Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-17
Virginia FOLKLORE.

VIRGINIA FOLKLORE.
rnwristen southern Traditions which
Fina Counterparts I'm Many
Nations.
A Hampden Sidney College corre-
spondent writes to the Free Press {:
About this quaint old Virginia
community, seven miles from rail-
road and isolated from politics, bar
rooms. ard even the barber-shops,
which make the outside worksday
world what it is, there hangs flavor oil
the good old times before the war. Tho
peighboring country is the heart OF East
ern Virginia and Of the country which
used to be famous for its vast tobacco
plantations, with hundreds Of negro
bands on single farm, great lawyers,
and hospitable planters. Here the Viz
einia negro is still found in his primo OF
| good-natured and ignorant indolence.
And while there is no voodooiSm or fe-
fish worship here, the hereditary tradi-
tons and mild superstitions Of these
descendants Of African monarchs are
illustrated to an edify ing extent.
Whether, like the folklore OF Georgia
and the cotton States, that of Eastern
Virginia is traceable directly back to AT.
RIGA in nearly every case is a question.
| There seems to exist Caucasian folk
lore sprung from long residence in the
beautiful spurs Of the Blue Ridge and
the picturesque bills and secluded val
leys which iadiate and fill all the Sec
ton of the State. That the slaves ex-
erted a perceptible influence on this
cult there can be no doubt. But that
it in large part originated in magma
tons and superstitiOns apart from them
is equally undoubtable. This folklore
embodies several legends which ought
to be of interest to students of such
subjects all the world over. The first
on which have been able to arrive at
facts is the
LEGEND OF THE SEVEN WHISTLERs.
Once in the life Of every man he hears
TIE Seven Whistlers' call. They are
strange birds on whom mortal eyes
have never rested, the whistle of whose
wings sometimes falls upon the startled
ear. And there is always a pOrtent
Of something momentous for good or
fer evil, even though they may not
/" dree their weird -" for weeks after the
Seven Whistlers' "call." Like all
portents, their coming is mostly in the
cleaning. For then, after all, is the
witchiRg hour" There is in the
quiet Of a secluded countryside in the
twilight hush which comes down from
the mountains and the twilight shadow
which falls from the heavens mystical
significance OF another world and OF
The himsy structure Of the veil inter-
venirg, which is to be found at 10 other
hour Of the twenty-fOur.
1t is, then, BY some lonely wood
pond, or in some valley circled by the
woods, that this hush is broken by a
faint. far-beat, distinct note in tho cir,
not on earth or in the sky overhead,
taken up and repeated six times, and
ever growing clearer and more distinct,
and finally pealipg away with a rush OF
wings and a sound Of passing, like that
which in all the Mediterranean isles
signalled the death Of "the Great Pan y
when Christ was born.
THE BLACK HORSEMAN.
There is a low valley on the Apo
mattox river, not many miles from the
historic fields of the surrender, through
which flows a gentle stream. Along
its banks are groves Of oak and ash
and farther away on either side stretches
the rolling meadow land. On the tot
Of q reighboIing hill is ruined cabin
said to be the site Of what was once
famous plantation mansion. Here, II
the first cool twilights of the fall, o
he darkness gathers sufficiently to al
low the lights Of the farm-houses mil
. or two away to be visible, the trayelle
or passer.by may hear the champlng
a bit and the paving of a powerin
+ steed. In few moments, just on ID
: bank Of the stream, q cOal-black hors
is seen, ard q strange man in forelg
costume stands by the saddle, ready t
mount. whoa, sir whoa, sir, th
rider cries :" whoa, sir ~ and the blac
steed paws and champs his bit. In a
- instant, on the hill, where stands tn
= ruined cabin, brilliant illuminatio
= fares up and the windows Of stated
: mansion are seen all aglow in the RAJ
q Of the dying sun, which fall last upo
= that night. Then the strange ma
raises his head suddenly and says:
Whose house is that there.
, And whose house might that he,
: And how came That house there
without the leave OF me?
a And in an instant he leaps to the sat
a die and in flash the radiant mansie
. and the coal.black steed disappear, an
: ! all is silent and dark. This is know
: to all the gray heads for lesgu'
Il around.
THE ERIE SUNSETS.
n In Madison county, along the base
q Prospect mountain, the sunsets are sal
r. always to be Of q weird and surpssslr
grandeur. No such gorgeous illumin
& tions Of the western sky are to be see
u anywhere in this country. Whether
10 be from the peculiar natural conform
e ton Of the neighborhOod or the way
q which the hills to the west are shaped
q the splendor Of these sunsets is famou
o AS they fade away, and the stream
!. ers of cloud which have been crimsC
y and purple melt into the colder gray {
10 dusk, these cloud streamers take O
O. fantastic shapes of living things, ar
j, the upper ether, SO high as to be indi
* tinct, is twisted and moved as by the co
r. WILSON'S Of mighty serpent, and Il
IT. tail folds undulate down to the horiz(
and lose themselves in the forests of Il
X mountain. This is the Great Snak
- IS During the recent earthquake distur
'n ances these atmospheric and serpe
~ tine phenomena are declared to hs
:" been noticed to marked degree.
,r- LEGEND OF THE LITTLE DOC.
he There is never boy or girl W
he was brought up in all the country.s 81
as who has not heard FROM nurse or c.