf. Ora & Juliet, 181 1, iv, 185: "But won't you have some cake, ladies, before the zvcddingcrs come to church ?" (NED) well-faring: adj. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Well, pros- perous. Cf. A. M., tr. GuiUemeau's Fr. Chirrug., 1597, 47/3: "The entralk's of a sownde and zcclfariug man." (NED) — Caldwell county. went: vb. ( + NED, -hEDD) Past participle of go. Cf. Medieval Lyric, Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Puerent, 17: "Al that joye is Zi'ent away." Purefoy Letters, Ap. 9, 1751 : "I must entreat you to get my mother's gold repeating watch & my gold watch rectified ; my mother's watch has never zcent since the watchmaker had it in hand when wee were in London, & N.C.F., Vol. I, (40) 6o6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE mine has been cleaned by a country ffellow & has not gone [note] since." (Henry Purefoy, the writer of this letter, at- tended Oxford University.) — Illiterate. wet (one's) whistle: plir. ( + W, -f-NED) To take an alcoholic drink. Cf. Chaucer. Reeve's T., c. 1386, 235: "So was hir ioly whistle wel y-ivet." (NED) Dickens. Copper- field, 1850, VII : "The wine shall be kept to ivet your zchistle." (NED) — Central and east. we-uns ['wians] : pron. (+W, +T-D) IVe ones; we. — West. Illiterate. whang: vb. ( + W, +NED, +EDD, -DAE) To beat. Cf. Meriton, Yorksh. Dial, 1684, 54: "If she hear she'l zvhang me verra sayer." (NED) Burns, Ordination, 1768, iii : "Heresy is in her pow'r, And gloriously she'll ivhang her." (NED) — Central and east. whang-leather: n. (NED: Whang, ivhang of leather: T: zvhang) Tough rawhide cut into strips and used to sew shoes or belting. Cf. Lindsay, Chron. Scot., a. 1578, S.T.C., i. 117: "Ane gret scheifT of arrowis knet together in ane quhange of leathir." (NED)— West. what all: phr. ( + W, +NED) What ; all the things. Cf. S. Parker, tr. Cicero's De Finibus, 1702, Pref. : "The Grandeur, Eloquence. Neatness, and I know not zchat all, of an Author's expression." (NED) — Central and east. what for: phr. (+W, +NED) What kind of. "Uliat for man is your new boss?" "What for looking book is it?" Cf. Spenser, Shep. Cal., 1580, iv, 17: "What is he for a Ladde you so lament?" (NED) W. Rand. tr. Gassendi's Life Perresc, 1657. 11. 265 : "Consider . . . how many, and zvJiat for Epistles he sent to this very City." (NED) — Central and east. whenever: adv. (-1-NED, +EDD) When; as soon as. Cf. tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion, 1655, viii, 7: "He gave me a good supper last night zvhen ever I came within his doors." (NED) Monthly Mag., 1800, ix, 323/2: "We will go to our dinner zvhenever the clock strikes two." (EDD and NED) — Central and east. where: conj. (+W, -f-NED. +EDD) Whether. Cf. Chaucer, Knight's Tale, c. 1385. 1539: "For she . . . Ne reccheth nevere zvher I sinke or flete." (NED) Wyclif, Of Prelates, 14 c, xiv, 17: ". . . hou schulde l?an ony synful wrecche ]?at wot neuere zvhere he schal be damnyd or sauyd, constreyne men to bileue )?at he is heuyd of holy chirche?" Shakespeare, King John, c. 1596, i, i, 75 : "But once he slander'd K n I, K S P E K C II 607 me with bastardy. lUil whc'r 1 l)e as triu' l)(.'i,M)t or no. . . ." — Granville couniy and west. whiffet: ;;. ( -\V. -XI*:!) ) A taltletalc— Cdiapel 1 lill. whing |lnvii]| : ;;. The -i^'iiuj of a i)l()\v. — Central and east. *whisky-head : )l A drunkard. "My man had plenty of faults, hut he weren't no wliisky-licad." — Chapel Hill. *whistle-breeches: ;/. A small hoy who has put on his first trousers and is (juite proud of them. — Alamance county. *white and yellow Octobers: phr. Chrysanthemums. — Chapel Hill. *white, to act: f^lir. ( + \\') To act fairly, respectablv. — East. whitleather: 11. i. ( + NED, +EDD) Cured but not tanned leather. Cf. tr. Favine's Theat. Hon., 1623, i, vi, 58: "A large strong thong or strap of zvhit-lcafher." (NED) 2. The cartilage of an animal. Derham. Phys. ThcoL, 1713, vr, iii, 362: "That . . . Ligament — Called the Whitleather, Packax. Taxwax. and Fixfax." (NED) See patti-zvhack, PADS. No. 2, p. 47. *whitleather stage, at the: phr. At the stage (age) of an old maid — tough and unmarriageable. — West. who all: pJir. ( =t\\' ) Who. The use of all in this phrase is an attempt to make an indefinite pronoun. It means "who in the world?" "Who in general?" It may be used in the ]:)ossessive : ''Who all's horse is that?" (A reduction of Dr. George W. Lay's explanation.) whoop and a hollo, a: pJir. ( + NED) A short distance; a short time. "He lives a whoop and a hollo from my house." Cf. Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.), RehearsaL 1672. v. i: "Ere a full- pot of good ale you can swallow. He's here with a whoop, and gone with a hollo." (NED) Scott, Let., Jan. 19. 1S15, in Lockhart : "We are much nearer neighbours, and within a whoop and holla." (NED)— West. whop down [hwap] : vh. (-I-EDD) EDD : "To sit down heavily and carelessly." — Central and east. widow lady: ;/. (-fNED) A widow. Cf. Shakes])eare. King John, c. 1596. 11, i, 548: ". . . how may we content this Zi'idow lady?" widow man:;/. (-t-W. -J-NED. +EDD) A widower. widow woman: n. ( + W, +NED) A widow. Cf. Wy- clif, / Kings. 1382, 7, 14: "Yram, the son of the widozve woman." (NED) / Kings, 161 1, 17. 9: "... I have com- manded a zvidozv woman there to sustain thee." 6o8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE *wiehard and catty byward ['wihard and 'k^eti 'baiwa^d] : phr. Diagonal ; "antigodlin." Reported from Burke county. I am unable to find further information of any kind on this phrase. *wild-hog: vb. To live a life of debauchery; to be wild. — West. Vinding-blades : ;/. (DAE: "A step in dancing") An imaginary whirling-bladed instrument ; used figuratively to ex- press great rapidity. "When he fell, he went down that there mountain side like ivinding-hlades." — West. wind-sucker: n. (-W, -NED, -EDD) A lean runty pig that is supposed to stand in a corner and suck wind ; by transference, a thin weak person, generally a child. — Granville county. winegar ['winiga] : prone. (-I-NED) I'inegar. Cf. Armin, Nest Niniu, 1608, 20: "The king calls for zdnigar to his sallet. . . ." (NED) wire road: //. (— W^) A road along which telephone or telegraph wires are strung. — Central and east. without: conj. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Unless. "He won't go icithoiit I go with him." Cf. Shakespeare, Com. Er., c. 1589, III, ii, 92: "A very reverent body. Ay, such a one as a man may not speak of zcifJioiif he say 'sir — reverence.' " — General. Illiterate. witteness ['witanes] : prone. ( + NED) Witness. "Well, that's another zvitte)iess for my Lord. Who'll be a witteness for my Lord?" — A spiritual in N. C. Cf. Test. Ehor., 1525, Surtees, vi, 13: "Thies ivitfenesses, Thomas Beaumont. . . ." (NED) woe: vb. (NED: hvoghe) Past tense of zceigh. "I caught a fish that woe five pound." Cf. St. Cliristofer, 14 c. 364: "The childe swa heuy zvoghe pat ofte-sythes one knees he hym droghe." (NED) — Graham county. Rare. woman: n. (+W, -l-NED) A harlot, a mistress. Cf. Shakespeare, / Henry IV, c. 1598, in, iii, 70: "Ye lie, hos- tess. ... Go to, you are a zvonwn, go!" ". . . Who. I? . . . God's light, I was never call'd so in mine house before!" Beau- mont and Fletcher, The IVoman-Hater, 1607, n, i : ". . . thou art a filthy impudent whore; a woman, a very zi'oma)!." Defoe, Crusoe, 1719, Globe, 11, 384: "If any of you take any of these IVomen, as a Woman or Wife, ... he shall take but one." (NED)— Rare. wonder: vb. (+W, -f NED, +EDD) To cause to won- der. "It zvonders me how that bear ever climl)ed that tree." FOLK SPEECH 609 Cf. Mme D'Arblay. Diary, Oct. 25, 1788: "She . . . has a sedateness that wo)u{crs me still more." (NED) 'wondering dew: ;/. The zvandcring Jczv. Same as tvan- dcriuij (/(■:.•.— (h-anville and Randolph counties. wooden overcoat: ;;. A coffin; used facetiously.— Central and east. wood's colt: ;/. (-W) An illegitimate person ; generally used in reference to a child. — General. *word, put the out: phr. To notify; to let scjme- thing be known. 'Tut the ivord out that there will be preaching next Sunday." — West. *workon: vb. To castrate. — (h-anville county. work brickie: adj. (-W: "U'orkbHttlc, industrious"; -NED: "IVorkhrackle, eager to work") Unaccustomed to working. — West. *worration [wa're/an] : n. Worry, annoyance. A blend of zcorry and botheration (?). "Every bit of that zvorration is right" on top of me." — Guilford county. Rare. worrit: n. ( + W, +NED, +EDD ) Worry. Cf. Dickens, 0. Tii'ist, 1838, XVII : " 'A parochial life, Ma'am, ... is a life of zvorrit, and vexation, and hardihood.' " (NED) wrastle ['reesl] : prone. IVrestle. Cf. Lay., c. 1205, 24699: "Sumnie heo zirccstlcden." (NED) Chaucer, Monk's Tale, c. 1385. 276: ". . . and she coude eke Wrastlen by verray force and verray might With any yong man."— General. Illiterate. wrastler ['rasb, -a^] : prone. ( + W, +NED, +EDD) Wrestler. Cf. Meric Casaubon, trans. Marcus Aurelius's Medi- tations, 1634, III, 29: ". . . free from any manner of wrong or contumelie. . . . not capable of any evil from others : a zvrastler of the best sort." *writermarouster [.rita^ma'rausta^J : n. A writ to set the law into action to oust a person. — West. wusp '[wuspj : n. ( + W, +EDD) A zvisp of hair, straw, or the like. — Caldwell county. yan: adj. and adv. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Yonder, yond. Cf. Partenax, c. 1475. 5827: "Behold yande that hiduous moun- tain. (NED)— West. *yanli |js] : adj. Of irregular shape. "I've cut tiiis piece of plank sort of \anh." — West. yarb, yerb: n. ( +W, +NED, +EDD) Tyndale. .Ua//., 1526. 13. 32: "When it is growne it is the greatest amonge xerb'es." (NED)— West. Illiterate. 6lO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE yistiddy [jis'tidi] : prone. (NED: ^isfcrday, ^isfirday, etc.) Yesterday. — General. Illiterate. *yonder, in: phr. In there. "/» yonder in the i)arn." — Central and east. young un: ;;. ( + NED, +EDD) A child; a young one. "The young uns growed up and got the devil in 'em." ( Xinety- six-year-old woman) Cf. Wyclif, Mark, 1382, 16, 5: "Thei goynge yn into the sepulcre sy3en a ^ong con, hilid with a whit stoole." (NED) Mrs. Elizabeth Mary Wright, Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore, 1914, i, quoting a north-country woman: "T' young uns dizn't talk noo leyke what they did when ah wer a lass." — General. yourn: pron. (+W, +NED, +EDD) Yours. Cf. Wy- clif, Gen., 1382, 34, 16: "Thanne we shulen 3yve and take togidere our dow3tris and jouren."' (NED) — Illiterate. See hern. *yourns: pron. Yours. — Illiterate. *yourunses: pron. Yours. — Illiterate. you uns [juns] : pron. ( + DAE, -l-T-D) You ones; you. Tyndale, Matthew, 1534, 3, 9: "And se that yc ons thynke to saye in your selves. . . ." — West. Illiterate. *you uns all: pron. You ones all; you all. "You uns all come to see me." — West. Illiterate. *you unses ['junsiz] : proji. You oncses; you. — West. Illiterate. yow-yow [jau-jau] : n. and vb. (EDD: "Fow, the noise made by a howling dog.") A disturbance, quarrel; to make a disturbance, to quarrel. — Central and east. *yudder: adj. and pron. Other. — Illiterate. yuke [juk] : ;;. (W, NED, EDD: yoke) A small piece of land, of indefinite size. NED : "One-fourth of a Sulung, about 50 or 60 acres . . . ; hence, later applied to small manors." — East and S. C. *yuner ['JAua] : pron. You; you all. — Duplin countv ; also S. C. FOLKSPEECH 6ll B. SALUTATIONS AND REPLIES Below are only a few of the several hundred salutations and replies or expressions referring to health which are found in North Carolina. Although I have looked up many of these expressions in lexicographical works and have found some of tliein. I am not indicating that fact or giving illustrative quotations from printed sources. There seems but little point in doing either of these. As with the Glossary, above, although the salutations and replies are all found somewhere in North Carolina, I do not mean to say that they are confined to North Carolina or any one section in North Carolina. The material in this group is less important than that in the Glossary; but since it represents one aspect of North Carolina folk speech not usually recorded, it seems to me worth publishing. The first important word is in boldface type. "I'm able to eat three meals a day." — General. "I'm able to take nourishment through a quill." (The quill, used to suck liquid through, was the predecessor of the drug- store "straw." — Humorous. The remark does not mean that the speaker has heen sick.) — Granville county. "He's so as to he about." — East. "He's bad off." — General. "How be ve "He's bedfast." (He is unahle to get out of hed.) — Central and east. "He's bedridden." (Same as above.) — Central and east. "I'm no better and no worse." "His body is stififening." (He is dying.) — Central and east. "Breath is shaking in his throat." (He is on the point of dying.) — Central and east. "He is breathing his last." — Central and cast. "He is just breathing, and that is all." — Central and east. "I'm pretty brief today." ( I am not feeling so well.) "Did you come for a chunk of fire?" (That is: "Did you come for fire and are in a hurry to get hack home?" An in- direct way of asking one to stay longer.) — (Granville county. "He's getting cold from the feet up." (He is dying slowly.) — Central and east. "Come hack when you can stay longer." — General. "Come back when you can't stay so long." (Humorous.) — General. 6l2 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "Come in if you can get in for the dirt (trash, phmcler)." — Central and east. "Come in and rest your bonnet and shawl." (Said to either man or woman.) "Come in and rest your hands and face.'' (Humorous.) — Granville county. "Come in and rest your hat." — Guilford county. "Come in and set a while." "How (do) you come on?" — General. "Come over and set a spell." "Come in. You shan't be noticed." (Humorous.) — Gran- ville county. "Common." "Just (only, right) common." — Central and east. "As well as common." "Sorter common." "I ain't complaining." — Central and east. "They's all complaining." "How's your corposrosity sagatiating ?" (Humorous.) — Granville county. "I ain't no 'count." "He's in a death chill." — Central and east. "He's in a death fit." — Central and east. "He's got the death rattles." — Central and east. "I'm just dragging along." "I'm just dragging around." "He's in a dying state." — Central and east. "I'm just easing along." "He's enjoying poor health." (Generally said of a person who likes to complain about his health.) — Central and east. "His eyes are set." (He is almost dead. ) — Central and east. "I'm fair to middlin'."- — Central and east. "How fares it today?" "I'm fat and sassy." — Central and east. "I never felt better and had less." — Granville county. "Fine and dandy." — Central and east. "I'm pretty gaily today." "Git down and let your saddle cool." (Alight and stay awhile.) — Central and east. "Git down and rest your critter." — West. "Doing ])retty good." — Central and east. "His hands are set." (He is dying.) — Central and east. "How's your hearty?" "It's coming." "Hey!" [lu-i|. (This ]M-onunciation is the general form among Southerners, fhai] is not Southern.) "What's your hurry?" (Said to a person about to leave.) FOLK S P K F. C II 613 "He's on his last." — Central and east. "Lift your hat and rest your wrap." — West. "Light and come m." (In the older sense: ahght from a horse ; now the term may I)e used in reference to an automo- bile. ) — (ieneral. "Light and cool your saddle." — Central and east. "Light and hitch.'" "Light and look at your saddle." — Central and east. "Light otT and set." "I'm little hut got the ditTerence in mv pocket." — Chapel Hill. "Do you love chicken?" "Yes." "Then have a wing." (Offering her his arm.) "He's low down." (Very sick.) — Central and east. "I'm medium." "I'm middlin'.'" "I'm sorter middlin*." "He's in misery." — Central and east. "His mouth is open." (He is so weak that he is about to die.) "I don't feel much." "I'm not much." "He's nae waur." — Wilson county. "I'm jes' ordinary." — Central and east. "Jes' wanted to pass the time of day with you." (Said upon leaving after spending a short time with one.) "She's past hope (cure)." — Central and east. "She's peak and puling." "She's peart." — (jeneral. "She's middlin' peart." — General, "She's right peart." — General. "I'm poorly." "I'm poorly, thank God!" (That is, I could he worse.) — West. "Kinder poorly." "Right poorly." — Central and east. "Oh, she's sorter puny." "She's on the puny list." "I'll qualify." (That is, I don't feel bad.) "I'm rearin' to go." "Right as a berry." "She's right smart." — General. "I hope you are well." "Same back to you." "Scratch under and come in." (Has a canine allusion.) — Harnett county. "I'm just shackling arr)und." 6l4 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "I'm right sharp today." "He's in a sinking state." — Central and east. "I've slept my right away." "I'm feehng slowly." — Central and east. "Oh, I'm just so so." "She's as sound as a fiddle." "She's sprightly." — Central and east. "Won't yon stay the night?" "I can't stop long." "He's right stout." (In good health.) — Central and east. "Won't you tarry with us tonight?" "Tip of the day to you." "Time enough to leave." (Said to a person about to leave.) "Just tolerable only." "I'm pretty tolerable." "Top of the day to you." "Top o' the morning to you." "Oh, I'm tough as whitleather." "I'm trifling." — Granville county. "I'm still able to trollop." "Good morning. Margaret. Frosty morning!" "Sho is! Make you turn about." — Guilford county. "He's so as to be up and about." — Central and east. "She's up and doing." "He's up and stirring." — Granville county. "I'm sorter under the weather." — General. "I'm as well's common." — Wake county. "I'm wiggling." S I' K K C II 615 BIBLIOGRAPHY American Sf^cccli. New York: Columbia University Press, 1925 . Barkt (Barrett), John. An Ah'coric, or. Triple Dictionarie in Englishe. Latin, and French. London: I574(?). Barbour, John. Tlie Bruce, 1375. London, EETS: ext. ser. \i, XXI, XXIX (1870, 1874, 1877). Bible. See Coverdale, Cranmer, English fiexapla, Geneva Version, Hexaglot Bible, Rheinis Version, Tyndale, Wyclif, Wyclif and Purvey. BOSWORTH, JoSKl'ir, AND T. NoRTHCATK "FOLLKR. Au .bujlo-SaXOU Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press, n.d. Casaubon, Meric. Trans, of Marcus Aurelius Antcjnius's Medita- tions. London : Ricliard Mynne, 1634. Catholicon Angliciim, 1483. London: EETS, No. 75 (1881). Caxton. William. ILneydos, 1490. London: EETS, ext. ser. Lvii (1890). Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia. New York: Century Co., 1906-9. Chaucer. Geoffrey. Jl'orks, 14 c.,; edited by Walter W. Skeat. Oxford : Clarendon Press, n.d. Cobb, Collier. Early English Sur7'i7'als on Hatteras Island, 5th printing. North Carolina Rei'icw, Alarch 6, 1910. Coverdale, Miles. New Testament. See Hexapla, The T.nglish. Cranmer, Thomas. New Testament. See Hexapla, The English. Cursor Mundi, 14 c. London: EETS, Nos. 57, 59, 62, 66, 68, 99. loi (1874-93). Dialect Notes. American Dialect Society, 1890-1939. Dictionary of American English. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938-44. Early English Text Society Publications: scores of volumes; those used most frequently here listed under author and/or title. Lon- don: EETS, 1864-^-. English Dialect Dictionary: see Wright, Joseph. Elizabeth, Queen. Translation of Boethius's /)i- Consolatione PhUosophiae, 1593. London: EETS, No. 113 (1899). AND James VI, King. Letters of Queen Elizabeth and James VI of Scotland. London: Camden Society, 1849. Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary. New York: 1-unk and Wagnalls Co., 1943. Geneva Version of New Testament. See Hexapla, The English. Green, Bennet W. Word-Book of Virginia Folk-Speech. Rich- mond: W. E. Jones, 1899. ': Grose, Francis. A Cla.<;sical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. London: S. Hooper, 1785. 6l6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Halliwell [-Phillips], James O. A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, 1847. London: George Routledge, 1924. Hcxaglot Bible: Old Testament in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English (Authorized Version — but not 1611 spelling, etc.), German, and French ; New Testament in Greek, Syriac, Latin, English (Authorized Version — but not 1611 spelling, etc.), German, and French. New York City: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1901. Hexapla, The English: New Testament as translated by W'yclif, Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva translators, Rheims translators, and by King James translators (with 1611 spelling, etc.). Johnson, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language. Lon- don: J. and P. Knapton, 1755. Kephart, Horace. "A Word List from the Mountains of North Carolina," Dialect Notes, iv (1916), 407-19. Lakeland Dialect Society, Journal of the. Cockermouth : Lakeland Dialect Society, 1939 . Levins (Levens), Peter. Manipnlns J^ocabulorum, 1570. Lon- don: LETS, No. 27 (1867). Milton, John. Paradise Lost, 1667. Several editions used. Morte Arthur, Le, 15 c. London: EETS, ext. ser. lxxxviii (1903). Morte Arthure, 15 c. London: EETS, No. 8 (1865). Nares, Robert. A Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions, 1822. London: Routledge, 1905. Notes and Queries. London: George Bell, 1850 Onions, Charles T. A Shakespeare Glossary, 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888- 1928. First entitled Nezv English Dictionary. Cited as NED. Palmer, A. Smythe. F oik-Etymology : A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions. London: George Bell, 1882. Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. New York: Macmillan Co., 1949. Paston Letters, 1422-1509. Edited by James Gairdner. London: Chatto and Windus, 1904. Pepvs, Samuel. Diary, 1659-69. A number of editions used. Promptorium Panndorum, c. 1440. London: EETS, ext. ser. cii, 1908. Publication of the American Dialect Society. American Dialect Society, 1944 . Purefoy Letters, 1735-53. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1931. Rheims Version of New Testament. See Hexapla, The English. Schmidt, Alexander. Shakespeare-Lexicon. Berlin: George Reimer, 1902. Shakespeare, William. Fj and quartos; also the following editions : I-OI. K SPEECH 617 (1) Ariicn Sluikespctirc. Individual plays edited by different scholars. D. C. Heath and Co. (2) Hudson, Henry, ('/ (//. ICditions of individual plays, (.inn and Co. (3) KiTTREDGE, George L. Cowtlcic U'oiks oj SUokcspcarc. Ginn and Co., i03^>- (4) Sixteen Plays of Shakespeare. Fully edited. Ginn and Co., 1946. (O I'ariorum Shakespeare. J. B. Lippincott. 1871 . SiiEKiD.vN. Thomas. Complete Dictionary of the Englu^h Lan- guage, 2nd ed. London: C. Dilly, 1789. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 14 c. London: LETS, No. 210 (1940). Ske.\t, W.M.TER W. English Dialects from the Eighth Century to the Present Day. Cambridge: Cambridi^^e University Press. 191 1. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910. A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words. O.xford: Claren- don Press, 1914. Stratem.vnn, Francis H., and Henry Bradley. A Muidle Eng- lish Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891. Thornton. Richard H. An American Glossary. Vol. i— Phila- delphia : J. B. Lippincott, 1912; Vol. 11— London : Francis and Co.. 1912. 4n American Glossary Vol. in (really a supplement to the work above)— in Dialect Notes, Vol. vi (1931-39). American Dialect Society. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. London: LETS, No. 91 (1888). Walker, Tohn. A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and E.vpositor of the' English Language. Dublin: P. Wogan et aL, 1792. Webster's Nezv International Dictionary, 2nd ed. Sprinjjheld, Mass. : G. and C. Merriam Co., 1947- Weekley. Ernest. An Etymological Dictionary of Modern Eng- lish. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1921. Wentworth, Harold. American Dialect Dictionary. New York City: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1944- Wright, Elizabeth Mary. Rustic Speech and Eolk-Lore. Lon- don: Oxford Press, 1913- "The Varieties of English Speech," Quarterly Re7'ie-.v, ccvii (1907), 86-109. Wright, Joseph. The English Dialect Dictionary. London: Henry Frowde. 1898- 1905. 'The English Dialect Grammar. London: Henry trowde, 190:^ Also in Vol. VI of The English Dialect Dictionary. 6l8 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE WvcLiF, John. The English Works of, 14 c. London: EETS, No. 74 '(1880). Select English Works. 14 c. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1869-71. AND Purvey, John. Nezv Testament, c. 1380, 1388. Ox- ford: Clarendon Press, 1879. Wyld, Henry C. A History of Modern Colloquial English. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co.. 1920. Studies in English Rhymes from Surrey to Pope. Lon- don: John Murray, 1923. Yorkshire Dialect Society, Transactions of. Yorkshire Dialect Society, 1898 . FOLK TALES AND LEGENDS Edited by Stith Thompson FOLK TALKS AND LEGENDS INTRODUCTION' TO ALMOST any general reader of folk tales three questions occur at once: How interesting are they? How significant are they? And to what extent are they still believed? The answer to the first of these questions is partly a matter of the reader's per- sonal taste, but it also depends partly on the way ni winch tlie story is told. The genuine narrator of folk tales is both naive and cunning. He either believes or partly believes his story himself: he is speaking to sympathetic, credulous listeners: and he possesses the art of the Ancient Mariner himself to induce, if necessary, a willing suspension of disbelief. Unfortunately most of the stories in the present collection are one step removed from the original narrator; thev are stories for the most part written down by stu- dents or local enthusiasts who heard them from folk narrators. Only in the last three years of his collecting did Dr. Brown hcj^m recording stories directly from the lips of folk-narrators. The reader therefore, will find the substance of the stones, but he will have to use his imagination to recapture the original flavor ot most of them. , t -i The significance of these tales is both general and local. Like all folklore, they illustrate the similarities and differences with which the human mind operates under all the imaginable variations of time. race, and locality. They furnish at the same time clues to many forgotten avenues of actual contact between the thinking of different races. They elucidate various traits of tradition itself. and of the particular localities and people from whom the folk tales arise. They possess this significance, however, only poten- tially for those readers who are willing to study them seriously. The' major key to such study of folk tales is Professor Stith Thomp- son's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, published in six volumes. 1932-36. This book analyzes all folk-narratives into the motits ot which they are composed, and then lists each motif as it occurs at any time and place in folklore or in literature derived from it. In editing the present collection it was only necessary for Professor Thompson to refer each story to its proper section in his Mohf- hidex. As a key for the general reader's use of this index 1 have ^ The Introduction was written by the General Editor during Professor Thompson's absence in South America.— N.I.W. N.C.F., Vol. I, (41) 622 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE subjoined to Professor Thompson's notes on the first two legends abbreviated statements of the full annotations supplied bv his Motif- Index. The third common question — to what extent are these legends and tales actually believed in North Carolina? — is the subject of this essay. The quality of belief is so much more strained than that of mercy, there is so much difference betwen zealots and "light half-believers in their casual creeds," that it would be rash to attempt a dogmatic statement that would settle the extent to which folk legends are actually believed in North Carolina. Even while professing our disbelief in ghosts, for example, we do not linger in graveyards at night or volunteer too readily to sleep in haunted houses. Fortunately the Frank C. Brown Collection contains about a hundred and fifty newspaper clippings which were gathered during the same years as the legends. These clippings not only add to the body of legendary materials, but they throw an interesting light on the spirit with which such stories are received in their com- munities by people who are not under the immediate spell of the folk-narrator. The following pages offer a digest of these mate- rials, leaving the reader, for the most part, to his own conclusions. One would say instantly that the ancient belief that a corpse would bleed when touched by the murderer could never have been applied as a practical test in legal proceedings in any Anglo-Saxon civilization for hundreds of years. When we remember its use in the Nicbelimgoilied, it is with the comfortable feeling that Sieg- fried's exploits were recorded some six or seven hundred years before the Age of Electricity. Yet if we turn to the note on the story entitled "Murderer Betrayed,' we find newspaper evidence that it was practiced, with a kind of surreptitious legal sanction, in Wilmington, North Carolina, in June, 1875. The related phenomenon of witchcraft still flourishes in North Carolina, though the state has as yet provided no sensation com- parable to the trial of John Curry and Wilbert Hess in York, Pennsylvania, in 1929, in which the defendants were accused of murder inspired by one of the hex doctors who practiced openly and even hung out signs in the city. Yet North Carolina has at least one witchcraft trial to offer. On December 3, 1920, Colonel Henry E. Shaw told the North Carolina Folklore Society of a North Carolina witchcraft trial in which he was counsel for the plaintiff. The action was brought before a local justice of the peace in Kinston, in the summer of 1916. "Little Andy" Davis and his daughter Dora charged that Reed Worley, a neighboring farmer, had bewitched "Little Andy." He certainly looked, as he claimed to l)e, "near 'bout dead," and his arm and side were so affected that he was unable to work. Reed Worley had earlier K N 1. S 6-^3 T A I. 1-. S A N 1 accused Dora Davis of l.cin^ indirectly responsible lor the death of his babv. "Then he p'.nted his finder nghl at mc. D..ra testified 'an- he said, "Some of yC people in less than three weeks toi • to he dead, an' you will never know how ,t co,ne a^ou. She reported the threat to her father. Several days later. W orley an' dwindlin' awav ; an' vou see hnu nuw. what a fix he s n . itdefendant'explained that he had shot at a screech owl, but utt dv de d anv belief in n.agic or any attempt to pr-t.ce >t^ The a was dismissed, and Little Andy Worley promptly w d in ;.: chair. He protested to Colonel Shaw that Ij. -- ^ -'^f^ '•I know he will finish me tom^ht, and I wdl be a dead man "'cllid "shaw believed bin. But he thought be ..ndd try an extrale-al remedy: -'Andv Davis, haven t you any sense at all. Do^fv^u Realize that you are no. utterly -n.pt ^.