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This is the second of a two-part interview. This part begins with Marion Brasington outlining his family history, starting with his great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War, and his mothers struggles to support her family after her mother died of a brain tumor. Brasington then tells a story about students at the University of North Carolina stealing a body from the University graveyard, then being tricked by a man who took the place of the body. He ends with a series of jokes that start with the premise of three travelers staying with a farmer. The interview then switches to Mr. Mitchell, who talks about his grandfathers encounters with robbers while driving a stagecoach through Hungary and other Eastern European countries. He lists some superstitions, then describes gypsies and their commitment to living of the land and sharing amongst themselves. After telling a story about a prophet who came to his home and foresaw accurate events, he describes one of his fathers dreams in which he saw three graves that he claims foresaw a car accident that almost killed three family members.
Mrs. Edward Mackay was born in Shanghai, China, to missionary parents. Mrs. J.C. McFarlane was born in Mississippi. Marion Brasington (1946-?) lived in Bynum, North Carolina, a small town centered around the local cotton mill, and attended Pittsboro High School. He moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia State College. Layona Glenn (1886-1972) was born in Conyers, Georgia. She served as a missionary in Brazil where she helped establish several schools, including Colegio Bennett, the first womens college founded in the country. During her last trip to Brazil in 1966, a Brazilian naval escort greeted her and President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded her a presidential medallion. Glenn wrote columns for multiple newspapers in her hometown; when she died she was the oldest newspaper columnist in America at 106 years old.
Family history;
1. There Vias an old darkia and his name was Uncle Ned And he died long ago, long ago And he had no wool on the top of his head The place where the wool ought to fro?, 2. And his fingers were long like th8 cane in the break And he had no eyes for to see And he had no teeth for to crack the corncah-e So he had to let the corncake be 3. Oh, hang up the fi-ddle and the bow Lay down the shovel and the hoe For there I s no more work for Uncle Ned He's gone where the good darkies go h. Uncle Ned got married when he was very young To a yellow gal named Rosa Lee And she died three Y18eks la ter from an alliga tor sting Way down on the old Peedee 5. ah, hang up the fiddle and the bow Lay down the shovel and the hoe For there's no more work for poor Uncle Ne d He's gone where the Good darkies go. -3 Games: 1. Coo Sheep (Fox and Hounds) : Miss Glenn Me: Do you remember any gsmes you used to play? Miss Glenn: Ya, we used to play Coo Sheep. You ever hear tell of Coo Sheep? I:;:1s: No, IJI1am. Miss Glenn: Well, we we'd call the I don't remember just how that goes. I-re'd call the other children and they were our sheep, and we'd get them over this side and somebody else would try to get them back on the other side. He zigzaged across the line and Hhichever oDe got the most of the children on their side won the game. Me: How would you get them to your side? :r.:iss Glenn: Call them~ and if t:J.ey came to the line grab them and pull them over. Me: (Laugh) Miss Glenn: Grab them and pull them over. But the leader had to stnnd on ODe side of the line, you see, and couldn't cross. the linG. l'le: uh-huh Miss Glenn: And that was Coo Shee~. 4 2. Mino-i,ana Bright Hiss Glenn Miss Glenn: and then there was one Game we used to play, we called it fIino -Mil1a Bright. \-That it meant, I doni t knOrT. But, we - one stood here, and another ODe stood out at the end of the walk over yonder, about 40 to 50 feet al"i2.Y. ~':e'd yell at one another and call - lhino Lina Bright and the other would say - Three score and ten. l:~o-Min.o- ~,lina lSright. Ilow me.ny miles to bright? 'I'hree score and ten. Gan I get there by candle light? You can if your legs are long enou~h and the red-headed witch don't get you on the way. And then they'd run and somebody at the side would be the red-headed witch and try to catch the~ before they got got there. 