The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-10-17
IOlDBYTGNS and 0MENS
Snpersttions of the Virginia
Mountain Folks.
BIRDS AND HEADACHE

Fire and Cow--Poverty Stunned
by Peacocks - Influence Of the
Moon on crops-A Stern Code Of
Perpetual Disaster. ,,.,,.u
Washington, self admitted centre Of
On superstition as form of devil
worship that vanished with witch
burning. Yet within two hours ride
af the Capitol are communities that
despite public school and church
choir factions problems and things
are as deeply saturated with supersti-
don as the scholarly bats that fitted
through the intellectual twilight OF
ne 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 the Shenandoah Val.
Icy the daily life of the hill dwell
Ter is hedged in with countless signs
and omens, all portents of evil.
Through them he walks gngerly, fear
fnl lest in propitiating one genius of
afsasted he offended against another.
"Sides, want yer TO go fer ther
ipctor. Yer mas ailin this mawnin'
an er burned whippo' will set on ther
horse block an hollored las night tel
clodded him off. Yer know what
that means!"
whippoorwills, that the ignorant
may know as much as Hance, mean
sarly and sudden death. For years
Ehey had made that block a rendez-
vous for their nightly chorals, while
The family remained healthy as host
segs. But it shook not the old mans
belief in the faith of his fathers. The
doctor was hurriedly fetched, only to
and ma recovered "as peart as
cricket"
Don't Yer put that sassafras wood
In ther kitchen tire!" cried the old
ndy to her helping hand one day, a
twelve year old girl as yet unlearned
IN the lore OF the hills. Every sin
9le COW on ther place'll go dry eff
yer do. Put it in pas fire."
A listening city man wondered at
hts fine distinction.
Law, chile" sagely explained the
odd lady, Its jes' putin sassafras in
ther kitchen fire what makes cows
80 dry; it don make no diffunce in no
ather fire. Why, when l wuz er gal
0vern Rappahannock-" and wise
saws and ancient instances were copi-
ously cited to sustain the theory of
fnterrelation OF sassafras, kitchen
IRE and COW.
"Peacocks won't stay ith u.s." ex-
plained the old lady when the city
man suggested them as an ornament
10 the velcety blue grass lawn. "They
wont stay 18th po folks.
I'VE used ter have er beautiful pair
On 'em. They stayed here fer years
tel we los that lawsuit 18th ther
Cyarters an got po.' Their very mex
night them peacocks went down ther
unount'n pas Dorse Heflin's place an
ole man Coosers, who's both po' folks
IN didn' stop tel they got plum ter
Col. Walters, thet owns bout half
q, Warren county.
They're been thar ever sence, an
they'll stay thar tel ther Walters gifts
po' an then they'll move on. No,
tain't no use ter git peacocks hyah."
Cuttings and combings from the
hair must be carefully collected and
burned in the kitchen fire, that altar
to the god of bad luck. Otherwise
a general run Of i'll fortune will sit by
the hearth for an indefinite term.
II the birds get the hair the Ill
luck is more specific. The miserable
man has a headache that no coal tar
product can relieve until the nestings
leave their hair lined home. The un-
fortunate woman loses her remaining
locks, unhelped by hair tonics.
"I've always had good crops" said
a clever and comfortable farmer of
the foothills, because | always plant
things that yield above ground, like
corn and wheat on the light of the
moon and those that viald beneath
like potatoes, on the dark. I've never
failed. Yes" he reluctantly admit
ted. 81 do use lots of fertilizer. But
the moon--"and the city man lis
tened to monologue on It's virtues
as crop raiser.
when yer hev er dawg thet dom
know 'nuff ter bark when he trees er
yarmint," cOnfided a dweller in the
Rappahannock Valley "thar's only one
way ter learn him how, Take er
green gourd that's been raised in ther
northwest corner ov er fel'--yer mus
pull 1t on er Sadday-an' ther frs
time that dawg trees an don give
tongue take ther gourd an bus it wide
open over his head. tn learn him
ter bark treed all right"
When the city man came home he
found himself stopping to make a
cross mark with his toe every time
he turned back and shuddering when
ever he heard a bowling dog, the
deadliest of mountain death omens. He