Karen Nash interview with Vance Bates, Margaret Bates, Terry Bates, L.H. Phillips, and Anzie Boyd

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This recording begins with Karen Nash interviewing her fianc, Terry Bates. Bates tells four scary stories about university students being attacked, a maniac attacking a girl at a sleepover, a couple encountering a man with a hook arm, and a variation of Golden Arm. At minute 11:18 Anzie Boyd, a nine-year-old Nash met at Phillips Grocery in Lilburn, Georgia, recounts a scary story called Bloody Bones. At minute 13:45 L.H. Phillips, the owner of Phillips Grocery, tells three jokes about telling time, losing fingers, and a small church in Texas. At minute 16:03 Vance Bates, Terry Bates father, reminisces on his childhood in northeastern Iowa by retelling stories he learned about two men arguing and a hunting story. He additionally sings three songs, one about a second-class hotel sung by his Irish-immigrant grandfather, a version of the folk ballad Fair Charlotte also from his grandfather, and the humorous song Im Gonna Bring a Watermelon to my Girl Tonight he learned from his mother. The interview ends at minute 22:25 with Margaret Bates, Terry Bates mother, telling a joke about a train porter. Vance Bates (approximately 1911-?) lived in Iowa and Nebraska before moving to Atlanta in the mid-1960s. Margaret Madeen (approximately 1911-?) was raised in Illinois. The couple married in 1935 in Iowa and had at least two children, Terry (approximately 1948- ) and Linda. L.H. Phillips (approximately 1902-?) lived in Lilburn, Georgia, his whole life. He worked for the railroad for 20 years. After his retirement, he ran the Philips Grocery store. Mary Anzie Boyd (approximately 1960- ) moved with her family from Mississippi to California, then later to Lilburn, Georgia. Additional biographical information has not been determined. AHC Oral History Cataloging Worksheet File Information Catalogue number ~~ 100':' , )\' \I.e Source Field* (ContentDMl Release form ~~rNo Transcript Yes or No scanned: From Yes or No Default text: Contributed by an OR: Donated by individual: individual through <your org, name> Georgia Folklore Collection through <your org, name> Object Information Enter information about the h Title \f \ ('Intervl'ewee fAN K'.', p" name and date \~I<,,> '\3, .~<3. of interview) Description (bio on interviewee) S;; 1j.1t, (.\ ,"'.\, 04V(' t'~~\\ 6 :A-f!U.Jf,., {~f ep(,I"'f" J C\d)'-f-_~'~ OY' , hi," \}I",) ,Y\ .( :\~jH"'\ "II ''''C'' I, b'\ (t, :\Of",,,') ,r"", :>'\ 1)-"",' '>. ) ",,'>. I"":' 'Ph:llw s 'A,'I.: ",)<.,.. 'I! ~), ~,,\ .'lL. ,bel""-\., ';I'r"'> "t,l, . 0'"10\ , i. Creator (Enter either an individual's name or an organization) BurrisonFolklore Class Collection Name (within the organization) Georgia Folklore Archives Creation Date Exact Date (yyyy-mm-dd) (use only one) I-------------I------I--'~_l_--------_I Year (if only the year is known) Circa (4 di~it year) Year Span From To Object Type Image_ Text Text and image _ Video and sound Sound only~ Media Format (VHS, reel to reel, etc Recording extent Reel-reel Hours: Derivatives Minutes: \, Access copy: Yes or No Access copy format: Recording clip Clip extent: Time code for clip (h:m:s) Beginning:, _ -h.>I,J t, h'h \~, I h\~ ~,'&1. I , \\\.~ ~ \~)r~.f ""T'C. f i\. \ ~~)(,J t~ \0: \\ ~), (S:,.t),\1; ','-( \ ~1v.,,-) (j,Q '~I\'" d" \<.. Y!<ll'd .f,-\I" ,I1M,'" b'~"rl\ ~(Jh -l~t. .::;l,"\ ,<tCI\, ( \J\l \\'1':\\i\(;'l;. Shll~, c,-'"",.. ~\:.(5, '(1Ai'LC,. IJJ",.l.r.\!::, :::,."1,,, 0",\(/:s/',,\6:"\)<:,:o, ",,",,1 f{~\\)"J""l Ie) ~/',j'1,"'" ) \':l. 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Corporate names Geographic locations Topics . , (4,( ,"{.",.,\ (Y"LJ') /H,I' l}" 1":;<".11"'1 ~\() ';'r, u i ~.\ J()~'('<) A po'.r:POURHI OF FOD('l'Al";1'lS 'rerm Pro,leot Folk101'e 301 K,ren Nash Spring, 1>169 May 21, 1969 IN'.I~i.ODU()'['IOH The ill'.f.'orrrrmts for this project are 3.B vtried as tho stories whioh they t ..ll. 