3. Andy Over : !.!rs. l:IcFarlariO<. Mrs. McFarlane; Andy over, we used to play Andy Over, but that wasn't much 91 a game except for the ball. And one of us would get on each side of the house. One would throw the ball across to the other batch(l) Me: Oh, over the house. Mrs. McFarlane: Threw it back and forth, and we'd call Andy Over when we'd go to throw it and they would catch it. And after we'd catch it then we could throw it back. I I ve f,?rgotten h01,r the ga.me ran as to which one. I don't know- - - - because the point of the ga~e is not given. Moral: Me: Would you say that again for me now, mam? IVliss GleIm: Ya, If ;)lOUr lips would. keep from slips, these things keep meekly hid' myself and I and ~ine and my, And what I do or did. Mrs. MacKay: Miss Glenn, you mixed up the two verses. Miss Glenn: If your ears should keep from jeers, these things keep meekly hid: myself and I, and IT~ and mine, and what I do or did. You say I mixed t1-JO verses. Mrs. MacKay: Yes, you mixed up the first. 'l'he first is- If you your lips i'J'ould keep from slips 5 things obse-rve with care; of when you speak, to whom you speak, and how, and when, and where. Song Fragment.- 1. Me: All rilht, now. start. Mrs. HcFar1are: Shoo fly don't bother me For I belong to Gompa1'Y B. Superstitions - Beliefs 1. Mrs. McFarlane: ~vening grey and morning red Brings down rain upon his head. Me: Okay, now what was the other one, the first one? 2. Mrs. McFar1an~~ The first w~s: Evening red and morning grey, Sets the iravler on his way. You see grey and "'ay. 3. I~II's. McFarlane: Then~ Rain before seven, stops before eleven. 4. Mrs. rl lc}1'ar'lane: And, the left hind foot of a grave yard rabbit brings luok. 5. Mrs. NcFe.rlane: ':Phe nef! moon '-lith its points up means dr~y w-eather. The new moon with its points .tilted, preceeds rainy weather. That w~s another one. ~nd if you see the nsw moon clear you'll have good l~ck. Look at it witnout any obstructions or trees or an~ything like that, first time youloo~ at it. Cl1ildhood ;'!ish 1. Mrs. LcFe,rlane.: There IS c:mother wish. we used -Co give, yOll ma~l remember, saying star reminded me of it: Star light, star bright First. star lIve seen tonig'ht -Iiish I may, IIiSD I mig'ht H8~ve that '-lish befors tomoTI:oll nig-.ht. l'.'liss Glenn~ }:,.nd you look OV8T your left shoulder. You have -to look over your left shoulder to ,",ish that. Belief 1. Mrs. BcFarlane., lud. about the newborn baby:. AIHays lift the nG~rborn baby high, so he '(-Jill be high i:linded (conversation): An old nigger nurse told me that ;y-ou see when my babies came li8 ha.d nigger nurses instead of 1'Thi te nurses. And another thing~ she l,fould never sweep under the bed of a sick person while the person lras on the bed. And it was bad luck to move on Friday. 2. Mrs. McFarlane: And if you happened to spill salt on a table if you take a small portion and throw it over your left shoulder there wouldn't be any bad luck. 3. Mrs. MacKay: I cdl120. I.Irs. Bryrd a f8'" minutes ago, and she said no she didn!t remember a~ithing. But then she did say, '''Hell, the onl:v- thing I remember is that cur cook, she had a brother 'who had warts on his hands, and the cook she said she could cure them and she took him out in the 1'10 ods , found and old dry cowbone and rubbed it with, the old cow bone. And she said that the warts disGppeared. 4. Mrs. McFarlanej lind there1s another saying~ th2t if you picked the wart until it bled, and put Borne of that blood, I believe it's on grains of sand, a~~ wrap it up ~nd put it undor the back door step, it would go aHay. 5. Mrs. McFarlane~ Then there's one about the Screech Owl bringing"bad luck. Bringing donth wita him, preceeding death _~1d the raincrow Call of the raincrovI - foll01"/ the rain cove He sends his r&.in 7 Songs, I. Columbo: 1'[811, Columbo had a very good first mate &TIU he loved him like a brother and every night in the pale moonlight they rammed it up each other. 2" Three Old maids :BIram Canada: 1. Three old maids from Canada were dril~ing sherry wine The first old maid froill Canada said mine's big as the sea. Ships sa.il in and ships sEdl out and never bother me, heyl~ 2. Rolley polley, tickle my holey up the slimey sl~w. Rattle my lluts across mg guts . . You r re one of a w-horey c~e~T" 3. Second old maid from Canada said mine's big as the air Planes fly in and planes fly out and never graze a hair. 4. On, rolley polley, fickle my i " " " " " " . " " .. 5.. 'lIlliI'd old maid. from Canada said mine's big as the year m8:..1 go in in Lay and don't COllie Qut till June, Hey. 6. On, Tolley polleYj tickle rr~ holey up the slimey s18'h. tiEtile Tny nuts across I:i\Y guts You'rs part of a whorey crew. 3. (spoken): There was as Archaeologist from wassel. lNl0 found very extroidinary fossil You could tell by the bend in the tip of the end It was the penis of P~ul the Apostle. /0 4. 