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 is the second of a two part recording that starts with Flora Buffington telling Latin American stories. She explains that many of the stories are Native American and African in origin and that the two cultures integrated into one. She specifically references the Guarani and Seebeenay tribes and Guatemala, Cuba, and Paraguay. The first folk tale, which starts at 00:50, originates from Guatemala and is about a man and a woman from warring tribes. The woman turned into a quetzal bird to visit him; after he died, she kept the form. In another story, a maiden flies away with a flamingo, after which her cries to return home serve as a warning to children. At 5:36 Buffington tells the story how the Alligator got its tears in which a cock outwits an alligator by clawing his eyes. At 7:55 she tells an origin story about how poinsettias became a Christmas flower after a girl brought them as a church offering. In another story, a Native American couple run away so that they can be together, and run for so long that they turn into two mountains outside Mexico City. At 11:20 Ruby Browns interview begins; she duplicates African American language during a couple of the story retellings. The first is a humorous story about a man who drank heavily and doesnt know anything about Christianity. At 15:15 Brown tells a story about an African American preacher who explains what a phenomenon is. In another humorous story, a boy who likes to tell tall tales ends up in the bad place. At 19:56 she explains sweetheart sayings and superstitions; for example, how to predict who you are going to marry and if you will be an old-maid. At 25:18 she explains household superstitions and sayings. In one at 28:58, she repeats a saying told by her gardener which predicts the end of the world. Then at 29:57 she repeats superstitions and sayings that her grandmother said about the moon, followed by some commonly told by children, and ending with how a bird continuously flying into a window indicates death. She ends at 32:25 by recalling how in her grandmothers generation of housewives all received a home economics book that included home remedies such as applying boiled potato to a corn, rubbing a wedding band to a stye, tying a woolen sock around the neck for sore throats, applying honey and glycerine for coughs, salt for blisters, bear fat for measles and a chest cold, and drinking mares milk for whooping cough and chlorophyll for bad breath. Mildred Wofford (1904-?) was born in Yancy County, North Carolina. Additional biographical information has not been determined. Flora Stribbling Harber (1907-1981) was born in Dainielsville, Georgia. In 1933 she married Joseph Buffington (1906-1996) and they lived in Lithonia, Georgia, and had one daughter, Charlotte (1929-2008) and one son, Joseph (1945- ). She attended two years of college, worked as a stenographer, and lived in Cuba during World War II where she studied language and culture. Ruby White (1898-1980) was born in Long Prairie, Missouri, to Fountain Pitts (1863-1950) and Carry (1877-1941) White. During World War I, she performed dramatic readings and songs on the Chautauqua circuit and at lyceums. In 1921 she married James Brown (1893-1962) and they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, then to Lithonia, where she taught music for over 40 years. They had two children, Virginia (1923-2008) and Edward (1928-1980). 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Access coPyC'~!or No Beginning: 10: 'Ill From To Access copy format: Clip extent: lVo," .(';7,V'\' Notes (interview summary) ~\''>' <b',sp",c:;,\ Lu'\\\' \ ~,t.At.,\ (t:\, Recording issues (background noise, echo, , static, etc.) ) f th b' h Subject Information Enfer .Infortm"a Ion a-bout the content 0 eo lject ere: Subject Date Exact Date (yyyy-mm-dd) (use only one) Year (if only the year is known) Circa (4 digit year) Year Span From To Subject Who Last Name First Name MI 'B~Z"'6" (, "f"\l')'(t>...... Hr') . ~t?'\\~! vJ\' I,Ae, ., 1"1, ts~l.),J-("\. Subject ,C~~~ry State County Town Local Name Location , &,1\- UI{""f\:t" c, ?\ 1\.\1,.\1 <, Subject What AHC Cataloger will complete this for you, (LOC subject headinas onlY) Keywords Burrison, John Personal names See subject who for additional names Corporate names Geographic locations Topics 'fa",~\U!f' \ ~",,,,\~.\.<, \0.- . ( U\,(l'" ~-\(!-~li f() coun:c TING PHOJ EC T Folklore 301 - 'ille Folktale Hr. Burd.son Nancy Ka~lryn Nix Sprin~ Quarter, 1969 HI~POR'r I'irs. Buffington took time on a SatUl'day morning to tell me some of the Indian legends she heard Hhile in Cuba during the seoond vlorld \far. She no\'T lives (r.hth her husband in a lovely secluded farm near Lithonia. In the ivy beds near the house, ducks from the &lffingtons' pond lay their eggs and quack loudly at you if you venture too close to their nes t1"\ I enjoyed the ducks to the extent th&t I almos t "dshed I I d come to record them, 1'&thor than Hrs. Buf'fington. 