'f.'hl:'ee of them are members of one family, my fi"no""s family. J,lr. Vance N. BC\tes is my fbnce's father. His grandf"ther camo to this country during the pate,to famine in Ireland, cmd consequently brought with him much of the culture I1nd lore of Ireland. Mr. ll'lt",s rememb"'l's his grandfather telling many stories, and now he wish",s that h" could remember more of them. The '8,,,t,,s family 1s origin'~11y from IOI'M :md Nebraska, and they mov"d to A. tll1nt8. n V" yen.rB ago. MrB. Bettes ia of' Swedish origin, and she lived her early life in Il11nois. 'l'he atorJ.es vm10h Terry Bates, my f10noe, tolls are ghost stories and legends which werc, 1;01d to him by hin 01(1,,1' siater, Unda, who \l'la reportedlY' "the Ghost-:'lt;ory teller" of all timen. l"y other 1;1'10 inf'orm"ntn I mElt in Lilburn, Georgia, which in nbout 80 mile" northeast of J\ tlant'l, when I Vlent i;horEl cm I\pril 26, 1\!6\J. Mr. L. H. Ph11lips lJ:1S lived in Lilburn all of' his J.ife, and ho kll,'lVJ my gl'andmothor 'md granc1f'!1th"r very well, for they lived in Lilburn much of their lives. Ho vnf: employed by the HaJ.1rO'1d for ;>,0 yen.rs, find he 1" noVi :rc,t1red and rtllln the Phillips Grocory on .'\.rc"'do H02!.d 1n Lilburn. I took H picturo of him in th", store, B.nd I nJ.no inclUded 1n the picturo his uniquo cash rogister, which he bougll't necond hand 20 y'e"rs ago for $10.00. 2 l.ly other inf'ormnnt in Q little gil'l who vandered into the s'tore while I \'iln there. HoI' name in /\nzie Boyd, Ilnd Mr. Phillips 10. tel' told me that her fomily had moved from Mississippi to C",11fornia and then to Cleorg1a whoro 'they now live in 1,11burn. So her family probably moves a.round a great de:"l. I asked her while she Welf! in 'the fltoro 1f' she know ony fltories that someone had told hoI'. antt Bhe w\id yes. It turned out to be the "bloody Bones" ghost tnle which I h~d heard whon I .,aB a 11ttl" girl, but I had not heard 1t in a long time. umI I couJ,iI not remluber how it went. L. W. Ph'd \irSO I ~ 31"oC e" y ot 0 r e. 2 My other informant is a little girl lVho wandered into the store while I was there. Her name is Anzie Boyd, and YJ:'. Phillips 11 tel.' told me that her family had moved from Mississippi to California and then to Georgia where they now live in Lilburn. So her family probably moves around a. great deal. I asked her while she was in the store if she knew any stories that someone had told her, and she said yes. It turned out to be the "bloody Bones" ghost tale whioh I bad heard when I was a little girl, but I had not heard it in a long time, and I could not remember how it went. 3 I bad" diffIcult tjllle trYIng to find t"lc types for these toles. However. each of the '~"dcs cont,dned some motif types which I could Inca'bEl in the MotU-Indcx .<>f. ;Wolk .!J.teraturc. My collection follows with the result;8 of li,y rC1sC1'u'ch. 3 .. ~;, ... Anz;e I had a difficult time trying to find tale types for these tales. However, ~3ch of the tales contained some motif types which I could locate in the Motif-Index t Folk Literature. My collection follows with the results of My research. 4 I. I once heard a I3tm'y about uh two girls ~/ho lived in a dorm up in a college, and it so happened that uh the the next weekend coming up there Has 9. big dance. Well one of the girls ha uh had a date. Sh" Has popular, and she sho Has going to go to the danoe. lih frankl,y the whole dorm was going to tho danc!> , but hel' roommate was kind of an unpopular typo and sho di.dn' t have a date so she stayed home uh she stayed back at the dorm. uh so the night of tho weekend came, and everybody went to the dance except for this one roon~ato. Well, she sat up in her room. Sho was a studious type, and uh she stayed up in hel' room studying, and you could see by uh the the dorm--Iooking at the dorm-~,that her's was the only light on in the entire dOl'm. HoI.' l'oom WS.S tho only room that had a light on. The rest of the dorm wa.s bla.ck. Well, she was studying up to a.bout 11.JO, uh a.nd as she ~laS studyi.ng she happened to gaze out of the windolil and she noticed a man dOli1U standing outside her dorm, And just at the time that she li/aS looking down the ml1.n happened to look up, He looked kind of startled but. then ho sta.rted wa.lldng tm18.rd the dorm. uh She beCl1.me kind of afraid and so shel shut off her light and tried to make her