# Journal of American Folk-Lore/Volume 12/Issue 46/Folk-Lore Scrap-Book

FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
In the "Southern Workman" for May, 1899, are given a number of "Irishman Stories," that is to say, tales related by American negroes concerning the stupidity of the Irishman, who in their folk-lore replaces the Welshman of the English nursery, as responsible for actions characteristic of rustic simplicity. The collector observes that the Irishman stories form as widespread a part of the American negro folk-lore as do the animal stories, even although in their present form they cannot claim an African origin.
"The Irishman and the Pumpkin.—Once there was a man driving along the road with a pair of mules and a load of pumpkins, when an Irishman stopped him and wanted to know what those things were that he had in his cart. The man replied they were mule's eggs, and told the Irishman that, if he would put one on the south side of a hill and sit on it, it would hatch out a mule. So the Irishman bought one, and carried it up on the south side of a hill and sat down on it and soon went to sleep. Of course he fell off, and the pumpkin went rolling over and over down the hill and into the brush; out jumped a rabbit and went running off. 'Koop, colie! Koop, colie! Here 's your mammy,' called the Irishman, but the rabbit would n't stop. So the Irishman went back to the other man and said he wanted another mule's egg; the first one hatched into a mighty fine colt, but it ran so fast he could n't catch it, and he would like to buy another."
"The Sea Tick and the Irishman.—This story is told about the sea tick, and also about the rattlesnake.
"An Irishman had heard of sea ticks but had never seen one, though he wanted to very much. Once he was walking along the beach, and found a watch, dropped by some one who had gone on ahead of him. The Irishman had never seen a watch before; so when he heard it ticking he said, 'Be Jasus, it 's a long time I 've been hearing of sea ticks, and here I 've got one.' Then he got a stick and beat the watch until it stopped ticking.
"In the other version the Irishman is walking in the woods, and sees a watch with a long chain lying in his path. When he hears it ticking he says, 'Faith, there 's a rattlesnake!' and gets a rock and smashes it all to pieces."
"The Irishman and the Moon.—Once upon a time there were ten Irishmen who were always on the lookout for something to eat. One bright moonlight night they took a walk by the side of a river, and the greediest one of all espied the reflection of the moon in the water, and he thought it was cheese. So he said to his companions, ' Faith, boys, there 's green cheese! Let 's get it.' The others answered, 'Sure an' we will, if you kin find some way for us to reach it.' No sooner said than done. He made a leap into the air and caught hold of the bough of a tree which stood near by, and bade the rest of them make a long line by swinging one on to the other's feet until the man at the end could reach what they thought ​was cheese. The weight was more than the first man could stand, so he thought he would lighten up by letting go his hold long enough to rest his hands, being perfectly ignorant of what would happen if he did so. Of course they all fell pell-mell into the river, and stirred up the water so much that, when they did manage to crawl out, they could not see the reflection of the moon. Then they all declared that the last fellow had stolen the cheese and gone. To see whether they were all there, after every one had denied taking the cheese, they thought that they should be counted, so the very cleverest one of all stood the rest in a row and began to count. Instead of counting from one to ten and including himself either as first or last, he only said, 'Me myself, one, two, three,' etc., and the consequence was that he only counted nine. He repeated this for some time, and getting tired of it, and calling in a slow way to find out the thief, they all got little twigs, and, forming themselves in a row, each one stuck a hole in the ground with his twig. After this was done, they took turns to count the holes, and at last really saw that all ten were still there. As to where the cheese went, they never could tell, and they lamented for weeks afterward over the lost piece of green cheese."
"The Irishmen and the Watermelon.—Two Irishmen were walking along one day, and they came across a wagon-load of watermelons. Neither one had ever seen a watermelon before, and they inquired of some negroes, who were working near by, what they were, and what they were good for. The negroes answered their questions very politely, and then, as it was their dinner hour, sat down in the shade to eat. The Irishmen concluded to buy a melon and see how they liked it. They went a little distance and cut the melon, but, taking pity on the poor negroes, decided to share it with them. 'Faith!' they said, 'guts is good enough for naygurs.' So they cut the heart out of the melon and gave it away, and ate the rind themselves."
"The Irishmen and the Deer.—There seem to be several stories that might be placed under this title, all alike in recording the Irishman's non-success in the hunt, but varying widely in detail. They may be roughly classified into stories in which the Irishman shoots the wrong thing, as a cow or a mule, and those in which he simply fails to take any steps to secure the right thing when it goes by him. To the latter class belong the following:—
"(1.) Some men went hunting, and they put an Irishman on the stand where the deer would pass, and went off in other directions. Pretty soon the deer passed directly by the stand, and the Irishman stood and looked at him. The others came in at noon, and they all asked the Irishman why he did not shoot the deer when it passed so near. The Irishman said, 'Why, it was no use; if he kept on as fast as he was going, he 'd kill himself anyway.'