'ilie stories HI'S Bufrington kno\'Ts are Inm.an in origin and primal'ily legend. She heard them in Spanish on rield trips into the hinterlands and cane fields, \'Thile doing l'rork in language and culture studies at the Unive!'sit;y of Havanna. HI'S. Bufrington:, Hho among other things Has cited qy President Roosevelt for her efforts in \vorld Hal' II, is noH making a bibliography of rare books by Georgia authors. HI'S. Bro\'Tn is a retired teacher ,rho taught music 1'01' forty-one years in Atle.nta and Hall County. I asked her if forty-one years \'Tas a long time to do one thing, and she smiled and said, "No, not if you enjoy it, as I did." \ve sat in her dining room. '1118 evening Has muggy and even iI"<''''9h.. though the soft scents of the evening yard \'Tere floating in the opened " windo\'Ts, the house Has still hot. I1rs. )31'Nm and I talked, pausing alternately, to sip ice \'Tater. I1rs. BrNm lms born e.t the turn of the century in southeast Nissouri, near the Nississippi Hiver'. "I \'Tas a sl-ramp angel," she told me proudly. One of her grandmothers moved to IvIissouri in slave days, and the family continued there after the Civil ':lar farming--corn, 1Vheat, cotton and Haterlilelon. It 1'1aS from another grandmother that she learned the supersti tions and home remedies she speaks of on the transcript. IvIrs. Brown said she might have remembered more of Hhat this "grandmother told her if it had not been for the old 1Voman I s constant "Hantin I me to go fishing 1,1i th her". During World Hal' I "hen I1rs. BroHn l.,as earning money for college, she Hent on the Chautauqua circuits in S\lllll'rler and performed j,n the lyceums in l'linter. She gave dramatic readings, sang songs, and reci ted. She told me of her experiences one summer in Hedpath I s Chautauqua in a male-female double quartet. "vl11ile honey-combing 101'18" the troupe came d01'ffi wi th ptomaine poisoning en route from one t01'ffi to another, in a Model-'l'. ]vIrs. BroHn is a person Hho has had an interesting life. r am sorry so Ii ttle of her animation is evident on the tape. 'fne ta"pe recording does not catch hOH she rolled her eyes for emphasis or hOH smiles spread over her face. 'fne tape only reoords her Hords, a,nd gets less loud in the places where Mrs. Bro"m absent-mindedly ges tured Hith the hand holding the microphone. DOCUHEN'l'A'LTON 011 S'l'ORmS 'Iho quetzal legend: Folktal<;l type--.1fJ2 I 'Ihe bird lover Hotii' type( s )-,.D641. '1.1 Gid as bird visi ts lover ])169 Trans1'0nnaHon: l1an to Bird-- miscellaneous E7J2 Soul in fonn of bird A522.2 Bird as culture hero BJ7 Immortal bird 'lhe enslaved gh'l--flamingo legend: lcolktale type--.J1J D Hagic flight and tra,ns formation to bird Notii' type--j';'!J2 Soul in fonn of bird Alligator I S teard legend: }i'oll~tal.e i<Ype--1539 Cleverness and gullibili ty Hotif type--B736 Animal sheds tears K2295.3 Treaoherous cock 'lhe origin of' poinsettia legend: lcolktale type--750 Hospi tali ty blessed Notif' type__A26'10 Creation of' plants by transforma tion A2650 Ol'igin of' flmrers FI)1I+ J<:xtraordinary 1'101'Te1' '))10 lovers--mountains legend: :313, .31 If '.me magic flip;ht-)?olktale type Hotif t;ype(s)-.. D291 'l'ransformation: l,jan to mountain A515 Pair of culture heroes A989 Origin of particular places-miscellaneous N:i42.1 Dead lovel's are haN tHO stones lying together Drunlw.rd--preacher ;joke: Folktale type-..1810 Jokes about catechism Hotit' tYVe--Il508 Test: finrling anSHel' to a certain ques tion Tae chalk ,joke: Folktale type_.o 1'nil C Chalk marks on heaven,ls stairs (reverse idea.) Hotif '~Y'po--Q263 Lying (perjury) punished Jaybird lep;end: Folktale type--2301 Corn c8.1'ded mmy grain at a ti,me 1iotif '.lypes-,.H70'1.1 Ho1'T many seconds in eterni ty'l A2236.7 Jay cardes sulphm' to devil in hell, must bo quiet at noon THANSCHIP'I' Nrs. Buffingt.on is speaking. II(One of t.he most. int.erest.ing) is t.he legend of the quetzp'al bird. This is q-u-e-t.-z-s-a-l. This quet.zal is also the mone~t.ary, uh, denominat.ion of CTuat.emala. 'rne legend is uh that. tYIO Indian, uh, young people--a boy and a girl--met and fell in love. 1'he tribes Here enemies. Consequently, they' could not. meet or become interest.ed in each other or court, as you Hould in American terms. So, uh, the Indian maiden found a ,ray of communicating Vii t.h her young man by taking on the image cf this bird. 