The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1956-06-29
GLIM P S { S
I'll E P ST
BY CAROLYN Lloyd

Among the many interesting
things in the mountains of North
Carolina are the names of places,
things, and people. AS in every
section of the country, they reflect
the nature of the country and the
people. Most interesting are the
names of the many little roads
which branch off from the main
highways. Between huntsville and
Spruce Pine, for instance, one sees
signs designating rabbit Hop
Rd.", "Bearwallow Rd.", and
"Hoot Owl Rd.". 1t seems obvious
that bears, rabbits, and boot owls
abounded in that section and that
some practical soul named the
roads accordingly. The wind
ing trail on which the cabin
where / visited stands is named
"Cattail Road" because it is
on Cattail Creek, but the
origin of that name is little
more obscure. Whether wild cats or
tame ones frequented the region I
couldn't find out, but the name is
an appealing one, anyhow.
Those roads were probably all
just mountain trails at one time.
Considering the difficulty with
which the roads of Eastern
Carolina were traversed not
so many years ago, it doesn't
take much imagination to pic
ture what travel must have
been in that section before
modern engineering took over. One
old gentleman whe has lived there
all his life told of how the men
used to take their produce to Ashe-
vile "a distance of not quite forty
miles by the highway today by
wagon. The trip took at least three
days. They camped out at night
and cooked their food over open
fires. He remarked that they made
bread in skillet because there
was no such thing as "store
bought" bread then. The SHOWS of
winter didn't stop them-they just
wrapped up in blankets and ogged
along. The children thought moth
ing of riding several miles on
horseback to school, though some
times in the winter they boarded
at the academies" in town. Today
school buses make the rounds and
going to school is much simpler,
though not necessarily as much
! fun. One of the favorite sports,
they say, was racing the horses
down the mountainside. Heaven
forbid that they should try it with
buses.
Each section seems to have, too,
its distinctive given names. My IA
vorite is "Phinettie", which I had
never heard before. 1t has
quaint, old-fashioned flavor, and it
seems that any woman with that
name would be bound to develop
personality all her own.
They tell great tales in the
mountains. When asked about
snakes, one man reported that they
had quite time with them just
a few nights before our arrival.
1t seems that the people sitting
up with a corpse had had a busy
night trying to keep the rattle
snakes from crawling all over the
coffin and finally had to give up
in despair. The snakes were so old
they were greyheaded, too. Evil
IDENTIFY those granddaddy rattlers
were worn out from their nights
exertion because we didn't see one.
It's just as well-there would have
been some fast "comin' round the
mountain. We did see, however,
back ants almost as large as
beetles and moths and butterflies
of brilliant coloring. Just about
everything in that section seems
to be on grand scale, so the ma
tives don't really have to exagger-
ate much to make good story.
Even the jails are larger than the
ones in our small town. The one
in huntsville has twenty-five beds,
and, according to the sheriff, most
of them are needed on Saturday
night.
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