The sun., 1906-12-30
THIRD SECTION.
BLUE RIDGE SIGNS AND OMENS.
SUPERSTITIONS or THE VIRGINIA
MOUNTAIN FOLKS.
Interrclation OF sssssfras, Kitchen Fire
and COw-Povcrty Stunned by Pea
cOcks-Innuence Of the Moon ON Crops
A stern Code OF Perpetual Disaster.


WASHINGTON, Dec. Washington, self
admitted centre Of culture aud enlighten-
ment, looks upon superstition as form Of
devil worship that vanished with witch
burning. Yet within two hours ride Of the
Capitol are communities that despite pub
lie schools and church choir factions and
problems and things are as deeply saturated
with superstition as the scholarly bats
that fitted through the intellectual twilight
Of the Middle Ages.
In the upper reaches OF the Virginia
counties that flank the Blue Ridge on the
east and climb the mountain shoulders
until they look down over the summit into
ihs Shenandoah Valley the daily life OF
the hill dweller is hedged in with countless
signs and omens, all portents OF evil.
Through them he walks gingerly. fearful
lest in propitiating one genius Of disaster
he offend against another.
4 religious and churchgoing folk are
these-on Sunday. The rest OF the week
they devote to keeping out Of the clutches
of bad luck" the modern form OF that
disagreeable and uncomfortable old god
of the Zidonians, Baal, who visited them
with dire and original punishments when
he didn't get his regular allowance Of broiled
baby. They don't broil babies, these latter
day worshippers, but they keep themselves,
in perpetual hot water.
-Hance," said a sturdy old farmer OF
Big Cobbler Mountain TO his son, as the boy
started out on June morning to hoe the
weed choked corn. -ther moons in ther
secon' quarter an Of yer chop 'em down
them weeds III grow worser n ever.
Better waitn mex week.
a k... Hnx. NHxavs krxe
Yer mas ailin' this mawnin' an er burned
whippo'wil set on ther horse block an
hollered las night tel clodded him OF.
Yer know what that meansl"
Whippoorwills, that the ignorant may
know as much as Hance, mean early and
sudden death. For years they had made
that block a rendezvous for their nightly
chorals, while the family remained healthy
as hostlers. But it shook not the old mans
tehef in the faith Of his fathers. The
doctor was hurriedly fetched, only to find
ma recovered, -as peart as a cricket
Don't yer put that sassafras wood in
ther kitchen firel" cried the old lady to her
helping hand one day, a twelve-year-old
girl, as yet unlearned in the lore OF the
hills. Every single COW on ther place1l
60 dry ef yer do. Put it in pas fire.
A listening city man wondered at this
fine distinction.
Law, chile" sagely explained the old
lady, -it's jes' putin sassafras in ther
kitchen fire what makes COWS go dry; It
dom make no diffunce in no other fire.
Why; when wuz er gal over'n Kappa
hannock-' and wise saws and ancient
instances were oopiOusly cited to sustain
the theory Of interreIation OF sassafras,
kitchen fire and cow.
Sometimes they hit IL. One day the city
man, bent on a little exercise in wood chop
ping, etrolled through the house with axe
a-shoulder.
cit outer hyah 'itfi that roared the old
man in pallid terror. Don't yer know 1t 9
ther wors' luck In ther worl ter tote er
axe through er house7 What yer thinkin'
bout, anyhow?
An hour later, a. the city man approached
the dwelling, his ears were flooded with a
torrent of high treble recrininations min
eled with deep Cow OF apologies. They
pushed from door and window. The city
man betook himself back to the placid
forest: where he abode until the gusty
Niagara had subsided. AS he emerged the
old man met him.
sIknowed yer'd make trouble 18th thct 'ere
axe, he said accusingly. @Yer hadn't got fer
o. ther barn TO ther old oman foun' er jug
er moonshine hid under ther bed. an Ia
done swore of las Girls mas fer er year:
let this be or lesson ter yer, m son, an
don never tote er axe through er house no
mo-
The city man began to believe there was
sPeacocks won't stay 18th U.S. explained
the old lady when the city man suggested
them as an ornament to the velvety blue
grass lawn. They won't stay 'th po'
we used ter have or beautiful pair on
'em. They stayed here fer years tel we
los that lawsuit 18th ther Quarters an got
DO. Their very mex night them peacocks
went down ther mount'n, pas Dorse Hef-
both DO folks, an didn' stop tel they got
plum ter Col. Walters, thet owns 'Dout
half o. Warren county.
They've been thar ever sence, an they ii
stay thar tel ther Walters gifts po' an then !a
they'll move on. No, talnt no use ter glt
One si9n the sexes split upon. The men
hold IL Il worse to drink whiskey on the
waxing, the women on the waning moon:
They agree, however, that a given and
suficient amount will make a man twice
as drunk when the moon 10 on the wane;
20 t In really a question Tor dlalecticians
and prohibitionists.
must be carefully collected and burned in
the kitchen fire, that altar TO the goo OF
bad luck. Otherwise a general run OF
i'll fortune will sit by the hearth for an
indefinite term.
If the birds get the hair the Ill luck is
more specific. The miserable man has
headache that no coal tar product can re-
leve until the nestlings leave their hair
lined home The unfortunate woman loses
her remaining locks, -unhelped by hair
THAT fool put 'em on ther barn on! on theT her
dark Of ther moon,' complained the old
man when he saw the shingles curling up
like the bow OF a toboggan. An he laid
ther rail fence in ther pasture on the dark,
too, time wuz sick an couldn' git out
an learn him some sense. That's why
it's sunk two rails deep in ther groun'
aready. It'll go plum out er sight in ther
earth "a or couple er years. Co'se tWus
ther moon!" =,
That evening the city man heard the old
lady scolding the kitchen girl because she
had set a hen when according 70 the
almanac "ther sun wuz In ther feet
Amt yer got sense nun ter know every
egg1l addict she asked angrily.
That girl was learning fast. Nor did
vNla t1.A .rfad uuhAn