'Ihe quetzal bird is very beautiful in colcr, in fact, it has tail feathers scmet.ime reaching as long as b'felve feet. And often, l'fhen they are in trees, they preen themselves and spread out these colorful feathers and, uh, are very beautiful. So, these--this young maiden Hould communicat.e IJi th her young man, uh, by means of taking on t.his image of this bird. Uh, the legend is that, uh, the Indian, uh, the Indian tribes Hent to I'rar and the young man Has killed. So she kept the form of the quetzal. And, consequently, this is the monetary value, as I said, of Guatemala. NOl'I these uh troubadours or minstrels that "Ient into the cane fields actually, uh, danced and sang this story, and, uh, made quite an elaborate presentation, IJith all kind of, uh, simple instruments such as sticks and reed horns, and, uh, dances that absolutely Hent into spasms. Sometimes they even fell upcn the ground they' got so excited about singing and telling these kind of stories. And this is one of the legends that I learned about Hhile doing this course. Anothel' one of these stories had to do ,.Ji th the Guarani Indian--as 2 you ",ill see these all relate to Indian legends, principally, because the first, uh, people of Cuba Here the Seebeenay (7) Indians, and thell'e are many extractions. and of course. inter-cultural, uh, mingling of bloods here. So, they uh, they uh really mixed the African music lnth the Indian legends. uh, in demonstrating these things. So, the Guarani Indian, G-u-a-r..a-n-i, of uh. of uh. uh, Hait uh mo-, Para-, Uruguay-Paraguay, Paraguay. I'll get it, Paraguay. Uh, there--there is the legend of this Indian maiden. llho Hent to the spring Hith her Hater jug to get some Hater. And llhen she was at the spring this uh, uh, pink flamingo, which is also very Hell-knOl'ffi throughout all of Latin America, is--appears to her a.nd, uh t it talks to her and'invites her to take a ride upon its back. So, s cons equentJ.y , she does and uh it flys alray luth her to the mountain,~ All, the India.n legend goes that ",henever they heal' moans in the l'und, or, uh, mountain passes, 01' on the sea, almost any place that they hear the lund moaning, it is this Indian maiden making her groans and "ushes to be back ld.th he,. people. And, of ooux'se, uh, they have Hatched for her to retur'n for many moons. And this is a typical Indian legen--expl'ession, many moons. And but the Indian maiden has not returned to her people, the genie lull not let her go in the hidden thei,e and, uh, 'rhe people mountains-.. this pink flamingo has her 4-- tell '~ese things to the Iit tJ.e children tha.t--l1henever they want to kind of scare them--that the Indian maiden is crying to return to her people, ~specia.lly in the tluligh t, ",hen the older people are trying; to quiet the children. Hell, let's talk about hm'l the alligator got his tears. It seems that, uh, uh, in these cane fields of G\tba, the, one of the main things a.long lUth the children and the pigs and goats, they raise chickens and these ganle cocks are quite colod'ul and quite prized. And if the game cock, uh, doesn't develop, uh, hideous set of spurs, then he is uh provided ,lith, ,lith steel, little cuffs "ith little Cl0.HS on them, uh, so that he does become quite a fighter. So, this particular proud cock, he he.d qui te a beau tiful plumage, and he didn't Hanna fight, didn't Hanna spoil his plumage. So he ran 8."my and he came to this river and there ",as this alEge.tor lying in the sun on the bank in the mud. And the alligator ,ranted to knoH if he ''lould like to i.'ide over on his back since the cock didn't Hanna spoil his feathers. Uh in the mud and the slime uh this Hater. So he got on the alligator's back and he stal'ted off. And uh about mid-stream the alligator decided this vms a good place tuh have this cock for a meal. 0'uh he flapped open his big jm'fs, an, of course, you can just see the alligator's ey~ on these big ja"s standing up l'ight in front of this cock. So of course Hhen he did tilis, the cock uh flel' into the face of the alliga tor and uh of course his spurs hit the alligator in the eye--so uh the cock uh got off of, .fleH off the alligator, and the alligator "rent to the other side of uh the stream. And here, it seems that the alligatol' lay there in the sun, and, uh, moaned his injuries. And uh these gl'ea.t drops of fluid that came from his injured eyes are the origin of the alligatoY' 's tears. He had tried tuh eat the cock and uh the cock had out-,,itted him. 