^ ^Z^ fluence'of anv witch, and especially this man? Don t you see he has con e into tliis courthouse and denied the faith, laid his ban on the Holy Bible and sworn that be has no such Po-"^^^^^^^^^^ vou know that bis power is now gone forever? ^^, '^d^^^^^^ vancuished bv its own logic. After a moments thought, Little Aid broke i,\to a laugh of triumph and departed completely cured^ a; these paragraphs were being written there appeared m the Durha H..^//;nd the Durham Sun, March 12-20, 1947. a witdv craf sensation which attracted national attention, following the 1 clarg om the Duke University Hospital of Stephen Richard- son a twentv-four-vear-old Negro from Franklin county. Mo e Irmlvear "earlier 'be bad been bewitched by a Franklin county t b UKtor apparently at the instance of rival suitors /^"^the me th spell was cast' bis sweetheart avoided him. and he took to s bed His appetite forsook him. he was unable to work, and he was soon emaciated and bedridden. The witch doctor. Adam Alston, was shot and killed by another Negro who ^eh^v"! ^hat Alton was trying to place him under a similar spell. Stephen R hTrdson was convinced that the spdl upon him could not be Loved and that he would die: another -'tcl^^^^-^- ^f^nd^ ^ so The doctors could find nothing organically wrong and ^^ere unable to help him. When he was discharged from the hospital the n wspape's described him as reduced to skin and bones, unable to eat unable to speak above a whisper. His photograph published a few days later does not support this description. '- -re is no doubt that he was in bad condition and cmvincci tliat be ^^as doomed. 624 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The publicity attending Richardson's return home to die brought several offers of assistance. An anonymous person from another state recommended by long-distance telephone a witch doctor whose power he knew, but whose name he refused to give. Mr. Marsh Babbitt, a New York professional hypnotist, announced his willing- ness to cure Richardson by hypnotism and began making arrange- ments to come to his aid, with the co-operation of newspapers and an airplane company. Meanwhile a professional magician. Collins the Magician, of Durham (Mr. G. C. Norman), visited the patient under the spon- sorship of the Durham Sun. and gained his confidence by a series of magic tricks. Next he produced the spirit of the dead witch doctor by causing a wooden hand to rap twice on a blackboard. He represented the spirit as asking Richardson's forgiveness, which was granted. He produced water out of his own ear to combat Richardson's belief that his drinking water had been bewitched, and he gave the victim a small bag filled with secret charms, which was to be buried according to secret instructions. Richardson be- came cheerful ; he announced himself as free of the spell, ate a hearty meal, and made plans to resume his regular work habits. When Mr. Babbitt arrived a day or two later he was greeted by a patient already largely restored. He hypnotized Richardson under the eyes of a physician and told him he was hungry and that the witchspell was broken. When Richardson was de-hypnotized he ate another large meal, laughed, and expressed the belief that he was cured. An aftermath of the episode was the receipt by Collins the Magician of a large number of letters and telephone calls asking him to remove other hex spells, and even in one or two cases to impose spells. An unidentified and undated clipping in the collection, apparently from an Elizabeth City newspaper, gives three cases of recent con- juration in Pasquotank county. In the first a white storekeeper was wasting away and discovered through a conjure doctor that his washwoman had bewitched him. He transferred the spell to her by burying a charm under her doorstep, and she was saved from death only by his digging up the charm. In the second case a Negro farmer was being destroyed by a spell, but rescued himself by obtaining a counter spell from a conjuror in Currituck county. And in the third instance a young Negro of twenty was actually conjured to death, though he was under the care of physicians, because he believed himself doomed. He knew the name of his conjuror, but died without revealing it. We seem forced to conclude that witchcraft is still a power in North Carolina today. Chapel Hill is the enlightened seat of the State university, but it is said that nearly every week an automobile T A 1. K. S A N I) I. K C. ENDS 625 leaves the town tilled with Xeiimes l..mn.l l..r S.mth ( aiolma to consult witch doctors there. Nor are we <|uite eoneel m tlie com- placent, common assumpti.-n that the ol.ler wilchcralt ot the seven- teenth centurv was merely an affair of silly and ,nal.cmus old \\x)men Many of il> i)ractitioners were sincere in their heliets, refused under' torture to deny them, and died for them with the fortitude of Christian martyrs. It has heen suggested in Mr. W il- liam Seahrook's Witchcraft: Its Pozvcr in the World Today (1940) that seventeenth-century witchcraft was really a religious faith driven underground much earlier by the triumph of Christianity. Saint Augustine's earlv identification of witchcraft with the devil, the common institution of witches' Sabbaths, the occasional ajjpear- ance of earlier pagan deities in medieval witchcraft, and the fact tint in the old and unbroken Italian tradition witchcraft is still known as la vccchia rcligionc (the <.ld religion), all lend a certain plausibilitv to the suggestion. Newspapers contemporary with the Frank C. Brown Collection show a considerable popular belief in supernatural manifestations. According to an undated clipping from a Durham paper. Carson Searles of Dunn, predicted at the age of forty-tour the very day and hour of his actual death fifteen years later, and was so con- vinced of the truth of his prophecy that he prepared fully for his death in the week before it actually occurred. Since he had also prophesied that he would several times return from the grave within less than two months after his death two families moved ou of the house in which he had died, convinced that they had several times seen his ghost. There have been ghost ships since the Hyuu/ Dntclwiau, notably the Gloucester schooner Charles Haskell, which sank another schooner in 1869 and was thereafter deserted by four successive crews (Durham Herald, Dec. 2, 1920) because she was persistently pursued bv the phantom of the ship she had sunk. In the same vear a woman in Nag's Head told a story of a boat w-liich had drifted ashore there many years before, to become North Carolina s m..st mvsterious ghost ship. If the details are truly reported, this nnist have been the pilot boat in which the beautiful 1 heodos.a Burr sailed from Georgetown. South Carolina, on December 30, 1812 never to be seen again. On the boat were found some women's clothes, together with a portrait known to have been taken aboard bv Theodosia Burr and later identified as a portrait ot her by several competent authorities. According to a clipping irom a Durham paper (undated, but c. Dec. 12. 1935) the portnut was accepted as genuine bv the North Carolina Art Society. There is a legend at Nag's Head that many years after Theodosia Burr s disappearance, pirates at Norfolk. Virginia, confessed to having bciarde.! the Imat an.l kilk a dark spot on the hall floor which could not be cleaned. The ghost stated that 628 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE he would remain until his murderer was punished. (He seems never to have named his murderer, but it must be remembered that he had already identified himself as a half-wit.) A peculiar feature of the story is that the ghost spoke only when the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Smith was asleep. It was necessary to place guards around the house as a protection against the "thousands of people" who came to see and listen — some of whom reported hear- ing knockings, and some a few words. Similar rappings and ghostly moanings (but no conversation) under a house in Bristol, Virginia-Tennessee, as recorded in an undated clipping from a Charlotte paper, caused the tenants to move and "hundreds of people to visit the place every day." Elmore Threatt, a Negro of North Monroe, was unjustly perse- cuted by the ghostly voice of his dead wife, saying everywhere, in daylight and in dark, alone and in company, "Elmore, Elmore, you poisoned me" — in spite of his patient explanation that he was 'possum hunting at the time. The Monroe Journal of March 17, 1922, in printing this story, recorded that other people could not hear the words, but could hear buzzing, scratching noises at the time. Publication of this story elicited (ibid., March 21, 1922) the experience of Mr. Ellis Goodwin, a "truthful sober citizen" of Marshville. On the night a neighbor was dying Mr. Goodwin heard a tremendous clattering from the graveyard, as if a building had collapsed; and next day, as the body was being lowered into the grave, the same noise was heard both by Mr. Goodwin and by several others. It began in the road near the grave, moved off down the road like a galloping horse, and died away in the woods across the creek. Ghostly legend has been invoked to explain North Carolina's most advertised natural mystery, the Brown ^Mountain lights. These lights are the subject of nearly a dozen newspaper clippings from 1913 to 1940 or 1941, and they form the basis of a mystery novel. Kill One, Kill Tzvo, by W. W. Anderson, published in 1940. As described by various witnesses they consist of a ball, or several balls of red or orange light about the size of a toy balloon. They appeared at irregular times over the top of Brown Mountain and moved erratically up and down or backwards and forwards, visible at a distance, but vanishing on near approach. At the prompting of North Carolina senators the lights were investigated by the U. S. Geological Survey in 1913 and 1921. In 1921 Senator Sim- mons also secured an investigation by the National Geographic Society, and an opinion was expressed by Dr. W. J. Humphries, of the U. S. Weather Bureau. The Geological Survey's explanation — automobile and train headlights — was scouted by local opinion. The lights were not beams, but balls, and they were observed dur- ing the 1916 floods when automobile traffic had been stopped. The TALES AND LEGENDS 629 National Geo,q:ra])liic Society concluded that the manifestations were electric, and Dr. Humphries of the Weather Bureau elahorated this explanation somewhat hy comparison with Andes li,t;htninij and Castor and Pollux. Local speculation was hy no means satisfied. Tiie Mort^anton Ncii's Herald for September 22, 1921, quoted some picturesque pre- Lavoisier scientitic notes recorded in 1771 by Gerard William de Brahni, the German en.e;-ineer who in 1756 built Fort Loudon on the Tennessee River. Though de Brahm mentions no specific lights at all, he does say that the mountains emit nitrous vapors which are borne by the winds, and that when laden winds meet each other "the niter inflames, sulf urates and deteriorates." A Mooresville correspondent of the same paper, Mr. E. C. Ivey, offered a more modern chemical solution — the lights were produced by spontaneous combustion of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, like a similar phenomenon on a farm near Dudley Shoals, in Caldwell county. But the in- vestigators for the Geological Survey had already considered and rejected the chemical possibilities. A rather plausible physical explanation was offered by Mr. H. C. Martin in the Lenoir Topic (as quoted by the Morganton Ne^vs Herald, no date). To him the lights were probably a mirage re- flection of the lights of Lenoir, Morganton, and Granite Falls, some twenty miles away. Heated currents of air moving up the Catawba valley met cooler currents from the mountains, forming a reflecting screen on which the distant lights were projected. The erratic movement of the lights was ascribed to changing points of contact in the air currents. This explanation receives interesting support from the independent investigations of Mr. Hobart A. Whitman, of Newland, as related in the Charlotte Obsert'cr (Aug. 10 or 11, 1940 or 1941). Mr. Whitman investigated from several positions with a telescope and surveyor's transit and concluded by triangula- tion that the principal lights only appeared to be above Brown Mountain, but were really centered over Hickory (forty miles away). Morganton (twelve miles away), and Vaklese (an inter- mediate distance). While the apparent lights were wavering, the actual lights were stationary, and their color was explained by the hazy atmosj)here through which they were seen from a higlier elevation. The last two theories would seem to gain support from the fact that there has been adduced no legend dealing with these lights prior to the twentieth century, and no evidence that the lights themselves had appeared before that time. The lights seem to have been noticed only after the neighboring towns had developed to a certain size with a certain amount of electric illumination. The story of the Brown Mountain lights furnishes an interesting testimony to the innate love of mystery, and it exemplifies the 630 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE eternal conflict between science, pseudo science, and legend to ex- plain the sensational and apparently inexplicable. Legend was not backward in asserting its ancient functions. An unidentified clip- ping that can be dated in August, 1940, refers to a legend that the lights were spirits of Cherokee and Catawba warriors slain in an ancient battle on the mountainside; and a variant (Spruce Pine Tri-County News, Aug. i, 1940) makes them the spirits of Indian maidens seeking their lovers who have been slain in battle. The Charlotte Observer (Aug. 29. 1937) prints an interview at Banner Elk with Mr. Shepherd M. Duggar, author of two books on Western North Carolina, in which the lights are said to be attrib- uted by some of the local inhabitants to the spirit of a woman supposedly murdered on Jonas Ridge about 1877 by her husband. There is no evidence of antiquity or general currency for any of these legends, and their general characteristics are suspiciously familiar. One wonders if they are not better examples of the tendency to legend than of genuine legends in themselves. Even so, many genuine legends may have originated similarly. A similar conclusion is to be deduced from the whole body of newspaper reports cited in this essay. They offer no acceptable proof whatever for the actual truth of the marvels they describe. On the other hand their very existence is proof of popular interest, which implies a latent willingness to believe ; and they offer abun- dant testimony to the actual belief which exists among the immediate spectators in many circumstances and communities. They should provide a thoughtful background for anyone inclined to read the following legends as mere idle chatter and tradition. Even though many of them have lost the immediate vitality which a folk-narrator would give them, their connection with the general habits of the human mind and with an intricate maze of tradition and belief reaching into anti(|uity and into all the corners of the earth are evident to anyone wlio will follow up Professor Thompson's annotations. Professor Thompson has edited for publication 118 of the 285 folk tales and legends in the Frank C. Brown Collection and has used a simpler classification of his own instead of the twenty-two subdivisions under which they are classified in the collection. He states his principles of selection as follows: "The editor has consistently omitted several categories of material in the papers: newspaper clippings concerning other states than North Carolina, stories reported by students from other states and obviously coming from outside North Carolina, and. in one or two cases, tales taken down in North Carolina but very recently imported from Eurojje. It was impossible to be ccMisistent about the use of American Indian legends. Only a few, mostly from the Cherokee, were found and thev have generallv been used here. For 6m imrpoM-> of c.)iii]);irison relcrencc li;i^ hirn nuulc to S. 1 hoinpMJii, Motif-Imlcx of 1-olk-Litcnitiirc (Hel>inki and 151o()niiiii;l()n, Indiana. 1933-36)." I. ORIGIN LEGENDS TIIK MAX IX TIIK MOON From TluMiias Smitli. Watauga county, c. iyi5- Cf. M otif-Imicx A751.1.' A mail was ])iit in the moon for l)iirnins4- l)i-ush on Suiulay. Our parents used to keep us children from huilding lires out- doors on Sundays hy telling us the fearful fate of the man m the moon. THE lover's leap From Mrs. Gertrude Allen Vaught. Alexander county. i922-23(?). A verv widespread hidian legend to be found in all parts of the country {Motif -Index A985).- The story immediately following belongs in the same group of legends. ^ In the Motif-Index all numt)crs beginning with A deal with mytholog- ical motifs. All numbers from A6oo-A8gy deal with mythological expla- nations of the general features of the universe and their origms (cosmogony and cosmology). Within this group all beliefs and traditions dealing with the moon are indexed between A740-A758. \7;i deals with tlie general legend that there is a man m the moon, and cites sixteen references in several languages, showing this belief in various parts of eastern and western Europe, Asia, Africa and among American Indians and Australian Maoris. A75i-i refers specifically to the belief that the man in the moon is there as a punishment for some misdeed. Six references are cited, in Gefinan and English, reporting this belief in Europe and among Isthmian and Latin-American Indians. 1 he prevalent European form of the belief is that the man in the moon is Judas • in Latin America one of the beliefs is that the punishment is for incest. Under A751.4 are reported several northeastern European be- liefs that a man once set out to tar the moon and remained there with his tar-bucket. [N. I. W.] „ j , •., .u • • .- -The reference numbers A980-A991 all deal with the origin ot par- ticular places on the earth. A985 deals specifically with places named from despairing lovers who throw themselves from high places. It is stated without reference that the belief is common among North .\men- can Indians. Reference is made to T. F. Crane, The Exemfla of Jacques de J'itrv in Publications of the Folklore Society, xxvi, no. 214 (London. 1890), pp. 220 i(le down and said, "lion jMit, make \vhats()c\ cT thou wilt." Me left the put turned down for a day and nii^hi. When Me turned it over a little negro, or hlaek hoy and j^irl were standing there. And these were the lu'st hlack j)eoi)le on earth. WHY THE NEGRO WORKS Only iiDtation : "iiurns" (without indication of place or date). For many parallel stories see Motif-Index A1671.1. The choice l)etween the two t)undles is a widespread theme; see Motif-htdc.v L211. In de heginnin' (jod he tuck two bundles and he ])lace 'em before a nigger and a white man, an' one bundle he niek \er\- large and one bundle bin berry little. De nigger he bin hal) fust choice, and you know a nigger with a greedy big eye. he tink the big bundle de best, so tek dat. Den de white man he tek what was left de little bundle. De white man he had a pin and ink in it an' in de nigger sack was jjIows and every- thing else to work with. THE ORIGIN OF THE WOODPECKER From Kate S. Russell, Person county, i927-28(?). I know of no exact parallels to this tale, though there are other stories ahout why the woodpecker bores holes in trees. See Motif-Index A2456.1. Once upon a time there was an old woman baking cakes; an old man, a wizard, came by. Xow this little old woman had on a red cap. a black shawl, and a white skirt. She was a very tiny woman. This old w^oman told him her cakes were all to(j large, but she would bake him a tiny one. She baked it yet it seemed too large, so she baked him another, and another till the cake was about the size of a grain of wheat; yet that was too large to give away. As she was so stingy, this old man changed her into a woodpecker, made her ti}' up the chimney, and as she Hew up she got her white skirt black with soot. He told her she would have t(j bore and bore for food the rest of her life. JAY BIRO.S AS THE DEVIL's SERVANTS From the Reverend George W. Lay, eastern N. C, 1913-15. I know of no exact parallels. The same idea is conveyed in an item sent in by Rebecca Willis (Airs. Marshall James Brooks, Jr.) of Atlanta, Texas: Blue jay birds are evil spirits; on Friday they go to hell to report things that happen in the world. Each carries a grain of sand t(j the devil. Most birds in our climate become quiet in the middle of the day, and this is said to be a characteristic of the jay bird in the South. The negroes have the saying that the jay bird is quiet because during that hour he goes to hell to carry down brimstone for the use of the devil. And when a negro would 634 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE catch a jay bird he would wring its head off and say "you won't carry down no sulphur to hell to burn up dis nigger." HONEY BEES AND RED CLOVER From Z. Teeter (A.B., Duke, 1922). c. 1920. It is surprising to find this legend, thus far reported only from Pomerania (see Dahnhardt, Natursagcn, in, 306). See Motif -Index A2231.3.2. Honey bees always stay away from red-top clover blossoms. God gave them choice of working on Sunday or of working the red-top clover blossoms. They chose to work on Sunday. WHAT THE GUINEA HEN SAYS Told to Mr. Thomas F. Leary by Mrs. Quinn Roberts near Shelby, N. C, and reported c. 1940. I do not know of a close parallel to the tale. A long time ago, there were many foxes in the county. All the farmers had many chickens upon which the foxes made their depredations. The farmers all obtained dogs to keep the foxes away from their chicken-yards. For a time there were no chicken-raids. The dogs woke their masters in time for them to get their guns and shoot the foxes. But by and by the head dog in the neighborhood was approached by a group of foxes. "Look here," said the chief fox, "there is no use in our fight- ing each other this way. After all, we are distant relatives. Wouldn't you like a nice fat hen to eat every night?" The dog admitted that he would. "Well then," said the fox. "from now on, you keep quiet until we get a few chickens and then you can liark your head off. In return we'll leave a fat hen, all dressed, in the hollow stump near your farm." The dog agreed to the proposition, and told his fellow dogs about it. They all decided to join up with the foxes. From that time on, the farmers lost more chickens than ever. When the foxes had finished their work, the dog would set up a frenzied barking but, by the time the farmer got down with his gun, there was nothing to shoot at. Things went from bad to worse. But the farmers were not the only ones worried. So were the chickens. They had a conference among themselves and said, "None of us could act as watchdogs. We can't yell loud enough." So they went to the guinea hens and said to them, "Listen, you birds have good strong voices. Will you act as watchdogs to scare off the foxes and wake the farmer?" At first, the guinea hens said "No." but the chickens said. "If you don't you'll soon be eaten too. because the foxes will eat all us chickens and will then start to eat you." So the guinea hens agreed. That night while the dog sat watching, the foxes came TALES AND LEG E N D S 635 sneaking Uj) to the cliickcn-yard. I hit ht'forr tlu'_\- CDuld get in, the guinea liens started screaming "I'^oxes!" "h'oxes!" "Foxes!" One of tlie farmers awoke immediately and seizing his gun ran down and shot some of the foxes. He gave the dog a good heating and set him to minding the front yard. He set the guinea hens up as i)ermanent guardians of the harn- yard. And so they are today. The first night they yelled, tlu'y yelled so hard that they hecame hoarse. .\nd they are still hoarse today, hut if }()u will listen clcjsely you will hear that they are saying in their hoarse voices, "Foxes! Foxes! Foxes!" SOME FLOWER LEGENDS The Maiden-Hair Fern From Clara Hcarne, Chatham county 1922-23. For other talcs of plants coming from the bodies of the murdered, see Motif -Index A2611. A lover murdered his sweetheart and left her lying hy the side of a spring. At the spot where her head lay a fern grew up. This fern is called the "maiden-hair" fern. The Sunflower From Mrs. Xilla Lancaster, Wayne county. 1923. For stories of other persons turned into plants or flowers, see Motif-liidcx A2610. Once a little girl with golden curls lived in the world below. She begged to see the sun daily. Her mother told her that the sun was a cruel, red-hot monster and he would burn her into a little brown stem. One day the little girl escaped and climbed up to the earth near the sea. Oh how beautiful every- thing was ! She sat down in the sand and buried her little feet. Then she gazed up, the sun saw her and knew how well she liked to sit and gaze at him. She was changed to a beauti- ful sunflower that always looks to the sun. The Fuschia From Mamie Mansfield, Durham, N. C, 1927-28. I do not know a parallel tale. The fuschia flower is supposed to belong to the devil. The purple bell that drops down is his bell, the red petals that turn up are hell flames. TREES PUNLSHED FOR IMPIETY The As])en From Kate S. Russell, Person county, i927-28(?). The tale exactly as given is not commcju, but it is usually said that all the trees except the aspen refused to make Christ's cross and for this reason the aspen leaves tremble. See Motij-Indcx Z352. Years ago when all the trees bowed before Jesus the aspen refused, and has ever since trembled in fear. X.C.F., Vol. I. (42) 636 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE The Mistletoe From Kate S. Russell, Person county, i927-28(?). For parallel, see Motif-Index A272 1.2.1. Many hundred years ago the mistletoe was a very large tree. The Cross on which Jesus died was made from this large tree ; so it was condemned thereafter to the life of a parasite. II. gUEER TALES ABOUT ANIMALS THE HEADLESS DOG From W. S. Smith, Buncombe county, 1022. For headless animals, see Motif-Index Bi 5.1.1. Some people in my commimity claim that a dog without a head passes along a certain road at frequent intervals. They say that if a person meets the dog and hits at it with a stick, the stick will go through the dog and never harm hiuL It seems to be a dog but has no real material body. Once a drunk man fell and killed hiuLself and the dog appears near that place. THE LAND OF THE MERMAIDS From Margaret Eckerson, eastern N. C, 1919. This tale has interest- ing parallels. For the underwater world, see Motif-Index F133.1 ; for the mermaid belief, see B81. For other flood legends, see Aioio. "They believe in 'fish-people,' too, up there — some of the old fellows. Every sailor knows that everything grows in the ocean just the same as on the land — strawb'ries and punkins and ears o' corn — all just as natural, only in the form of a fish. And if there's all them other things in the ocean, there's fish-women there. I believe it just as much as I believe I'm a-settin' here today, and I knozv I'm a-settin' here." "You never saw one. Captain ?" "I don't know if I have or not. Many a time when 1 was watchin' at night, I'd see a head bob up and look around, and bob down again. That might have been them. "And why are all these things in the ocean just the same as on the land? Ah, once there wasn't no ocean out there. Once it was all dry land. Then came the Fh^od. And where the waters of the Flood came from. I don't know, and whether they was salt or fresh, 1 don't know; but they covered up all them dry places, and whatever was growing on the land before the waters came, kept on growing after, only it came aVn'c. It's alive. It turned to a kind of fish." T A 1. I-: s A X D 1. !■; c; k n d s 637 THE COWS ON CHRISTMAS KVE From Mrs. Gertrude Allen Vaught, Alexander county, i922-23(?). In another place she mentions that on New Year's Eve the cattle will low iir kneel down in prayer. The legend is widely known, as witness Ihiiiiias Hardy's heautiful poem 'The Oxen.' See Motif-hidcx B251.1.2. ( )n old Christmas I have lieard ni\- old nei^ro mamiiiv say that cows al\va\s kiu'cl l(( prax' and that she had seen them. SNAKK STORIKS The Poisoned Tree From Clara Hcarne, Chatham county, 1922-23. For various tales of snakes and their imagined tiualities, sec Motif -Index B751. Many 3-ears ago the ]ieoi)le in a neii^hborhood near Pittshoro had assembled at the clun-ch for service. Before the service began, a man out in the grove encotuitered a large snake. He looked for something with which to defend himself. The snake ran toward him. and the man to protect himself dodged behind a tree, 'idle snake at once threw himself against the tree fastening himself to tlie tree l)y the horn on the end of his tail. There he hissed at the man, who struck at him with a jiole until the snake was killed. The man left him there in the tree and went into the chtu'ch. When the ser\ice was over, he found that the leaves on the tree had withered and later the tree died. The C\)ach-\\'hip Snake From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. While not exactly liarallel. this story has an interesting resemblance to that of the hoop snake which takes his tail in his mouth and rolls like a wheel. See Motii-Iudcx B765.1. .