5 If your mother has a baby And the baby looks like you Mother-fucker, l.Iother-fucker. Do Your Balls Hang Low: Do your balls nang 101r Do they wobble to and fro Can you tie them in a knot Can JlOU tie therll in a bow Can you throw them over your shoulder Like & Continental soldier Do your ballshang 101;-r. Terms: 1. Masturbation: Hard Rain: Urinate: 1. "JerkL.l{s offll 2. "Flogging your dong" 3. llJumping ;y~our hand (or fist)" 1. "Like a 001"1 pissing on a flat rookH 1. "Shake the water off your lily. II 2. iJDrain your lizardll Young girls: 1. lI;3pli t tails 11 Conversation about terms: Marion: 'I'here 1 s a tall man lived next door to me I\arted Abernathy. (Confusion) iLnyw2,y, the.y say it Is going to SnOrT ass-hole deep to ~~oGl'nathy- Marion: Marion: Stories: Marion: when it's snowiu2 or been snowing they say itTs going to snow so deep you have to shit in a shotgun and shoot it out the chimney. on a real cold 1 fl'osty, morning thes~ say it's colder than a witch4's -fit in a brass bra. This is a story my mother used to tell me, to scare me to sleep more or less: Well, there was this little girl about ten _years old and every morning she was ex- haustec1 and she- her cloth8s ~'[erG torn, she lras mudd;y and everything, you know. SheTd have to sleep all _day. Her parents cuuldn l t fi{s'u~c it out. ,lell tllis girl had a snaIl dauJhter about five - not a daughter but a small sister about five years old. So, she said, ~'i'That' s the ma,tter Hi th ;you big sister?lI And big sister s<:1id,"i'fell ever~- nite theJe! s thi-s CB.t thG,t jUF1pS in my lrindow in the bedroom and'comes in there and c~awls over me. nnd she takes me for a ride, she turns into a wi toh. lI .l~nd Iittle sister said,IIHell by God I'll catch that cat and weill just see \rhClt this is. 1i So that night the little sister spent the night I-lith the big sister in the bedroom. So they were in there you know, and the big sister went to sleep. Well ..;:...'1;.'<' ......c...\(.. that night la,ter on about 12:00, the clock~-e1'101ve. The cat jumped up in the window and little sister saw it. She made a dive, she screamed,"Cut on the lights, cut on the lights. II I got it, I got i t l : ~Then they cut on the lights all the girJ hRd was a two big hand~fu~s of hair, long black~ silky hair 7 a womanls hair. And so the reason for this hair was that, S08, the witoh had to turn herself 1/ Marion: I'Jiarion: from a cat back into a witch to escape. She couldn't escape while she was a cat. So she turned herself back into a witch and the girl pullecJ~ her hair out. And so the mother recognized the hair, that black hair, and it was the hair of one of the neighbors way up in the hollow. There's a ci~cle close to Gotrton N. C., it's about 12 miles from where I live. And the circle is about 20' circumference. And the belief - any way the circle is bare.,.nothing grows.there because this is where the devils and everything dance at night. Orie night I was walking home, I'd been fishing and so I had to come by a graveyard over by Rock Springs church r the river runs by it. And so I was comming up the path and I saw a light coming towards me. So it was about 10:30 or 11:00, I~d been fishing since about 5:00. And it came on, came on, and I got s?ared as'hell. you know and m'leat just broke on me and I lianted to run ... I had to face it. So I llalked on, I l'ras about to pass out. And the light got closer, I said, "Hello, hOI-rare you?" l\..nd nothing answ"8red, and I got closer you know. And this old negro man 1<alked on by me with a light, you know. ITe ,just went on by me. . So I ran like hell then, I didn't s1m-; dOlvl1 and I got home, shaking. To1eJm;y- mother \"That happened und she said,' IIHh;;r I re you shaking son?" And I said, Hyou lrnQw wh;y I' TIl shaking, that old negro man wi th lamp.i1 .ii.nd .~>he said, 11-;.1ell sou 1 that's no reE-son to shake. lT i>..nd" I said, "i'fh;;r?lr .l\..nd she said,t1l'Tell all that man is eloin:; is lookinG for his head. 1I You sec this old negro man was killed up there in the graveyard and every night he looks for his head "ith a light." /3 Marion~ So OilG day it WG8 IGte snd he (a friend) was comir~ back from clown the river turk8y hunting. And he CElme on b~l and he got to a fenco at this old house" He decided he t d cut through the pastures e..:nd stuff by the old house. He was going by the fence and he met this negro man, and the old man was, and he looked to be about 70 yrs. old, white headed, you know. ;1'h8 negI'D man said, IiWnat are ::/ou doing all my lc:.lnd, white boy?" And the boy said, llIlve been hunting and I'm years earlier there So. , ...