'fhe poinsettia, set-te-uh--it seems that uh this little Indian maiden had COmB uh long ,my, as they often do, they trek sixt,y or more miles over mountain passes to come to some of these festivals, and especially the religious festivals. And it seems that uh Hhen she--this Ii, ttle mai.den got to the chureh and she saH all the girls going into the church ,vi th beautii'ul noral offerings of Hl'eaths and sprays and quite elegant and quj.te expensive. She had gathered this hand full of mountain flo'lerS as she had come do,m this rugged pa tIn-my from her home, and uh she vms qui te ashamed to lay her nOHers upon the altar, as a gift for the Chris t Child. But uh she ,ms Ul'[,;ed by some incentive to go ahead and do this. And as she knelt d01ffi by the altar, she Has still ashamed and so she placed her fl011er8, uh, rather under the edge of the mantle that covered the table on Hhich she Has supposed tuh have placed the floHers. And Hhen she uh )<11el t then in prayer and uh offered her simple gift of these mountain nOHCrS tbJ.s beautiful red nOHer spranG up Hith all of its glorious petals, 'lhich, uh, is kno1'm as the poinsettia. And here He have the origin of the Christmas flO<ler, the poinsettia. ('fhis) side of l1exico City, there are tHO great mountains called Popocate'petl and Ixtacclhuatl. One is the male and the other is the female. This is again an Ind/ian orj.gin of 11hich tHO young lovers, not being able to settle together in their uh original country, set out to find a place Hhere they could live together happily. Vh, this 118.S because of background of the tHO tribes that these tvlO young people could-dun be joined together in theil' original setting. So they uh ran and ran through the country, d01ffi through the valleys and over all kind of plains and terrain. And it se8mS they ran for many, many years trying to nnd a place in Hhich to, uh, t.hat they could live happily Hithout being persecuted. So, uh, the t,lO mountains nOH, outside of Nexico City are the, the remains of these tvlO young peoplo Hho ran so long until they became Old, and 1'lhen they finally found this beautiful valley in Hhich Hexico City uh overlooks-.this beautiful valley. 'lhat these t1'IO young people had n01'l gr01'm old and gray and they lay d01m and died. And these al'e the t,lO mountains Hith the, that are 5 snoH crovmed the year around because they Here very old ,taen they finally found the beautiful valley in Hhich they vrould like to live." Mrs. Brovffi is nOH speaking. "Some of the .jokes that I have remembered the longest that I heard during uh child had to do ,'lith preachers. Pr'eachers in Some tovms or the itinerant preacher. In one small to,om there Has ah old man vlho drank very heavily. All during the life of his sons and daughters. And Hhen they got mature, they Here ashamed of him. ']hey decided they Here gunna have poppa .join the church and be a decent man. v[ell, finally they decided they'd .just kick him out of the home if he didn't come around and .join the church. So after a bou t Hith the old vlhiskey bottle on the Heek-end, he l'lent Monday morning dOlm to the !1ethodist Church and knocked at the door uh of the preacher's study. I Come in. I 'Preacher, I'm uh gonna ,join the church, I guess.' 'Oh-h, Brother James, "e've .just been Haiting for this, He've prayed for it so long. Come in. Sit dovm. I shall-I have to ask you three questions.' 'O.K.' So he sits dovm. And the preacher says to old Brother James. 'Do you believe in Godj' 'l~ I believe in God? ,0t bourse I believe in God.' 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ?' '\'[ell, yes, of course, I believe in Jesus Christ.' 'Hell, Bl'other James, tell me, Hhere ,'laS Christ born'l' 'Oh, tha t' s easy. Philadelphia. I 'Uh-un. I'm sorry, Brother James,' said the Methodist preacher. '\1e 6 .c8.n't take you in. You just don't kno,'/ enough about the life of Chris t. ' 'O-Ork I So he goes out of the Methodist study, goes on down the street about a block and knocks at the door of the Baptist pr.eacher. The Baptist preacher says-- 'Come in. Ho I Ho I Look "Iho' s here I ['Tell, we surely glad to have you come and see us this mornin.". What's on your mind?' 'vlell, I guess, Reverend, I got to join the church. My children say I can't stay home any longer, unless I begin coming to church and Sunday School. So, will you take me in?' 'vfuy, of course. We've been wanting you for years and years. You have no idea how long vre've been looking for this. But vlOn't you sit dO"In? I have some questions to ask you. ' ,(). K.' So he si ts d01'1n. The preacher says-- 'Do you believe in God'l' 'Oh, yes, yes. I've ans"ered that before.' 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ?' 'Oh, yes, yes. I, I believe in Jesus Christ.' 'No", the third question. \'Jhere ",as Jesus born'!' 'Pi ttsburgh. ' I I nt !1DI'r"y, 'Uh-un. I'm sorry.~ You'll have to go on. \1e can't take you.' vlell, the old drunkard Has getting pretty ",eary. So he ",ent on dO"1n to uh Presbyterian church. He knocked on the door of the preacher's stud,y. 'Come in. Howd yuh do'! Well, you're Mr. James, aren't you'!' 'Oh t yes t yes. t 'vlell, sit d01offi. Hha t do you Hant--",i th me--this morning'l' 'I Hanna join the church.' 