The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-08-12
SOME ODD sUPERsTITIoNs
p.o,.a of East Tennessee Believe u
CHANTS and speiis

People Of East
atlantis and Spells"
Omaha world-Herald. A..
washington Irving would nave oo,
,,gbted in the dreamy supernatursl
on the Southern mountains ana lover.
OF the iegands of Sleepy Hollow couic
ana the counterpart Of that region
down In Tennessee. The supernatura
ia IN the atmosphere. The fnhapitan.s
~ the mountains live 1t. not slavisn
fear. but as a part of their lives from
which they would not be separated.
Every act Of life has its significance
Every hollow its ghost or It's cnarm
The moon, the trees. are all intermeo-
larry between them and the unseen
world Of spirits. and worn them OF ois-
aster. bring good luck or oad as IL may
be, or tell them of death.
II 10 probably only in the deepness
Of the little explored Tennessee noun
tains that one will md the simple
black art practiced In Its original
purity. They pin their faith to chants
and spells and charms! They do MOI
talk about them any more than they
would relate their private affairs t.
q stranger. But II you Doubt theiI
awful power they will, in a round
about manner, relate to you that ex-
perience Of Jake Long which happen
ed down in the valley" last fall
Down in the valley" is the polite
way Of intimating that a man lives
in lone Of the numerous caves. The
term "covite," for some reason or other
is considered one of opprobrium. to be
resented.
Probably the most astonishing sup
erstition which fourishes In the Willis
Of the Tennessee mountains Is that
with regard to vaccination. When
smallpox was travelling this way pre-
vention was suggested But 1t wouldn't
pass here. The mountaineers stoutly
refused to allow themselves or their
families to be inoculated. When press
ed for reason they at last explain
ed that 1t was well known that the
first time q man used his arm after
vaccination 1t would drop of at the
shoulder. No ILLUSTRATION was given.
but neither has any native Of Tonnes
ssean in this part Of the state even
been vaccinated. They have no extra
arms to lose on experiments.
Everylocality has its weather signs
but here 10 one not generally know.
Perhaps It doesn't work elsewhere. If
1t thunders in February there will be
frost on the corresponding day In May.
It thundered last February ia and IL.
Well it didn't frost in May. but there
was q nippy cold spell on that date.
AS for the many minor superstitions
"Br'er Rabbit" had a rival in the shape
Of small bone found In the crayfish.
the lucky owner OF which will always
be able to find things he has lost and
will be successful in all he undertakes
II you kill the first snake you seee in
the spring you at the same time kill
your enemy. II q bird lights on your
head you will speedily hear of your
own death or the death of some one
else. In weaving a colt II Is absolute
ly necessary that you be up In the
signs of the zodiac. for IL you should
start the process when the sign is In
the head of the colt will calmly con-
tinue sucker for two years, while II
you do It in the sign of the knees the
Job will be finished in two weeks.
A peculiar kind of cloud is called
rain Seeds" ana when seen in the
sky any native knows 1t is going &c
rain. One of the most foolish thing,
man can do Is to allow the beautiful
dogwood blossoms to be etaken int
his cabin. They will surely bring bad
luck. Any one who has lived in thu
mountains for many years can tel
you when to expect the dogwood, the
blackberry and the whippoorwill win.
tiers. Spring may seem to have come
to stay but the Tennesseean will moi
plant ihs crops until these successive
winters have passed.
Many OF the superstitions can b.
traced back to old England, from
which these people eemigrated a cou.
pie Of centuries ago-in fact, many
Of their strange idioms OF speech are
| obsolete English. The ancient mode
OF determining a child's future by the
article 1t first notices is gone one bet.
ter in mountain lore. Here the pro.
gnostication is made by the first wod.
tick which fastens itself upon the ba.
by, and thee parents have a say as t.
their progeny's future. The tick Il
taken out and killed on an ak IL tht
parents wish the child to be a cieeveeI
workman; on some clear, ringing ar
ticle II he is to be a singer; on
book II he Sc designed for a preacher.
But one OF the moste noteworthy OBJ
servances is that OF keeping the Sab
bath. Men do not care much for worl
down here. Few will put In over thre,
days a week, even when work in press
Ing. but they Will work hard and max,
their family work hard to finish up
job before Sunday. No matter how
low or shiftless a man, he has a lower
depth into which to sink-to let it be
known that he has worked on Sun.