- .this is what it was: ,"bout 20~30 the boy took off and ran home. going home and everything. II And the old man SHiel, IIIf' ~lOU don I t get out of here, I I ill going to kill :;rour ass D 11 So e..nyilay, come to.find~ had been a negro man lived in the.t little shanty, tha.t the boy had cut '-by and the negro man ha.d besn beat to death and robbed b;y people looking for money See, he lias a boot16gger~ So, ever)l now .and then this guy a:pp~ars to people l-rhe:n ttley Callie b~y about t"l,;-ilight, you knolr. It's about da:rk, and scares them, 2nd t3lls theTIl to get ofi' his land. There IS this old m2.n named Cl~yn6 he 1 s about 80 years old, coulrln'"t read, lJut he memorized parts of the bible. So rn;1 bro:ther and I ~-ieI'e playing in the cotten, ill the cotton l'lill. 1'J e Iver8 plaJ'il1::":,; in the storage room all the big bales of cotton. It had a concrete floorg So he jumped off, He Here be;refooted, he juraped off the bales and he hit the f,loor EnlCi he hit his heel, 2.nd bruised his heel T0al rjad and he could-n It IJalk 0::1 it. Be couldn I t carry nis So IIlJ- mother caI'~'>ied him to see Clyne. l~nel 61yne took out his Bible unel supposedly read a few verses, but I know he couldn1t :read. So nndoll-btedl:"r he'd merr,orized it and he rubbed IT,y broth8r,t,s hee18 And my brother got up 2.ud. lTc_lked across the room, and the bruise v-rau bon8 and everything. Marion: Say you 1 ve never heard of witches riding people? Me: -IlIa, they ride brooms. Marion: No, they ride people a lot too. Ille: HOll? Marion: They turn them into a horse. Except physically the person isn't a horse, he just has the abilities of a horse.o. I had an uncle was rode by a vTi teh, nobody believed him. So he said, "I 'f2.8 rode by a witch last night, thatrs why I'm so exhausted. lI And they said, "ArT you're crazy as hell. 'l'hat stuff doesn I t hold true. \'[e 1 ve heard of it but itIS 1+ not true. 1I He said, lI~iell i t it true, because so he went on and on and told us how they had ridden him over to paris and ever;YTthing. He remembered going over the Eifel TOller, tower you know, over in Germany,. over in AustTia~ and b~ck around Spain, and all the wa~baCk you knol-;. And so he renembered them jumping one dam over there on their own farm COll1Jnifl_-B' back and breaking it. A little eartin-iork darn, you know; about 10' long and about 2 or 3' high and used to back.up a little creek. li.nd he re~embered jumping it and bre~~ing it~ And nobody believed it so he said, lIeoine o:n 1 ' 11 show you. 1I So ue all went over there and looked a~d you could see where his hands had hit on one side of the dam, and he jumped it and his feet had Droke it and his hands had hit on tne other side. I.~o.:rion: Oh tnere's tnis colore6. e~l:lurch up, there that this man lraS telling me aiJout I didn 1 t believe it until I sali it rr~self. So on8 night I was com ling home by myself and I got cloSG to the church~ And it li/as a nice SUI:mer's night, yeu knm-:r, it lJaS about 10:00, you Y-,.J'.101f. I was about half snat down~ been to a ~a~t~~~ ~o it weG real nice night and I was uaJ.king home, taking' a shortcut through the ~foods. I came by the church and all the lights liere on and singing an(l everything. So I said, ;;Hell, I' TIl going up and listen to the singing, llcCluse I used to go up t:nd hear gospel \-~ V'f" e... sing;ing all the"at the colored churches and all the Dolered people knew me and didn't mind. So I walked up and as soon as I stepped on the first step, the lights went out and the singing stopped. Nan, I didn't slow down till I got home. Marion: Thatrs true. I ain't figured that one out yet. Maybe I had too muoil to drink. Superstitions: 1. If you go to bed singing, you will get up crying. 2. If you have nightmares, you put a kni'fe or axe under :i-our bed and it will stop them. 3. If the sun sets red, it will be fair weather. 4. If your foot itches~ you will walk on strange land. 5. You never selT on Jal1uar~r, if you 0.0, ~10U "Nill sei-r for soneone dead. 6. If a cow bellows through the night, you will' hear of a death soon. 7. COW's kneel on old Christmas niGht, old Christmas around midnig~lt e 8. Drea~illi.I of a ~redding is a sign of a death 9. To dream of the dead is a sign of rain. 10. If a c~lickGn goes to roost crowing, he will 1-ial<::8 up lli th a cut head. /s- Song: 1. Marion: Tilis is 1That they sing at e. c~rn hv.sking. And I -knOlT -t ~I:-i sing this all throughout the South in little comreunities. lind you take a rabbit, ,and the base line is: Rabbi t I hoe -::tabbi t I ioe . ..