\n old man in our neighl)orhood told of ])eing chased by a coach- whi]). He was working south of Kingstree, when he was a youth of seventeen years, living with his brother. One night he took a foot path that led across a swamp to see some girls. He left for home about eleven o'clock and walked very fast as he knew many snakes were in tlie swamix Presently he beard something rattling in. tlie buslies. tlien something like a bull- whip crack. He glanced l)ack. lie heard it again still nearer. He began to run ; so did it, ])op])ing that whip. He fell in his brother's ])orch exhausted when he reached there. Next day they both went to investigate. They found his tracks from six to eight feet apart, and the trail of a coach-whip behind, but the trail did not go far out in the clearing. This snake ran after others and was at last shot and killed by hunters. 638 NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE Snakes Swallowing Their Young From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. See Motif-Index B751.1. Uncle G. D. Langston once killed a large snake, and when the snake's head was cut off thirteen young snakes ran out. His hired man told him he saw the snake swallow them, when he called him to come kill the snake. The Little Girl Who Fed the Snake From Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. One of the few ex- amples of a well-known European folk tale in our collection. It is num- ber 105 in Grimm's collection of folk tales. See Aarne-Tliompson, Types of the folktale, No. 285. Every day the little baby would crawl out into the yard with her tin of milk. She would stay for quite a while and seemed to be amusing herself. This continued for several days. One day the mother went out into the yard and found the child feeding a snake with the milk from her tin. She screamed for her husband and he came and killed the snake. They called the snake a milk snake. CATS AND CORPSES From Henry Belk, Union county, c. 1920. The belief that cats mutilate corpses is widespread. See Motif -Index B766.1. The belief, in North Carolina, is further recorded from Jessie Hauser of Forsyth county. She also repeats the equally well-known belief that cats will suck the breath of babies. For the latter, see Motif-Index B766.2. A corpse in a house will attract the cats of the vicinity to gather around it and conduct themselves in a very unearthly sort of way — weirdly serenade the soul on its way to the other land, for instance. I first had this superstition, which may be explained by natural causes, from a lawyer at Monroe. After making an assertion similar to that above, he related a story to prove it. An old-maid aunt of his died in Charlotte. Re- ceiving a telegram to this effect, he went to the city to sit up with the corpse during the night. Arrived at the house, he found only a group of spinsters at the wake. The night wore on, and the magnetic influence of the dead body began to have its effect on the cats of the neighborhood, so the lawyer said. The coffin containing the body was alongside a window which opened on the ])orch. ( )n the outside, the howling of a cat grew louder and more insistent, seeming to come from the porch. Disturbed, the lawyer left the room, intending to chase the cat away. On the porch, however, he could not see the animal. As he re-entered the hall, he beheld the women rush pell-mell from the room as if terrified. Although unnerved, he confessed to me, he re-entered the room and beheld a large tom- T A I. r, s A N n I. F. r, k n n s 639 cat ])aciiig up ami ddwu tlif coltiu in a very ai^itated M)rt of wav. Xothiiig else heing handy, he seized his hat fr(»in the rack and hied it at the animal, which littering a farewell }u\\ 1 leaped DUt the window whence it had entered. III. TALICS OF MAGIC RIPE FRUIT .\T TWELFTH NIC.IIT From Mrs. Maude Minish Sutton, Lenoir, X. C. Mrs. Sutton's con- tributions, generally undated, were made from 1922 to lier deatii in 1936. For similar accounts, see Motif-hidcx D2145.2.2. 'Txe hreshed the snow hack off'f hops and seen 'em green as they'd he in June on ( )ld Christmas," said an old lady when we were discussing the stories of Twelfth Night. "An' I've seen the limhs on the cherry tree a bendin' plum to the ground at the same time." MURDERER BETRAYED BY VICTIM's BLOOD The manuscript is page 16 of a typescript bearing a penciled notation "Rev. Minish," and undated. Probably it is part of a lost paper by Mrs. Maude Minish Sutton, who collected some of her materials in Ashe county. It is a very good example of a widespread belief. See Motif- Index D1318.5.2. This superstition achieved a temporary and somewhat dubious standing in North Carolina legal practice in 1875. In Wilmington, N. C, on June II, 1875, a Negro serenader named Charles Jackson engaged in a barroom brawl with two white men and was thrown into the street. Shortly afterward, on the same night, he was shot to death. The two men were arrested, and both men were taken to the dead body. Wil- mington was then under the domination of Negro and Carpet-bagger officials, and the preliminary examination was held by a Negro Justice of the Peace named Moore. The news story and the preliminary hear- ing are reported at length in the Wilmington Star (June 12. 15. 1875), but with no mention of the test-by-blood. The Raleigh A'ctc? for June 18 tells how one of the accused. W. I. Jackson, was forced to touch the corpse as a test of his guilt, and the Charlotte Obscnrr (June 20) carries a brief indignant article to the same effect. A cautiously written article in the Wilmington Star (June 13) seems to take notice of similar talk in Wilmington. It tells how the two accused were taken to the corpse against their will, how Jackson touched the corpse, and how the sheriff refused permission for the proceeding and claimed ignorance of its execu- tion. Specific attribution of these proceedings to the Negro justice, how- ever, and specific reference to the test-I)y-blood are both carefully avoided. [N. I. W.] He [Old j\Ian Woody] told me the story oi an Ashe county murderer who was discovered because the wounds of his victim bled when he came to look at the cori)se. "I see'd that." he said. "Bill [the dead man| had on a stiff white sliirt and a black suit. I was goin' to ])reach the buryin' sermon. W'iien Jim come up to look at the corpse — jes as unconcerned, 'cau.se 640 X O K T II C A R L I X A F () L K L () R I- nobody but Jinny knowed they wuz mad — the l)l()od commenced to run out on that white shirt, hit jes spurted. Jim yelled out, 'Good Gawd A'mighty, I done hit,' and fell down in a fit. That was a merrical, I tell you." I agreed that it must have been! He was very vague as to what happened to Jim afterwards. HOW TO KEEP CORN FROM FIRING From Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk, N. C. Though I do nut know of this particular practice, it is a clear case of sympathetic magic. See Motif -Index D1782. My husband had thrown a large quantity of seed corn cobs into his cart to haul them to the house for fuel. A neighbor coming up asked casually if he was going to carry the cobs to the river. "The river," said my husband, "why the river?" "Why," said the man, "the way to keep corn from firing is to put the cobs your seed corn comes olT of in the river." ANOINTING THE NAIL From Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk, N. C, i920-3o(?). Sympa- thetic magic again {Motij-Indcx D1782). Rena's boy had stepped on a nail. 1 went to get some tur- pentine for him. When I came back she was laboriously extracting two nails from a board. "What are you doing?" 1 asked. "Why, I'se trying to git de nail out ter grease and put up and I ain't shore which one it wuz that stuck in so I'se twine ter grease bof 'er dem." THE SELF-ROCKING CHAIR From Roy Brogeen, near Calypso, Duplin county, c. 1922. For other automatic magic objects, see Motif -Index D1601. Years ago at a house of my grandfather near Calypso in Duplin county there was a chair that would rock every night and no one could ever see anyl)ody in the chair or find out what caused the chair to rock. PREMONITIONS OF DEATH Sounds from the Coftin Shop From Elsie Doxey, Currituck county, 1922-23. Such stories of premo- nition of death are very widespread. Cf. Motif-Index D1812. A man in Currituck county who was a coffin maker knew when he was to be called upon to make one, for he could hear a noise in the shop like someone hammering. Others than the maker heard the same thing at the same time he did. The Song of the Saw A story in the Brown Collection without indication of author or of place, except that it is said to be common around Fayette- ville, is obviously worked up into an artistic short storv. It tells TALES A N 1) 1. I. (. K N 1) S 64I (if a woman wlm spends a niglit in a slran<,fc' honsc wliik' Iht aunt is (l\in_^' in andlluT. In the night slie lu'ars a sound of a saw working in a shop used to make C(;ffins. She is tcrrilK-d hut notices that this liappms at three o'clock. 'Mie next morn- ing she finds that her aunt liad (hed at exactly that liour. Liunher for the Coffin From Klsic Doxcy. Currituck citunty, ii)J2-j,^. In Currituck county tliere was a child wlio was ill. The mother was watching o\er it afti'r midnight, and all of a sud- den she heard someone pulling lumher or sawed hoards out from luuler the house. The father went out to investigate but found nothing — the hoards were in the usual place. The next day the child died and these same hoards were used in ])re])ar- ing the grave for its burial. Before the death of another child, the father had seen a light leave his front gate and go slowly toward the family cemetery. Wraith of the Sweetheart From Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1927-28! ?). When a certain lady had fever, her sweetheart looked out and saw her form floating near the door wrapped in white. When he called the other people's attention to it. it had begun to rise. Several people saw it but it flew upward so fast it looked like a white cloud. In a few hours a message came that she was dead. OLD QUAWK Unidentified newspaper clipping, Ocracoke, dated March 15. For other tales of offending the spirits of the waters, see Motif -Index C41. Tomorrow is Old Ouawk Day — and su])erstitious natives on Ocracoke Island will forego \enturing on the waters of the sound. March l6, thev sa}\ is a da\- of sudden S(|ualls — a dav when small craft shcnild be discreetly docked. The natives claim that, many years ago on one March i6, a man went (Jut clamming or oystering: that his craft became l)ecalmed and that he grew profane. Conse(|uently, a sudden wind fell on hinu The man went by the name of ( )ld (J^'^'*'*''"'- hence the name for March i6 hereabouts. RIDI.XC. IMS IIORSI-. To IlI'T-L From George E. Knox, Wasliington, N. C. For the curse resulting in death, see \Iolif -Index D2061.2.4. For tiic defiance of the devil and its results, sec C12.2. .\hout MO years ago, there lived near Washington, Xorth 642 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Carolina, a man who had several good horses and a very bad temper. He was very fond of whiskey and when under the influence of it was very mean to his wife. One day he had been to the store and had been drinking very heavily and while boasting was challenged by another man to participate in a horse race later in the day. He went home and his wife tried to get him to stay at home, telling him that he was not al)le to ride his horse. He said he would ride his horse and win the race or he would ride his horse to Hell. He then whipped his wife and when he left she told him she hoped he would be in Hell before the day was over. The race began and the man whipped his horse and got him to running at a very great speed. About half way the agreed distance was a road leading from the course and immediately after leaving the straight course there was a very sharp turn in the road. The horse on arriving at this road started to go that road instead of the race course. He was going too fast and the man was trying to make him go the straight road, so that his hoofs made deep tracks in the soft ground. (It had been raining and in this country the ground gets very soft.) In turning so suddenly the man was thrown against a pine tree and killed. The place has been visited by people ever since then. The tracks of the horse are still visible and the stump of a pine tree stands on the spot where the man was thrown. It is said that a person can pile sticks or even drive sticks in these horse tracks and that on revisiting the spot after alwut an hour the sticks have been removed and the tracks bare. (This is supposed to be a true story. I have visited the place several times and the tracks are there and there is nothing in them.) Some people say that after a long rain if a person passes the spot at night, loud groans can be heard. THE LETTER OF CHRIST A tradition reported several times, sometimes as a recollection from older people and sometimes quoting from newspapers, tells of a mysterious letter, apparently believed in by many people of North Carolina. (It is reported by Charles R. Bagley as heard from his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Dudley, in Moyock, N. C, about thirty miles south of Norfolk.) According to a letter of W. B. Covington (Norfolk. Va.. c. 1914) to Dr. Brown the mysterious letter was written by Christ just after his crucifixion, signed by the angel Gabriel ninety years after the Saviour's birth, and presumably deposited by him under a stone at tlie foot of the cross. On this stone appeared the following : "Blessed is he who shall turn me over." No one knew what the inscription meant, or seemed to have sufficient curiosity to investigate, until the stone was turned over Iiy a little child and the letter . . . was discovered. . . . The story goes that the little child wlio foimd it ]>assed it to one who became a convert to tlic Cliristian faith. lie failed to TALES AND I. E C. ENDS 643 have the letlcr jjuhhshcd. lie kept it, however, as a sacred nieniento of Christ and it passed down to ditTerent generations of his family for more than a thousand years. During this period the family suffered repeated misfortunes and moved to different countries until finally some of them came to America, hringing the letter with them. 'Iliey settled in Vir- ginia, then moved further South, still followed hy misfortvme, when finally the last memher, a daughter, apj^roached her deathbed and called a neighbor, a Mrs. Thompson, giving lier the letter and relating its history for more than a thousand years. The Thompson woman began the attempt to have it published, and it first appeared in the Rome. Ga.. Tribune on October 31. 1891. It then a])peared in the Dalton. (Ja.. Citizen, and ^Frs. W'ortman. now living in Marion, Indiana, clipped it and kept it in her possession for many years without any effort to have it published. She was followed by misfortune, which was attributed to her neglect in trying to have the letter published. IV. WITCHES AND THEIR DEVILTRY THE WITCH AND THE ROOSTER From Russell H. Cawdill, Ashe county, c. 1922. This story contains some of the most popular beliefs about witches still current in America. For the curse by the disappointed witch, see Motif-Index G269.4 ; for various tales of bewitching, see P2070. The production of the snake by an imitation of its movements is a good example of sympathetic magic {Motif -Index D1782; cf. also D445, transformation: image of animal vivified). About a hundred years ago, in a little country home in Ashe county, near Clifton, North Carolina, there lived a woman by the name of Lyla Weaver, who was said to be a witch. This woman was known to do very many curious things by witchcraft. (_)nce tipon a time as this woman was ]:)assing the home of my great-grandfather she saw a fine rooster standing on the lawn in front of the house. She asked my grandfather to give the rooster to her, and when he refused to do so she went on her way, telling him that the rooster would never do him any good. Her w^ords were true, however, for she was not out of sight before the rooster flew upon the grindstone and crowed just once, falling dead as he did so. At another time she was in a store buying some cloth and when the merchant told her the ])rice she becaiue angry and began to run her finger around upon the counter with a cir- cular motion, and there followed it a large snake which fright- ened the merchant so much that he gave her the whole bolt of cloth to leave his store. 644 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE She did many other things such as those stated ahove, and she was considered throughout the neighhorhood to possess the power of a witch. I do not know the date of her death, Init her grave is near Clifton, North Carohna, about twelve miles west of Jefferson. It is said by the people who have seen her grave that the red streaks upon the marble which marks it cannot l)e blotted out by any means. There is no written history of this witch's life ; all that is known of her has been handed down to us orally. 'VIRA GILBERTS AND HER WITCHCRAFT From Amy Henderson, Worry, North Carolina, 1914-15. This story is full of witchcraft motifs which we shall be meeting in later stories. For killing the witch with a silver bullet, see Motif-Index D 1385.4. For the witch in the form of an animal, see G211. For making the cows go dry, D2083.1. For tormenting the witch by sticking the pins in the paper, D2063.1.1. For the curse by the disappointed witch. G269.4. For the tabu against lending to the witch, C784.1. For the witch in the form of a bird, G211.15. The driving of the nail in the witch's picture is simply another form of D2063.1.1, with nails used instead of pins. I went to my neighbor for stories about witches. She was very reluctant to own that she had ever heard any, but by a judicious pretence of believing such things I coaxed her to tell me the following. "My Mother used to tell me about an old woman that they said was a witch. Well, I've seen her myself many a time. She was old 'Vira Gilberts. She didn't have any home ; just stayed about, anywhere that anybody would let her. She was working for a man named Jones Gibson. She was a big strong woman and could do a man's work. That day she was making fence right close to the woods, and some men were himting. She kept hollering to them, "You can't shoot that squirrel," or "You needn't shoot at that squirrel; you can't kill it," and they bored a hole in a bullet and put silver in it. I've always heard you could kill a witch with a silver bullet. She didn't know they had put silver in this bullet and after dinner they came back there and she began to holler to them again, and they saw a squirrel on the tree and thought she had witched herself into it ; so they shot at it with the silver bullet and it fell ; and just as it fell 'Vira hollered out, "Oh, you've put my eye out with that limb," and her eye was out. She said that when they shot, a limb broke off and hit her in the eye and put it out. When they picked up the s(|uirrel it wasn't hit anywhere but in the eye. 'Vira Gilberts was staying at my first coirsin's one >ear help- ing with the work, and she insisted on doing the milking, but my cousin wouUln't let her. .Sjie wanted to do it herself. '\'ira r A I. 1'. s A X n I. I", c !■ X n s ^>45 s-iid "XcMT miiui; vou won't get ;iny milk il \ uu cU.u'l let UK- 'd(. it"- and. sure' enough, the cows got to giving less and k-ss till the\- just nearly went dry. One day when h ranees went t.i nulk slie didn't get but about a spoonful from each cow. She i.ut it in a little bottle, just a little bottle and there was a place l)etween the milk from the two cows; one would just stay a little piece above the other and no matter how you wou d shake them von couldn't make them mix. Somebody had told Frances that if 'X'ira had 'witched the cws and was makmg them go dry. she must put six new pins in a i^aper. ^tick them in the paper, and put that under the hearth rock— that it the person was a witch thev would feel pins sticking m them, bo she took the six new j.ins and stuck them in a pai>er and put them under die hearth rock and she said that night that old •\'iry hollered all night that pins were sticking in her. She said' A'iry took on so that she believed she would have died if she hadn't got up and took die pins out from under the hearth rock. . , ,, , My neighbor .said she had heard her tather tell about a luan that used to live clo.se to him that had a fat hog and one day somebody came there and wanted him to kill it. lie won dn t and they got mad and said he would see, bed have to kill it. That 'very night their babv got powerful sick and they knew in reason t'hat person had 'witched it. They .sent for an old man that lived ar.nm hurting it will cause the witch to suffer. So this 646 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE woman's mother had a mighty bad headache and her Httle son went out and drew the picture of the old woman that he thought was responsible for his mother's pain. He drew this on the house with a clod of dirt and drove a horseshoe nail in her head and set off as fast as he could go for her house to see if it had any effect. When he got there she was nearly dying with a headache. None of the family knew anything about what he had done till they heard a big fuss behind the house and went out there and he was trying to pull the horseshoe nail out. He said he was afraid it would kill the old woman. OLD HENRY From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 191 5. The protection from the witch by hanging up the closed bottle, although somewhat resembling other means of protection (Motif-Index G272), probably has parallels, but I have not seen them. Thirty or forty years ago there lived in the Brushy Fork Country an old man who had the reputation of bewitching people. Old Henry, as his neighbors called him, was feared by everyone for miles around on account of his causing those whom he "got mad at" to have bad luck. Mrs. Polly Rayfield of Sharps Creek, a few miles distant from Brushy Fork, tells the following tale of Old Henry. She is a woman of wonderful memory especially for things that happened in her young days. She says : "Once I went over to Breshy Fork to see Henry's boy Jim's wife. Jim's wife wuz tuck doun powerful bad awhile afore that and I'd heerd she wuz so bad off I concluded to go and see her. Her folks wuz there a waitin' on her and none of 'em knowed what ailed her. Only they said she had made Ole Henry mad about somethin' or other and right straight she wuz tuck down sick. I didn't see nottin' of Henry but they wuz all powerful 'fraid he'd come in there. Jim's wife alius got worse when Henry come in the room. Her folks kep a new bottle hung up to the loft by a string clost to her bed and they kep that bottle stopped mighty tight so's to skeer the witches out o' the house. If they didn't keep the bottle stopped up they said she'd git wuss. I didn't stay long for T wuz afraid Ole Henry might be purty clost around there and I didn't want to set eyes on him." DISCOVERING A REMEDY AGAINST WITCHES From J. K. Turner, Edgecombe county, c. 191 5- The witch as an animal and the killing with the silver bullet apjieared in a preceding story. "This story was told me by a hunter who lived in Edgecombe Co., X. C." — Contributor's note. There was a prevailing notion of tlie i>eople of lulgecombe County early after the Civil War that witches inhal)ited a sec- T A L K S A N D I. E ENDS 647 tion of that Cduntry known as Henrietta C"reek. This ereek was a small tributary of the Tar River, and it was surrounded on l)oih sides by very thick woods. The land was low^ and boggy. This creek was known for miles around as the best hunting grounds in that county, and people came to hunt the game that abounded in the woods on this creek. Once a man was hunting in these woods near this creek. The air was quiet and not a rustle was heard among the leaves as the hunter trod quietly through the forest in search of game. As the sun was setting the hunter came to an old pine tree that had been struck by lightning, and the bark had fallen ofif, leaving the tree bare. The hunter sat down beneath this old tree to rest. As he sat there, he heard a solemn knock. The knocking was repeated several times and he got up to see what it was that was keeping up the noise. He glanced up ; near the top of the dead piue was w^hat appeared to be a common w^oodpecker storing away food for the long cold winter. The hunter decided to relieve the bird of his task. He took aim and fired. The bird did not fall and the man thought it w^as a poor aim, so he reloaded his gun and fired again. To his chagrin, the bird still remained in the same position and con- tinued to peck away upon the old pine tree. The hunter re- loaded his gun, an old-time muzzle-loader, and taking aim again fired. He got the same result as before. He then loaded and reloaded and shot the bird several times ; still he could not budge it. He was somewhat perplexed and could not realize why he did not kill the bird. The thought of witches in that section came to him. He remembered that a witch could change into any shape or size. He concluded that it must l)e a witch that he was shooting at. The hunter was now at a loss to know what steps he was to take next, because he had used all his shot. He was on the point of leaving when the thought came to him to search his pockets for shot. He did this, liowever. in vain. But while searching his i)ockets his hand came in contact with a silver dime, which he decided to cut into small pieces and use as shot. After the dime had been cut uj) and the gun once more loaded, he tried his luck again. He took aim and fired. This time to his astonishment the bird ceased to peck and to retain its position on the tree; but giving a loud shriek and relaxing its hijld upon the tree, it fell lifeless to the ground. Ever since this occurrence the ])eople of Henrietta neighbor- hood believe that the only way to kill witches is to shoot them with silver. 648 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE KILLING THE WHITE RABBIT Told by Mr. Hobgood (no further information). Both motifs, the witch as an animal and using the silver bullet are in two preceding stories. In the early sixties there lived in Granville count v a man l)v the name of Hedgepeth, a great hunter, especially of rah- bits, possums, and coons, but he was ignorant and superstitious. He heard that a white rabbit had been seen in the neighborhood — such an animal had never been seen there before. Dogs could not run her down, and lead shot would not penetrate her. This man loaded his old musket with pieces of silver, cutting up a silver dollar for that purpose, and went out to find the witch that had taken this form, and the bold, valiant hunter bagged her and took her home, Init not to eat her. SAM guy's witch TALE.S From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, c. 1915. The bewitching by sending the bad dream is rather unusual in witch stories. I know of no exact parallel. For the magic ring or circle made in the dust, see Motif -Index D1272. For the bargain with the devil, see N211. Sam Guy is about sixty-five years of age. He has lived nearly all his life in the rich mountain section; he is a squirrel hunter of no small ability, also used to be a great 'sang' (gin- seng) digger. His education is very small and he has always been regarded as a believer in witches. Old Ferro Ye know Eph' Tucker that used to live on the Hashion. Well he wuz allis counted a mighty truthful man and he used to tell me a sight o' tales about witches. He said when 'e lived down in Ashe there wuz a man named Ferro who shore could bewitch people. Eph said he wuz a talkin' with Ferro one da\- and Ferro told him there wuz a man lived clost him that had done him some mean tricks and he wuz a goin' to make that man see some trouble that night. "Ax him in the mornin','' Ferro says, "and he'll tell ye that he's seed a heap o' trouble last night." Well Eph met the man next day and shore 'nougli he told Eph he hadn't slep' a bit the night afore. Eph axed him what wuz the matter and he went on to tell about seein' a big thing like a bear a walkin' the jist [joist] over his bed all niglit. the man said he tried to shoot the thing l)ut his gun wouldn't shoot, and he had to set there and watch that ole bear, or wliat- evcr it wuz, all night a walking on the jist l)ackards and forrids right over his bed. How to Become a Witch Well ater that Eph sayd he knowed ole Ferro shore wuz T A I. K S A X I) 1. K C K X I) S 64C) a witch ami he (Ircicknl he'd hkr tc hv a witch Itio so's he could aggervate people thai he didn't like. One day he says to l-'erro says he, "1 want to learn to hewitch jjcople like you can." "Ferro kindly agreed to show him how^ to be a witch, lie says, "You come with me out in the road." The\- went out'n the wagin road and Ferro tuck a stick and made a ring in tlie dirt. "Xow you git in that ring," says Ferro. Fi)h he got in the ring. "Xow squat down." says Ferro. Eph he s(|uatted tlown. "Wow,'' says Ferro, "put one hand under yer right foot and tother hand on top o' yer head." Well Eph put one hand under his foot and tother on top o' his head. "Now." says l-'erro. "vou say ater me, 'Devil take me ring and all.' " Eph said he wuz a gittin' a little hit skeered by this time but he said what ole h>rro told him, "Devil take me ring and all," and about that time the ground begin to sink right under him. Eph says he felt hisself a goin' right down an' down. He .shore wuz 'skeered by this time and 'e give a jump right out o' the ring and run from that place as hard as he could. He didn't turn his head to look l)ack. After that Eph said he never tried to be a witch anymore. TRAXSFERRIXG THE SPELL From Lucille Massey, Durham county, ig27-2S(?). For the cure by transferring the disease to an animal, see Motif-Index D2161.4.1. There was once an old man who lived in Wake county who had terrible spells. He shook like a man with a hard ague. He was said to have been conjured by a witch. An old Negro woman told him if he would catch a frog just before he felt a spell coming on. and tie it to the foot of the bed, the frog would have the spell instead of him, and he would never have another. He did that and the frog shook so that the breath was knocked out of him, and he was too weak to move for -sexeral hours. The man never had another spell. RIDDEN BY WITCHES From Mabel Ballentine, Wake county, as told to her by a great-uncle from Scottsburg, \'a. For parallels to this and the following stories of men ridden by witches, see Motif-Iudex G241.2. My great uncle used to tell this tale: A boy that he knew in the neighborhood was ridden to a party by a witch and as witches change hands into feet, this boy's hands were bruised all to pieces the next day. ii One of the folk beliefs and practices in central and eastern North Caro- lina collected in 1926-28 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, of Chapel Hill. Aunt Rose said a witch rode her all one night. Uncle Aaron says the old folks used to fmd witches and when they caught 650 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE them there'd l)e just a lump of jelly. Uncle Aaron is still living on the Batts farm, near Tarhoro. He says he has a sister that was a witch. She only weighed ninety-nine pounds. He says there never were any more witches. If a witch was bothering you, you must put a sieve over the place and it can't go through the meshes. Old Chris Adams who lived below Buie's Creek and had two daughters was thought to be a witch. iii From I. T. Poole, Burke county, 1914. For witches transforming a man to a horse and riding him, see Motif-Index G241.2.1. There is a popular witch tale which is known practically all over Burke county. There was a man by the name of Ike Hurt who claimed to be bewitched by Dempse Lafevers and Sal Winters. The witches were said to change Ike into a horse and ride him away about five miles to the Catawba River and then return with him. Those who saw Hurt in this con- dition, say that he was in a very miseral)le condition. iv From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923, as told by Mrs. C. A. Wilkinson of that county. We had an old colored woman when I was a child, that would tell us how the witches rode her all night. She said that they would ride her like she was a horse over hills and ditches till she was almost dead, then they drove her back home like they drove her ofif, and that was through the chimney. She said that if she put brown straws all around the house and around her bed and did not step over them, the witches would not come, for when they crossed a straw they were no longer a witch. She would go thro' all this straw-laying every night. WITCH-RIDDEN HORSES From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. The belief in the riding of horses by witches is very general. See Motif-Index G265.3. The belief that the horseshoe will bring good luck is also widespread ; see D1561.3. For its use when placed above a door to keep away the devil, see G303. 