room seem like the rest. And she waited for a while, and all of a sudden she heard her elevator door open and sh.. heard someone walk out. She waited and listened, It seemed 11k.. footsteps ~I..r .. coming noa.rer to her door, They kept on approaching her door, Her room happened to bo at tho ond of the hall and and the steps the footsteps kept on coming closer and closer to hel' door. li'inally they caDlo and stopped right in front of hel' door, >:ihe be she remained very quiet. ::ihe didn't make a sound. All of a sudden someon<l started to scratch Ill the door. It was a slow scratch, nh uh the roommate was so so scared that sho lieVOl' said a thing. She wouldn't, she wouldn't (mllntion) make even a sound. 5 And the scratches just kept on going, they uh kept on [,o:ing for a matter of 15 minutes but the roomm.ate just didn't make a sound, After thtAt sh. they stoppod, i:ihe didn't hear another thing tho rest of the night, Vlhon she woke up in tho mONling her roomm,,-te hadn't come bank yet" And sh" aotually wondered who was making tho sounds outside the door. So she very carefully \flmt to the door, llnd when she opened tho door. her roommate \ras there. She was the one that-was attaoked by the man outside her dormitory, The only mo'tif which I could. find on this particular 1;ale is Motif number K 520: Death escr~)ed thro\~,h disguise, shamming, or substHution. 'l.'he girl's roomm"lte died in her plJ'lce when the strange nnn come into the dormitory. Gontl'ibuted by T"rry lhtes, age 21. 6 II. Once there was a rich family who had a daughter in their uh in her teens. uh they lived in a vary fine house. uh it was really elegant. But thel'" weI's the only thing wrong wi.th the house was the area location that uh uh it wa it was in. uhm the problem Was that there ws.s an insane asylum just down the street, uh from the house the house's lot. And uh this seemed to degrade the lot considerably. vlell it so happened that one night uh the daughter wanted to have a friend over to to stay stay over night. Uh, the rich daughter's parents wers going out for the night and weren't going to be home until real late and she ~ranted the daughter wanted someone to stay over with her. So she got her, she got ahold of her best friend and she had um she had her come over for the night. Well the parents got off and everything and um uh the two girls ~mnt up uh to bed. And a as girls do they sit up in the bed and talk and everything well there came a knock on the door. Well the daughter uh the ricjq girl said ~lell I'll go down and answer H so she went down and answered the door and the other girl stayed up in the in the t~d. \'/an, after about tell minutes uh a the rieh girl still hadn't come back. Then all of a sudden the the girl, the girl friend up in the bed she heard this uh the uh wierd sound uh she heard thump,thump, thump thump, thump thump, thump thump. She really she'd never heard anything reall,y quite like it before. She ealled down to the to her friend to the uh rich girl uh she ealled to soo where she was but she got no,_ answer. She was really afraid and so she wasn't going to get out of' the bed. But she kept on hearing this thump thump, thwnp thlunp, thump thump, but wha she was so scared that she just couldn't get out of the bed. She she really wouldn't go down st.airs. 0h" just. kept calling for the girl friend. And uh the girl friond gave 110 anSW01'. \'/el1 she docided that 7 she mize wen just go to sleep and wait till the the rich girl came back upstairs. And so she went to bed and she d:ldn' t wake until the next morn:lng when the r:lch girls parents came into her room and they uh said where's out' daughtel'. And and and the girl friend told her story and uh and she said she'd never come back she never came back upsta:lrs, and the parents said well where is she then1 Well they they made a massive search and they went into all the rooms do~msta:i.rs and they were look they checked all the rooms. The last room they checked was was the powder l'oom :In the house, When they opaned the door they found the daughter, and it they figured out that at ub. that a mnia" had come to the door and cut off the girls legs up to the