The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-02-27
WHAT CAME OF DOCTOR WHITAKER SITTING
RIGHT STILL
BY Rev. r. II. Whitaker.

into the mouth Of an oil nanny FOL
the purpose Of making the reader uu-
derstand the kind OF teaching whIte
children, in the hands 81 negro nurses
received and what superstitions they
Inbibed under such tutelage. SUP
pose the negro brought his Supersti-
Ilon from the jungles of Africa and
came honestly BY them. and 50 long
as slavery existed and white children
We're nursed by colored women and
associated in the home. with colored
children, they had. daily and almost
hourly. r~ccitaIs Of the sayings ana do
ings. Of that Wonder Land. which
were calculated to awe a. Well a. to
amuse and entertain. | have listened
70 ghost "a haunt stories until I
would be afraid to go from one room
10 another. And when / was told that
witches were in the habit OF taking
people out of bed. at night, turning
them into horses and riding them till
the break Of day, over all sorts of bad
roads. | was almost afraid to go to
bed. [ fully believed that witch rid
ing business; because, some times
when my mother would be combing
my head n my hair was a little
tangled she would say. TO be sure
the witches have been riding my lit
tie boy If | reported VIA she said
to the old negro nanny, she, would
be almost, sure to say: Oar now.
OATS Wot you gifts for being a bad boy.
De witches viii ride bad boys; en- ef
you don't mine, how you du sum or dom
witches when dey rides you. dell swap
you off wild Il nuther witch. fer i
nutheF boy horse, en- den wharll yer
bc?'
During such a remark as that, made
Itrit n An tao cn.,a,,,.1. - -.
of a funeral talk. my eyes were as
big as terror could stretch them,
while my heart almost stood still. APP
palled with pure fright.
When | would ask if haunts and
witches were the same, the answer
would be: "Lor, no, child; hants IS
dedfolks and witches is live folks dat'S
sole deyselves to de debbiI. Dey's
plenty O. dem all round here, but dey.
so smart you can't ketch en-. It's jes
lack | tell yOu-hants is ded folks an
witches is live folks Wot dus jes like
de debbil tell 'em. Some time deys
yum thing: den dey's sumpin else. Dat
old black cat dat Gums roun here jeS
bout bed time is bin kilt seven times,
to my KNOWN. but dey amt no use or
trying to kill dat cat, for it's a witch,
Kill a witch? No honey, dey ain no
bullet dat1l Kill a witch but a silver
bullet, en- nobody but IA cross-eyed, left
handed person kin hit a witch; Ell dar's
s o few o dem kind o folkes dat's
makes so many witches.
How could a child whose mind was
Tiled with such nonsense be otherwise
than superstitious, or help believing
in all sorts of dark and mytesrious
things?
But, as I remember the marvellous
stories of haunts, hobgobblins, witches |
and raWhead and bloody bones, they
old for a good There
was nothing that could make me be-
OF induce me to perform a dis
ldStefui duty more readily than to be
old that raWhead and bloody bones
mao lately been seen proving around
enduring for bad boys, and had
specially asked about mellow | was
behaving, etc. | was afraid to wander
off from the house, for the bare hint
hobgobblins and ghosts had been
'~eccntly seen in the neighborhood, de
erred me; especially when told that
4 little boy, about my size, who lived
the creek, had been chased by
something that looked like Il guyas-
;utaS. and ne surely would have been
.orn all into pieces and his poor moth
IF never would have heard of him any
more, If 1t man with a gun hadn't come
tlOnS just about the time the sCutaS
ready to grab the little fellow
md drag him into a deep hole under
| great big rock.
What does q hobgoblin look like"
would ask, all in d tremble. And the
Information would be appalling. He
lad had Il head like a lion, a body +
ike an alligator, claws like IL scorpion
q tail with q sting at the end of
t; and he could run as fast as a
'uzzard could fly. and therefore could
,atch any boy so quick he wouldn't
know how it WAS done.
No little boy would dare venture
Of sight Of the house after hearing
# such g thing as that rowing around.
as now see it. those stories served
good purpose, if they were q little
marvellous and wholly untrue.
| suppose the African child, reared
n the jungles, was made to remain
here the mother left it. by being
augnt to believe that if it wandered
IF some terrible monster would de-
our it.
| saw something recently. that M
'fesSed me With the power of instinct.
\ woman cooking for US, had
child not more than a year and a
nth her. The mother had only to lay i
hat child down in a corner and tell ii /
o lie there, and it obeyed. It would not (
1oVe nor Whimper, but its eyes
,atchcd III every direction. While il :
to be perfectly satisfied. Once /
7 twice the mother sat the child on
II upturned tin pan, telling it to sit 5