16.17. An old man used to claim the witches rode his horse at least once a week. He said that the horse would be wet with sweat, and her mane all tangled up, he had watched but he never caught anything. After he nailed horse shoes over the door, and over his harness hook she was not ridden any more. GRANNY FRONE Originally recorded by Miss Pearle Webb, granddaughter of Granny Frone, for Prof. W. A. Abrams, Boone. N. C., and transcribed by Dr. Brown (Record XXXIIA-I) in August, 1940. Several of tlie motifs TALES A N D LEGENDS 65I liavc already been noticed in tlie preceding witch stories : the evil work of the witch in the dairy, Motif-lndcx D2084.2, the tormenting of the witch by driving the nail into her picture (D2oC)i.2.2), and the destruc- tion of the dogs. I recollect specially a story my Mammy used to lell me a long time ago. \'es, 1 guess 1 could tell it to you; here, just wait till I get this snulT out of my uiouth. 1 never coidd talk with snuff in my mouth. Now as I recollect it. old Uncle VA Dodson and .Vunt C"in(ly they lived away up yonder in the gap around hack ahout i88o, I guess. Well, it seems as how witches had heen pestering of them for a good long spell of time. First one of Ed's steers died, then the cows started in going dry and they couldn't make butter off the milk and that was a sure sign of witches working. Well, next one of Ed's dogs, one of his very best dogs, just laid down and died ; and when that happened Ed flew plumb off the handle, my Mammy said, and started rav- ing around that he be damned — now that's the \-ery words he used — he be damned if he would stand any more of it. Granny or no Granny, he would i)Ut an end to it. You see, the witch was his own Granny, old Granny Frone that lived over across the hill from him. She got mad at Ed about something or other and that was her way of paying him back. Well, Ed said damned if he cared whose Granny she was, her picture was going on a young black gum tree with a nail in the heart of it fore dark and that he was going to sink her u]^ t(j the head. You know that was the way you doctored against a witch. You drawed a picture on a tree, put a cross where the heart ought to be and a nail in the heart. Then the witch would be taken ailing right away. Then you keep driv- ing the nail on in and she would get worse and worse till by the time you got the nail driv up she would be dead. That is unless she could borrow something from theuL ^'ou see. that way she could break the power of the doctoring. But Ed was that mad he swore that the nail was going plumb uj) to the head and that nary drap nor grain or anything was she to get off his place. So when old Granny Frone took ailing and begun to send the boys first for some salt, then a little baccer. next some fire to kindle with, why nary a thing did she get ; and VA kept driving the nail in. Well, pretty soon he had it sunk nearly to the head and old (iranny Frone was just about gone when Mammy said that Aunt Cindy got to feeling sorry for her and begun to beg lul to i)ull the nail out. Aunt Cindy told IMammy that it seemed just like plain murder to her and that all day she had had a terrible feeling that something awful was going to happen, especially after tlie old X.C.F.. \'ol. I. (43) 652 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE rooster came and stood in the door and crowed three times. But Ed, his mind was made up, and he was so sot on what he was doing that he couldn't be stopped. Well, Mammy said that along towards dark Ed looked out the door and saw old Granny Frone coming down the ridge w^ith her hand over her heart and her hair a-flying. "Lord have mercy on us, Ed," said Aunt Cindy, "yonder 's Granny Frone coming here. A-coming to die on this place and leave her witch sperrit wandering around here to go into some of us." And with that Ed grabbed up the hammer and took off up the ridge to pull the nail out. But he was too late a-starting. Granny Frone just got inside the gate and was begging for water and hollering, "You've killed me, you've killed me." About that time Aunt Cindy run to her with a gourd of water begging her to take it and drink from it, but just as she reached out her hand to take it, why instead of taking it she just threw up her hands and fell and muttered, "You killed me, Ed Dodson, you killed me ! But Em getting even with you now. My sperrit, my witch sperrit — Fm leaving it here, Ed Dodson, to plague you as long as you live." And with that she was gone. Yes, that's what they say; her spirit went into Ed. He al- ways did act quare after that, but he never did do anybody any harm that we ever heard of, yet he was afraid of the dark. THE WITCH AND THE SILVER BULLET One of the folk beliefs and practices in central and eastern North Caro- lina collected in 1926-28 by Paul and Elizabeth Green. From the (Raleigh) Neivs and Obscnrr, February 20, 1927. For the piercing of the image of the witch, see Motif-Index D2061.2.2. The "immunity" of the witch to lead bullets and vulnerability to silver has already been noticed in preceding stories (see Motif-Index D1385.4). The use of the broom and of the upside down poker are examples of the many kinds of protection against witches. See Motif-Index G272. For the caution about borrowing and lending, see C784. There lives today near Arden, N. C, a little woman, who since she was a mountain girl has been interested in the super- stitions of the mountaineers — Miss Susan Lambert. On one occasion Miss Lambert recalls, there was a young woman member of a household who was ill. The "witch- doctor" arrived and after a lot of "hokus pokus" told them some of the things that they must do in order to get rid oi the evil spirit that was "ridin' her." That, however, was just the beginning. They were to deter- mine after careful counsel just who it was that had "bewitched" the young woman. That fact once determined, they were to draw a likeness of the "witch" upon a piece of cardboard, place the image against a tree and fire into it with a silver bullet. The latter specification was added to make the presence of the 653 dciuoii more sinister and was also ni accordance with the popular helief that witches were ininiune to lead Imllets. Accord- inglv the family treasures were pooled and enough sdver articles '.■cciu-ed to produce the hullet in an old-fashioned hullet mold. \fter the image had been pierced with the hall, according to the prevailing custom, the silver was dug out of the tree by the "witch-doctor" with the aid of supernatural powers and a good stout pocket knife. This silver was but a trifle of the many things that it was necessary tor tlie "witch-doctor to remove in order for the "spell" to be completely broken. In the particular instance related above, there was an old woman bv the name of Eliza Pressly, who was rather unortho- dox as far as belief in witches was concerned, although her neighbors were not so careless in their views. Accordingly when she learned that this family had made her picture and gone through the ritual of firing the silver bullet into it. she had a lot of fun. Gifted with the ability to improvise her own crude songs, she went up and down the valley singing about how the silver l)ullet had not harmed her. Horrified, the people of the com- munitv. or at least a good many of them, saw in her actions the confirmation of their worst fears. After that she was granted a respectful audience and distance on all occasions. There were certain tricks that were proof against the magic of the "witches" and all mountaineers, who were credulous to the extent of fearing sinister machinations on the part of their neighbors, were well versed in the practices that would keep oft' the "si^ell." One of the simplest and most effective guards was to drop a broom across in front of the door. This protected all msrde the cabin bv making it impossible for the "witch" to enter. Those who did not have faith in this method sometimes found comfort in securing a new dipper and inuring a cup of water on the fire. This was regarded as one of the surest means of securing immunity from the evil practices of the sorcerers. Turning the poker upside down was another method that was frequentlv employed, according to Miss Lambert, who observed this practice among her neighbors at the api)roach of some poor old woman who was looked upon with suspicion. As the story goes, one family, cautioned by the "witch-doctor" against the approach of a person to borrow something, salt, sugar, coffee, or some other commf)dity. refused a neighbor a loan of one of these articles and she went back through the yard screaming, finallv falling into a faint. No move was made to help her in what would probably be diagnosed today as an attack of appendicitis, and after a time she came to and man- 654 NORTH CAROLIXA FOLKLORE aged to make her way home. The family was ver}- well satis- fied, taking everything into consideration, regarding themselves as fortunate that they had been warned in time of the approach of the witch. witches' salve From Lucille Massey, Wake county, ig27-2S(?). Usually a witch smears fat on a broom in preparation for her flight through the chimney. See Mofif-Indcx G242.1.1. At midnight an old, old woman, dried up to a tiny size, would come down the chimney and sit down in front of the fireplace. She would take some grease from her pocket, grease her hands and behind her ears. Then she would say "Up and out," and disappear up the chimney. BETSEY LONG-TOOTH From Dr. A. P. Hudson, Chapel Hill, 1947, reported to him from Wilson county in 1934 or 1935 by Hugh Buckner Johnson and written down by Mr. Johnson in 1945. For a parallel to the principal action see the story preceding. IMany, many years ago there was to be found in the north of England an ancient and extensive forest, through the middle of which wandered an ill-kept public road. So unsavory w-as the reputation of this forest that few people had the temerity to make their homes anywhere m its vicinity, and as a result the whole surrounding countryside bore an exceedingly desolate appearance. Late one afternoon in that part of the year formerly enliv- ened by the celebration of Christmas, an elderly gentleman trudged painfully through the shallow snow that partially con- cealed the icy road. He was hungry, threadbare, and half frozen, but still possessed the appearance of one who had seen better days. Ere he reached the scattered growth of trees that betokened the proximity of open country, the shadows of night were beginning to creep through the forest and the air to grow more chill. Hope of finding food and lodging of any sort whatsoever diminished rapidly as darkness came, but suddenly his apathetic step was quickened by the faint glow of a distant light. A few minutes more and he stood breathless before a snug, thatched cottage of two or three rooms, from the chimney of which the smoke rose mistily toward the glittering stars. In response to his timid knock, the door was opened by a sinewy old woman of indeterminate age, who demanded of him rather abruptly, "Who are you, and what do vou desire of Betsev Long- tooth?" "T am a worn out old liody," he re])lie(l, "whose name the T A I, K S A N D I, K V. V. N I) S 655 Great World lias loiiy since rorj^dttcn, hut in hcltcr days 1 was known as Richard Woodward. I ha\-c travelled long and far to-day on the frozen high-road, nor have I had the hlessing of a single crunih to appease my hunger. Surely, 1 shall i)erish to-night, good mistress, be 1 not preserved through the good- ness of your heart." "It is indeed a bitter night," she said after some hesitation, "for even a dog to have no shelter. Come in and warm your frozen bones by the fire." Closing the door, she followed him to the great open fire- place, where the red flames danced merrily around a steaming, aromatic pot. After he had thawed a little, she produced a squat black bottle from the corner-cupboard and emptied it into two rather dirty glasses. A few swallows of the fiery liquor brought new life into his veins and an increased interest in his surroundings, but before anything like a fair inventory could be made, he was handed an ax and instructed as to its purpose. "If you want to eat any supper after I finish cooking it, you must do something to earn it. There is a big pile of wood in the rear and light enough to cut it by. Even now the rim of the moon peeps over the trees. There is nothing like a good pile of dry wood to keep a body from freezing on a long winter night." The old man took the ax and stepped into the yard. As his eyes became better adjusted to the dim light, he was able to discern the wood-pile and to execute his chore without endan- gering life and limb with a false stroke of the l)lade. After cutting two or three heaping armfuls of small logs and piling them in a corner of the cottage, he again seated himself by the fire and began to converse with his hostess, who was engaged in placing the steaming dishes on a rude table of oak. Among other things he learned that her husband had been dead for many long years, that she had no relatives to speak of, and that she was called Betsey Long-tooth because of the single long fang still imbedded in her gums. After they had eaten and the dishes had been cleared away, he was led to the door of an adjoining room, handed a lighted candle, and wished a good night's sleep. Having no desire to retire so early, but feeling that the wishes of his hostess should be complied with, he soon found himself comfortably situated between a feather mattress and a huge pile of (|uilts. He had already taken his first cat-nap when a low hum of feminine voices, punctuated now and then by a laugh, aroused him to the fact that something unusual was taking place in the next room. Curiosity overcame propriety, and he felt obliged to leave his snug retreat for a chilly kneeling-]:)lace at 656 X (1 R T II C A R L I X A F L K L R K the key-hole. An occasional word was all he could hear, some- thing about a "big time" and "getting started." Then Betsey Long-tooth unlocked a large chest in the corner and from it lifted a bowl and a shapeless bundle which materialized into several night-caps of knitted wool. The bowl was placed care- fully in the middle of the hearth. The old man could see no sense in such tomfoolery, but he kept his eye at the key-hole to attempt further discoveries. He had not long to wait. When the heart of the fire had liquified the contents of the bowl, old Betsey wetted her fingers with the substance and thoroughly massaged her head, upon which she then clapped on one of the night-caps. "Gossip and gossip and up the chimney I go!" she said quite distinctly, and disappeared quick-as-a-flash. The several young women in the room oiled their heads, put on night-caps, re- peated the magic words, and vanished one after the other in the same fashion as had their hostess, who was, our hero now realized, an honest-to-goodness witch. Emboldened by unsatis- fied curiosity, he threw on his clothes and hurried into the room vacated so mysteriously before his very eyes. To his delight a single night-cap lay on the floor near the bowl, which still con- tained a small portion of colorless liquid. With some trepidation he anointed his head as the others had done, pulled the night- cap down to his ears, and said, "Gossip and gossip and up the chimney I go!" The next instant he found himself sitting on the top of the chimney. Betsey Long-tooth and the girls were perched along the ridge of the roof. After considerable argument about where they should go, the old witch finally said, "Gossip and gossip and away to London Town I go !" Each of the young women did the same. Finding himself in solitary possession of the snow-covered roof, Richard Wood- ward without more ado said, "Gossip and gossip and away to London Town I go!" After a short period of rapid motion through the icy air, he floated gently onto the middle of a cobble-stoned London street. The witches ignored his presence entirely and began to discuss with great animation their next move. "We have come to the right place," quoth Betsey Long-tt)oth. "Methinks I see here a warehouse wherein are stored great barrels of fine wines. What say ye that we enter these portals and celebrate the season right merrily ?" "Oh, let's do!" came a chorus of assenting voices. "Gossip and gossip and through the key-hole 1 go!" said Betsey Long-tooth, and through the key-hole she went. The young women made haste to follow her. leaving our hero with A X n I. K c; !• X D s no cnnii)an\- except his own thoughts. Mis decision was has- tened In- a shrill hlast of wind that howled down the snowy street and pierced his ragged garments at every seam. "Gossip and gossip and through the key-hole I go !" The interior of the warehouse was pleasantly warm. Soon he was ahle to discern row ui^on row of dark tuns, each tilled to the hrim, no douht. with deliciously warming l^everages. Like shadows his erstwhile neighbors flitted from barrel to barrel. Then there was a thud, followed by the sound of trickling licjuid mingled with a medley of gurgles and sighs of satisfac- tion. Cask after cask was sampled, part of the contents being drunk and the remainder carelessly allowed to spill on the sanded floor. "I might as well l)e hanged for a wolf as for a sheep," mused friend Woodward as the merriment increased. "l-Jesides, a body really needs a bit of a dram on a night like tonight to keep from catching cold. I Ijelieve that I shall take a try at this little one. if the bung is not too tight." The relative tightness of bungs was inconsequential, l)ut the wine was indeed wonderful. Inspiration led him to oi)en a second keg. Ah! Nectar fit only for gods to drink! Long, long had been the years since wine of such body and flavour had passed his lips, and a tear of reminiscence dimmed his eyes momentarily as he placed a finger under the drain of a huge funnel and filled it to the brim with red Burgundy. The ladies decided now to be more sociable, and frolicked around poor Richard in a most provocative manner. All be- fuddled with wine and smiles and witless that they laughed at him and not with him, he pranced al)Out like an aristocratic scarecrow in a high wnnd. Shortly before the time for the first gray light of dawn to appear on the horizon, Betsey Long- tooth stopped this game of mouse and cats and drew the girls aside for a whispered consultation. Leaving them to laugh over what she said, the old woman tightened the night-cap on her head and incanted, "Gossip and gossip and away home I go!" The girls di.sa]i])eared one after another, and Ivichard did not notice that the last to leave slipped off his night-ca]i and took it with her as she repeated the magic words. Consequently, when he said, "Gossip and gossip and away home I go !" he only bumped his head on the door-knob. He sat down to worry over his sad plight, but fell fast asleep before a single line of care could form on his forehead. Came the dawn, and the time of opening the building for the business of the day. The wrath of the owners was in- describable when they found their choicest \intages drunk up 658 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE or forming pools upon the white floor. There was no question about the doors and windows having been tightly locked, but who had effected the frightful carnage ? Then they found Rich- ard Woodward sleeping peacefully beside a huge hogshead in one corner. Rude hands were laid instantly upon his person, and he was dragged before the frown of a haughty judge. The witnesses swore to their testimony. "You know the penalty of the law for theft?" demanded the judge. "Yes, milord." "Have you nothing at all to say in your defense before I pronounce the judgment?" "No, milord, nothing," said poor Richard, who feared the stake more tlian he feared the gallows. "Then tomorrow at sunrise you shall be led to Tyburn Hill and hanged by the neck until dead. And may God have mercy upon your soul !" Richard Woodward was old, and life had already done its worst to him. This final ordeal he resolved to bear unflinch- ingly, as a bitter draught with which to cure forever the ills of this temporal world. It was some small satisfaction to know that neither friend nor enemy would note his ignoble passing. After the heavy-handed jailor had locked him securely in a cheerless cell, he disposed himself to sleep until the time for his transmutation into a better world. Several hours had passed without incident when the silence was broken by a sibilant whisper. "Richard Woodward! Richard Woodward, awake!" Surely, he must have been dreaming, for the cell was dark and empty as before. No ! Soft steps were approaching his lowly cot. "Hurry, Richard, hurry ! Soon the sun will rise, and the guards will come to take you to the gallows." Not until then did he realize that Betsey Long-tooth had come to preserve him from the kindly offices of the hangman. Springing to his feet, our hero seized the articles that were thrust into his hands, hastily anointed his head, and drew on the magic night-cap. Old Betsey received the l)owl from his hands, adjusted her own cap, and said, "Gossip and gossip and away home I go !" "Gossip and gossip and away home I go!" he echoed. Another moment and both were out of the prison, out of London Town, and on their way to the snug little cottage in the north of England. Ere long they passed over the immense dark forest, down the wide chimney, and landed side by side on the warm hearth. TALES A N I) I. K C, K N D S 659 "Let us marry." said Richard Woodward. "I am willing." replied Betsey Long-tooth. So they married each the other and lived happdy ever after. THE WITCH AT THK SHOOTING MATCH From Thomas Smith, Watauga county. 1914-15. as told by Lindsay Ellison Mr. Smith savs, "Mr. Ellison, who is a gray-ticarded tarmer of small learning, liad 'stopped at my home for shelter from a storm. There were five or six other persons present and some one started a discussion as to whether or not witches really existed on this earth. Mr Ellison argued that witches were a reality and told the following tale to support iiis argument." For weapons made magically worthless see Motif-Imhw D2086. When I lived helow the mountains I ricollect there wuz an old woman named Katy Townsen that everybody claimed wuz a w'itch, that wuz forty year ago I reckin, but I ain't fergot the time we had a shootin match clost her house. There wuz a dozen o' us fellers, all purty good shooters and we got there early to the place where we aimed to shoot. It wuz right clost to ole Katv's house and we hadn't more'n got there till out she come and l)egun to abuse us fer gittin' that clost to her house to shoot. We jist laffed at 'er and that made 'er madder n ever, and 1 ain't fergot w^hat she said. "Fll take the shot out o' yer guns," says she. "and ye won t hit nothin." Well, we went ahead and shot at the spot fer an hour or two I reckin, and ater every shot we'd go up to the spot to see where we'd hit. but as shore as yer alive not a single shot ever hit that spot. ^ . Ater we'd shot several shoots apiece and didn't^ hit a thing we decided to c|uit and we went home a feelin' purty bad whipped out. Old Katy shore had tuck the shot out o' our guns. WITCHES AS CATS AXU RABBITS From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster. Wayne county. 1923- For parallel, see Motif -Index G211.2 and G211.4. Witches are suj^posed to change into cats with long legs and neck, a bowed up back, and long tail. You can't kill these cats. In the same manner witch rabbits you can't kill, they appear to sit up and make faces at you. THE WITCHKRV CRUISE From Loraine L. Benz, Marengo. Indiana, 1941-42. Of uncertain origin, whether from Indiana or North Carolina. This sounds like a concocted story, though the relation of witches to a sieve is found elsewhere and the power of supernatural beings to make themselves invisible is also well 660 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE known. For the magic storm raised by Satan, see Motif-Index D2141.0.3. One evening two hundred witches and sorcerers, each in a sieve, went on a sea journey — and in mid-ocean met Satan him- self rolling upon a huge wave, resemhling a haystack in size and appearance. The ladies went on board a foreign vessel which was richly laden with wine. Here the witches, naturally invisible to the crew, feasted and revelled and made merry, and when they had had enough, Satan, their master, raised a terrible storm and vessel and crew and all on board, with the exception of the old witches, went down. A witch's death From the collection made in eastern and central N. C. in 1926-28 by Paul and Elizabeth Green. For the cats as servants of the witch and having mystic associations with her, see Motif-Index G225.3. For the marvelous manifestations at her death, see Motif-Index D2141.0.4. Mrs. Sam Reid of Little King's Creek described to me the death of Ann Melton who was an accomplice in the death of Laura Foster. She said the yard was full of black cats squalling and spitting blue fire, that the flames cracked and snapped around her bed, that a tall black-hooded form stood by the bed all night. She closed her story thus : "She'd been hung anyhow, but her neck was jes too purty to stretch hemp." THE WITCH AND THE YELLOW CAT From Merle Smith, Stanly county. For the witch in the form of a cat, see Motif-Index G211.2 and also the following story. There was a man whose horse was sick. He noticed that there was always a yellow cat in the feed trough every morn- ing, so he shot the cat and in the neighborhood there was a woman playing witch with that cat. She lay up a long time because the cat was dead — but made out like her arm hurt her. THE WITCH-CAT IN THE MILL Dr. Richard Dillard of Edenton, N. C, in the course of a long article on "The Old Brownrigg Mill and Its Memories" tells the story of the witch-cat in the mill. The article is undated but was probably written a few years before 1924, since it was given to Dr. Brown apparently May 2, 1924. This is a well-known European tale, and the legend is probably told of this mill. The style is, of course, not that of a folk legend. For parallels, see Motif-Index G252. It was the hal^it of Tim Farrow, the milk'r in charge dur- ing the stormy, uncertain days just preceding our war of the Revolution, when the sun was westering in the tops of the big cypress trees just below the mill, to knock down the gates and close the mill, his day's work over, and if thi- weather was plea.sant he tarried until dark fishing about the mill and carried his little string of i)erch and catfish to his cottage across the T A I. 1' S A X I) I. v. C, I". X T) S 66 1 (lain to \)v cooked l)\- his littK' dauj^lUfr, lor llic\- li\i-(l there alone. ( )ne evenint;- just at dusk, while he was fishing; near the mill- house, his eyes musing- upon the dark, deep, mysterious woods on the opposite side of the pond, which he always regarded with many misgivings concerning its [)()ssil)le occupants, for to him it was the horderland of an unknown world, he saw a canoe suddenly push out from the dense sliadows of the shore, out upon the polished mirror of the mill-pond. He soon discovered that it contained a woman with her Shaker l^onnet drawn closely over lier face. Tim thcnight she looked a very old hag of a woman, hut as the hoat drew near him and landed at the dam he was surjjrised to he brought face to face with a very heau- tifid young woman. She seemed tired and hungry, as if her journey had been long, and as soon as she stepped out of the boat appealed to him for food and lodging for the night. Tim was a guileless, simple-hearted man, and fascinated bv her beauty and affected ])y her tale of distress he readily consented, and without further ado she was assimilated in the little house- hold, thoroughly adapting herself to Tim's humors and caprices, and showing such motherly tenderness and devotion to his little daughter that he became infatuated, and married her, for he had an instinctive love of home and was alive to the importance of the little things that make for comfort and happiness in life. The people of the neighborhood, however, soon became sus- picious of her. Some declared she was a very peculiar and unusual person, while the less charitable and superstitiotis made no secret of saying that they firmly believed her to ])e a witch and that her hut was surely located somewhere in the deep, lonely woods across the mill-pond. An old woman at whose house she had spent the night, said that the next morning the big feather bed in which she slept was only mashed down in a little round spot in the middle as if a cat had slept there. Later on the people of the neighboring farmsteads were sud- denly attacked with a peculiar type of fever, which stubbornly resisted all the' efforts of the country doctors and resulted in several deaths. Then everybody said she had bewitched the entire community and oj)enly accused her of witchcraft. Some of the bolder and more impudent ones went to Tim and demanded that she leave the neighborhood at once. .