-l.ild oach person takes and f:1ake3 up samet_lin:.:> to do Hi th a part of the rabbit. So it otarts off: rtabbit's used for cooking Rabbit's I hoe, Rabbit I hoe Rabbit's fur makes a shaving brush Rabbit I hoe, Habbit I hoe Rabbit's tail makes a shaving brush /6 2. On top of old Smokey All covered with snow I saw Gene Auty,f SCrei'T l\fal"ilyn I'~~onroe Stories: Used to be, esp~aally at University of North Carolina there at the l.iedical School close b;y, about 12 miles off, used to medical students had to furnish their own bodies, so they'd go out in graveyards and~teal them~ ~o this friend of mine lived next to a graveyard so one night he saw some students going out to the grav8yard. And they 8'ot a bod..v, ~TOU know, it was cold as heck, "about to freeze. So they dug the gUJ up, he died of some un~~!own disease~ you know, they really ,,,anted his body. So thoy put him in their buggy and they were camming back. 'They c~'ot to this man I s house and stopped to get something to warm up with. They needed a little somethin3 to warm UPs you know, this is Gustomary to stop ~t someone's house, still customary tnc, I might a.dd So while they 1'rere inside dl~inl(ing some hot tea the man 1\ent out and got the bod:'l and carried it Qut behind. the house and. stuck it next to the chimney. 'I.'hen he got in bug;y, covered himself up, you kn01", ;"here they':; d had tho body. It was in the front of the buggy, where they could hold it. So anyway they got worried, the man never showed up. So they left him a note thanking him, and. went on and left, got in the buggy. And they nere going on d01m the road, you kn01v. One of them bumped into the body and said, "Damn boy, you knol'l this this body sure is l-larm, you knOVT. 1t II"Warm, God -damn, hau could that be?1l About that time the old body spoke up and said, "You'd be ,",arm to if you'd been where I've been." So they ran like hell, you kn01-', and got out of there Jokes: 1. Raspus and Henry were building a house. R2spus VIas working upstairs and Henry was working dOV'J1stairs. So, old Raspus he's up there and he got to wondering about old Henry, and he says, " Henry, wha t you doing do1"!l dere boy 1" Henry says, " I'se laying linoleum." And Raspus says, " Well, ask her if she's got a sister, boy." 2. Three men got lost in the woods, so they had to spend the night at II farmer's house. So the fanner said, " Well, you can sleep here," he said, "yon can't sleep here with my daughter and me, but you can sleep with my dpughter up on the hill up there, and her husband just died, been dead about three months. And if I hear any hanky-panky going on, I'll know it, J a-ke, I' 11 knoVl it, I' 11 kill a 11 damn three of you." So, when that night they got in there, they just couldn't resist it, and the t old woman was hot to trot. SO, one of them says, " Let's post an outlook. You go out on the hill and watch dawn in the bottom at the farmer's /'7 Jokes: (cant.) house,see." So, he eat out there a nd he looked down, he Via s wa tehing, you knmv. And one boy was in there making love to her, with her, you know. In a few minutes they changed b\lards and the other guy went out on the hill. And so in a few minutes, a few minutes later, they changed guards again, and the other guy was out on the hill. And all of a sudden the farmer comes running out the door with a shot- gun down there. And the guy is going to warn his friends, you know, he hollers, " Ole-le-di-o-ho. " See he was a yolder. The farmer threw down his damn gun and j1.Dllped up and down and said, " God-damn, they done screwed my old lady, too." 3. So these three boys went to a farmers house; they were lost again. So the farmer said," Well, you can spend the night here, arid leave tomorrow and I'll shovr you the way out. But, you've got to sleep with my daughter now, and she's virgin and everything. Ej.ghteen years old; don't you dare touch her or I'll get even with you." So, they said, "All right." So, anyway, that night they just couldn't resist it.. They just all climbed on her. So, next morning, the next morning, the farmer said, " Well, I heard about what happened last night, boys. I want you each to go out to the garden and pick your favorite fruit, favorite vegetable too " So, they went out there and the first one came back, and he had black-yed peas. The farmer said, " Ram 'em up your