Monroe F. Swilley III interview with Charles Austin Eason Sr., Grover Morgan Dyson, Thomas Luther Buse, Lucy Buse, and Nancy H. Swilley (part one)

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 first of a two-part interview. This part begins with a conversation between Monroe F. Swilley, III, Charley Eason, and Morgan Dyson. Eason recalls a superstition about an owl signaling death if it arrives on the third day of a mans illness. Then Dyson tells a fishing story about a man trying bigger and bigger cables to catch a fish until theyre too heavy for him to hold. Eason tells a series of jokes, including one about a boy getting two bicycles, one from each parent, and another about a pilot and a stewardess. Swilley then starts to interview Tom Buse, Lucy Buse, and Nan Swilley. Lucy Buse tells a joke about a hungry gentile and Jew trying to get food at the top of a hill, but first needing to prove, or pretend, that they are Christian. The Buses discuss a game that is similar to baseball, then they talk about other childhood games and customs. Tom Buse recollects foods that his mother used to cook; then he tells a ghost story about a family finding a big toe in the yard, eating it, then being haunted by its owner. He discusses traditional medicine, including mustard plasters and sassafras tea. Next Tom Buse reminisces about his childhood. He starts by explaining how his mother would dye his socks for school using leaves and walnut husks, then talks about attending school, including his daily walk to get there, his packed lunches, the schedule, and punishments. Changing topics, he recalls cures for the mules stomach aches at his old family farm, then describes Annie-Over and Town Ball, two childhood games. He talks about seeing his first automobile in 1913 in Tupelo, Mississippi, on his way to Alabama, then describes his later move to Atlanta, Georgia. He also talks about his Irish and Dutch ancestry and his grandfathers farm and its customs, including the practice of log-rolling. Lucy Buse recalls old recipes including potato and chicken pies, then describes shape-note singing gatherings she attended as a child. The recording concludes with Swilley describing old-fashioned funerals. Monroe F. Swilley, III was born to Reverend Monroe F. Swilley, Jr. (1914-1991) and Martha Snuggs Swilley (1910-2008). He married Nancy (Nan) H. Swilley, in Douglas, Georgia. Charles (Charley) Austin Eason Sr. (1883-1974) was born in Cobb County, Georgia, to William Monroe Eason (1848-1928) and Queen Victoria Sewell (1855-1939). He married Bertha Eva Dyson (1886-1918) on September 8, 1907, and they had two children: Charles Austin Eason, Jr. (1911-1973) and Mary Louise Eason (1917-2013). Grover Morgan Dyson (known by Morgan) (1887-1974) was born on October 4 in Cobb County, Georgia. He married Cleo Estelle Doss Dyson (1888-1980), and they had two children: Annie McPherson and George Dyson. Thomas (Tom) Luther Buse (1900-1986) was born on June 4 in Baldwin, Mississippi, to William Richard Buse (1873-1963) and Amanda Buse (1866-1938). He moved to Alabama in 1913, then to Atlanta in 1932. He served in the Navy during World War II and died on August 4. His wife, Lucy Buse (1901-1978), was born to John and Isabelle Ellis. Family history; Mr. Charley Eason, first informant, .laS born in Cobb Coun~, Geor- gia on August 15, 1883. He has resided in this area his entire life- time. My interview was conducted with him at his home, just outside Mableton, Georgia on April 22, 1967, a Saturday mornine. TRJi.NSCRIPT Monroe Swilley: Don'ttry not to think about it. Anyway now, what was thisTell me the one about the doctor. Mr. Eason: Let's see. I .vuz nursin' Doctor Johnson, ninety-three years old. And the preacher was good to visit. His wife ;'as Ilethodist, and he was a Baptist. During the sickness, the preacher come every day. And the third night, before he passed out, there's a scooch owl come. And the preacher asked me was I superstitious. I dropped my head and studied it a little bit and fieured out the location. I said, "If the owl comes close the next ni['ht, the third nieht, he'll pass out.II The preacher was leaning back agin' the north end of the house, a tree there. Owl fie;, and lit on the limb by the chimney, and the owl screeked and hollared. I never heered such takin' onl And the preacher got up and come (wer to me and sa::'d, IIBrother Eason, there's your 0;,1; and I think he's lots