'Oh--Hh;V, of course, 1,e'd be happy to have you ,join the church. fut He have to ask a feH questions--' 'Oh, no-o, you don't. Let me ask you three.' 'All right.' 'Preacher, do you believe in, in God?' 'V/ell of course, I \Van't be a preacher if I d:i.dn't.' 'Wal, do you believe in Jesus Christj' 'Well, of course.' 'Tell me this, preacher. \'Jhere .,as Jesus born?' '\'lhy--he l'IaS born in Bethlehem.' 'Dog-gone. I kne., it Has some place in Pennsylvania I ' ~" -, Another one I remember Has uh, about an old Negro preacher. He gathered his congregation together one Sunday morning and he said-- 'Bretherin an' Sis terin, I 'm g"line tuh preach tuh you abou t a phenomenon. 1 1m a tellin' you if you go on dO'ill the road dare an' see uh COH. Dat am no phenomenon. An' you go on dmvn ferder, uh lllile or so, an' you see uh thistle, that am no phenomenon. Then you go on dmvn another lllile or tHo, an' you see a tree an uh littl' bud up there asingin', that am no phenomenon. But bretherin an' uh sisterin, I'm tellin' you "hat, if you go dOlvn dat same road an' you see dat sarae cOvr an' you see that SRUle COH asittin' on a thistle, singin' like a bird, noH dat am a phenomenon.' Teachers, of much experience, all-rays discover they have, each year probably, a boy >rho doesn't alvrays stick to the truth. He likes to tell tall tales, and see just hoV[ you'll take them. 'rnere vras this joke--tha t 8 I chanced upon some1,ffiere--I don' '0 remember Hho-o told it to me--when I vlaS a very young teacher. And Vlhen I found a young man "ho Hould tell me a tall tale, I Hould say-- 'Girls and boys, does he tell 0 ther teachers this tale like this also'I' Usually, they'd have a kick out of that. But, after he told me, the , second or third falsehood, I'd come into the school room an I said-- 'Girls and boys, guess \'Ihat? I just had the funniest dream last nigh t I I "ant you to knoH, that I died, in llW dream, an' I "ent to the bad place. An' so help me, I vlent dovm there an' se.Yl.the "devllil" Ii.n 'ihe met me and said-- "Hello, HI's. Brovm." Now, boys and girls, evl' is 1'lha.t I \'18S dreamin'. An' I said "Hello." I didn' '0 understand Hhy I vms there but he seemed to uh be expectin' me. He said-_ "HI's. Brovm, come I'll th me." So He Hent through 8. lot of' smoke, ooh great bllloHs of black smol,,?, lack smoke from an old burned tire. An' it 1'msn' t very good smellj,ng either. We uh Hent on through this clouds of smoke an' there he had a great-t big room 1,1 th miles an' miles an' miles of chalk boxes. NOVl,Arhen I HaS a gi:rl in school, our chalk came in vlOoden boxes. An' uh, he had many shelves, an' thousands an' thousands of cha.lk boxes on those shelves. And there I d be some missing every nOH and then. He said-- "NOH HI's. Br01'll, you take a box of chalk an I then you come Hith me and you see do,m all that distance, all that stairHay." Oh, that stairlmy ,just led devm, dm'll, d01'll-n. 9 An' I said, "Yes, I see it." "Novl, you go d01-n1 tuh the end of that stair,my. It'll take you about a day to get d01-n1 there. You ,;ill find a long blackboard-miles long. An' you find you an empty place--lot uh people dovm tllere--you find you an empty spot, an' you begin H:roitin' all thuh stories that you've ever told in your life. You knol'l. Falsehoods. " I said, "0. K." So I tried to begin tuh think. But the thing that bothered me mos t Has goin ' dOlm those stairs. Oh I I got so tiredl But evel~ so often, about every 500 feet, there Hould be a rest station. A big pIa tfoTIll Hith some benches. An 1 people ,18re sitting there. An 1 so I sat d01-n1. Uh before 1--1 sat dovm tHO or three times on several of those 'platforms. But just before I got dOlm there, an' I "las taking n,y last rest I saH a boy, a young man corning up those steps. lIe Hha-dent coming very rapidly. He ,ms uh--he looked so familiar-- I couldn't call his name--exact'ly. But finally Hhen he got right close to me--see, the smoke Has rather thick dOl-n1 there-I saH that it vms DJke. I say, "Hey, D.lke. Mlat in the Horld are j'OU doin' dOlm here?" He said, "Hey, Mrs. Brmm." I said, "IVha t chel'l doin' d01'm here? An 1 l'lha t chel') going tuh do no\ol?" He said, "Hrs. Brovm, you knovi I should ha been here, an' vlhat I'm goin.', to do noH is go back 8.ftuh more chalk.'" I believe--I believe that slmetheart tuh, uh sayings uh 1d probably be most most interesting tuh yah. I'm sure you've heard this, haven't you? If sHeethearts are Halking dOHn, or very close friends, dOl,m the 1'U road, side by side, an' tlley come to a tree or uh sh,~, instead 01'-- hands, ~Ihy they must both go on one of the sides of it. Because if they drop hands and one goes on one side of the tree and the other goes on the other, that's