knees and the thump thump that the girl friend had heard had heard was the sound of her friend after the maniac has gotten had gotten through with her. A more spooific motif is evhlcmt in this lcgend: Mutilation: 'Jl6~~.1 Fighting on s;;umps of legs nfter they have been eut off at Im.ee. Child V 497 s. v. "stumps" j Ioelandio: Boberg. Contri.b,r~ed by 'l'erry n:, te s. 8 III. One time this boy and girl went on a date, And after the date the boy deoided to go up on thier looal lover's point, and uh stay there a \1h1.1... Well they they uh when they got up there they turned on their radio and th",y just they uh stayed up there for about uh 20 minutes, Ul1l, all of a sudden the the radio came on ~lith a broadcast. They nmde an announcement that the uh that a maniac had esoaped from tho uh mental institution, and he was really wild uh the way you could identify him is he had a hook ~um. This kind of shook up the girl, the a the mani.ac loose uh is a roally dangorous. And she didn't ~m.nt!l stay up on a point that was so far out as this uh this point was. And after a while she convinced this boy that she just wanted to go home and didn't have didn't want anything to do with it. Finally the the boy uh gave in. He says, "all rj.ght I'll take you home." 1'11311 so he started off the oar and boy he laid uh a strip ". long a long strip. And he just flew home. Boy, he got her home and he's going to take I~r up to the door.so he got out out of the car and when he shut his door he heard this something clankj.ng on the door handle, And ~lhen he ohecked it out, there was the hook on the door handle, 'fhere In only 3 traoe of a motif evident here I iJubir~Itute(l arm. In,lurecl arm replaoed by 'mother (OF A 12<1.4,.1) Irinh myth: Oronil. It 1." ntuflber 11: 782.:~.1. Contributed by Terry Ba~e[l. 9 IV. Onc> upon a time there 14as a very rich man, It so happened he had a very bad caae of gangr>ne of the arm. It happened that it went all the way up to his should>r, He Has rich enough ahem at that time that he could have his arm amputated, and he did so. But to show his wealth, (he was kind of a greedy sort), he had a guh arm made out of gold. And he had that put on in place of his his original arm, Well this Has fine. He Was the pride of the country that he lived in. Boy. he had the bBst, lookin' arm of everybody. Well he came to be an old man, and he died. He had a fine funeral and he was buried. One person that was 'lory envIable of Mm decldod that he viaS goin' gonna go and take that a1'm and keep it foX' himself. So one very dark night, he wmt to the graveyOllX'd, He dug up the man ami he cut off the golden arm and took ii, "Ii th him. H" was very proud of hims"lf becaus" he ngured that h" was gorilla be top gun in the country now becaus" he had th" golden arm. He took it up to his bed and put It und",r his pflllow. And he decided he mize ~I<lll go to sleep, 1'11311 In th" mlddl" of the night. he heard somethIng open up the door. And then all of a sudden he heard,"I'm on the fh'st. step, I ~Tant 1'lY golden a1'm." The man was rllally shook. HB hll nev he could, he really dIdn't knmq what thIs sound was, Then he heal'd, "I'm on th" second step, I want tlW goldlln arm." The man rBally dIdn't kno\, toIhat t,o do. He h08.rd agtlin, "I'm on the third step, I want my goldon arm." Th<~ man 1~as .just tremling, htl he .just <lidn't know what to do. Ho was .just trembling in hIs bed, Then he hoard, "I'm Oyl tho fourth step, 1 want my golden arm," "I'm outsi,de your door, I w8.nt 1'\Y golden arm." "I'm Ct'i.ght next to your bod, I \;8.nt t'lY golden arm." "I'VE GOT ITIIII" 10 The precedine; t,,,le is, of course, a variant of the Goltlen l,rm, Illy po ~J66. -'rh-o -Lh-n -fro-m -th-e -Gll-llow-s. A m:1U Gtea1n the heart, (Liver, s'tonn ell , clothing) of on0 who Ins been hanged. Give" it 1;0 hi<l wife to 'let. The ghost com0B to claim hilJ property nnd (nrries off the Bol to, J'. 'md Polivka, G. .ll.nmerkungon zu ~ Kinder,.und hu8Dl-3,rchen del' Bruder GriTIlln. Vol. [j, I,olpzlg In8-;31. Index to the Journal of American Folldor". Philadelphia, 1958. 