ass." He started screaming and ramming I em up his ass. Then the second one came in and he had squash. Th~farmer /8 said, " Ram 'em up your ass." The boy started ramming squash up his ass and just laughing like hell, you know. The farmer said, " Y'hat are you la ughing a t buddy?" He said, .. (lcugh), that third fool is out there picking watermelons." h. Three more boys got lost a t the farmer's house. The .f'armer said, "Well you can spend the night, but don't you dare mess with my daughter, you gonna sleep w:i. th." Same plot as the other one. So that night they couldn't resist it; they all got it, you know. The farmer says, "All right, this is the only way you can get out of it. See that pond out there. If you can swim that pond without getting your pecker wet, I'll let you go, I won't shoot you." They said, "All right," you know. So see I'm telling this to a city boy, real smart ass. So, the first one got out there, knee-deep;bent over. The second one came up, popped it in him, you know. The third one came up popped it in the 'second one. And the guys swam Wi thout getting their peckers wet. Don't you see wHat's the sucker there? Can't you see mere someone would fall for this? Woo t about the first one? Me: I don't know. Marion: That's where your mouth COOles in. /1 Song 1. Rock a-bye, rock a-bye Don't irritate mother Because if you irritate mother You will not have a mother Story Linda: Was there any other particular incident tha t something weird happened along the way? ( referring to her grandfather's stagecoach route in Bunga ry ) Mr. Mitchell: V!ell, at another time,this "IaS .not at the same particular tine, it was jJ1 the winter. And grandfather was on one of his long journeys, and I don't recall the name of the village or town nearby where this took place, but it was a moonlight night and grandfather noticed something like a shadO'l' follovring the staeecoach, and it looked like a small sleigh, a real tiny sleigh. And "'hen he would speed up so the shadows. And he cot his whip and he whipped a t them on the snow. And it didn't seem to disappear and he had no explanation as to just ..,hat this shadO'll meant except it, they, kept follO'lring him. And so it was wei.rd and he couldn't understand what it VTaS, and so he ..rhipped the horses and made t."em go fast, and finally after a while it seemed tha t ?-I these shadows disappeared. Linda: He never found ou t wha t VIa s rea lly cha sing h:iJn? Mr. Mi tehell: No, he could never explain it. Superstition Jt.r. Mitehell: In fact mother had a lot of herovTn little pet beliefs. For example, if :>"OU were leaving the house going somewhere and suddenly turned back and forgot something this was definitely a sj.gn of bad luck, snd- Linda: Or if somebody passed you with .?n empty bucket you V"ould have bad luck. Mr. Mitchell: Or if somebody passed in front of you,as you were le.?ving, TIi th an empty bucket, this VIas had luck. ANd father used to get annoyed Vii th mother c.?use if she accidently passed in front of h:iJn with an empty bucket, vThy she would stop and make hjm wait and she would go put w~ter in the bucket and pass in front of him again tAl overcome the superstition. Custom Mr. Mitchell: They (the g;;"sies) also h2.ve what we might call their own kind of social. security: their ovm invention. And this is s:iJnply believing tha t those who have some thing, they should share j.t with the gJ"sies. And as an example of this, tilre rolls around. '!'ell they have- to start foraging for wood, at least in those days, that would be before gas and electricity. And so, rather than take an axe and go into the woods and cut the wood, they ",auld prefer to visi t the people who already had their wood cut on their back- porch for use in the winter, and demand the persons share some of this cut-l'p wood. Pnd of course, if you opposed them why certainly they would become violent and in many instances they would even kill. Prophecy . Mr. IHtchell: Yes, they used to have people, not many of course, who would prophesy. And onc day this old :ge,ntlemal), who used to do this sort of thing and would travel from cit J' t-0 city, came by and mother (?) a sort of saintly lo',king individual, in fac t chills ran through her because he looked and acted and spoke in a manner that was entirely different from a normal human being tha t you would normally run into, there was just something different. Ind he- Linda: Was he very old? Mr. Mitchell: Yes, he was an old man, yes he V'Ss an elderly man. And he told mother, well the way it all sMrted, he stopped by for a drink of wa tel" and he got to talking to her. And of course, he introduced himself as being a prophet and tha t he would - . ".