indicative of their friendship breaking up. Tl1en uh, uh other uh old saying that all-mys interested me "as never give a lmife to your boyfriend, as a present for Christmas, 01' for his birthday, because it uh'd cut your friendship in tHO. I Hant to uh tell you uh bout this on@- many uh time I've gone to visit a girlfriend and slept in a brand, clean spankin' bed in uh room that I ~IaS not familiar ,lith--an' .lust before I'd go to sleep I "ould name each corner uh name of one of lilY uh boyfriends or one of the friends that I "anted to uh have as a boyfriend. NOH the idea Has "Ihen you 8.1'lo.ke in the morning, the corner that you looked into first, >/Ould be the one that you Hould marry. Then, of course, there's the naming of the petals of the day', daisy--'He loves me, he loves me not.' An' of course it depends on >lhich petal that you end up ,;ith--but, you knm" a lot of littl' girls did a lot uh cheating there. Uh there's an old,c),lStom of hanging mistletoe over the front door at Christmas, an' particularly,co_ among the English people, Has this true. An' they all, the unmarried girls, sat in the front hall or in the front room Hhere they could see. And the very first person that Cffine in that front door under that lirl:stletoe, "hatever he might be--a man or uh >Ioman or uh ch:ild--bu t if thuh person had light I('lid - hair, then you >Tere gonna marry a ~-haired man. If, the'P<?rson had dark hair, then you Here gonna marry a dark-haired man. Uh, then, of course all gi,rls kneH about this--if you take the last piece of bread or cake, or uh piece of pie that's on a plate, you gonna be the old mai.d. 'Ihis is something that I did many, marw times. 1his distance from school out home ,./as about tHO 8.nd a half or three miles, an', of course, out there, in 1:). Mid->18St, He had a lot of mullein--this big, rough mullein that had tall stalks In.th yelloH blossoms on it. NOH, if you take that mullein stalk, an' you bend it dOlm about half 1-lay in the direction of YOU1' lover's house or the one that you--your boyfriend's house-- the one that you liked real Hell. 'lhen--don I t break it though--just bend it--l',hen the tip begins to grol", if it goes straight up that's uh sign that he-e loves you-u, an' that he returns your love. An I you knoH, 'fore In.nter cmue, evexy mullein stalk along the road side Has uh bent. Some Hent up, some ",ent d01'Til, some Hent sidewws. No one told the other Hho-o did thuh bending. NOH, let's see, about tuh--oh-h, you knoH about this, don't you? If you stump your toe an' you be real quick an' kiss your thumb before you regain your balance, ",ho' you'll see your sHeetheart. Another one Has finding this dodder, or love vine, an' if you t/ould take uh several inches of that an' try to tie it into a knot, if you did tie H. into a knot, that shot/ed that cheH Here a person Hho ",as going to get anybod,y you "ranted to. But I'll tell you a secret--they ahrays broke. They Here too brittle. Uh, then" if it rains on a Hedding day, uh that means that the girl's gonna shed that many tears. But, ",hile He I rIo tallci.ng ",l,ou t rain or tears, uh it's interesting that they ahrays came along ,lith this, but H' it rains on a funeral day, it "'19.S a blessing because it Has a sign that the angels ",ere Heeping Hith you. They, uh, felt sorry for you, too. r assume He l'fl.ll call these--superstitions--uh, household superstitions. Very feH of my granoJuother's friends, or my grandmother, 'Tauld let one of the men come through the long hall, that ahrays sopara ted those old homos, "Ii th uh rake or uh hoe, in their hands beDause it 1,ms bad luck, Vlell, r'm sure., you've heard about you should never raise an umbrella 1,n uh house. 12, 'lila t' s bad luck, also. An' duh, then, if uh, you uh Here given some floHers, suh, to set out, you knoH, flO1'rers 1'1ith roots or cuttings, suh if you sh-,. you Here the recipient of somebody' sl\ generosity kuh their garden, you should never' say 'thank you' because the plants 1'Iouldn' t groH an' they'd just Hither and die. jlhy? I don't ImoH. And, of course if y'ou broke a mil'ror, you jus' 1.,.ell expect to be d01'Jn and out for seven years--you'd have seven years of bad luck', I think the thing I enjoyed most though, Has, drying the dishes, if I dropped uh fork, or uh knife, or uh spoon, Grandmother ahrays said, if I dropped a knife, 'Uh-huh, some ha.ndsome man's coming to see us. Or if I dropped a fork, 'Some Homan's coming.' An if 1. dropped uh spoon, 'Some child's coming to play 1'1ith you.' 'lhen, I've 8.hmys heard about dropping a dish toHeL 'lhat Has a sigh'/\that somebody 1'1aS comin[';. An' duh, then, Hhen you 1'rere given a cup of coffee, if there Here bubbles on the surface of that coffee, you must take your spoon immediately, an' dip them up 8,n' put um beh-reen your mouth 'cause that fneant you He1'e gonna get a lot-t of money' from some place. But if you failed to skim um off, an' you jus I let those bubbles pop, of their 01m accord, or burst. 