\t first Tim laughed at their absurdity, then became angrv and insulting, so that the mill lost much of its i)atronage, and Tim began to feel the pinch of hard times, for his wages were l)ased entirely on receipts, and at the same time he realized the pos- sibility of soon losing his job, but worst of all Tim realized that he was growing old and that his young wife was tiring of him. 662 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Troubles go in flocks. Tim began to experience other diffi- culties and perplexities. Sometimes on opening the mill-house door in the morning he would find his sacks of corn torn open, and the grain scattered all over the floor ; at other times the gates would be partially raised and the water wasting through them, when he was absolutely certain that he had driven them down tightly when he left the mill the evening before ; then he would find nails in the hopper, put there to make the mill- stones jump and jerk and spit fire at him ; his measures would be upset, and the bear-grass thongs with which he always tied his meal-sacks were scattered about everywhere. All this dis- order and confusion became unbearable. Tim was indignant, for he was sure it was the premeditated malice of some of the neighbors who hated him on account of his wife, and that they were playing these cruel practical jokes upon him so that he would eventually be compelled to leave. After worrying sev- eral days he determined to watch there at night, to catch and severely thrash whoever the offender might be. Several nights he spent in uneasy vigil alone in the mill- house, but nobody came ; there was nothing to disturb him but a few rats scampering about the floor eating the scattered grains of corn ; and he felt that his enemies had at last grown tired of their persecutions. One afternoon about dark there came a severe thunderstorm, and Tim said to himself, "If they are coming back at all they will come tonight." So telling his wife that he was going out to the country store and would not be back until very late, he went at once to the mill and secreted himself among some sacks of meal he had ground that afternoon. The force of the storm seemed to spend itself about the mill, the rain plumped heavily upon the shingle roof, the lightning flashed everywhere, burnish- ing the pond with a brazen, lurid light, and the thunder was so heavy that it made the old mill-house quake and tremble more than if all the wheels were turning and all the machinery were working at once. Tim was awe-stricken and regretted many times that he had left home. Presently the storm abated. Then it seemed to him that he had never heard such a carnival of frogs before ; all the frog- choirs in the mill-pond were joining in one grand oratorio. He had a sense of morbid dread, for he knew that frogs had always been considered under reproach, were associated with the devil, and were necessary to witches and their enchantments. Then he heard a wagon rattling down the hill as if coming to the mill, but it turned out to be a belated farmer going home after the storm ; he passed over the bridge, and the loud knocking of his wagon wheels was soon out of hearing. Some fireflies came TALES AND LEGENDS 663 into tlu' huildin^, Hashed their searchlights in his face and startled him ; he felt as if he were ( )restes pursued by the furies. And just as he was about to eoni])ose himself aj^ain a h\f^ owl, alightiiii^- on the roof, gave three loud guffaws that seemed to pierce his very soul. lie was overwhelmed by a presentiment of impending disaster ; he felt that something unusual was about to happen. Gooseflesh came out all over his body, he shuddered, and his old slouch hat, heavy and white with the lueal dust deposited on it, rose light as a cork above his head, the loud beating of his heart could not be controlled, and his whole frame quaked with dread. Then on a sudden there were loud knocks upon the front door, repeated several times in rapid succession, as if it had been struck l)y a dozen broomsticks ; all at once the door flew open, and in rushed a flock of black cats, with their tails all spread out and their backs hum])ed up in a menacing manner. They began at once to describe a large circle about him, draw- ing it closer and closer and striking at him with their ])aws as they ran by at full S])eed. Tim was bewildered, he was unpre- pared for the emergency, he had not counted on such a catas- trophe ; but it was soon clear to him that he must fight, that it would be a life and death afifair with forty angry cats attacking him at once. He felt, too, that he had to deal with some sort of supernatural power, so he bethought himself of an old axe he had near by (the very self-same one "Old Abner" showed me when he began his story). Tim seized it with both hands and raised it high above his head, selecting as his ([uarry a particularly vicious-looking old cat, whose eyes flashed a green- ish fire, and as she passed in the circle which was now drawing very close, and slapped at him, with the vehemence of Siegfried slaying the dragon, the axe descended, and completely severed the right foot from her body and it rolled ofif in the meal-box. Then followed a pandemonium of screams and caterwauls that ended in a stampede ; the back door flew open and out they went down the path over the dam, with Tim in hot pursuit ; but about halfway over he stumbled and fell and they dis- a])j>eared in the blackness of the night. Tim hurried home as fast as he could to tell his wife about his strange experience, and was completely dumbfounded to find her lying in bed with her right hand cut ofT at the wrist. For a moment he could not speak. Then as he began to ques- tion her she immediately changed into a black cat. and disappeared. No sooner had she done so when Tim heard a loud roaring of water, as if a great freshet were coming down the mill- ])ond, and he ran with all spei-d along the dam in order to raise 664 I^' " K T II ^ -^ R L I X A V L K L O R 1- the gates and save the mill, but before he was halfway across, the dam began to tremble beneath his feet, the tall trees along the bank tottered and fell into the water, as if swe]Dt by the besom of destruction. In a second more one hundred feet of the dam was swept away and Tim went down and was drowned in the flood. The big gap made in the dam the}' say is visible to this day. BOAZ SQUIRES, THE MAGICIAN Reported by Julian P. Boyd as collected from his pupils in Alliance, N. C. 1926-27. The idea of magic objects acting at the command of a magician is widespread. See Motif-Iudcx D1601. For the cats as the witch's familiar spirits, see Motif-Index G225.3. The last sentence in the account is far from clear. One is not sure what is meant by "the charm was broken." Boaz Squires, magician and wizard, was one of the first settlers in this county. The land patent he held was for land just back of Alliance High School running all the way to Bayboro. Often at supper some person or thing knocked on his door and called him out. His neighbors said that they heard blows and licks given, and that Boaz would return with scratches and cuts. They said he had been fighting with the devil. He was a great, powerful man. Once he made a contract with a man to build a boat by twelve o'clock on a certain day. At nine that morning the man asked him if the boat would be finished on time. Boaz told him not to worry. The man then asked him how much of the boat was still to be done. Boaz said that he had not yet started but told him to get his men together to come down to the river and launch the craft, and it would be completed by twelve that day. At eleven the people heard a great tree fall in the forest, and shortly thereafter, a great knocking and hammering, as if many men were at work. At twelve they went down to the river to launch the craft, and found Boaz sitting quietly whistling on top of the completed craft. He was a wizard and was able to command tools to work for him. He could dig ditches and do all kinds of difficult tasks without working. He had a large chest in his house and told his wife never to open it. For about three years she managed to control her curiosity, but finally, one day when Boaz was away, she opened it and found therein two huge cats. When Boaz came in, just at that moment, he was struck dead. It was said among the people that Boaz had been conjured, l)ut during the conjuration had locked up these two cats and thereby broken the charm; on their release the charm was broken. T A L F. S A X 1) L K C K N D S 665 WORK OF TllF. WITCH DOCTOR From Charles L. Coon, Wilson, N. C. iyi5- A good summary of North Carolina witch beliefs. Practically all the motifs have been noted m other tales. My fatht-r, who was born in 1S34, has often tnld nie that one of his earhesl recollections centered aronnd the death ot a young neighbor bov who received no other medical attention to aid him in combatting a severe case of typhoid fever than that supplied by the neighborhood witch doctor. This boy's parents were igiiorant and superstitious and believed in witches and in the powers witches were supposed to possess. When their young son fell sick they imagined he had been l)ewitched, so the witch doctor was sent for. He came and told the parents that their surmisings were correct, that witches had certamly caused the sickness of their child. Confidingly the parents permitted the witch doctor to have his way, and the treatment for "witches" was immediately begun. First, the "doctor" ordered the return of all borrowed property to the owners and also ordered that the parents of the sick boy call in everything which happened to have been borrowed from them. These orders embraced everything, and one neighbor was very much inconvenienced by having to return a log chain which he was using and could not at the time replace without purchasmg a new one. But finally all borrowed property was m place and then the doctor proceeded to treat the bewitched boy. For several weeks he visited the patient and put him through many physical calisthenics, all the while uttering in a low voice what appeared to be magic words or incantations in Pennsylvania Dtitch to drive away the spell wrotight by the witches. But no one understood or could interpret the magic words which were used. Davs passed and the child finally died. The witch doctor then reluctantly admitted that the spell of the witches was bevond his ix)wers. The death of this young child under such circumstances seems not to have caused anv great public indignation at the time. Only upon a few persons in the neighl)orhood did this death make any lasting impression, so general was the belief in witches. But who were these so-called witches.^ They were said to be human beings, sometimes men but more often they were supposed to l3e women. These witches were always regarded as mischief makers and malignant beings. Certain persons in the neighborhood were generally regarded as possessing maig- nant powers and were designated as witches. 1 hese witches were often thought to roam about tlie country, mostly at night, shooting hair balls. The slightest touch of the breath of those 666 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE swift flying balls resulted in loss of youth and physical health. Sometimes the witches were supposed to walk the rail fences on all fours, displaying large, flaming red eyes. It was thought, too, that the witches would sometimes steal away the horses from the barns and ride them at night about the country on their accursed missions. Horses ridden on such missions by witches were thought to disclose the fact by having some parts of the hair or the mane or tail kinked or knotted. Witches were frequently supposed not only to exert their evil influences upon human beings but also upon hogs, cattle, fowls, cats, dogs, and the like. If a cow went "dry," the witches were often charged with it. If the hogs or the cattle became diseased the witches were supposed to have been exercising their spells and the witch doctor was called in to try to restore them to health again. Some claimed they had seen witches enter their homes during the night, get astride their brooms and "ride" the brooms around the rooms, searching for victims. Some claimed to have seen witches on such occasions flourish the brooms over their heads and disappear up the chimney, after no one could be found in the house upon whom they could place their curses. But witches did not always travel at night. Sometimes a "witch-man" would come to a shooting match and spoil the "luck." On such occasions the participants would immediately disperse, saying that no prizes could be won while a witch-man was in their midst. Witches were thought to have the power not only to dis- appear or to vanish out of the sight of ordinary mortals, but also to assume the form of turkeys or other fowls. In such guise, witches were often claimed to have been seen. Let me relate an example. It was currently reported that a witch-man once assumed the shape of a turkey gobbler and perched himself on the limb of a high tree beside the path a famous hunter had to ])ass to reach his home. The hunter shot twenty-nine rounds at the supposed turkey, not knowing it was a witch. Every time his gun would fire, the witch turkey would stand erect on his perch, shake himself, and sit down again. Disgusted with his bad markmanship the woodsman went his way. Not far from the scene of his discomfiture, the hunter met a friend and re- lated to him his recent experience. His neighbor immediately pronounced the turkey a "witch" and declared that the witch- turkey could not be brought down except by means of a silver bullet. The two hunters then proceeded to the home of the one who had just shot twenty-nine times at the supposed turkey, moulded a silver bullet, and retraced their steps toward the tree upon which the "witch" was perched. As the hunters T A L E S A N D h K C K N D S 667 ai)])roachc(l within ranj^e, the turkey witch, suspecting what was ill store for him and that the hunters were possessed of a silver bullet, tiew away. However, the hunters, not yet satisfied, walked on in the direction the turkey had flown, and after pro- ceeding onlv a few hundred yards, they encountered a well- known witcii, a man who was famous all over the country as a witch of witches. This incident convinced the hunters that they were entirely correct in their surmisings, and that the turkey they had only recently seen fly away was the witch which they encountered a few minutes later in the human shape arrayed in his hunting shirt. I have already called attention to one method used to efTect a restoration of those supposed to be bewitched. The usual means resorted to to restore those who suffered from the spells worked by the hair balls thrown by witches was the following : The witch doctor would set a ladder up against a house, jjass the patient from bottom to top and from top to bottom through the rungs, something like plating the "splits" in the seat of a chair. After this performance, the patient was passed through a large horse collar, and a kind of magic oil or grease was used to make round rings on the ])atient's back. Dipping the thumbs of the patient in this oil ended the ])erformance. MISCELLANEOUS TRADITIONS ABOUT WITCHES From Alex Tugman, Todd. N. C, c. 1922. Most of these motifs have been met in earlier stories in this section. For parallels, see Motij-Indcx D2081, land made magically sterile; G265, witch abuses property; D2083.1, cows magically made dry; D2084.2, butter magically kept from coming; G265.3, witch rides horses at night; G241.2, witch rides on person ; G272.2, magic herb protects from witch. Under the spell of a witch, crops will either not mature or will wilt up and die. Pigs do not die, ])ut will stop growing in spite of feed and attention and in nian\- cases will even become smaller. Cows do not die, but the flow of milk ceases to a great extent in most cases, and sometimes ceases entirely. What milk is given will not produce butter. Bewitched horses die after trying to climb trees and walk logs and fences. Horses are often ridden by witches without being bewitched. You can tell when the witch has taken a ride by the horse's mane being tangled and knotted. Pe(^i)le are very often amazed in this way, though they seldom if ever lose their lives in this way. Their distress is usually limited to sickness, loss of property, failure of crops, bad dreams, and in rare cases, the object of the witch's wrath is taken from his bed at night and forced to crawl through brier ])atches and over stones until he is (|uite exhausted, while the witch takes a ride upon his back. N.C.F., Vol. I. (44) 668 X K T H CAROLINA F L K L R K Witches have a natural antipathy for lye soap. So in order to be successful in soap-making you must stir it with a sassafras stick while it is boiling. This, of course, will counteract the influence of the witch. Cream for making butter seems espe- cially susceptible to the influence of witches. If, in churning, the butter will not sei^arate from the milk, it is evidence of a witch. The only thing to do on such occasions is to put a coin in the bottom of the churn. The presence of the money attracts the attention of the witch and the butter will thus come. One of the folk beliefs collected in central and eastern N. C. in 1926-28 by Paul and Elizabeth Green. All these motifs have been seen in other stories in this section. People used to believe in witches. There was a man supposed to be a witch, and the people would not sell him anvthing for they said he would bewitch them. My great-grandmother's father was out in the yard one day and he came and asked him to sell him something. Her father wouldn't do it. The witch man went past the barn, where her mother was milking and as he passed, the cow fell over as if it were dead. Another man who was there said it was bewitched, so they called in two women who were witch doctors, and they cured it. My great- grandmother said that she didn't believe in witches but that this really happened. iii From Airs. William C. Scott, Greensboro N. C, 1936. For the magic conjuring bag, see Motij-Inde.x Di 274.1. Conjure men or women are looked upon as mysterious and sometimes dangerous people, by the other Negroes. They have the power of "throwing a spell" upon another person, and the power of taking spells of¥ of people. In the country the con- jure men are greatly feared by the Negroes, but in town they make a good living by their practices. I went to see a colored woman in Fayetteville who had paid five dollars to a conjure man for casting a spell upon a man who was going with her daughter. The conjure man had put the hair of a horse's tail, two needles, gunpowder, and a small rock into a bag and buried it under the doorstep of the man he was "throwing." In this particular case the conjure man succeeded. I was also told of a conjure man that sold magical handkerchifs which cured any kind of a pain. T A L K S A N I) I. i: <; K N D S 669 V. CHOSTS AXn HANTS TlIK L1TTIJ-: Ri:i) MAN From Adelaide X. Vuvs. Winston-Saleni, 1(^5. C'f. Mnlif-Indcx E281. The l)cst kiuiwn Salcni yhost is the Little Red Man, once a familiar tii,nn-e in the Brothers House, if tradition niav he he- lieved. The (|ueer part ahout this story is that its origin was neitluT in crime nor in mystery, and a proper ghost story should have either the one or the other as foundation. Here is what really hajjpened, as noted in the official record of the death of Andreas Kremser, the entry standing as No. 45 in tlie Church Book of Salem Congregation. "The Single Brother, Andreas Kremser, (lei)arte(l early in the morning of March 26, in the Brothers House here, and was huried on the 27th in our God's Acre. "He was horn March 7, 1753, in Gnadenhutten in Pennsyl- vania, and from his third year was hrought uj) in the home and school for little hoys, first in Bethlehem and then in Xazareth. "In Octoher. 1766, he came to North Carolina. In Bet]ial)ara he worked as a shoe-maker; and on Feh. 6, 1772. he moved to Salem. "On the 25th of March. 1786. he attended the festival services of the congregation and of his choir, hut was unconuuonly ([uiet all dav. After the evening service several of the Brethren de- cided to work for a while on excavating the cellar for an additicjn to the Brothers House. They used the method which had heen emi)loyed successfully in similar cases, that is the\- undercut a hank and then pulled down the overhang. Several Brethren douhted the advisahility of doing that here, hecause of the more sandy character of the soil, hut few agreed with them. "Ahout half past eleven Brother Kremser was warned hy a Brother who found him kneeling at this work, hut he could not see the danger. Ahout twelve o'clock, midnight, a Brother who was watching overhead saw that a great hank was hreaking, and called to the men working helow to jump hack, which they did, and no one was much hurt except our Brother Kremser, who could not get away c|uickly hecause he was on his knees. He was covered hy the falling earth and (|uite ])urie(l in it. He was dug out as quickly as possihle, and was then still alive, and spoke, complaining of pain. It was evident that his left leg was hroken. The doctor. Brother Lewis, opened a vein in his arm. hut little hlood flowed, and there were soon signs of his approaching departure, which followed ahout two o'clock, the blessing of the Church having been given to him amid many tears." This fatal accident in the midnight hour seems to have made 670 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE a deep impression on the men living in the Brothers House ; and thereafter, when an unusual sound was heard at night, espe- cially if it resemliled the tap-tap-tapping of a shoemaker's hammer, someone would whisper : "There's Kremser !" It is said that he was small of stature, and that he was wearing a red cap when the l)ank caved in on him, and now and then somebody would hear light steps hurrying through the hall, and occasionally someone would catch a glimpse of a little man in a red cap slipping past a door. In the course of years changes came, and the building was no longer used as a home for the unmarried men of the com- munity, but was occupied by some of the older women. Little Betsy often went thither to visit her grandmother. Now little Betsy had just learned to talk when a serious illness left her entirely deaf. She was tenderly cared for, knew nothing of accidents, death, or ghosts, but one day she came to her grand- mother in some excitement, pointing to the hall and saying in her childish speech : "Betsy saw little man out there, and he did this at her," beckoning with her finger, as one child calls an- other to play. A child's imagination, or the Little Red Man, who knows? The latter was the accepted version. Years passed, and stories told by elderly ladies living in the house were received with a half smile, until one day one of the substantial citizens of Salem showed a visitor through the interesting subcellars of the former Brothers House. He told the tradition of the Little Red Man, and suddenly there he was ! The two men suddenly resolved to catch him. but their out- stretched arms met around empty air, while the Little Red Man grinned at them from the doorway. The substantial citizen told the incident to the man who told me, so what more definite proof could be desired ? Incidentally I might remark that the aforesaid substantial citizen was not addicted to the use of spirituous refreshments, so that otherwise obvious explanation will not suffice. The present generation of residents in the old Brothers House declares that the Little Red Man no longer a])pears ; and it is claimed that the termination of his activity was caused by a visiting minister, who, hearing the story, declared that he could "lay the ghost," and pronounced an invocation to the Trinity, adding the command: "Little Red Man, go to rest!" Since this was the most long-lived ghost that Salem has owned it seems an open question whether one should be grateful to the clergyman who exorcised him. or to the electric lights which have driven the shadows from the subcellars of the one-time Brothers House. T A I. K S A N I) I. K C K N I) S 67 1 THE LIXEBACK GHOST From P)ri)\vn Hughes (age 78), Hughes, N. C. Recorded September 4, 1940. For the general subject of ghosts haunting houses, see Motif- Index E281. Ill the time of the Revolutionary War there was an old gentleman and a lady spent a night with a certain Zeh Franklin. They were carrying a very heavy box and it was in dead of winter and the weather was very had, and in the uKjrning when they got up to go the old gentleman had to have some person to help the box on his shoulder. It was heavy, and they were making their way to Cranberry, they said. This country then was not very thickly settled. But they never reached Cranberry and it was supposed that they had been nuuxlcred on the way. Well, several years after that there was a storehouse built by Taylor Burleson, and a man named Henry Lineback rented the storehouse from Burleson and put a stock of goods in it. From the time he commenced selling goods he heard something strange about the place in different forms. At times it would appear as dropping something from the loft down on the floor, like a sack of coffee falling, and then it would go to the scales and weigh stuff, which seemed unnatural like a spirit, you know, and at times it w^ould work at the door like it would try to break in and then it would disappear for that night. Then probably the next night it would come to the bed and crawl on you and press down on }ou and it got Mr. Lineback afraid to sleep in the store. Well, he hired some clerks, and a man named Bill Key said that it would come and whistle like there was a small tree standing in the yard and it would whistle like it was in the top of the tree, and would work at the door and go to the scales and weigh like it was weighing shot in the scales. One night Mr. Lineback went to the store with Mr. Henry Holler to sleep and when he opened the door, there was quite a big shaggy dog creeping along between the counters and he thought that somebody had left the dog there, but they hunted and hunted all over the place and there was no dog in there. Well, Mr. Lum Smith and I came to stay in Henry Lineback's store and we stayed quite a while there, and Mr. Smith heard a noise one evening when he was getting ready to go down to supper. He looked out and saw something going up in the air like a balloon. Well, a little further on, I had to go off to school and left Mr. Smith there by himself but the last night I stayed with him he told me that the next morning he didn't sleep any. There was something just like pulling the side of the house, like pulling raw hides down over the side of the house all night. Well, Mr. Smith slejjt by himself after that, and one night — 672 N O R T H C A R L I X A K O L K L R K he had the doors barred ui> with iron bars — he waked up and there was a man a-standing there and that excited him. He had a lamp in his hand. Smith threw the cover back over his head and he said the bed shook just Hke it would tear all to pieces and finally it t|uit and then he said he stood there for about an hour or so before he went to sleep and finally he went to sleep and he dreamed that a woman and a little girl came to him and wanted him to get up and go with them down in a patch of laurel near the store building and they would show him where they had some money buried. Well, then he said the woman said. "Now I'll stick this little crooked stick up by this log and here's a tree, and you can find the place when you want to dig for it." Mr. Smith said he waked up and as soon as it got light next morning he went down there in a place where he had never been before and he found that little crooked stick a-sticking up by the log, but he never dug for it. He said people would call him crazy digging for money, so he never dug for it. But he says that is not the worst he had ever seen. l)ut he wouldn't tell that. Well, my wife and I, we stayed in a room in one end of the store after we bought Henry Lineback out, and one night my wife was sick and about twelve o'clock in the night she asked me to get up and get her some medicine. Well, I got up on the floor and when I got up on the floor something took hold of the door and shook the whole side of the house just like an earthquake almost. Of course we didn't know what it was. A light snow fell that evening and no person had traveled in it, and I opened the door and looked out to see if I could see any tracks made in the snow but there was nothing there, nothing whatever, nothing had been around the door. So about three or four nights again I had to get up and I thinks before I got up, what if that shaking takes place again? Well, I hadn't been out on the floor but ten seconds when the same shaking took place again but I didn't open the door the next time. Well, I have a friend, Mr. William Daniels, who lived on Grassy Ridge — no, on Hawk Back Mountain — and he heard of the ghost being so rapid there, so he came on purpose se\-eral miles to sleep in the house to see if he could hear anything. And behold, it got on him that night and like to smothered him to death in the bed. He said when it got ofif it went like news- papers being torn up and went right down through the head of the bed. Well, my little experience there in sleeping : I was there by myself one night. I hadn't gone to sleep yet, but something crawled up on me just after I had gone to bed and commenced pressing down and I gave a main kick and kicked it off the lower ciul of tlu' 1)0(1. My brotluT and 1 were sleeping in there one night too and we hadn't gone to sleej) hut were lying there talking. 