"(2.) Once upon a time some Irishmen went out deer-hunting. As a rule, a deer will have a certain path along which he will run whenever he is chased. The first time he is chased he generally gets by, because no one knows his path, but the next time some one is apt to be on the watch in ​that place. So it was with these men. They made plans for the chase, which were as follows: The leader says to his friend, 'Pat, youse get down yonder and sit by the road in some bushes. Don't holler, but keep right quiet and aisy, and when the deer comes you shoot him in the shoulder, and, faith and be Jasus, we 'll have him!' The leader went another way to hark the dogs on. By and by the dogs began. 'Ough! ough!' Pat cries very softly, 'faith and be Jasus, he 's comin'!' He looks very hard to see the deer, and soon it comes breaking through the woods into sight. Pat jumps up to shoot, but in a second he stops to talk again. 'Oh,' he says, 'that 's a man? Say, mister, where are you going?' The deer says nothing, but keeps on running. 'Why, you seem to be in a hurry!' No reply. 'Are you running from the dogs?' No reply. 'Well, if you have not time to talk, you had better hurry on; the dogs are crowding you.' After the dogs had passed, the leader came up and said, 'What is the matter with you, Pat? Why did n't you shoot the deer?' 'I 've not seen the deer,' says Pat; 'I saw a man go along here with a chair on his head, seeming to be afraid of the dogs.' 'What did you say, Pat?' says the leader. 'I said, go on, old man, for the dogs are close behind.' 'What a fool you are,' says the leader; 'you shall never hunt with us again.'"
"Two Irishmen at Sea.—Two Irishmen were once at sea in a small boat, and they decided to get off at the first island that they reached. They finally came to a patch of seaweed, which they thought to be land. One of them instantly leaped from the boat to the seaweed and sank beneath the waves. The Irishman who was left in the boat thought that his friend was hiding from him and said, 'Faith in me Jasus! 't is no use to hide, for I 'm coming too.' He then leaped from the boat to the seaweed and sank as his companion had done. Thus perished both these Irishmen among the seaweeds."
The same journal for March, 1899, contains a number of items relating to "Folk-lore and Ethnology."
"The Trick Bone of a Black Cat.—Put ashes and water into a pot, set it over a fire and let it come to a boil. Have ready a black cat (not a strand of white hair on him), cut his head off, put him in the lye, and let boil until all the flesh has left the bones. Take out every bone. Wash them. Now for finding the luck bone ; take up one bone, place it in your mouth, and ask your partner, 'Do you see me?' If he says yes, you will have to try another, asking the same question every time. When you put the witchy bone in your mouth he will say, 'I don't see you.' Then take that bone, put it in your pocket and keep it there, and you can steal anything you want and no one will see. In fact, you can do any kind of trick you want, and no one will know it.
"Another informant tells us that the lucky bone will rise to the top when the flesh has all boiled off from the bones." Note.—It is sufficiently remarkable, and full of instruction in regard to the origins of American negro folk-lore, that this superstition also belongs to Germans in Canada, and is plainly of European descent. See Journal of American Folk-Lore, ​xii. 1899, 49. With Canadian Germans, the possession of the bone, here called the "trick-bone," confers invisibility.—Editor of the Journal of American Folk-Lore.
"How to conjure.—Get graveyard dirt, and put it into the food or sprinkle it around the lot. It will cause heavy sickness.
"Put a file under the step and it will break peace forever,—even make a man leave his wife.
"Have a vial, put into it nails, red flannel, and whiskey. Put a cork in it, then stick nine pins in the cork. Bury this where the one you want to trick walks."
"Remedies to cure Conjuration.—If the pain is in your limbs, make a tea or bath of red pepper, into which put salt, and silver money. Rub freely, and the pain will leave you. If sick otherwise, you will have to get a root doctor, and he will boil roots, the names of which he knows, and silver, together, and the patient must drink freely of this, and he or she will get well. The king root of the forest is called 'High John, the Conqueror.' All believers in conjuring quake when they see a bit of it in the hand of any one.
"Tie a snake shed around your waist, and it will help you carry any point you wish. Tie red flannel strings around your ankles, knees, and arms, and it will keep off conjure. Also, wear silver money around your neck."
"A Word of Courtship.—Gentleman: Lady, if you should see me coming down the road, hat sitting on three sprigs of hair, cigar in north corner of my mouth, my coat-tail arguing with the wind, and my shoes crying judgment, what would be the consequence?
"Lady: My head is full of argument, My tongue is full of chat, Say, kind gentleman, can you tell me What 's good for that?"
"Why the Wren does not Fly High.—The eagle and the wren once had a contest as to who should be king of the air. At the time appointed for the trial of strength they began to soar, and whichever went the highest was to be king. After they had gone a few feet up, the wren placed herself on the back of the eagle, and she was so light that he did not know she was there. After the eagle had flown as high as he could go, he called out, 'Where are you, Mr. Wren?' Then the wren flew about six feet above him and answered, 'I am the highest!'
"For her falsehood she was told she should always fly low."
"Brer Rabbit beats Brer Fox.—One day Brer Fox was hungry. As he wandered about the wood he saw a squirrel upon the branch of a tall tree. 'Hello, Brer Squirrel!' he said; 'Hello, Brer Fox!' replied the squirrel.
"Then said Brer Fox, 'I once had a brother who could jump from limb to limb.' 'So can I,' replied Brer Squirrel. 'Let me see you,' said the fox, so the squirrel jumped from limb to limb.
​"'Brer Squirrel, I have a brother who can jump from tree to tree.' 'I can, too.' So Brer Squirrel jumped from tree to tree.
"'Brer Squirrel, I had a brother who could jump from the top of a tall tree right into my arms.' 'I can, too,' said the squirrel, and he did. Brer Fox ate him all up.
"Brer Rabbit was lying in his bed near by, and saw all that was done. 'Brer Fox,' said he, 'you a mighty smart man, but I had a brother who could do something you cannot do.'
"'What was it?' said Brer Fox.
"'My brother could let anybody tie a large rock around his neck, and jump off this bridge into the water and swim out.' 'So can I,' said the fox. Then Brer Rabbit fixed the rock and the string, and Brer Fox jumped, but he has not been heard of since."