'l.'hen, you lost your money. An' that Has bad luck, see. Very bad luck. Uh, in school, I heard this, many times. Ears, in cold count1'y, particularly, He uh'd ahrays be, mo,e or less nipped by the freez.ing ,reather, Nhen you'd come into the Harm school room. An eal' 1'JOuld begin to i tch--tlle lobe--of it. An' if it ,rere y;oue eight ear, someone 'Tould say, 'Un-huh, somebody's talking nice about you.' If it Here the left ear, oh-h, oh-h, somebody' s got it in for you--they're ta1kin I ba,d abol1t you. Um, those are 1itUe things that Some of you have heard. Probably. An' they give people a lot to think about. 13 -'lhere's an old saying--if Y'ou sing before breakfast, you'll cry before bedtime. I think one of the 'funniest ones I've heard, here-- since I've been here--is about, uh, an old Negro cook, uh cooked some fish. She liked fish an' she ate a lot of fish, but she drank so much water. An' when the lady of the house said, 'Manda, Hhy are you drinki,ng so much Hater? \Vas the fish too saltiY?' 'Nom, nom, you've ahrays heard if you eat fish, you gotta drink enough ,rater to float itt' And then, the yard man had a saying that Has mas t unusual. He said that on lcl'idays jaybirds could never be seen in the yards, because on l"riday the jaybirds vlGre very busy carrying grains of sand to the river or to the lake, vrheJ.ever Has nearest by. And Hhen all the grains of sand had been carried to the river, ur to the lake, then the end of the Horld "lOuld be come. One day, mn-m, the master of the household said, uh, 'Richard, yonder's uh jaybird. Isn!t :thiSI"l'iday'l' 'Yessir, it shore is, mister. But I tell ya, he looks, uh, he shore does look tired.' Hy grandmothor ahrays lcoked up into the sky, each evening, before she Hent to bed, an' she would sing ,'il1.at ,S-f'ac10us Firmanent On H1gh, uh, the arrangement by Haydn and the vlOrds by Addison. An' she \-lOuld give me a lot uh little ideas that she had picked up as a child. S She'd ay 'See K' that moon--it's a crescent and it's spilling all the ,rater out. 'tie shall have rain.' But if the moon Here not dipped or leaning so the Hater w(',(d~hef' Hould pour out. She'd uh say He Here in for a long spell of dry ~r. 'lhen, mu-m, she would say--'Daughter, see a pin and pick it up. All the 8)1 day you'll have good luck.' And ~she \-lOuld pmnp the Hater in the evening to take into tile house, she Hould look toHard the Hestern sun and uh sing--the setting sun--an' sing a song ,Be,;y:o.n~'eh(3Sun.,:et's Jladiant GIOlr '111ere Is A BriJ~hter \vorld .1 linow. And then she would say, 'Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning. Red slW at night, sailor's delight.' Now, all of us heard about blaokberry winter '~len the blaokberry vine--wild blackberry vines bloom, there' s al1~ays going to be a oold spell. So we'd oall that blackberry \linter. In the Blue Rldge Mountains, they ahmys called it Hay the tenth cold spell, an' the girls and boys were so glad "men Nay the tenth was over because they oould take off tha t long i tahy undervl8ar that they Here required to ..lear uh during the ..Tinter months. Even the children had uh supersti '!;ions. Hany uh time I've tried to find a long-g horse hair that had oome out of a horse's tail dovm at the barn, a lot. An' I Has told if I put that hOl'se's hair in uh rain barr'el, it uh'd turn into a snake. Hell, sir, you know, I never found a snake, for years an' years, uh did that. Then, course, these tOvm children, you hear them saying, 'Vlalking-dovm.uh-side-,mlk. Step-on-a-orack. Breakyour- mot-her'sbaok.' Sort of a skoot-hop game. 'llien, thel'e's one concerning death. (Sigh.) That I have found in the different plaoes I have liv:ed",.,;it must be a universal belief. If a bird .... ('Ihe tape continues on Side 'I\m.) clhatever the locale, there is this uh legend or superstition about uh bird Hhich continually flies at a ITindow pane. You and I knoH he Sees himself there, and he thinks it is anothel' bird. But, there is an old saying that if a bird continually flies at a ITindoH pane, it's the sign of uh death--tha.t's to take place in that family--in the near future. In the pioneer days, doctors were few and far betHeen. An' each house..Tife had, uh, bride Has ali-lays given a book. It vTaS called 'fne I:l<:usewi.fe'.s. Dicti<:l18:ry. Ah the particular one my grandmother had was .'I11.a. .F.'armA.n.d IIouseh0:Ld ,JiJ1cy.,,10.J2edia, and then, of course, there Here sections on all types of things, like archi tecture, gardening, cattle raising. But thuh section that alHays interested me, an