1 had a ledger lying on the end of the counter, and the foot of the bed ju.^t gave rooni for a per.son to walk between the foot of the bed and the counter. Something i)icked that book up and coninienced turning through it i)age by i)age and it had about time to turn through a thousand-page ledger ; then it pitched it down on the counter and then picked it up again and turned through it again two or three times and fmally it (|uit. But I didn't ask it how the account stood. Later they did some mining work right near the old store building and they had a mine shaft about sixty-tive feet deep. They were working that with a whim and they had a boy up there tending to it. They were working a horse in the whim and during the night something like a big shaggy dog would jump up and tn- to get the horse by the nose. This boy's uncle was down at our house sleeping and he came down there very much ex- cited and wanted his uncle to go up with him. He said some- thing was trying to bite the horse's nose ofif. and he went there and stayed with him a while but a little later on Mr. Tom Love saw the same looking dog disappear down in one of those deep mine holes. The party that was boarding with me. Mr. Grindstatf. and was sleeping in an old church, said that he had heard many unnatural noises there. One day when they were working the mine u]) there ( at that time all the fixtures and everything was moved out of the old store building) there was a clock that lit in and struck eleven o'clock and there was no clock in the house. It just naturally struck eleven o'clock. .\t that time they could hear banjos a-picking in there. When that house was being built by a Mr. Rose, the contractor, he had the gum ceiling uj) but not the floor laid on top, but he said something as heavy as a man's weight walked from joist to joist back- wards and forwards during the daytime. THE CRK.\KIN'G BUREAU From C. R. Baglcy, .Moyock, N. C. c. IQIS- I went to an old house once to see the man and liis wife. Just before retiring the lady of the house came up to nie and said, "You need not worry if you hear the old bureau creaking tonight, and don't pay any attention to steps on the stairs." I went to bed rather fate after we had held family prayers, l>ut had scarcely fallen asleep when I was suddenly awakened l)y such popping and snapi)ing of that old l)ureau as I had never heard before. Anxious to settle in my mind the cause of this uncannv noise. T rose hurriedly, lit my candle, and peered 6/4 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE everywhere. There was nothing to be seen. I tried to sleep, but without success. The same noise happened at regular inter- vals for the rest of the night. At times steps could be heard on the stairs — steps of men carrying a heavy burden. At breakfast next morning I told my experience, l)ut could get no satisfactory explanation of the unusual noises. The lady simply said that it was an occurrence which happened every night of her life. This story was told by a preacher in reply to a young preach- er's statement that his people were so superstitious that it was necessary for him to preach a sermon against spirits. After relating this experience which he himself had, he turned to the young preacher, "Do you mean to tell me that you preached to your people against spirits?" THE CROATAN FISHERMAN From Hodgin, southeastern N. C. (No further information given.) About ten years ago a Croatan who lived about one quarter of a mile from our pond was known far and near as being a great fisherman. He might be seen almost any night with a light going to the pond to fish. He worked on the farm in the daytime ; therefore, he did not have time to fish then. By exposing himself to the winter's cold, in this way, he had pneumonia and died. After this, the Negroes said they could see Uncle Billy with his light going to the pond to fish almost every night. A while after this a family of Negroes moved into the house he had lived in. They told that Uncle Billy might be heard feeding his mule, and taking down his fishing poles and nets. THE GHOST ON THE MILL ROAD By J. S. Jones, Cumberland county, no date, but after 1917. For this and the next story, see Motif-Index E272. While on a visit in the country (Cumberland county) my sister, brother, grandmother, and two aunts, and I were going from the little village to grandmother's home about a mile away. On the way we had to pass an old mill pond — and had to cross two bridges across the races. We had just crossed the first bridge when everyone in the company heard something like the rustle of the wind l)ehind us. Everyone looked around and saw a man coming — but without any effort at all — he was simply gliding with the breeze. He passed within five feet of the com- pany and was seen by all. As he passed by we could see his white collar, but could not see his head. We watched him until he had gone about fifty yards then he vanished. We retraced our steps and would not go home until some men went with us. T A I. K S A N 1) L K C. ENDS 6/5 TllK GHOST ON THE CKMETKRV ROAD Prnm Fannie Vann, Clinton, N. C, I923(?)- fri-htcncd and ran away. HAUNTED GRAVEYARDS f'iSecial abode of haunts. Others, however, were avo.ded at night to some extent. ii From Eleanor Simpson, East Durham. 1923. \ \earo woman once told me that when she hxed n a 1 ttk tormentors. THE GHOSTLY PACK Fr,,tn W O Grigg, Cleveland county, c. 1927. • a' count V roadside in Cleveland county, hack m slave 6/6 N O R T H C A U O L 1 N A F O ]. K I. () R K short chase of about a hundred and fifty yards, the hounds dis- appeared under a pile of wood and nothing has been heard of them since. KADESH ORGAN From W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, c. 1927. There is a Methodist church in upper Cleveland by the name of Kadesh, where at almost any time during the day if one be there, footsteps can be heard going up the steps, along the aisle and finally the church organ will begin to play. A carpenter, whose veracity isn't usually questioned, has told this story. He had been sent there to do some repair work on the church. When he heard the steps in the church, he thought some one was coming in to see how he was getting along, but on looking up, he saw nothing at all. The footsteps proceeded up the aisle, and then the organ began to play. He looked around, but no one could be found. He immediately made his exit, and to this day no one can explain the mystery. GHOST STORY FROM DARE COUNTY From Mary Scarborough, Dare county, c. 1923-25. Cf. Motif-Indrx E236. Once upon a time there were two sisters named Mary and Kate. Kate was the owner of a beautiful diamond ring. Finally, Kate died, and when she lay dead Mary took the ring from Kate's finger. Several days later, a figure came and stood before Mary and said in a shivering tone, "Mary, I'm so cold." This happened night after night and Mary could bear it no longer. She knew the figure was Kate. When she asked advice someone sug- gested that she ask Kate to come in and warm. She did and the following conversation took place. Mary : "Kate, where is your beautiful ?" Kate: "In the grave, so-o cold." Mary: "Where are your beautiful white hands?" Kate: "In the grave, so-0-0 cold." Mary: "Well Kate, where is your beautiful diamond ring?" Kate, suddenly: "You got it!" A HANDSHAKE From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. For the dead sweet- heart haunting the faithless lover, see Motif-Index E211. A long time before the Civil War a young man, George Deans, was engaged t(j a beautiful yovuig girl, Rachel Vincent. The girl was very deeply in love, and when she became aware of her lover's infatuation for another girl, she began to pine and droop. Day bv day she grew weaker and soon she was near r A 1. K s A \ II I. K <; !•■ N I) s 677 to death. She had her liinid .scud for Ikt htvcr. She told him that he had proved untrue lo her in this world hut she would claim him in the next. A few day.s later she was buried in the family graveyard. One night this lover went to call on the other girl and made love to her. He had to return home 1)\- the grave\ar(l where his first love was huried. When he passed by, the ghost of his dead love appeared and clasped his right hand in a strcjug grasp. lie went on home white as cotton, liis hand in an agonv of pain. The next morning his hand was shriveled U]). They sent for the doctor, but it was no use. He was dead in three days. HANTS From Helen Fraser Smith, 1923. Cf. Motij-lndcx E230, F436, K742.2, and E236. Our cook told me a story about a man living in her neigh- borhood wdio had killed another man in self-defense. Some weeks later, the man was "tak'n sick" because the s])irit of the murdered man had gotten inside him and cast a spell. The most popular belief in hants is that they are unearthly beings who at one time were men. Ways of knowing their presence are by: the breaking of sticks, cats or rabbits crossing one's path, and bats flying in the house. A Xegro will not pick up a coat or anything lying cjn the ground if a stick is lying across it. Also jack-o'-lanterns are supposed to be the spirits doomed to wander in the sw-amps, and can be dodged by turning the pockets inside out ! Our cook told me an interesting story concerning the topic. It seems that her family occti]iied a house in which a woman had died. One evening she and her sister went to the well for water. While they were pulling the bucket uj) their mother heard a peculiar noise in the house and immediately came run- ning outside to tell the girls not to bring the water inside. The noise was the dead woman's spirit ])rotesting against tin- use of her well. TKK I'OLLV I'l.ACK CllOST From Mrs. (Jertriule Allen \'aught, .Xlexander county, \()22-2^. At a place near my home familiarly known in the commiuu'ty as "The ]\)lly Place" a ghost used to wander. A friend of mine told me he was coming by there one night and he saw a white thing approaching him. He was so frightened he couldn't move for a few minutes and the ghost kept coming nearer. Then he ran as fast as he could and looked back three times. Twice when he looked back it was still following him but the third time it was gone. .\n old woman had died there all alone several years l)efore. 678 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE THE SPINNING WHEEL From Mrs. Gertrude Allen Vaught, Alexander county, 1922-23. For the ghostly object, see Motif -Index E530. My great-great-grandfather Mays took my grandmother to an old home known as the "Flowers House" near York Insti- tute, where people had been hearing a wheel spinning. He told it to spin and it began. Grandmother said it sounded exactly like the noise made by a spinning wheel. I have often heard her tell this story and of how frightened she was at the time. THE HAUNTED SPRING From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 1914-15. All arc well-known motifs; see Motif -Index E421.1.2, E501.12.4, and E411.1. There is a spring by the roadside one mile east of Watauga River where many different kinds of ghosts are said to be seen. The reputation of the place for being haunted is known to scores of people. Andrew Wilson, a reliable farmer living near Zionville, has seen one of the haunts; he says. "I was coming from Elk Park one night about twenty years ago (in 1915). I'd been there with a load of lumber. When I come to the spring where the. ghosts are seen I stopped to let my horses drink. The horses wouldn't drink and they seemed like they was skeered. Just then I looked ahead of me in the road and seed a man standing there. I could see he had shiny brass buttons on his coat like a soldier. Thinking it was somebody, I says "Howdy." It didn't make no reply, so I spoke agin but it didn't notice me. I watched it several minutes and while I was gazin' at it the thing jist seemed to fade away and I could never see where it went to. I tell ye, I drove off from there in a hurry, but I didn't see the worst things that are seen there," continued Mr. Wilson. "Why! lots and lots of people have passed there of nights and see'd the strangest things you ever heerd tell of. They first see seven possums cross the road and go into a laurel thicket near the spring, then seven dogs right after the possums, then seven men across the road right after the dogs into the laurel and right after the men, they see seven coffins sail across the road to the laurel thicket, ^'es, there was a man murdered there before the war ; that's what causes them strange things to be seed." THE HAUNTED LAUREL From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 19x4-15. Cf. Motif-Index D1812.5.1.7 and E411.1. Mr. Smith says, "The ghost tales are all taken from narratives by people well along in years. The incidents related are told by them in good faith. Among the people who have related them to me are Mrs. Chonie Smith, Mrs. Polly Rayfield, Bennett Smith, and others, all residing in this vicinity. Concerning the apparition seen by Dr. Rivers of Boone, I will say that tliis lias been well known for T A L K S A XI) I. I". C I". N I) S 679 over 40 VL'ars. Dr. Rivers was a rcliahli' man, from all accounts. (His son is tiic editor of tlie Watauga Pniiocrat.) The Headless Uog is also a well-known tale. The spots wliere it was said to first appear at can still he located." The Big Laurel, a dense jungle of laurel ivy and other moun- tain timber lying in the western part of Watauga county, used to he haunted, according to reliable peoi)le living near there. Among the many who had encounters with hants along the old road leading through the laurel was Dr. Rivers, a well-known physician of Boone. A few years after the close of the Civil War the doctor was riding along the lonely road through the laurel just before day- break. At a i^lace where the road made a temporary bend to avoid a large fallen oak tree the doctor was surprised to see in the road on the other side of the fallen tree a strange man sit- ting on a gray horse exactly like his own steed. Turning the bend into the main road the doctor was still worse surprised to find no horse or man where he had just seen them. They seemed to have vanished suddenly. The i)hysician rode on to a farm house two miles distant where he told the story of his encounter with the strange horseman to several people, some of whom are yet living. The spectral horseman was believed to have been a warning of Dr. Rivers' death, as he died a very short time afterward. The exact spot where the strange horseman was seen by Dr. Rivers can be pointed out at any time by more than one person living near the laurel. There are several other tales of ghostly sights seen by per- sons tra\eling the road years ago but they are so much alike that it would be useless to retell them. No one knows any reason for the laurel being haunted, though one man suggests that the Indians who used to camp here of a summer may have murdered one of their own tribe and buried him in or near the laurel. THE SPEAKING CORPSE From Adelaide N. Fries, Winston-Salem, 1934. Cf. Motif-Index E415. One ghostly incident is associated with the Saleiu Tavern, its authenticity vouched for by the tavern-kee])er himself, who in his later years told the story to a young friend, who in turn told me. One day a man on horseback rode up to the Tavern and asked for a room. The tavern-keeper, seeing that the man was ill. helped him to bed and sent for the doctor, but in spite of all efTort and care the man lapsed into a coma before any (|ues- tions were asked, and died without recovering consciousness. Investigation showed that his clothes were not marked, and his saddle-bags contained nothing which gave a clue to his 68o O L K L U K E identity, so he was given decent burial in the Parish Grave- yard, and his saddle-lmgs were laid away on the bare chance that they might be claimed. A few days later the servants in the tavern became uneasv, and began to talk about "something" haunting the place. The tavern-keeper pooh-poohed the idea, and sternly bade them be- have, but the whispers and the nervousness continued. One evening a maid rushed into the office, pale with fright, and declared hysterically that something was out in the hall. An- noyed and impatient, the tavern-keeper went to investigate, and to his utter amazement at once became aware that something really was there. Instead of running he stood his ground, and received a message which gave the name of his late guest, the name of a man in Texas said to be the late guest's I)rother, the message ending with a request that the brother be notified of his decease. Impressed in spite of himself, the tavern-keeper decided to write a letter to the Texas address as given, describing the guest and giving full details of his end. In due time an answer came, bringing full confirmation of the guest's identity, and asking that the saddle-bags be forwarded to the Texas home. I never heard what Ijecame of the horse, but it probably paid for the Tavern room, medical care, and burial expenses. As soon as the first letter to Texas was written, the manifestations ceased, and the shipment of the saddle-bags permanently closed the incident, even the servants hearing no more of the supposed spirit, which apparently departed as soon as its errand was accomplished. THE HEADLESS MAX OF STOXEV CREEK From Mrs. Nilla Lancaster, Wayne county, 1923. For the headless gliost, see Motij-Indcx E422.1.1. On a hill near Stoney Creek stands a small church house. Back of this house is a graveyard so old that few can tell where any whites are buried. The Negroes have used it in the later days. Years ago a man was said to have been killed under a big oak, his head being cut oi¥ and carried away leaving his unknown body. The body was found under this oak in the churchyard. They buried it in the graveyard behind the church. You may find some old men today that will tell you that they have seen that headless body, wrapjied in a sheet, begging for his head, and moaning, standing under that oak tree about the hour of midnight. THE HEADLESS WOMAN From W. Q. Grigg, Cleveland county, 1927. Cf. Motif-Index E422.1.1 and E581. John Gantt, of upper Cleveland, was riding along a country .,■ .\ I. KS AN 1. I. K^1 road (.ne nisht with a friend and at a certain place ni llie r..ad a headless wc.inan appeared. She followed a short distance, and jumped on the horse hehind his friend. She reniamed there only a few moments until she vanished. Mr. Gantt resolved to ask who she was and what she wanted if he should see her agam So, he happened to he passing hy there a few nights later and she came and jumi)ed on the horse hehind him. He didn t ask her anything. THE CR.VZV WOM.W GHOST From W. Q. Grigg. Cleveland county, 1927- Cf. Motif -Index E581. In the country district of upper Cleveland a certain man stopped in a church to get out of a storm one summer nigljt. Just as he stepped inside the door, he saw a woman in a night dress coming toward him with outstretched arms. He was hold- ing his mule just outside the door and as soon as he collected his presence of mind, he leaped on his mule and started away. However he was not to escape so early, for the old woman iumi^d on hehind him. He found out later that the ghost was a crazv woman who lixed in the neighborhood. She had wan- dered off and happened to be in the church where he stopped. THE BRIDAL GHOST From W. Q. Grigg. Cleveland county, 1927- For the dead lover's malevolent return, see Motif-Index E210. John Lutz. a man in upper Cleveland, had lost his sweetheart, she having died of typhoid fever. One night he came ruling by the gravevard. and as he passed between the graveyard and the church he saw her rise from the grave with her mother. Her eves and mouth seemed to be of flame, but he recognized her She advanced and crossed the road in front of his horse, and as she passed she spoke and said "Come along John, and went into the church. He. of course, did not follow her bidding but went straight home. His horse was so much trightcned that for days afterwards every time anyone a])pr()ache(l the stable it would tremble violently. GR.\VEV.\RI) GHOSTS From Lucille Massey. Durham county, U)27-2?<(')- Wi.lesprca.l motifs. Cf. Motif -Index E421.1, E547. One night a man was otit hunting opossums. He had the best opossum dogs in Wake c.unty. He heard his dogs bark- ing furiouslv for a few minutes, then a frightened and ternhed note was heard, and the barking became terrified whines. 1 he man stopped suddenly and listened. He heard a loud noise as of the clanking of many chains, and the groaning ot many people. 682 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Looking about him, the man found that he was standing in a road between two graveyards. The clanking of the chains and the groaning and moaning kept up. The most pecuHar of all things was the uncanny action of the dogs. They came grovel- ing and sliding over the ground towards their master, with their hair bristling straight up. They jumped upon the man, clung closely to him, showing every evidence of extreme terror. Be- coming frightened himself, the hunter ran from the scene, and the mystery was never solved. THE BONNETED GHOST From James Hawfield, Union county, I9i5-i6(?). Cf. Motij-lndcx E422, E581. There are stories of hants in my community. I rememl^er hearing a man tell of a hant getting after him one cold, rainy night. While he was riding horsel)ack through a dark wood that was said to be haunted, a hant got upon his horse and rode along with him for a long distance. The man said the ghost was dressed in white and had a bonnet pulled down over his face. THE HEADLESS DOG OF BRUSHY FORK From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 1914-15. Cf. Moiij-Indcx E413, E421.2, and E522. There once stood a schoolhouse on a little rise near the road leading from Cove Creek to Brushy Fork. The house had been gone for many years and the only evidence of its existence was a heap of stones where the rough chimney had once stood, when people living in the settlement near there began to speak of see- ing the headless dog ( which came out of the heap of stones on the site of the old schoolhouse). The cause of the hant appearing there has never been ex- plained. Some people hint that long ago when the country was thinly settled and people were not very inquisitive con- cerning each other's doings a traveler and his dog were killed by robbers and buried under the schoolhouse. There are several persons living in Cove Creek who have heard of the dog without a head which used to follow those who passed the schoolhouse site after dark. Some of them remember hearing reliable people tell of having seen the spectral dog, even of being followed by it. One man was traveling the road to Brushy Fork after dark ; he was riding. Just as he rounded the bend where the old schoolhouse had stood he plainly saw by the light of the full moon a large black dog come down the bank from the chimney place. It came into the road and followed after hiuL Having heard of the hant before, the traveler put spurs to his horse and rode rapidily away from the T A I, K S A N 1) r. K C. V. N I) S 683 gloomy ])lace. hut tlu- dog houncU'd after him ,swiftl\-, and actually loai)ed on tht- horse's hack hehind the frightened man. Casting a glance hackward. he saw the ghastly creature sitting calmly hehind him. its hloody neck from which the head was missing almost touching him. The horse apparently was not aware of the horrid spectre's close proximity hut the man certainly was, although he dared not look hehind him the second time until he had reached a settlement several miles distant, where on venturing to look hack he found the dog had vanished. One night nearly thirty years ago, three young men were returning from a meeting on Brushy Fork. Their way home- ward led past the haunted house site ; prohahly they had each heard the tales ahout the headless dog and regarded them as made-up stories. They passed the heap of stones on the rise ahove the road, where they saw nothing unusual hy the light of the moon which was shining hrightly ; hut some distance he- yond there one of the young men looked hack and ohserved a large black dog following closely behind them. He called the attention of the others and they stopped to observe the animal more closely ; their observation convinced them that it was the headless dog, and that it cast no shadow on the ground where it walked in the bright moonlight. Without saying much the young men turned and traveled as rapidly as possible on their way home, but the dog still followed them and even went ahead gamboling and rolling at their feet. One youth struck at it with a cane ; the cane went through the spectre as through a shadow, and struck the road. After this the young men broke into a run, the dog keeping close with them imtil they reached a creek some two miles from where it had first appeared ; here it turned back, evidently very reluctant to do so, as it could be seen in the moonlight to stop now and then and turn in the direction of the terrorized youths, who lost no time in widening the dis- tance between themselves and the horrible spectre. There are other tales told of this hant, but the instances related are sufficient to prove that the headless dog of Brushy Fork was as bloodcurdling a sight as ever human eyes looked upon. THE HEADLESS MAX NEAR THE BRIDGE From Elizabeth Janet Cromartie, Garland, N. C, c. 1928. Cf. Motif- Index E422.1.1. One time I was in the kitchen talking to our cook, and she was telling some tales about how she wouldn't cross a bridge not far from our house by herself after the sun went down be- cause there was a man without a head there that would get after you. 684 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE THE GHOSTLY WARNING From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 1914-15. Cf. Motif-Index E423.1.1, E421, and D1812.5.1.17. Grandma Smith, who is eighty-four years of age (in 1915), relates the following instance of a ghostly warning which occurred in the Johns River section of Caldwell county over seventy years ago. "Came" Allen, a young man of the neighhorhood, started one night from the house where he was staying, for a brick kiln which was being burned by a man named Moore. Shortly after he started young Allen noticed a dog following him down the road. The peculiar thing about the dog was its tail, which was white and thin like a strip of "factory cloth" ; the young man walked very fast but the dog kept right at his heels. Once he turned and kicked at the strange animal, but his foot seemed to go through it, and badly scared he hastened on toward the brick kiln. The dog only ceased to follow him when he was close to the blaze of the kiln. Several men, mostly Negroes, were gathered around the fire, and, to them, the young man told about his pursuit by the dog with the "factory cloth" tail, which must have been a warning of his death, as a few minutes afterward just as he was preparing to make a running jump in a contest with some of the darkies, he dropped dead. The facts related were well known at the time by every- one in that neighborhood. Grandma says, when she was a girl, she used to be afraid to pass the spot where "Came" Allen fell dead. THE GHOSTLY LIGHTS From Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 1914-15. Mr. Smith says: "This narrative was told me by Abner Grogan (age 55) who lives near Big Laurel, noted as a place where 'hants' are seen. He has lived in this settlement practically all his life ; his father's name was Anderson Grogan. Anderson Grogan was a Confederate soldier, and died in 1864, I think, at Camp Morton, Indiana." I've seen the lights many a night a comin' out o' the lor'l. Sometimes they's two lights and then agin they's three. They look jest like candles and they come a sailin* up the road to- wards my house till they git to that big gate below the barn. The night at'er anybody dies in the neighborhood them lights jest comes and goes all night. I've seen 'em and dozens o' others has seen 'em. The night a'ter Herman Wilson's wife died we seen them lights a comin' and a goin' as long as we stayed awake. .Sometimes they'd come to the gate and then take down the branch and then agin they'd sail out across that field yander to-wards the lor'l. I've allis heerd that Injuns caused them things to be seen in the lor'l. Vou know they u.sed to camp all around about here. I've jilowed uji a bushel T A L K S A N I) I. K C. K N I) S 685 o' Injun" llints in them ole lu'lds hack o' the lor'L They's purty good grounds fer l)'levin' that them Injuns made way with some o' their hand and huried 'em in the lor'l and that's what causes them Hghts and other strange things to he seen here. THE GROANING GHOST From Kate S. Russell, Person county, 1923 (?). Cf. Motif -Index £547- 1. Only a few years ago, in a home in Roxhoro, ahout four o'clock in the afternoon, when one of the kids came home from school, the little girl ran in to get something to eat. All her jx^ople were away from home. She heard a terrible mourning u|)stairs, and knowing that her hrcjther had heen sick the night before, she ran u]) to his room and called him. On entering the room, she found it vacant, hut heard the groaning in an- other room. She went in every room in the house, but was unable to locate the mourning. Becoming frightened, she ran to the next house for her mother, and the other neighbors were asked to come and help search for the ghost. There were ahout twenty people search- ing every nook and corner, till after sundown, but were never able to locate the noise. THE DYING CHILD From J. S. Jones. Place not given. For analogous stories, see Motif- Indcx E-22.2. In 1 91 7, a man moved into our neighborhood. He knew no one and no one knew him. Soon after settling there his yf)ung boy became sick of fever ; the father and mother sat up nights and attended to the child until they were broken down. Finally my brother and I went to sit up with the child so the parents might have a night's rest. .