11 v. Once there was a whole gob of people who lived in II hous", by theilself. And the little boy, and they said, come, someone's upstairs, and someone's goin't' have t' go upstail's and out off the light an the little boy said his father said "He, you you go up there big brother, big s-son I" then he ~mnt up there and ho he said, "if you cut off tho light, bloody bones and goofy eyes will oat you t'nightl" And thon he wont back dOl>ll1stairs and told his father, thElu he his father said go tho lit,tle one tho littl" boy to [(0 up 'n' eut off tho light. And then h" went up and said and was trying to cut off thfJ light but he couldn't a.nd h" said "Bloody bones and goofy eyes will oat ohoo tonight if hel" And then he went baok downst"h's and told the biggost tho biggost broth",,' and the biggest brothel" went upstairs there and said and tried to cut off the light and he sald "Bloody bones and goofy eyes Nill eat choo t' night if you cut off the l:lghtl" And he H,mt back dOlfflstairs and told hls mu nm muther then the muthe", ~1tmt upstairs and st'H'ted to cut off the light, And ho said "If you eat cut off the light Bloody bones and goofy eyes will eat you tonight." And then then she went and told the father and he sats. "if you IOU cut off the light, bloody bones a.nd goofy eyos ~l:ill oat c1wo tnight." Thon h" Hent "n" told tho bc....lW, the littlest baby. then he went aml told tho baby and the baby went up there "n" and got up on a ehail' and bloody bones and goofy eyes said "Bloody bones and goofy eyes will eat ohoo t'nif(ht if you cut off tho 11ght," 'fl"m h" cut off tho li.ght and ~/Ont back dOlmstairsl Type F 401.5.1 Spirit in form of horrible hOQd. Irish myth: Cross. 10 v iotorious youngest ohild. n' Jl "youngst" III. 1l~J2'1; 8uintynes Perrault 128 FF J"oOI)s' list va "Youugest best;" Bretoll; Sebillot Ino(idents s.v. ncn.<let" Frenoh Gnnadia.n: Burbeo.n ITI\FL XXIX 13; Indi',.: Thompson-13-1.1ys. Contributed by Anzie Boyd. itge 9. 12 VI. 'rhls man wuz traVl1Un' t.hrough the country and uh couple of boys WeI"'" playin' out. in the yard and he didn't Imo~1 ~Ihat. timo 0' day it WliZ nh ho stop "n" ask eez boys a.nd said "kin ,you tell Ille ~Ihat timo 0' day it is'l" And ho the boys says told hIm says "yes suh" "says ~lI\it j'jst '1 minute." So they ~/limt at'mmd the end 0' the house, and looked up "n" came back and tol him it lacked a brick an a haf bein' twolve o'clook. Here is a folIc type at joke, for it draws upon the folk cuIturl1!l to givo it meanine. I could not find any specific type or motif for it, unless it would be associa.ted v,ith J 1250. Clever verbsl retorts-general. Bocc',ccio DeC8merOll. n",y 6 ( l,ee 1'76ff); It:J.licm Nove'lIn : Hotlllida; IncUs; 'l~hompson-IJ'"lys. Cont:eilmted by 1.. II. Phillips, (\I~e 6'7. VII. ili I \ ' , I! It, [i 13 You know out in the oountry we make our own syl'Up. We raise this sorghum cane "rl" cal""Y it dmm t' tho mill and grind th<'l jUic" out "n" cook it inta sorghum. And this man ~mz feeding the mill ~Ihich uh squeezes the juice outa de sorghum cane and he got his fangir too close. and got hit mashed off. He's out. 0' work fer a couple a dllys. ,\J.nd he camo back with it all bandaged up, uh minus tho ono fangir. One o' tho neighbors came up t' Mm "n" asked him "say how didja lose yer fangir?" "And he said j'"st like this, "and then he stuck his fing--his hand up thar Ilnd lost anuther fangirl Here is " typieu.1 jo)w; J 2661: Bungling fool has succ/"'lnion of nccidentn. Irish my1;h: Cronn; Indb: Thompson-fhlys. Contribute/l by L. H. Phillipn. 14 VIII. This uh rural chuch out in Texas, very small ml'>mbership, and :i.t was strugglin' uh make ends meet financially so a fellow cam" along askod fol" parmissi.on to drill for oil on the property so the dElCans had a meeting and signed a lea and a agreement a loase to let them drill and they hit oil and tho noxt business moeting the decans in the church made a move that they not accept any more memberships into the church. Gontrihuto(l by L. H. PhllJ.ipG. J ,.;) IX. This story came out of lJ. back1'lOods cOlmt:fY tmfll in North"astern Iowa. I1h pl'obab],y som,tim" short],y arter the Civil ~Jal'. I1h Ben and Frank Palme;' wel'O quite notOl'ious chnracters in this nh small t0l'll1, and uh they weron't