I still does, is thuh s-section of home remedies. Even today I get this old book out and read. I don't knol'/ hOH many of these lily.igrandlUother tried. I guess she tl'ied quite a few of them, cause there uz al>mys the illness an' the children lived through the hardships of those days. Hum-hum. Did you knol'/ that uh skin of uh boiled potato applied to uh corn, vTOuld cure it? Leave it on long enough, you'll lift the corn right out. No more corn. Even I have experienced this. As a ymmgster I had many sties and my mother had uh big-g I,dde golden Hedding band. Yah take that vmdding band and rub it very vigorously, oh, just tuh, uh long time over uh vTOolen clothing ur uh vTOolen sock. An' put it immedj.ately on that sty, 'an it I,/Ould cure the sty. 'I'hen,06'f course, all of you'll agree vdth grandmother that uh I'TOolen sock uh tied around uh sore throat Hould help it, or keep it Harm. Uh, but the people dOlm uh near the river allrays said the sock should be ummshed. So they put thuh umrashed Imolen sock around the sore throats dovln there near the river bank. Honey and glycerine mixed together was a good cough syrup. An' I dare say it I s good today. Here I s something I never could understand. we never did do it because He didn't grol'I f'.lax. If uh flax seed oms put in an eye, if the eye Has hurting because you had a cinder in it, if that flax seed Has put in there it Hould cause the eye to lvater, of course, an' it Vlouldn't be long before the flax seed an' thuh cinder vlOuld come ou t. \var-vrarm sal t Im tel' Vlould cure blis tered heels and they used salt to get rid of corns, too. 1i1en, if you'd been exposed to measles an' kneeT you Here going to have them in time, you began drinkin' sassafras tea. \'fell, in time, the measles 'TOuld pop out. '1'alloH, bear fat, old bear tallo" Nas us ed for many, many things in the early days Hhen bea.rs .could be shot. An' ahrays vrhen you had a chest cold or a tight chest, . (yolt would ('!dJ bal> (7r(;t!sl~ I);} /l w'/lh 11ft, 1/lIk_. Itll/fll!/m;., lht:fI, H,(Jse. vi/;0 !JQtI /l) those Hho had i t'A Hould cover it ,lith bro,m paper. You knoH even Jill cured his head ,Ii th vinegar and bro,m paper, ,Then he uh fell do,m the hill. r' 'lhen, of cOUl'se, you got to get all of this parapheflalia that you fixed for this tight chest, Harm, So they Hould take uh flat iron an' heat it, an' put that flatiron on top of all thi.s vinega.r, turpentine, brmm paper, talloH. It got Nell all right. The funni,"st thing t.hat I ever heard about k Has drinIiIng. HarrQ mare's milk for \lhopping cough. I don't knoH Hhy mare I s milk Has allY better than C01'T'S milk. But that Hould cure the Hhooping cough. NOH, you knoH if an.y of you children touch a toad, you'll get 8. ,rart on your hand, or get Harts on your hands. An' the only Nay that you can make it go away is by tying a red string around your finger. Right? 'Ihen, of course, before you have a. date, So that yore';bad breath couldn I t be detected, you put a clove way bo.ck in a holloH tooth. Then, l1e find, a product came in, right after the clove, that was supposed to be full of tihlorophyll, and you cheHed the gum, or yah, uh, let those tablets dissolve in YOl'e mouth an' it uh'd make yore breath smell fresh. An' thuh reason ,ras due to the chlorophyll that this product contains, but it ahrays interested me thuh animal that chewed the most chlorophyll 01' ate the most grass, smelled the Horst--a goat. AINays had the Horst breath. t: I' I,; " I By letting us collect your tradi tions--s tories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs of ear11.er days--you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and Hay of life 6l! your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Ifolklore Archives, Hhose representatives are dedicated to presel'ving these traditions, ~rants to protect your dghts to this matedal by' guaranteeing that it Hill not be used 1'01' unscrupulous cOlrmlerrlJial proi'i ts. By signing thi.s sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people Hho are interested can understand hOH life vras in the old-timey da.ys. Your material vJill probably not be pr:i.nted or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don 't Hant your name to be used, say 80--He respect your right of priv8.cy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage tho. t is an important part of American life. If you remember any more old-timey things that you 1fant to send along to us so that it ,Jill ahrays be preserved, Hrite to: Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof', John Burl'ison Department of I<,nglish Georgia state College 33 Gilmer st., S. E. AtJ.anta, Georgia 30:303 1-'01' Ga. F.L. Archives1.l~LA~?-I;:i:"I. 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.