The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-08-02
wrTCHCRAFT IN THE SOUTH.
Hays That Terrify Tar Heel Folk-sto-
ries OF the Doings Of Old Nance-The
Nameless Witch OF Roam Mountain.

mountains OF North Carolina there Is q
district peopled exclusively by native
Americans which is as witch-ridden as
was New England before the Salem
h~angings. There aged hays, who have
fostered for themselves a repute OF
mystery and terror, hold entire com
| munities in subsection, weaving spells
| and charms, blighting with the evil
eye and compromising potions of
strange ingredients
The best known Of these is called
Old Nance-but only in whispers, and
IL is by no means certain TO the
| tyside that she does not hear the whis-
pers, SO most people prefer the safe
side and refer TO her as Mother Nance.
| Five thousand feet high in the noun
| ain of Macon county, amoung the
/ roosts of the oul buzZards, her cabin
| clings to a w~ind-beaten ledge of rock,
| o~verhanging an abyss. No road a
| thither.
After considerable effort the writer
found a young woodsman who agreed
| to accompany him on the road to Old
Nance's. but after some six miles OF
| the hardest kind Of tramping, from the
nearest point of the roadway, the youth
| lost his courage and refused to go any
| further.
You can't miss it now" he said,
| glancing fearfully up the mountain
side. 1T amt more'n half a mile.
There's the laidge Of rock, if yer sure
yau want to go. Don't blame me If
| your friends don't reco-nize yer when
| you come back-ef you ever do get
back he concluded with startling
| earneStneSS.
1t was with a somewhat daunted
spirit that the writer proceeded, and
presently came abruptly upon a small.
~one-roomed log shack without a win
dow or chimney. Outside a very old
woman was stirring something imam
iron pot hung over a fire. She was
bowed down with age and hideous
| with wrinkle and CRIME, and her lit
tie eyes were bright and evil. At the
sound of a strangers footsteps she
| whirled round with a swiftness hat
was u~ncannily out of keeping with her
| apparent decrepitude. and after a mo-
ment's study of the writer's face,
1 spoke in so cracked an accent and bar
barous a dialect that it was hard to
make out her meaning.
Yer kin some it."
Assuming the meaning of this to be:
You know something that has brought
you UP here" the writer replied:
No, mother, 1 came to hear some
thing that you know at the same
time producing a silver dollar.
With the swiftness of a snake she
darted forward, snatched the coin and
hid it in her bosom.
Yer KEN hur fer wot?" she snarled.
"TO find out if you haven some
thing to tell me; something about the
days that are coming"
She squinted cunningly over the
edge of the rock into the abyss. Yer
come fun below" she said. "Yer'n
go back ter below"
isn't there some charm you could
give me to make it pleasanter down
beloW?'
At this a malignant grin distorted
the deep lines about her mouth. With
a swift movement she disappeared into
the cabin. returning with a bowl of
liquid, which steamed and eXuded a
spicy odor. This she proffered. Now
there are certain tales of people who
went to see Old Nance and never were
heard of afterward. This might be eX-
planned by the fact they drank steam
ing liquid out of a bowl. There are
many poisonous plants in the North
Carolina mountains, n it seemed best
to evade the drink.
at isn't polite to drink alone said
the writer to the witch.
After you"
With a snarl of rage she dashed the
bowl to the ground, darted into her
cabin and barred the door. This seemed
to indicate that the audience was over.
The writer returned to the village
whence he had started and was well
coined as one from the dead. Also he
learned many tales Of the witch some
of which were so specifically c%orrobor-
ated by witnesses to the fact that it
was difficult not to believe them and
impossible to believe that the natives
had anything but the fullest faith in
them. Here is one:
A woman had a daughter who was
in love with a South Carolina youth
whom the mother hated because he
came from another state, a quite suf-
ficient reason in that region. AS the
girl threatened to elope, the mother
took her to Old Nance. Now for some
reason possibly connected with an evi
or unfortunate past. the witch hates
all marriages and will do anything tC
thwart one. By her orders the trem'
bling girl was left with her. The
witch, according to the story told af
terward by the girl. scraped a turnip
which she gave to the girl, to eat. Hard
ly had the girl tasted it when he
: nose began to pain her, and soon i
had grown far around upon her cheek
!, almost to her ear. She was takel
home and now comes the strange part
I for there are scores of people in tn
town who are ready to swear that the,
. saw the h~ideously distorted organ
Her lover deserted her, between dis
: gust, ridicule and horror. Again sh
{ was taken to the witch, and thi
time ate willingly of the scraped tur
= nip, whereupon her nose returned to it
/ normal shape n position. But tn
witch armed her that if she ever trie
to marry the same mishap would BETA
her again.
Similarly we'll authenticated is tn
o case of Carr McCordle's bull. On tn
occasion of one of the witch's rare Wis
it's to the town the bull undertook
chase her. She turned upon the an
NAL and looked it in the Y with s
= fierce a glare that it turned tail. Ths
night it went mad, and rushed below
sc ing about the pasture, piunging int
N rocks and bushes until it finally wedge
itself so tightly between two trees thu
the utmost efforts Of McCordle and h
friends to get it out were unavailini
What is more. its bones are still thel
between the two trees. Nobody he
dared to touch them.
Even more dreadful than Old NanC
is the nameless witch of Roam ,Mour
&