notm'ions for OVo;'I'1Ol'king. They w're notorious for other reasons, But anyrate, uh Ben and Frank uh Palmer got on into a very serious argument on \lUlin"treet that uh it got so ser.ious one day tha t thnt it ~ms almost nh uh uh came to t'isticotts, but as 1.wual they decidod their dlfferonnos In another l~ay, I1h but their argulllent Wi" vory bitter. I1h uh but finaDy Ben says to Frank "I'll bet you *5 that you !lro wrong" and Frank says "1'11 taka that bot." and Ben says. " put up your monoy" and Frank says, "I haven't got any" and Ban says, "I haven't "ith"r." N 2 J;,xtrnorr1inary StC1.k"B 11 t gambling. lriBh myth: Gron". Gontl'J.buber1 by Vnnoe B"tfJs, nge 60. 16 x. I learned this uh song uh from ~ father uh who learned it from his father, uh but uh uh and rrw grandfather was a native born IrishRun from a Kildaire County in uh Ii'oland, Howevor I uh have no idtiJfi whether tis is an Irish song but I do know that it was uh an old one that uh everyono doesn't know. There's a hotel down on Main Streot, whore we olimb the golden stair, and the livei sausage on the seoond floor, there's a graveyard in the celIeI', doctor's office in tho parlor, and an undortaker's shop there is next door. For dinner we have beef steak, for supper we have soup, and if you live till breakfast you'll hear a yell, soup and pio and cake and candles, dish rags, starch and toothbrush handles, in the place we call tho second class hotel. I thought thig wag un interesting song, [lnd I deoided to inolude i1; in my folklore oollootion. I havo 8. simple -transoription of the mualo 011 tho noxt pago. Contl'ibuted by Vuno" J}ytelJ. ~ ,here'.:> Q ho1e I Jo':ll On Ma,l) Sir:-e1where we c.1:m'b-Hc: ~~Jde{l- f.1cilf'J ~~ .. =~= ~ fj lj ;ffij lj );7j::;i '\ d -P= ---~~~~ f;ver sa iAst<3 G o'1the ~et:"J -PlODS -ther;;' ot jra,eY<T/-JiIl1he cella~d7JCio/r-s ff I 1 II 1 t J ] I I i I I j Wfj Iii I ] f _ I I' i did )) J-j I \ Ed J J; JIJ-;~.) . J 0 .7. . Ii -, -- . ... .. - t . + DTiic~ il) ihe p~rJor) o.Y\ol al1 I.JlnJe('1""ker~ ~~of ijlfre~s MA JODf', ec.. ~.. _._ _ nn.. ._m__~ ~ 17 XL Uh, this song came out of that same small baclOffoods town in Northeastern 1014a, Uh I learned it from ''IV grandfathol' who uh taught it to ,~ll of his uh uh grandchildron. "nd uh when there may very well hav,~ be",n numerous stori,~s which uh were drawn from the same uh same son:,. It started out like thisl Fair Charlotte lived on a mountain side, in a cold and dreary lot. No d~lollit1g there for three miles round, except h,,1' father's oot. And t.hel'e on many a l4int"r's eve young sl4ains ~lould gather there. Her father kept a noble board, and Charlotte she was fair. Now that's the first verse of the song and I don't remamber the end of it. The it was a tragedy, though, because, uh, against the wishes of her parents uh Charlott.e want with one of hen' bo,yfriends to a neighbol'ing v:i.1lage to a danee. !Jut she never rmwhod there hocauso it \~as a cold and bitter night. Charlotte didn't talm t.he heavy elothing that her Illother thought she ought to take with h<31", and as a rosult she was frozen by tho time she got to the dane,e. ClontrHmtod by Vnnco nd;es. 18 XII. This is another story that came out of that uh same uh backwoods uh town in Northeast Iowa. lih the main oharaote1' uh ~las supposed to have been a veteran of the uh War Between the States, and uh a mighty hunter. His name was 11h Gene Bond, uh who not only was a mighty h11nte1' but also was a Dlighty prevaricator upon oooasions. And this story came out of the uh uh one of tlll dove seasons the uh up in that woodsy corrlel' of nh the stato. lih Gene Bond oalne to town with one of the uh uh best dove hunting stories that's evor boen told in tho place. He said that I1h that he saw a a mighty group of pigoons uh on a barn, and they were Unod up uh along the ridgepole of that born, lih just as uh one as close to the next one as they could get for the whole length of the barn. So Gene got uh up in a nearby tree, at just the proper uh level, and IIIl d:isoharged only one shot. And aocordin' to Gene there ~11'J:!'e uh pigeons 8,11 over the place, and uh lqhen he got them 1<11 counted, uh the number that he got with one shot was 99. Uh one of the uh uh listeners to that story was taldn' it all in and he says to him, "Well Gene, it seems to me that uh with suoh a shot as thl<t uh nh ul1 you would of made it an even hunerd." And uh Gene says uh "Would you Wal1111< make me out a Hal' fer one bird? I I " X 905. 