National Republican., 1883-11-05
DARKEY SUPERSTITIONS.
A Few Of the Many Signs on Which the Old
Plantation Hand Implicitly Relies
Voudoo Charms and Their Strange and
Curious Uses,
What tho Growing Of Hens, the Hooting Of Owls, or
the Meaningless March Of Coon May Indicate.
Reading the Future from the Frost on the
Window Pane--6hosts and Witches.

Superstitious belief extends from away
down behind the misty horizon of the past to
tho present bright midday of knowledge
and progress. Its past history in the world
is froighted with horrors and barricades to
the light Of knowledge. Referring TO the
subject in one of his poems, Southey says:
'Tis ahistory
Handed from ages adown; anurses tale
Which children open ey'd and mouthd d devourj
Aud thus as gurrulous Ignorance relates
We learn II and believe.
Negro superstition, however, is not SO
ancient, and is almost purely of American
origin. Much Of it was invented in tho
cotton fields of the south, around tho blazing
hearth fire of tho old log cabin, OF in the bogs
aud swamps where slaves were assembled
together at work or pastime. The negroes
were not alone in these beliefs, for the poor
whites" Of the south eagerly believed in signs,
forobodings, and dreams, and do to this day,
in common with large majority of the col
ored people. From these plantation super
stitions class of humbugs sprang up, known
Hs voudoo doctors and conjurors, who hold
tho ignorant in dread of their mysterious arts
and against whose practice laws have been
paescd in several of the southern states
Following are somo of these beliefs, collated
by REPUBLICAN reporter after extensive
conversation with the above casses
The growing of a hen at midnight is a sure
sign Of death. IL n rooster rotires to his roost
with q hoarse voice and crows in an unusual
manner. il Is regarded as the voice of u hen,
aud " anyone about the place is sick, prepara
tions are frequently made for his funeral.
IL luckless hen should at any time mako an
attempt at growing, her head is instantly cut
of TO prevent the death of some person. In
connection with this class of universal birds,
the negroes rocito the following couplet;
De whistn' woman an de CROWN hen,
Nebbcr Gums 10 emmy good eud.
Frogs, and particularly toads play an i'm
portant part In southern superstitions The
hearts Of ton toads made into n stew will
cause the effects OF coniuration. Tho hind
legs ofa frog hung over the fireplace, one
week before Christmas, will bring plenty OF
food aud presents, and the large eyeballs of a
wator frog, or blood.noun,' as they arc
called, worn as a breast pin, will keep his
satanic majesty at respectable distance from
the wcaror.
The weird laclx-o'.anterns which bob up
In the bogs Of the south during dark nights,
are regarded rs ghostly apparitions and indi-
cate the presence Of white-shected spooks.
The avofaRo plantation negro or white will
dash wildly toward home OH the appearance
OF jack-o'-lantern before them. Indeed,
IL slavery difficult matter to get one of the
above classes out OF doors after sunset under
any circumstances.
The first appearance of frost is anxiously
watched for, and its pretty formation eagerly
scanned. The glistening pictures must be
observed when the sun rises. The silver
pictures thus seen in the first frost of the
season are regarded as illustrations Of your
iato. A collin means death; flowers, we'd
ding; money, riches; birds, long life, and
stars, sickness. .
The approach Of "coonn or 'possum com.
inE toward your house In tho day time is q
very bad omen. The cornhed bard says o
this rare occurrence:
When dc coon Gums out
Ia de broad daylight,
Some person VIII die
BrfJ dat mite
II is also regarded as q bad sign 70 kill M
even number of these animals and ii upor
the roassembling Of o party aftor moonlight
hunt tt Is found that an even number has
been bagged, the party will hunt for hours "a
capture or kill another animal, aud thus make
the number odd.
Plenty Of rabbits In tho stubbo and sur.
rounding fields indicate large and healthy
crop the next season.
A white crow IL q harbinger of death and
disease, and the appearance of one Of these
birds in a neiphborhOod will cause the entire
negro population 10 turn out with their old
muskeis, and tho luckloss white crow Il
killed Ii possible. IL IL Is killed the belief |,
that sickness will prevail but no deaths will
result from such sickness. Carrion crows in
lhIkt HNihhaIh - u very EOOu uiHut lnctOlOIl
their lives are sicrcd 10 tho plantation
hands" who feel deeply aggrieyed IL one o
these birds is killed.
Thunder and lightning during tho winter
means that the devil Is abroad on the earth
and it invariably causes doyout negroes I,
pray and sing. One Of their plantation hymns
says OF this atmospheric phenomenon;
"Nhen you hear de lighinin',
yellin at lie snow,
De"le spllt-ioOt, ed dcbbn
Is cum up from below"
The weird and unearthly hooting Of tn,
owl, from its lofty perch at the top of sigh
ing pino tree, reyerboratiug aud echoinl
through tho gloomy forest aud out over The
surrounding marshes Is regarded rs an an
nouncemont Of the presence Of ghosts. WhoT
the hooting is heard. the piekaninnes gather
close abou tho old gray-hairod sire beior
tho blazing hearth tire, aud listen to his mar
rative of how do 'hants' am walkin' abou
in de woods wild dcre white sheets an point
ing hands"
To sec a snake in winter means muol
trouble. Sharks swimming close TO tho shor
is bad sign, and indicates shipwrock VIII
geese flying southward prognosticates col
weather, and their flight northward is a sig
of warmer days. Fora gun TO hang fire. mean
sudden death, and for horse 70 balk at th,
foot of n hill is good omen.
Tho ghOstly superstitions OF the south ar
numerous. lt is impossible to get either
white or black man on the southern sea coas
20 go out upon the beach during o storm a
night They SEQ riding upon the white cappc
breakers which roll aud splutler In upon tn
hard sand the ghostly forms OF mariners VIII
! were lost al sea, with their shrouds nappinl
} in the gale. Neither will thoy pass the corps
of tho luckloss sailor that drifts In upon In
beach, aud frequent cases are known wher
even suporstitious life saving men made
detour OF AZ least half mile to avoid tn
object. SpOoks aro believed 10 be very partia
10 storms, and many startling stories are re
lated of their prauks during the prevalence
of gales and thunder aud lightning at nigh
when their skeleton frames could bo sec
with each vivid fash of electricity.
AN OLD SOLDIERS REUNION.