•\botit 4 o'clock A..M. I was sitting by the fire in a straight chair, and being tired and sleepy I fell asleej) and fell over. When the chair struck the floor the child began to groan and in a few minutes died. Hie very second the child breathed his last breath, all five doors in the house flew wide open. I closed the doors myself. THE PARTING GHOST From R. T. Dunstan, Greensboro, N. C, c. 1925. Cf. Motif-Index E586. When a ])erson dies his spirit always goes back to where he earned his last money, or where he lost a limb or any member of his body, to claim it before leaving for the other world. OOO NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE REWARD FOR STAYING IN HAUNTED HOUSE From Eleanor Simpson, East Durham, 1923. She had it from a Negro. For the reward for staying in the haunted house, see Motif -Index H1411. One night an old man went to a farmer's house and asked to remain there overnight. The farmer told him he could sleep there provided he would go out to the little haunted house in the back yard. The farmer promised to give the stranger a bag of money if he would stay in the house till morning. The stranger went to the house and got ready to go to bed, but before retiring he sat on the floor and began reading his Bible. He heard something rolling and went out to investigate but found nothing. He began reading again and he heard some- thing skating. He investigated but nothing did he find. These noises went on till early in the morning. A knock sounded on the man's door and on opening it, he found a headless man standing there with a hatchet in his hand. This headless man took him by the hand, led him down the steps to a little door at the end of the steps. He took the hatchet, knocked the door in and pulled out a bag of money and handed it to the stranger. He received his reward for staying all night in that haunted house. THE FORK IN THE SKIRT From Roy Grogeen, Randolph county. A loose version of a rather wide- spread story. Some years ago there was an old woman that ])elieved in all ghost stories. One day someone told her to go out and stick a fork in a certain grave. She did this that night and she stuck the fork through her skirt while she knelt down to stick the fork in the ground. When she started to get up, her skirt was caught by the fork and she thought it was a ghost holding it. She fainted and died there. People said that the reason for this was that she was old and had heart trouble. This hap- pened in Randolph county. The farm is called "The Old Hines Place." VI. OTHER MYSTERIES Bluebeard's death From P. D. Midgett, Roanoke Island, Wanchese, N. C, c. 1921. Mrs. Janie Stowe of Hatteras says that it is an alleged fact that after Bluebeard was captured, beheaded, and thrown over- board at Ocracoke he swam around the ship three times in search of a rope by which to climb to the deck. TALES AND I. K G K N D S 687 Til' HOC-STEALING "WAUMl'AUs" Frcin Kakiyli />(/i7v Xncs, (3ctol)cr, 1930. Stories are at lar<;e that a "vvaiinipaus," wliicli rises u]) in various parts of the country, has l)een steahng hogs l)odily on Roanoke Island; that it walks upright most of the time with a squealing hog in its arms ; makes screauLs much like a radio soprano, and rims the scale downward to hullfrog hass ; has a track like a dog, hut as large as a horse's footprints. Some say they have tracked it for miles hack to its lair in a swamp just heyond the graveyard in the poorhouse oldfield. Some advance the theory that it is a hear strayed over from the mainland. Others say it is a thief under pressure of Hoover pr(jsperity, while Joe W'oodley, old-time Negro, says with much hluster and liravado. which helies his looks: "Tain't nuthing hut damn hlack nigger." THE THREE FAIRIES From W. S. Smith. Cornelius, N. C, 1920-25. For tlie fairies in white, see Motif -Index F236.1.3. Near here two sisters and a brother claim to have seen three fairies. The children were from twelve to fourteen years of age ; and all tell the .same thing about the fairies. They say that the fairies were very white and dres.sed in white ; that they were about three feet high, held hands, and moved before them very fast, disappearing in a woods. THE VISION OF AUNT SALLY SIMMS From Mrs. Ira Vance, Pineola, N. C. ; from a recording made July 5, 1940 — as told to her by Aunt Martha ("Granny") Clark. Many common motifs are here. Cf. Motif-Index D1731.2 and D1812.3.3 for the dreams. For devil motifs, see G303. Well, Jake and Betty were married and Bill was the brother of Betty, and Ralph was a dear friend to Betty and they had sjjarked a lot before she and Jake were married, and Bill resented this because he was very fond of his sister and of her husband, Jake. The house was a little old log cabin that was built down here about a hundred and fifty years ago and was in pretty biad shape, and they had a little lean-to built to one side, and Sally came to stay with Betty because Jake was off at work aiid Betty was afraid to stay by herself so he got Sally to stay with her at night until he could come back. He was usually gone about ten days at a time. One night Sally was settin' by the fire and Betty was sick in bed, and Sally heard something far ofT all of a sudden like all kinds of music playing — fiddles, banjos, and all kinds of music that was going on, and a big noise of shuffling feet like if they 08» NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE were dancing, and all of a sudden the door flew open and the latch-string was pulled on the inside and button was turned and in came the devil, his wife, four children — now they say- there ain't no children in hell but there was four children with the devil that night — and nine of the most beautiful women Aunt Sally had ever seen, and there were nine hellcats that danced all over the floor round and round, and the old devil had his pitchfork in his hand, a big long tail, and they went into the little lean-to where they ate and they put supper on the table. They put all kinds of the best things to eat : pies, cakes, and jugs and jugs of syrup; and my goodness, they had apple dumplings as big as your fist and great big dishes of salad. They asked Aunt Sally to come to supper but she said, "No thank you, I've done been to supper." They insisted that she eat but Aunt Sally wouldn't. They went ahead and ate it all and I don't know what went with the dishes. They just disappeared, and then the devil came into the liv- ing room, the room where Aunt Sally was settin', and they danced around and had music, and all of a sudden they just van- ished away. Aunt Sally went on to bed that night — she slept in a trundle bed under the bed where Betty was sleeping. The next day she got up and had to hunt pine knots and wood and things like that in the woods. She wanted to have pine knots so that she would have light the next night cause she felt like the devil and his wife would come the next night. They didn't have any oil lamps then and had no way of making light except by candles, and only a few had candles, and she gathered pine knots all day and had a great big pile in the chimney corner when dark came. She had her work all done and was settin' and waiting and all of a sudden she heard far away music coming closer and then it seemed like she heard people dancing and all kinds of pretty music, the latch-string had been pulled in that night and all of a sudden the button turned and in came the devil and his wife, the nine beautiful women, and the nine hellcats, and those four children, and they put another supper on the table and they invited Aunt Sally to eat with them but she told them no, as she did the night before, that she wasn't hungry. And that night she had a big forestick on the fire and a big backstick, and pine knots burning in order to make the light, and one of the little hellcats went and climbed up on the forestick right slam in the blaze and was settin' there. Aunt Sally said, "Get down from there, you little hellcat, don't you know you'll get burned up?" And that cat just sat there right on, it never got down, and the others came up to the stove and she picked up a kettle full of boiling water and poured on the cats, and the boil- ing water just rolled off and didn't do one bit of harnL T A I. K S A N 1) I. K C. K N I) S 689 The devil then came in with a vial of hlood in his hands and he went up to Hetty's hed and Aunt Sally got up and went liack to the hed and said, "Get uj) from there, don't you know that woman is sick?" And he just gave a little flit and right over hehintl the hed he went and hefore you could hat your eyes he was hack in the middle of the floor again. She looked around and the devil's wife was standing there and she had taken a little tin hox out of her bosom and she oi)ened the box and stuck her tinger in it and it looked like hlood. and she went up to each of those beautiful women and on each breast made a cross of blood on each of the women's breasts, and then they all just disappeared. So the next day Aunt Sally gathered pine knots again and the third night there was no moon, no stars, just as dark as it could be. Aunt Sally went to the door, opened it, and looked out, and it was just as light out as day and the yard was full of chickens picking around, but they didn't have a chicken on the i^lace, yet the yard was full of chickens there that night and it was just as light out and she looked out at the corner of the house where the digging was going on and she could see the shovels full of dirt coming out of the o])en grave. On the other side of the house she saw an apple tree and she saw a hand sticking out from the limbs of the apple tree and the hand was holding a white-handled pocket knife and the hand was cutting out the twigs and they were falling to the ground. Then she saw a big white oxen with black spots on it and a man was riding on the oxen, and she looked back then for the hand and the knife and it was gone. A lot of twigs had been cut off and was laying on the ground and then she looked back for the man and the oxen and the man was lying down in the yard flat on his back and the oxen was laying by his side, and then it all vanished away and turned dark. And the next moment she got up and said, "Well, I've stayed here the last night I'm goin' to; you'll have to get somebody else to stay." She came over to my house and said, "The devil's routed me. the devil's routed me, the devil's routed me!" I said, "What on earth do you mean, Sally?" Then she told me all this story. Of course I didn't believe it and I said. "Aunt Sally, you know good and well you just dreamed that." But she says, "Xo, I didn't dream it. \'ou know good and well if I had a-dreamed that I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of gathering wood and pine knots to make light. I wouldn't have worked all day so hard if it had been a dream." And she got mad and left, and she told it to several people and we all knew Aunt Sally had just dreamed it. As I told you before, Ralph was in love with P.etty and they 690 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE had done quite a good deal of sparking before Betty and Jake was married. Bill knew about this and he didn't want Ralph to break up the home of Jake and Betty. Ralph and Betty decided to run away and leave Jake and be married, so they started out and Ralph had a big white oxen with black spots on it and that was the only thing they had to take away with them. They started out on foot. One would ride a piece until one would get tired and then the other would ride. They were going over the mountain trails — there wasn't any roads then, just mountain trails and things like that that the cattle had made — and as they was going along over Chestnut Knob, some- how or other Bill knew that they were going to run away and he went on ahead. He had a white-handled pocket knife and he went on ahead and he got up to about Chestnut Knob and there was an old apple tree turned up by the roots and he got into the little bush that was made by that tree coming up and decided he would wait there and shoot Ralph as he came along. He couldn't get a good view of the road for tlie twigs in his way, so he took that white-handled knife and trimmed all the little twigs away so he could have a clear view of the road. He didn't have to wait very long, however, until be heard Betty and Ralph coming. Ralph at the time was riding on the oxen and whenever he came even with the opening Bill had cut there in the tree so as to get a good view of the road, he had his old hog-rifle and he just "bang" and shot him. So Betty went running back and she ran all the way home and told that Ral]:ih was up there on Chestnut Knob dead, that someone had shot him from ambush. They didn't go see him till next day, none of his folks didn't, and the next day they WTUt up there the oxen was laying there by the side of the dead man and when they looked around before they took the dead man up they saw the white-handled knife that Aunt Sally had described laying there where whoever shot Ralph had been trimming away the twigs so as to get a clear view of the road. They took him up and some of the folks remembered that Ralph said when he died he wanted to be buried on the top of Chest- nut Knob, and so they just took him right on up there, dug a grave, and buried him right on top of Chestnut Knol). Now there is a tower up there and anyone that wants to see that grave can go right up there and see it. He said be wanted to be buried there so he could hear the dogs running coons all the (lays be was buried until the Resurrection. THE CURSE ON BATH From R. B. Edwards. Belhaven, N. C, 1918-23. Bath, North Carolina, is situated on one of the most navigable rivers in the state and near the most arable farm land in all T A L K S A N I) T. K (; K N I) S 69 1 North Carolina. Hath lias bet'ii hlcst with the sun of several (.-eiituries shiiiintj down on it. Vet Bath, with all its prospects of being a great town or city, is the same size today that it was in the days when the pirate Blackheard ( 'Feach ) roamed the coasts of North Carolina, and returned to l-Jath laden with the ca]:)tured spoils of other vessels. When Governor Eden was in all his glory, and the state of North Carolina was yet young as to towns. Hath was already founded and had the prospects of being a great town — until one day a certain preacher came to Bath to take up the min- istry there. This preacher was very successful at first and everything went on well until there became some friction be- tween the preacher and the congregation. The preacher, whose name was John Whitfield, was told to leave. This Whitfield made ready to do, but as he was about to leave Bath, he shook the dust from his feet, and put a curse on Bath by saying that he hoped that Bath would never grow. Right at this point, according to tradition, Bath ceased to grow, and on through the past centuries, while towns have risen up all around Hath, and have progressed, and gone for- ward, Bath remains the same today as it was the day that John Whitfield put a curse on it. Vn. BURIED TREASURE THE HEAVY SADDLE-BAGS From Maybelle Poovey, High Point, N. C, 1933-36. For the treasure lights, see Motif-Index N532. It was 1845. ^Var had been declared with Mexico. An old man by the name of Stoner was keeper of a tavern and a toll- bridge. The tavern was on the Caldwell county side of the river, and was a rambling two-story structure with the toll office and a store-room below adjacent to the dining room, and rooms for lodging above. One evening just at dark a lone traveller, riding horseback, going west, asked for accommodation. He dismounted, and, with the assistance of the tavern-keeper, unloaded a pair of saddle-bags that were almost too heavy for the two to handle. Those saddle-bags were locked in the strong box of the toll office overnight. At daylight next morning, the traveller awoke Mr. Stoner, asked for his assistance in loading the heavy saddle- bags, borrowed a spade, and before riding away, swore to secrecv the keeper of the tavern, with the assurance that he intended to bury the gold which he said filled the heavy saddle- bags, and upon his return would give instructions that would X.C.F., Vol. I, (45) 692 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE enable Mr. Stoner to find the spot should he never return from the Mexican \\^ar. After a couple of hours, the man returned with the empty saddle-bags, gave a very vague account of how the spot might be found if his return was delayed more than a year after the war should close, and rode ofif. Mr. Stoner kept faith with the soldier, and told no one of the incident until more than a year after hostilities had ceased with Mexico. Then, calling in several neighbors, he organized a treasure hunt, and for several years the search for the treasure continued intermittently, and the story became the common lore of the community. Large excavations may still be seen all along the hillsides that sloped toward the river, where searchers toiled in their seasonal occupation of digging. For years after- ward it was said a light could be seen on drizzly nights by those who lived across the river, and that it seemed to start near the old tavern, travel in a zigzag course along the slope, and finally rising into the tree tops disappear. Most of the territory over w4iich search was made seventy- five years ago is now covered by the impounded waters of Lake Hickory, and the light is no longer to be seen. blackbeard's treasure From Erwin D. Stephens, Hobucken, N. C, 1918-22. Cf. }[ofif-Index N511.1 and N553. Hobucken is a farming-fishing village located at the head of Jones' Bay, just south of Pamlico River and five miles west of Pamlico Sound. The great marshes come to the very doors of these simple-living farmers and fishermen. Of the many old tales that are recounted the following one interested me most. According to tradition, the pirate Blackbeard buried a treas- ure chest in the marsh near here. He killed and buried a man with the treasure to guard it and walled up the excavation with bricks to the top of the ground. Five men, two of whom are still living, have found the spot where the treasure is buried, but none of them has been able to unearth it. People say that once the spot is found something happens to frighten the finder away, and he is never able to locate the place again. One man who found the spot cut the grass away with his knife and cut a path to a road near by, but the next morning when the man went back to dig, he could find no trace of what he had done the previous day. Another man placed his shirt on a stake over the spot and went to the house for a spade. When he returned, he could find no trace of his shirt or stake. Tradition .says that the treasure moves each time it TALKS A N I) I. K C, K N I) S 693 is discovered. Several people have dug for the treasure hut have heen frightened away each time. On cold windy nights the voice of the man who guards the treasure can he heard ; snatches of old sea songs and shouted oaths ride the winds uj) the Bay. ii Lifdrniant not given. The Teach legends and myths are almost as varied, vague, and mystical as are the Arthurian legends, and no less inter- esting or romantic, hut they are too well known to he dwelt upon at length here. That old freehooter Edward Teach or Thatcli, called Blackheard the Pirate, was one of the most inter- esting characters that mastiueraded in our past. One hears con- stantly ahout the Teach lights, Teach's Hole, his i)hantom ship of the Alhemarle seen on moonlight nights and always por- tending disaster for those who see it, the treasure chests hidden at various places with always a man killed and huried near them to guard them, particularly the immense one out in the Chowan River near Holliday's Island. It has heen located many times and as many times has defied the treasure hunters, for just as they are ahout to secure the prize the chain of the windlass hreaks or a violent windstorm arises and they have to scurry for the shore. Teach's name is associated with many localities and at every one with a different wife; he is credited with thirteen. The so-called Teach House on the Pasquotank River just above Elizabeth City bears the initials "E. T. 1709" on the doorsteps, and is very interesting with its stories concerning him. iii From a collection made in eastern and central N. C. in 1926-28 by Paul and Elizabeth Green, Chapel Hill. Cf. Motif-Index C401.3 and N553.2. In Edenton one garden was constantly being dug up by the Negroes to get Blackbeard's treasure. They said that they had found it often, but that it disa])peared. The correct formula was to dig for it, and after you struck the iron ring in the top, no word was to l)e uttered until you had it out of the ground. They told that every time they struck the ring, some- one would yell out "The Christ, the Christ." and it would disapj)ear. DREAMING OF TREASURE From Julian S. Boyd, as contributed by Minnie T.ee, Alliance, N. C, 1926. A surprising parallel to a tale known in tlie iialtic countries about plow- ing with a rooster and harrowing with a hen (Motif-Jndex N543.2). Cf. also D1314.2, E422.1.1, N531, and N576. Three boys l)elonging to the same family had a dream. Each of them dreamed of hidden treasure, and each dream was like 694 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE the Others in all respects. They were told in the dreams that a treasure was buried under a certain tree in a field, and that if they would follow directions, and say nothing of their dreams to anyone, they would find the treasure. Each was told to "Plow the land with a rooster" and "Harrow it with a hen," and the treasure would be found. The first son said nothing of his dream, and attempted to carry out the instructions. During his plowing and harrowing, about a dozen headless Negroes appeared, and marched slowly around him ; he was so frightened that he gave up the task and went home. The second son did likewise, and the same vision of the headless Negroes appeared. The third son was engaged to a young lady, and being troubled by his dream, he told her that he had something to tell her, but could not tell her until after the wedding. They were married, and immediately after- ward, he told her of his dreauL They went through the same process as the others, saw the headless Negroes, but continued until they found the treasure, were made very wealthy, and lived happily ever after. UNCLE BILL DIGS FOR MONEY The story below is the conversation as nearly as I can reproduce it that Joe. my brother, and I had with Uncle Bill Jones, of Lanvale, N. C. (Name of informant missing.) Many interesting widely known motifs are here, e.g., Motif-Index N532, C401.3, D1314.2. "But, Uncle Bill, do you really believe you saw those things while you were digging for that money? Don't you think that you imagined you saw those spirits which you told me about? I think you just heard someone telling you that a person dig- ging for money could see spirits, and you thought you saw and heard something when you were digging. Wasn't that the way of it?" I asked the old darkey after he had told me an account of his experiences on a money-digging expedition. "Naw suh, Cap'n ! Naw sub ! Dere wa'n't no 'magination 'bout dat." The following is what he told me : "Yas suh, Cap'n, we'd bin seein' dem munny lites down neah de ribber, and I knowed dare wuz munny dere. I wuz stayin' on Cap'n Pent'n's place at dat time, an' ol' Kurnel Grimes's place wuz 'bout a half o' mile down de road to'rds 'Lizal)ef town, an' on his place, down nex' to the ribber, wuz a' ol' brick pile. Sumbody tole dat munny wuz buried dere, so I begun ter look 'roun. I knowed, if dere wuz enny munny buried dere, I cud fin' it. "Mary Hill, Son Hill's gal, cooked fuh de (irimeses an' dat made things jus' right. Me an' Sump Brown, yuh kno' Sum us'ter wurk fuh de ol' Kurnel. chojiijin" up wood an' feedin' TALES AND L K G K N I) S 695 (le hojj^s an' hosscs. we wuz goin' er dig trrgctlu-r, an' Mary wuz gonna let us kno' whin de ol' Kurncl an' his fokc wuz goin' down to de heach. We had hit fix'd jus' rite. "Well, whin June uv dat year cum, de ol' Kurnel tuk his fani'K- to W'rightsville l^each. Mary tole us whin, an' how long (ley wuz gonna he gone, dat wuz de same year dat Mc- Kinley wuz killed. De old Kurnel lef on Chusday an' de moon fulled on Thu'sday nite. We wuz gonna dig whin de moon fulled, 'cause munny's nigh de top o' de groun' on a full moon. "Well, Thu'sday nite cum, — dat wuz whin de moon fulled, so we got our picks an' shuvvols an' started fuh de ol' hrick pile. Now, Sump's got a crazy hruther. an' he cum ter go wid us dat nite. "Now whin yuh dig fuh munny, Cap'n, yuh gotta talk hy sines. Well, we made up our sines on de way down. We soon got to de place an' putt our tules down. De fust thing you gotta do whin yu dig munny is make er ring roun whur yu gonna dig, an' whin yu git in dat ring yu cain't speak a word, — yu mustn't ehen open yuh mouf, 'cause, ef you do, dat mimny's done gone. Yas, suh, dat munny moves rite now. "Sump started diggin', 'n we wuz gettin' 'long purty good whin heah cum look'd like de whole ribber. Dat crazy nigger what wuz wid us wuz scairt near 'bout ter death an' started ter run. but I cotch 'im by his arm an' slapped muh ban' ober his mouf, 'cause I knowed dat nigger wuz gonna holler ef 'e cud. "Vas suh, Cap'n, I kwieted dat nigger. De water cum up to de edge uv de hole whur Sump wuz diggin', but hit jes faded 'way rite dere. But sech a roadin' I neber heard. Sump wuz scairt an' started ter jump out, but I sined to 'im to stay, an' he did. "I dug a while after Sump, an' den hit wuz dat crazy nig- ger's time ter dig, so we putt 'im in de hole. Dea's whin de trubble cum. Dat black scound'il had a piece er tobaccker in 'is mouf, an' he hadn't bin in dat 'ole more'n long enuf ter frow out two shuvvelfuls, whin 'Spit-too!!' dat nigger spit. Bum-a-lum-a-lum ! dere wint de munny. Hit jus' trabbled 'way under de groun'. 'W^ell, I'll be (jeorge Tom,' I sez, 'dat nigger had ter go open 'is mouf.' "\\'ell, I knowed hit twa'n't no use ter dig enny mo' 'cause dat munny wuz gone, an' gone for free years or mo'." "But, Uncle Bill," I interrupted, "you mentioned money lights. What do they look like, and when do they appear?" '■^'as suh. Cap'n, you kin see 'em on rainy nites. Dey looks like dey float 'long thru de air 'bout seben or eight feet 'bove de groun', an' dey looks like a ball uv fire. Whurever you see dat lite you kin kno' dat dey's nnuniy nigh. 696 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE "Free years later I wuz still wurkin at Cap'n Pent'ii's place, an' Sum wuz workin' wid Kurnel Grimes. We seed dem munny lites ag'in. so we wuz gonna dig de fust chance whut we got, but yu hear me, we didn't let him, dat crazy nigger, know nuthin' 'bout our plans. "Whin de full moon cum in July, Kurnel Grimes tuk his famble down to de beach ag'in. Me an' Sump wanted sumun ter go wid us, so we got Lit Jeems. Dat wuz on a Thu'sday nite and we wuz gonna dig on Friday nite, 'cause dat wuz whin de moon fulled. Now Lit's got a munny rod, so on de nex' nite we wuz gonna take hit an' go try ter git dat munny ag'in. 'Bout 'leben o'clock de nex' nite we wint down to de ol' brick yard. Dere wuz a' ol' Chaneyberry tree close by. an' dat munny rod pinted straight to dat ol' tree. We foUered it, an' sure nuff, whin we got dere, hit pinted right straight down. W'e knowed de munny wuz dere an' we made sines to keep kwiet. "Hit wuz time ter start diggin', so we throwed down our things an' wint ter wurk. I made a ring an' started diggin'. I hadn't bin diggin' long befo' heah cum a' ol' mean lookin' man had a purty girl draggin' her by de hair. He had a big ol' 'nife in one ban', and jus' time he got rite in frunt uv me, he draw'd back dat ol' 'nife an' cut at dat gurl's thote, but jus' whin he cut, everthing faded way, an' dere wa'n't no man or wumman. Dem two niggers what wa'n't diggin' started to run, but I sined to 'um ter cum back. "Yas sub, dey cum back, an' I putt Sump ter diggin'. He hadn't bin in dat hole more'n two mi units 'fore heah cum de ribber rushin' down on 'im. He 'membered how it done dat fust time, so he jus' turned his back an' dug on. Hit cum rite up to 'im an' faded 'way like hit did befo'. "Now hit wuz Lit's time ter dig. Yu kno' sumun's gotta be in de hole all de time. W^hin one steps out, he's gotta putt one foot out an' let de nex' pusson whut's gonna dig putt one foot in. Den whin he takes his yuther foot out de yuther feller's gotta putt his yuther foot in. "Lit got in all rite an' started diggin', but he hadn't got more'n started good whin we hurd sump'n up in dat ol' Chaneyberry tree. 