'ilould not lio for a tr1'J.o. 1,i.ar t"lln of.' I1hooti,ng l'11'(>;e nwnber of' ,'...nimul:.> vlith one shot ( an odd nurilb,n,. usually 9\)). l.'1hen asked why he did not make it " rOllid number (or an oven 100) ho replios indil~nantly 'I;h",t ho "iould, not lio for OliO pigeon (rabbit). u. s.: lh.u{!,}mnn. Coni)~j,.buted by Vnnco n,:-'.1;(}[J" 19 XIII. Uh this song uh has never been l~duced to uh writing, er a~thing of the kind as far as I know. It uh came out of uh my earliest uh chi.ldhooduh more than .50 years ago and it was a song which my mother uh uh before me sang, and where she got it from I ~lOuld never know. But it goes it goes like this I vlhen I brought an orange, she let me hold her hand. When I brought an apple, she kissed to boat the band. \'lhen I brought banannas, she let me hold her tight. I'm gonna bring a w!termelon to my girl tonightI 20 XlV. This is one of the funniest stories that I have heard, and I like it very much and I hope you will too. It seems that there >las uh uh a man on tht' train and he got ahold of the porter a.nd he said, uh "I >lant to get off of this train at 1130 in the morning. And I'm a hard sleeper and uh I want you to be sure to get me off at 1'30 at the station. No matt.er hOH hard I try to stay asleep get. me off! I" And he gave him a big tip so he'd be sure and r"n~mber. So as t.he night went. on, why, uh the next morning, this fellow that had asked the porter to put him off the train looked at his watch, and found to his dismay, he was still on the train and it was way past the getting off point, So he rounded up the porter, and ho was just raving mad and he said, "I told you I wanted to get off at 1:30 at the station. Here it is, I'm hours late and I'm still on this train. I'm just so mad I can hardly see straight." And the porter said to him, "If you think you're mad, what do you think about tho man I put off at that station111" 'J'lds motH: nppcnrs to be the "ame Clever verbal retort - general _ J 1~"50. Contr:lbtrtcd by Br,~. VOllCe BatelJ. 1, I:ELEASE 'I< By letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days--you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your cOllliUunity. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving thece traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that ~t will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profita. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so-owe respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have an important part of American life. that you want to send along t? us so given to help us record a heritage that w If you remember any more old-timey things that it will always be preserved, write to: Signed Georgia Folklore Archives c10 Prof. John Burrison Department of English 33'Gi~ner St., S.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Address _~'-~:L.".t../.'..."""""""-......."'--"-""'-"-"'c:vr'.l...l'-"'-'......""'-''-''-~''"''''--__+ .......'''-''-'''-''''_'''"'''~ ......==~.....''-iI l./?lJ ;1.:-...::<::...L...:.--J...LI.:L../.4.~~--'o::L~~~f..--,.;..~~~..:J ;lrvv1j A.i;dlQ/y : C) I I i <"'? C), ' ,/);1" . ( /i!tMt( )1. {()cLL(I.J For Ga. Fl. Archives: ~, f.ELEASE * By letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of earlier days-you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don1t want your name to be used, say so-owe respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have an important part of American life. that you want to send along t~ us so given to help us record a heritage that w If you remember any more old-timey things that it will always be preserved, write to: Signed Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof. John Burrison D8ta~tment of English 33 Gilmer St., S.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Address For Ga. Fl. Archivesl _ A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.