-" '... "' . like to prophesy something for her and- Linda: It sounds like one of the chapters in the Bible. Mr. Mitchell: Well,anyvlBy, this man was not., he depended on alms, of course, donations for a living. But if you donated, all right, if you didn't it was all right. Unlike the gypsy 'Tho would beccrr.e violent in case you did not utilize their services. Well, this man never saw dad, who lived (?), he was never around this home before, and he started to tell mother about his nature. f.nd even described him to the point. And this is" something that you couldn't notice unless you looked very close. And he saJhd also, " Your husband, II meaning my dad, "your husband also has a small scar under his left eye v:here a horse kicked him when he was in the qalvary, when he ?IaS a soldier." And telling mother these things you see shm'fs one, how could this man !mow all these tl1ings. Yet, knOWing what we 00 about history for example, and the di.fficnlty in communica tions in those days, it would be almost impossible to say tha t this man had some kind of scheming way where he .'ould be able to have agents out ea thering infonllation for him, so all he'd have to do then was memorize it and tell people about it. This is just almost an impossibility. And so it is highly probable tha t this man was some sort of unusual prophet. And he prophesies th2t grandfather wou1d- rather your r,randfather, my dad- would live .to be, would live toa ripe old a ee, perhaps in the seventies. And this 1m!s true. 2t He died when he was going into his seventy-ninth year. And the only prophecy tha t he missed wa s tha tat tha t time mother didn't have any children and he said, " You will have two children. You'll have a girl and a boy." And she did in Europe, but then I was born in this country. So, you see he mi.ssed the prophecy on me, but he did prophesy properly on- Linda: When in Europe. Mr. Mitehell: Tha t' s right. Linda: ~ell, ma~~e he had no idea whether she'd be leavinr, Europe, too. Mr. Mi tehell: Well, this is possible, possible. And he described dad, for example, having a violent nature at the time, and this -, was true. If he had a drink he became obnoxious, this was true, btherwi.se he was' a fine, classed, man. nream Mr. Mitchell: Anyway, getting hack to these dreams, I was about t,welve, in fact it vms on-my thirteenth birthday, back about 1926,'27, somewhere' n there. '!lad dreamed Dne night thet he saw three boards over a hole. And of course when he told mother about this; why mother ilrmedia tely said," Tha t' s no good, to me tha t sounds like a tragedy, and thr~e graves." And sure enough, a few days la ter, which v'?s on my birthda~', my brother had not returned, la te a t night already, and mother V/a3 worried where he was, cause he was out in a automobile and we suspec ted tha t he was probably drinking because it was payday and his habit was te take on more alcohol than he could handle. And so it was getting on to about two 0' clock in the manning. Walking along the highway where we suspected he'd may be visiting, and sure enough we heard a car coming, and it was him. It was very foggy, and ttwas moving alo,ng slow. It was a 192/;, model,Ford coupe, model T. So he saw us and he stopped the car, and we got inte it and he drove ue toward home. Well, our home was situated on a high hillside overlooking a very deep va lley. Well, as "'e were nearing home and in tli'is fog he couldn't see teo well, and none of US could see where we were at, and so he'missed .,.f the turn and went into the gorge instead. \'lent bouncing along' dovm this steep hillside. Well, when tha t happened we knew or halan idea about where we were traveling wildly, and the only thing tha t saved us Vias tha t we had traveled about a quarter of a mile and the front wheels hit a rut in the road 2.nd the wheel, the front wheels were turned sharp~iy to the right, almost turned the car over, and stopped it. Because it was out of control the breaks wouldn't hold. Anyvray, there was no way in t he world te stop it. And this, if this had not happened i.t's highly possible tha t we vrould have probably turned over and mother's premonition about these thre,e gr2ves might have come true, because the tbree of us could have been 4-:i)4.ed.
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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.
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