'J^sus Master, whut is it !' sez I to myself. I looked up in dat ol' tree, an' dere wuz a great big ol' pile- driver hammer hung ovah a limb, an' a man wuz cuttin' at de rope wid a great big cleaber 'nife. I sined to Lit to keep on diggin', an' he did, but dat man cut dat rope ennyway. Jus' 'bout time dat hammer got down on Lit's haid, hit faded 'way. "Hit wuz my time ter dig now, an' dog my black cats to Hami)ton ef I didn't go an' spile thing. I wuz diggin' 'way T A I. K S A N I) I. K C. K. N I) S 697 whin luar cum a bull ycarlin' wid horns 'bout foah inches long. 1 sed tcr niysef. sez I, 'Dat bull ain't gonna hurt me,' an' I hilt my haid down. But dat bull cum on, an' jes 'bout time he orter struck mc, I hollered, an' Buni-a-lum-a-lum, dere wint our munny. Dog my buttons ef I didn't want ter shoot my- self. ) us'' wint an' lo's' dat munny, an' we had alreddy reached de kittle whut had de munny in hit. I struck hit wunce or twice wid my shuvvel. I had alreddy sined ter Sump to bring me a piece ov tame munny, so's he cud thro' hit in an' tame de vuther munny." -But Uncle Bill," I asked, "why did you have to tame the other money?"' "Good Lord, bruther," he replied, "yu can't oj^en yo mouf befo' yu tame dat munny, 'cause ef yu do, dat munny's gone rite now, — hit, kittle, an' all." "How do vou know that the money will leave?" I asked him. " 'Cause, Cap'n Martin tole me so. He dug fuh munny once, an' he sed yu had ter do that." "Well, well. Uncle Bill," I said, "your exjx^riences in dig- ging for money certainly made an interesting tale. Where do you think that money is now?" 1 asked him. "Hit's back dere now. Munny'll cum back in free or foah years ef yu don't bother it," he told me. Just at this point of the conversation Mother called me to dinner. I went to the house and Uncle Bill went on towards the creek with his fishing pole. Vni. NUMSKULLS AND FOOLS WHAT THE MILL SAID From Isabella Crumartie, Garland, N. C, 1928-29. Cf. Motif-Index J2615.1. Uncle Peter lived down near Ivanhoe. The jK-ople always called the old field where he lived "The Old Peter Field." He was a miller and looked after the mill near Ivanhoe, where Mrs. Moore now lives. One Sunday morning he wanted some meal so he went to the mill and put the corn in the hopper, and when the mill began to grind, he thought he heard it say. "Take care, Peter. Take care, Peter. Take care, Peter!" until he got so scared he shut down the mill and ran home as fast as his long legs could carry him ! WASH BEE DAY From Mavl)elle Poovey, High Point, N. C, c. 1934- Cf. Motif-hidcx J1743. It was mid-winter of 1853. and the weather was bitter cold. 698 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Mrs. A. C. Houck, living on "Greasy Creek" in Caldwell county, had sent her little daughter to return a borrowed household article to a lone cabin far up on the slope of Flat Top where three middle-aged spinsters lived together. When the little girl arrived at the cabin, the three maiden ladies were engaged in scrubbing the bee stands and benches, using a scrub broom and hot water which froze a sheet of ice over bee gum and bench as fast as it was poured on. The youthful visitor was urged to go in to the fire, which she was glad to do. Presently the three women had finished their disagreeable task and came in. With the natural curiosity of childhood the neighbor girl incjuired why such a disagreeable day should have been selected for the task just finished. One of the spinster trio replied : "Why child, didn't you know that this was 'Wash- Bee-Day'? If we hadn't washed the bee gums today the bees would all be drones. Now you have some book learnin', you jest git the Almanac hangin' on that peg by the clock and read it with your own eyes, and you will see that this is 'Wash- Bee-Day.' " When the Almanac was consulted, sure enough this was the notation that was found : "February 22, Wash. B'day." DEER DRIVING From Miss Isabella Cromartie, Garland, N. C, 1928-29. For similar tales, see Motif-Index J 1762. One day five Irishmen were going deer driving. The leader put them all at a stand and told them all when the dogs jumped a deer to be ready to shoot him when he came running by. After a while the dogs jumped a deer and he came running by one of the Irishmen, but he didn't shoot. In a few minutes a toad frog came hopping along and he shot him. When the Irishmen heard the report of the gun they came running, cry- ing, "Where's the deer, Pat?" and Pat said, "I haven't seen a deer." And they said, "You must have, we heard the dogs jump him and heard you shoot at something." Then Pat said, "Well, there he is then," pointing at the dead toad frog. They all said, "That's no deer, that's a toad frog." Pat said, "I ain't seen no deer then, all I saw was a man going by with a basket on his head." HE DID WHAT HE WAS TOLD From Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk, N. C. For similar tales, see Motif-Index J2465. Doc told Bill, "Bill, I want you to run around and plow out my potatoes this morning." Bill stared. "Plow 'em out, doc?" he asked. Doc was busy. "Yes," he answered shortly. TALES AND I. F. C. K N D S (^9 So Bill plowed the potatoes very much out of the <,'ri)und ! "Doc " he said, "1 never did hate to do nothni' as had ni my lite,' hut you told me to." Doc took his medicine like a man. ^, i r i "Bill," he said. '•yt)u're the first nig^^erf ve ever seen wlio did what he was told, here's a prize for you." THE MOOX ON TIIK FENCE From Mrs. Xornian Herring. Tomahawk, N. C. Cf. M of! f -Index Ole Man Johnson and his family were shut in for the night. The temptation to play a prank was too great to he resisted hy a numher of white hoys who lived not far away. They found an empty shoe box, cut a round hole m the bottom, sat it up right on Ole Man Johnson's fence, and put a light in it to shine through the hole. They hid and shook the gate to attract the family's attention. All grew quiet within the house, then Ole Man Johnson said to one of his hoys: "In facts. Rasberry. you go to de do' and see what's at de gate." ,,^, Rasberry went, looked, and bounded back m the house. Uli Pappy ! De moon's on de fence," he cried. "You's crazy, nigger, you's jes' scared. Jeems Owens, you go and see what's at de gate." Jeems Owens went, looked, and likewise bounded back. "Oh, Pappy, de moon is shore on de fence." "You niggers is hofe crazy-scared. Pll go myself." And he went. While he was looking, the hidden boys groaned. He bounded back over chairs, pickaninnies and all too badly frightened to speak. At first he only waited. And while he waited, his heart went Inim]^, bump. bump, thump, thump, boom ! Ole Man Johnson crouched farther into the corner and mur- mered. "In facts. Jeems Owens, de moon's shore on de fence, and she roars like a butt-head." He had heard his heart! CUTTING OFF THE SNAKE's HEAD From Mrs. Norman Herring. Tomahawk. N. C. For similar tales, see Motif -Index J1820-J1849. "Jeems" Owens was big and black and always went bare- footed. One dav he was cutting a ditch and standing m the mud with shallow water in the bottom of it. Suddenly he saw what he thought was the head of a black snake, jioking iip through the mud. "Look out." he cried, and with his spade came down on the snake's head. Then he screamed. He had cut otif his big toe ! 700 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE IX. JOKERS JOHN moccasin's TRICKS The following two tales of John Moccasin are from Thomas Smith, Watauga county, 1914-15. They sound as if based on fact. This eccentric character Hved many years ago. His real name was John Green, the other name being given him on account of his always wearing- moccasins on his feet instead of shoes. He was a man of great strength and a hunter of bears and other wild animals that then roamed the mountains of Cald- well and Watauga. The following are only a few of the many tales that have been told of him in one section and must have happened considerably over a hundred years ago. Johnny's Revenge There was a wedding at a neighbor's house and as Johnny had not been invited he felt himself to be badly slighted and proceeded to take revenge. The manner of his revenge was as follows : taking his gun he v/ent into the forest and killed a young deer, which he carried to the roadside along which the wedding party were to pass on their way to the groom's parents. Standing by the road and leaning far out over it was a large tree. Up this tree climbed Johnny Moccasin carrying the young deer with his teeth. Seating himself among the branches of the tree he awaited the coming of the wedding party. It was not long before the party, all on horseback, appeared in sight. There were perhaps fifty people in the party, men and women riding two abreast, singing, laughing and talking loudly, evidently enjoying themselves. Their hilar- ity was soon brought to a sudden close, for just as the fore- most riders galloped under the leaning tree the young deer was dropped into the road almost on their horses' heads. This caused a stampede ; half the party were thrown from their steeds while those who remained in the saddle went dashing in every direction. The wonder is that no one was killed or fatally injured. During the excitement Johnny ]\Ioccasin climbed down from his perch and disappeared in the dense forest. Johnny's Startling Visit Anotlier neighbor of Johnny's slighted him l)y failing to in- vite him to a dinner which he had given on some special occa- sion. While the neglectful neighbor and his guests were seated at the table eating, drinking, and making merry, John Moccasin, clad only in a hunting shirt, leaped in at the open doorwa}', crawled on his hands and feet to the table, raised hiuLself up. TALES AND LEGENDS 701 and seized a large i)iece of venison with his teeth. P.efore the astonished company could recover from their surprise the scant ly clad old hunter had leaped out at the dt)or and w^as gone. MEAT AND KRKAD AND I'UDDING TOO From Isabella Cromartic, Garland, N. C, c. 1928. See Motif-Index J1341. Long time ago when the white folks had slaves one old marster put two to work in the woods sawing logs. The logs were hig and it was tiresome work. So after a while ole marster went down to see how they were getting along. \\'hen he got there they were sawing mighty slow. The slaves turned to him and said : "That saw is telling you what ole miss give us for dinner: 'S-O-U-P, S-O-U-P, S-O-U-P, S-O-U-P.' " Then ole marster said : "Go up to the house and tell your miss to give you both some meat and bread and pudding too." The slaves went up to the house. Ole miss gave them all they wanted of meat and bread and pudding too ! When they went back they worked fast. x'\nd this time the saw said, "Meat-and-bread-and-pudding-too, meatandbreadand- puddingtoo, MEATANDBREADANDPUDDINGTOO ! WHY MILLIE GOT SANCTIFIED From Mrs. Norman Herring, Tomahawk, N. C. For a similar story, see Motif-Index K263. Millie, an old Negro woman, had a daughter, Tamah, who told me the following story : "Twuz when Sanctification fust Ijroke out an' eveybody wuz crazy 'bout hit. One day some er de niggers wuz gathered roun' a little sto" when one er dem began to preach. Now 'twuz powerful hot weather and de san' wuz mighty deep all roun' de sto'. D'rectly maw begun ter shout n' jump. Den all de niggers began shouting. D'rectly I miss Maw and I go roun' de sto' a-lookin' fer her and dere she wuz, wif eve'y rag er clo's off a shakin' dem for dere life. I said, 'Maw, what ails you?' She never stopt shakin' but she said, 'I know ef I got em all ter shoutin' dey wouldn't miss me ner notice me and de fleas wuz about ter eat me up.' " ] don't care if I don't get her From Isabella Cromartie, Garland, N. C, c. 1928. For this talc, see Motif-Index K95. One time two boys were going to see the same girl. The girl couldn't decide which one she w^anted. So they both went to the father and asked for her. He got a ])an of water and 702 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE told them to wash their hands and that the one who dried his hands first without a towel could have the girl. They both washed their hands. One stood wringing his hands and say- ing over and over, "I wish I could get her." The other one shook his hands rapidly in the air saying. "I don't care if I don't get her, I don't care if I don't get her, I don't care if I don't get her." And of course his hands were dry first and he got the girl ! THE BACK LOG From Isabella Cromartie, Garland, N. C, c. 1928. A slave came in one day and asked his master, "How much Christmas kin I have?" The Marster said, "Until the back log burns out." So the slave cut a black gum log, rolled it in the ditch and let it stay several days until it was well soaked. Then he rolled it out so it would dry on the outside. Christ- mas morning he brought it in and put it on and asked again, "How much Christmas kin I have?" The old Marster said, "Until the back log burns out." For seven days he came in and asked the same question. So the slave had a whole week of vacation. X. ANECDOTES THE TWO SUITORS From Isabella Cromartie, Garland, N. C., c. 1928. For similar tales, see Motij-Indcx K1984. Once upon a time there was a girl who had two suitors, a rich man and a poor man. One evening the poor man came to see the girl. The family had planned to have their regular supper of mush and milk. But in came the rich suitor and the girl hustled around and got up a good supper. When they were all seated at the table, they called on the poor man to say grace. Here is the blessing he offered. The Lord be praised, I am amazed To see how things have mended, For supper I see Shortcake and tea Where miLsh and milk were intended. SEARCHING FOR A WIFE From Isabella Cromartie. Garland, N. C, c. 1928. For similar tales, see Motij -Index H381. One time a man was out looking for him a wife. He came to one house and stopped for dinner. They offered to have T A K V. S A N I) 1. K C, K N 1) S 703 his liorst' fed. hut he told them U) just j^ivc him the scrapings from the hread tray. At the other ]>lace he said the same thing. But the next place he came to tliey ofifered to feed his horse and he told the girl to just give the scrapings from her hiscuit tray, and the girl howed very politely and said, "We don't have scrajiings in our bread tray, thank you." Then he said. "You're the girl for me." THE GALL] NIPPER I->om Lcniisc \V. Sloan. Davidson, N. C, 1921. Cf. Motlj-huhw X1021 for similar exaggerations. In Bladen county some i)eople still believe what a great many people used to tell al)out the "vociferous gallinippers," a kind of powerful mosquito that went on the rampage after sundown and in one well-known case carried off a nigger baby. To escape them you should stay in the house with the windows and doors shut or burn light'ood knots or smudges, and if you go abroad at night carry a torch. THE MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING STEER From Louise W. Sloan, Davidson, N. C, 1921. Widely known in America. In Wilkes county, foreigners, those from beyond the county line, are told of the guy-scoot-er-sky, the wonderful native steer with hind legs several inches longer than forelegs, thus admirably adapted to mountain climbing. XI. ANIMAL TALES THE RACE From Gara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. See Motif -Index Kn.i De deer an' the tarpin wuz goin' to run a race. De tarpin he gits three others beside himself, which made four, an' lie placed them along the race track. When they started to race, the tarpin an' de deer started together an' had a certain dis- tance to run. When dey run dat distance, de deer he hailed that tarpin, "Where are you at now, brother Tar])in?" De tarpin says, "Here me, on ahead!" -An' da nex' time they run another distance and the deer hailed the tar])in again, "Where you at now, brother Tarpin?" An' de tarpin .says, "Here me, on ahead!" An' dis time de las' race, the deer says, "1 must outrun brother Tarpin." So he called out, "Where are you. brotlier 'J'arpin?'' An' de tarpin .say, "Here me, on ahead!" An' de deer bein' so outrun bv de tarpin, runs to de tarpin 704 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE an' stomps him all to pieces. From dat day to this de deer has no use for a tarpin. BRER FROG IN DE ROAD From Isabella Cromartie, Garland, N. C, c. 1928. An Aesop fable (Motif -Index J652.1). One day Brer Frog was sitting in the road and by and by here come an ole wagon : "tap-a-lac-a-tap-a-lac." Mother Frog out in the pond says : "Pa, get out o' the road, here comes a wagon." And Brer Frog he sits right there and hollers: "Bear Round, Bear Round." The little frog hollers out: "Get out of the road, Pa." But Brer Frog he just sits there and hollers ; "Bear Round, Bear Round." Then the wagon runs right over Brer Frog and he hollers out : "Whoa, 1 told you to Bear Round and you Beared Down!" IN THE CHEST From Clara Hearne, Chatham county, 1922-23. Motif-Index K714.2. De fox an' de rabbit knowed where there was lots of apples and pears. So dey made a plot to call each other an' go befo' de light come. An' de ole fox went off an' left the rabbit an' got his an' come back home. Den he went over to the rabbit's home. De fox say, "Brer Rabbit, I waked up early dis morning so I went an' got the pears and apples an' brung 'em fur as my house. You come go home with me an' you can have some of mine." Brer Rabbit went home with him. In a few minutes the fox said, "Brer Rabbit, I hear de houn dogs, jump in my chest." The rabbit got in the chest. Brer Fox put on a kettle of water on the fire and began to bore holes in the chest. Brer Rabbit says, "What ye doin', Brer Fox?" Brer Fox say, ^'Givin' you some air." Then the fox got his kettle of boiling water and began to pour it through the holes. The rabbit say, "Flea bitin' me." Fox say, "Turn over on de odder side." So fox scalded the rabbit and ate him up. TALES AND L EC: EN US 705 BIBLKX^RAPIIY The references on wliich this chissification of folk tales is based are too extensive for reprinting here, hut may be found in my Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (6 vols., Helsinki [Finland] and Bloomington [Indiana], 1932-36). I have confined the present list to a selec- tion of the most important general works on the folk tale and have included some of the more important collections of tales in English, French, German, Ital- ian, and Spanish, but not in the lesser known lan- guages. A fuller bibliography may be found in my book The Folk Talc, New York, 1946, pp. 463-480. Addy, S. O. Household Tales Collected in the Counties of York, Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham. London, 1895. Andrade, Manuel J. Folklore from the Dominican Republic. New York, 1930. B axeman, G. W. Zanzibar Tales. Chicago, 1901. Blade, J. R. Contes Populaires de la Gascoigne. Paris, 1886. 3 vols. Bleek, W. H. I. Reynard the Fox in South Africa. London, 1864. Bleek, W. H. I., and L. C. Llovd. Specijnens of Bushman Folk- lore. London, 191 1. BoLTE, Johannes, and G. Polivka. Anmerkungen su den Kinder- und Hausmdrchen der Briider Grimm. Leipzig, 1913-32. 5 vols. Callaway. C. Nursery Talcs, Traditions and Histories of the Zulus. London, 18O8. Campbell, F. J. Popular Tales of the Jl'est Highlands. Edin- burgh, i860. 4 vols. Carriere, Joseph M. Tales from the French Folklore of Missouri. Evanston and Chicago, 1937. Chase, Richard. The Jack Tales. Boston, 1943. Chatelain, H. Folk-Tales of Angola. Boston, 1894. Comhaire-Sylvain, Suzanne. Les Contes Ha'itiens. Port-au- Prince (Haiti), 1937. Consiglieri-Pedroso. Portuguese Folk-Talcs (tr. H. Monteiro). London, 1882. Cosquin, Emmanuel. Contes Populaires de Lorraine. Paris, 1886. Cox, ^L•\RIAN Roalfe. Cinderella. London, 1893. Crane, T. F. Italian Popular Tales. Boston, 1885. 7o6 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE Cronise, F. M., and H. W. Ward. Ciiniiic Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef. London, 1903. Curtin, Jeremiah. Hero Tales of Ireland. London, 1894. Myths and Folklore of Ireland. Boston, 1890. Dasent, G. W. Popular Tales from the Norse. Edinburgh, 1858. (3d ed., 1877.) Tales from the Fjeld. London and New York, 1896. DoKE, Clement M. Lamba Folk-Lore. Memoirs of the American Folklore Society, xx, New York, 1927. Edwards, Charles L. Bahama Songs and Stories. Boston, 1895. EspiNOSA, AuRELio M. Cueiitos Populares Espanoles. Stanford University, 1923-26. 3 vols. Enlarged edition, of which original forms vols, i and 2 : Madrid, 1946-47. 3 vols. EspiNOSA, JosE Manuel. Spanish Folk Tales from Neiv Me.xico. New York, 1937. FoRTiER, Alcee. Louisiana Folk-Tales. Boston, 1895. Gardner, Emelyn E. Folklore from the Schoharie Hills, New York. Ann Arbor, 1937. Griffis, W. E. Szviss Fairy Tales. New York, 1920. Groome, F. H. Gypsy Folktales. London, 1899. Harris, Joel C. Nights zm'th Uncle Remus. Boston, 191 1. Uncle Remus, His Songs and Sayings. New York, 191 5. Uncle Remus and His Friends. New York, 1892. Hartland, E. S. English Fairy and Folk Tales. London, 1890. Herskovits, M. J. and F. S. Suriname Folklore. New York, 1936. Hunt, Margaret. Grimm's Household Tales. London, 1884. New ed. New York, 1944. Hyde, Douglas. Beside the Fire. London, 1890. Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. London, 1890. More English Fairy Tales. London, 1893. Jones, C. C, Jr. Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast. New York, 1888. Kennedy, Patrick. The Fireside Stories of Ireland. Dublin, 1870. Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts. London, 1866. Larminie, William. IVest Irish I'olk Tales and Romances. London, 1893. Luzel, F. M. Contcs Populaircs de Basse-Bretagnc. Paris, 1887. 3 vols. McKay, J. G. More West Highland Tales. Edinburgh and Lon- don, 1940. MuLLEY, J. Fairy Tales from Afar (Danish). London, ihd, Danish Fairy Talcs. New York, 1919. T A L K S A N 1) I. K C. K N L) S JOJ Parsons, Elsik C Folklore of tlic .■iiitillcs. French and Jinglish. New ^■()rk. i<)33. 3 vols. Folklore of the Sea Ishnnls. South Carolina. New York, Folklore of Andres Island, Bahamas. New York, 1918. F'olklore from the Cape Verde Islands. New Y^ork, 1923. 2 vol J Penzer, N. M. The Pentamerone of Ciambattista Hasile. Lon- don, 1932. 2 vols. Rael, Juan B. "Cuentos Espanoles de Colorado y de Nuevo Mejico," Journal of American Folklore, hii, 227 ff., i.v, ff. Rattray, R. S. Akan-Ashante Folk Talcs. Oxford, 1930. Sebillot, Paul. Contes Populaires de la Hautc-Bretagne. Paris, 1880-82. 3 vols. Talbot. P. A. In the Shadow of the Bush. New York. 1912. Thompson, Harold W. Body. Boots and Britches. l'lii]a(k'li)hia, 1940. Webster, \V. Basque Legends. London, 1877, 1879. Werner, Alice. Myths and Legends of the Bantu. London, 1933. Y^eats, W. B. Irish Fairy and Folk Tales. London, 1892. X.C.F., VoL I, (46) CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME The following list contains the names of all known con- tributors to the Frank C. Brown Collection whose contributions fall within the limits of this volume. The classifications within the Collection that are so included are : 7 Folk-Sermons ; 9 Folk Words, Pronunciations, Meanings and Salutations; 10 Place Names; iia Riddles; 11!) Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings; 12 Children's Rhymes; 13 Traditional Games; 15 Tales and Legends. The number of the classification is indicated in italics; the number of items contributed is indicated by the figures in roman type. Except in the glossaries of folk-expressions and proverbial sayings the names of individual contributors to this volume appear with the contributions. All, of course, appear in this list. A variety of reasons prevented the printing of all the mate- rials received. Among these were considerations of space, duplication or near-duplication, incompleteness, insignificance, anonymity (in most cases), and the desire to include only mate- rials of North Carolina provenience. The editors are convinced that nothing of significance has been omitted. n.i.w. Abrams, \V. Amos: /-'-2 ; IJ-2. Ada: ii-i; u-w. Briggs, Caro- Adams, Helen: 12-1. Aiken, B. line: 12-2. Britt, George W. H. : P.: 9-1. Allen, Gay W. : 13-21. y-2. Brogden, Roy O. : 15-1. Allen, Louis Carr, Jr.: 13-4. Broods, David N.: ii-i. Brower, Bagley, Charles R. : 9-2; i2-\; Rufus F. : lo-i. Brown, Ethel: ^J-i ; ^5-4- Baker, Eleanor: 11-2. is-j; 13-7. Brown, Frank C: Ballentine, Mabel: 9-7; 11-7; 9-1; ^^-i- Brown, R. L. : 13-4. I2-S\ i3-'iS- Barbee, Grace: //-5; Brown, Roy M.: 12-2. Buffaloe, 12-10; 13-6. Barbee, J. W. : J3-1. Ethel Hicks: 9-5; 12-14. BuUard, Barbee, Mrs. J. W. : 13-1. Bas- Lucile Marie : /.?-i4. Burns, : com, Louise Rand : 9-1 ; 12-2. 13-2. Burrus, Andrew Jackson : Baugh, Atha S. : 9-1. Beasley, • /.?-i. Burt, Mrs. W. C: /5-1. Antoinette, 9-1; 12-12. Blacknall, Bushee, Isabel B. : 12-2. Mrs. R. D.: 9-7; 12-6; 13-2. Carpenter, Jessie T. : 12-13. Bowers, Virginia: /.,'-4. Boyd, Carr, Elizabeth J.: 9-1. Carr, Julian P.: 12-3: 13-2. Bridgers, Mrs. John: 9-19: ii-z\ 12-4, Furman A.: 9-4: //-81. Briggs, /.?-48. Gates, Mary Anne: /5-1. CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME Caudill, Russell H. : 13-2. Causor, C. : /5-1. Cavenaugh. Eli: 15-2. Chambliss. Laurice Gwinn : 12-s ; 13-2. Chappelle, [Miss Iris?]: 12-5. Chappelle, Iris C. : J2-3. Charlotte Observer: 15-2. Cheek, Lucille : 9-6 ; /0-5 ; J7-42 ; 12-29, ; /J-18. Cheek, Mamie E. : 12-2; 7J-4. Christenbury, Jane: ii-i. Coon, Charles L. : 15-1. Couch, Mrs. Daisy Jones : 12-2. Couser, : 12-1. Covington, Cornelia E. : i2-g ; 7^-5. Covington, Wil- liam B. : 13-i; 15-1. Cromartie, Angus Black : 13-2. Cromartie, Elizabeth Janet: 9-98; 11-11; 12- 14; 13-6; 13-2. Crump, Mrs. L. B. : 13-4. Cumming. William C: 12-2. Daulken, William C. : 9-2 ; 12- 13; ^.?-5- Davis, Junius: 12-2. Davis, S. M.: 12-1. Dillard, Rich- ard: 9-8; 70-1; 75-5. Doering, Eileen: 9-1; 77-1. Doering, John Frederick: 7-1 1; 9-1 1; 70-i ; 13-2; 13-y. Downs, William R. : 13-1. Doxie, Elsie: 9-170; 70-7; 77-60; 12-10; 15-2. Dunston, R. T. : g-2; 13-2. Durham Morning Herald: 13-6. Durham Sun: 15-2. Eckerson, Margaret: 13-1. Ed- wards, Raleigh B. ; lo-i ; 15-1. Ellis, Mrs. Alma Jones: 7-7; 9-1. Fairley. : 12-1; 13-2. Farrior, Minnie Bryan: 9-20; 7.?- 20; 13-6. Fletcher, Eula G. : 75-1. Foreman, Wilma : 7j-6. Fries, Adelaide L. : 9-1 ; 75-5. Frisbie. Zilpah R. : 9-205; 70-3; 77-51; 12- 34 ; i3-i- Fulton, Maurice G. : 7.?-2. Furr, Eva : 9-2 ; 77-2 ; 13-4. Fussell, Tina: 77-1 ; 7i'-io. Gant, Miss — : 9-1. Gill, Thomas J. : 7.?-4. Goldberg, Caro- line L. : 9-16. Gosney, Minnie Stamjjs: 77-2; 7.'-42; 7J-26. Gray- son, Alda: 12-1. Green, Paul: 7-4; 77-110. Green, Paul and Eliza- beth: 9-312; 77-1654; 7_'-io8; 7.?- 67; 75-11. Greensboro Daily Ne2vs: 75-1. Grigg, W. Q.: 9-1; n-H) 12-12; 13-3; 75-5. Grimes, Minnie Bryan: 12-1. Hauser, Jessie : 7-6 ; 9-7 ; 10-4 ; 77-68; 7.?-79; 7J-13; 75-3. Hauser, Lucille : 12-2. Hawfield, James : 75-9 . Hearne, Clara: 7-4; 9-106; 70-37; J/-136; 7^-56; 13-23; 15-7. Henderson, Amy: 9-7; 11-16; 12- 52 ; 13-g ; 13-3. Herlong, Edith Virginia : 77-3. Herring, Mrs. Norma J.: 9-23; 10-6; 77-10; 12- 26; 13-14; 13-16. Hickman, Wes- ley J.: 9-5. Hicks, Marguerite: 13-10. Hicks, Nathan: 9-1. Hicks, Mrs. Nora: 75-1. Higgs, Mar- garite: 9-1; 7i>-2. Hill, D. H. : 9-3. Hobgood, : 75-1; Hodgin, : 13-6. Hoffman, George E: 9-13,- 13-2; 13-1. Hole- man, Joan and Hallie : 9-35 ; 77- 20; 7.?-4; 13-16; 13-2. Holton, Aura: 9-1; 77-5; 7i'-i8; 13-10. Holton, Florence E. : 7^-6 ; 7^-5. Howard, Valeria Johnson: .9-5: 7i'-42; 7J-14. Howell, E. V.: 7.?- 27 ; 13-2. Hull, Sue Virginia : 75-1. Hunt, Kilgo: 77-2. Jenkins, Frederica : 9-1 ; 70-2 Johnson, Lois: 9-2; 7^-9; 7.?-io. Johnson, Thomas M.: 9-1; 7i'-4- Johnson, Wheeler: 9-1. Jones, Katherine Barnard: 9-12; 13-5. Jordan, Margaret Gabel : 75-1. Jordan, Susie Spurgeon : 9-3 ; 7.?- 21. K., W. : 75-1. Knox, George E. : 9-1; 75-2. Knox, Carl G. : 70-12; /7-20. Knox, Joseph C. : 13-6. Kuykendall, Otis P.: 13-1. Lambert, Autie Bell : 13-2. Lam- bert, Elsie: 77-1; 7i'-2 ; 13-7. Lamm, Dixie V. : 12-s ; 7.?-7. Lan- caster, Mrs. Nilla: 7-4; 9-34; 70- 5; 77-49; 7.P-22; 7.?-i9; 75-9. Lay, George W. : 9-3; 13-1. Leake, William B. : 7.?-2. Leary, [Thomas F. ?] : 9-1. Leary, Thomas F. : 13-1. Little, George C. : 7.?-2. Long, Robert E. : /0-6. Lucas, Louise: 77-4; 7-'-io. Lumberg, Martha: 12-1. Lunsford, Bascom CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS V O 1. U M K •II Lamar: y-70 (contril)uted direct to Vroi. Wilson, luit in ins. collec- tion) : /M. Add from Wilson's List. McAdams, J. (iUim. jr.: /-'-13. MacCaulay, Joanne: /.i-i. Mc- Dowell. Dorothy: /-'-i. Mclnnis, Nina: 9-1; /.?-i2. McKay. James Alexander: 9-1. McKinnon, Mrs. Henry A.: 10-2. McMillan, Harry: 13-1. Macrea, Julia: 9-8. Mack, Kathleen: /5-1. Mack. Kather- ine : i.^-g. Magazine article, 1931 : 75-1. Mangum, Eura: /.?-i. Mans- field, Mamie: 7-8; 9-36; 11-49; 12-21 ; ^J-35 ; J^5-^- Marshbank, Flossie: 9-5; 7.^-11: /.,'-5. Mar- tin, Hubert Clay: /5-1. Massey, Lucille : 9-97 ; lo-z ; 77-96 ; 7i'-75 ; ^J-15; ^5-4- Maxwell, Nancy Lsa- belle: 7J-i. Meacham, Charles T. : 10-2. Merritt, F. B. : 15-1. Midg- ett, P. D., Jr.: 75-1. Miller, Jacob Weller : 13-2. Monroe Jour- nal: 75-1. Moody, Evelyn: 7-?-2. Morgan. Macie : 7_'-5 ; 7 j-6. Mor- gan, Ruth : 1^-2. Mull, Bessie Lou : 13-2. Newton, Helen Adams : 12- . Neiv York Times: 15-2. New York Ncivspaf^cr: 75-25. Nezvs and Observer (Raleigh) : 7-6. Nichols, Madge T. : g-y ; 77-2. Overton, Doris: 9-20; 7_'-i3; /.?-8. Page, Lida: 9-3 \ 1^-27; rj-35- Parker, Ella: 9-4: 7_'-i6; 13-7. Patten, Constance : 9-6 ; 75-2. Pearce, Allie Ann : 9-22 ; 7_'-38 ; 7jf-ii. Peatross, Edith: 7.?-i. Peterson, Mildred: 9-51; 77-86; 7^-14; 13-2S. Pickens, Marshal L: 9-1. Poole, Ivey T. : 7-'-6; ^.?-7; ^5-1- Poovey, Maybelle: 75-4. Pridgen, Mrs. [Loraine L Seley?] : 7,?-2. Pridgen, Roberta Elizabeth: ' 9-6: 7i'-8. Proffit, Frank : 75-4. Pruette, Mary Olura: 9-4; 77-1 ; 7.?-i6; 7.?-9. Raleigh Daily Neivs: 15-1. Rob- bins, Jewel, 7^-8; 7,?-6. Robinson. Ethyl Aleiic: ii-i. Root, Caro- lyne K.: 11 -4. Royster, Esther Frances: 9-7; /J'-i3; 13-g. Royster, J. M.: 9-3. Royster, V. C. : 12-2. Russell, Kate S. : 7-2 ; 9-74 ; lo-b ; II-S7; 12-6; 13-21; 75-11. Satterfield, Clem : 9-2. Scarbor- ough, Mary: 7-4; 9-1; 70-3: 77-7; i2-b; 13-3; 75-1. Schaffncr, John, III: 75-1; 75-2. Self. Julia E. : 12-7. Shaw, Henry E. : 15-1. Sheppard, Susan: 75-1. Simpson, Eleanor C. : 70-2; 77-25; i^-7; 13-2; 75-2. Sinclair, Mildred S. : 77-1. Sloan, Louise Withers: 9-1; 75-1. Smathers, Miss [Pauline?] : 9-3. Smathers, Pauline: 7.?-i. Smith, Miss : 7.?-2. Smith, Helen Eraser : 75-2. Smith, Lizzie May : 7.?-2. Smith, Merle : 9-3 ; 77-6; 13-S; 75-1. Smith, Sadie; 7.?-6; 13-20. Smith, Thomas: 9- 87; 70-13; ^^-5: ^•?-44; 13-^2; 15- 16. Smith, W. H.; 9-1. Smith, W^illiam S. : 75-7. Sondley, F. A.: 75-2. Southern Literary Mes- senger: 9-5. Spivey, E. B., Jr.: 75-1. Stack, Norman LeRoy: 9-1; 77-2; 75-1. Stephens, Erwin D. : 75-1. Stevens, James: 75-1. Stone, Alma Irene : 9-4 ; 7_'-27 ; 13-6. Stroupe, Carrie : 7^-2. Sut- ton. Elizabeth B. : 70-2; 77-6. Sut- ton, Mrs. Maude Minish ; 9-391; 70-17: 77-21; 75-6. Swaringen, Roy A.: 7-4. Teeter, Zebulon : 75-1. Thomas, Mrs. C. C. : 13-2. Thomas, Eltie : 75-11. Thompson, Irene: 9-1; 7.?- 40; 7.?-i2. Tillet, Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. : 7.?-i. Timmons, Mrs. Laura B. : 12-2. Trader, William D. : 9-31: 11-6. Tucker, Grace: 77-12; 7_'-4; 7.?-2. Tugman, Alex- ander: 75-1. Turner, James B. : 7_'-2. Turner, Joseph K. : 75-1. Vance. Mrs. Ira M.: 75-12. \^ann, Dorothy M.: 9-11 ; 7.?-20. Vaught, Mrs. Gertrude Allen: 9-112; 70-7; 7_'-93; 7.?-iiO; 75-4. Waggoner, Thomas R. : T3-4. 12 CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME Walker, Edith: 9-6. Walker, M.: 11-2. Walker, Mary L. : 9-3. Wall, Martha E. : g-2; 12-25; 13- 12. Walton, Beulah : 12-2; 13-4. Ward, Rosalie G. : 15-1. Ware, Robert D. ; 12-2. Watkins, Laura : 12-2. Watkins, Louise F. : 9-1 ; 12-4; 13-14. Watkins, Sarah K. : /i'-i3; 13-3. Watson. Fawn: 9-12; 11-7 ; 12-6. Watson, Sarah K. : 13-5. Webb, Pearl A.: 9-5; 13-2; 15-2. Whitley, Edna : 0-3 ; 11-6 ; 12-2; 13-6; 13-2. Williams, C. : 9-1. Williams. Crockette : 9-2; ii-i. Willis, Rebecca: 13-2; 13-1. Wilson, George P. : 9-478 (con- tributed in the process of editing, not in original ms. collection). Winston, R. W. : 10-7; 13-2. ll'in- ston-Salem Journal and Sentinel: 75-1. Wood, "Granny": 13-1. Wood. Ray : 77-6. Woodie. Mr. and Mrs. : 75-1. Wright, J. T. C. : 12-4 ; 13-7. D00479265X 398.0S756 D877F v. 1 617427