better.II And in less than thirty min- utes, the old gentleman passed out. Swilley: He died? The old gentleman died? Mr. Eason: Yeah. S~~lley: No;" what about thisIs that the joke you? Mr. Eason: No, that was the 2 Swilley: That was just the incident. Mr. Eason: Yeah. Incident. &Iilley: I,,,,", you said there ,laS a good joke about preachers that you did one time. ~~at was that? Mr. Eason: Oh, my? S,Tilley: What about that verse Mr. Eason: Oh) That was a nigger, nigger preacher, sung a song which said, "My dearest companion, come near me, I pray. 1 'm biddin' you a long fare'Tell." Jest before he passed out. Swilley: 'las that a Mr. Eason: That wuz a song. He had a long song of it, but I don't remember what was the name of it. It just said, "11y dearest companion." That's the verse I remember. SWilley: Unh-huh. Ah, did you reniember theany of the verses from MrsLittle Ma~J Fagan? f.lr. Eason: Yeah. I reClember. I don't reme:nber no verse about that. I just remember this song; I heered this sung, a many a several times. Swilley: Do you Mr. Eason: I used to have it on a record, but I haven't got it. S,Tilley: Do you remember any old stories at all? Any stories dealing ,Iith a tall tale teller, or outlaH, or criminal, or anything of that nature? .'hat about this dying soldier? 11r. Eason: 1'lell, there's two...In the Old Revolution ,'iar, there wuz two soldiers. One ,ruz thinkin' of his mother, and the other wuz thin!dn' of his S1-Teetheart far away, a-dyin' on the field, battle field. And I con't remember any of the rest of it. That's been years ago. NOTE: Revolutions fifty-four through fifty-nine are space. 3 Swilley: The lore on the tape just preceeding this ,JaS taken from Hr. Charley Eason on April 22, 1967, out near Mableton, Gee!'f'ia in Cobb County; between, actually be"hmen Smyrna and Hableton, 'about twenty miles, fifteen to twenty miles out from Atlanta. Mr. Mcrgan Dyson, brother-in-law of Mr. Charley Eason, is also a lifetime resident of Cobb County. He "as born in ('.obb County on October 4, 1887. I visited his home on April 22, 1967, with Hr. Eason, and there conducted the interview. Hr. Dyson: I'm goin' to start out with a fish tele, nm-,. I used to put out a lot of trout lines for fish. And they got so bad, I'd lose my hooks and lines. I couldn't get 'em. And I got me some wires in there, and they still cut them off. Finally I got me a cable, and had me some hooks made, and cau~ht 'em; but they'd taddle off. Couldn't hold 'eml Kept havin' to get bigger cables. And finally I got 'em big enough where I could hold 'em; and ..,hen I caught him, I couldn't get him out. I had to get a "reeker to pull him out. Got him out on the ground, I thought I'd take a cross-cut saw and.saw 'em into, so's I could handle 'em. But, when I saw down in there, all them there chains and cables do..m there, T couldn't saw 'em into. There he ,ms. 3'.n.lley: That I sapretty goodone. Mr. Dyson: That's it; that's itl S..lilley: O.K. Ho,; about thishow about some jokes? Any kind of jokes at all. J1r. Eason: Tell 'em about the rooster. You can tell him better than I can. Mr. Dyson: You can go ahead and get that 'un. l~r. Eason: Hell, he's already got that one. Tell him another one, Morgan. Suilley: vlell, I haven't tot it on tape. Hr. Eason: Didn't you get that one on tape? Naw, trBt's right. Morgan, tell it, if you can tell Mr. Dyson: I didn't get it all, Charley. You go ahead and tell it. Mr. Eason: Eason and l~organ Ilfson got purtty ole. Decided they'd go, go rooster firhtin'. So they got 'em a rooster 'piece. Eason then said, "Let's go to the shm'." So '.e got in the show, and a lady sat do>I:U by Eason. Morgan haunched 'im in the side, and said, "Hatch, your rooster's out." I forgot to zip my...."e went in the show and didn't have no place to put our roosters. And "e put 'em in our big ole brit- ches. So, ah, 110rgan punched me in the side and says, "You better Hatch, the rooster's bout to get out." So the.lady'd bought some pop-. corn; the ole rooster, he went on a-peckin'. And the lady fainted. So they run got a doctor, and brought her to. So she saidthe doctor said, "Lady, do you mind tellin' me" She said, "\iell, I've felt 'em lots a ways; but that's the first I en ever I saw to eat pop-corn.". Swilley: That's pretty good. Do you recall any more? Mr. Dyson: Well, I had a bunch of 'em on my mind, but ' can't get 'em straightened out. S;;illey: 1'lhen you said you were full of lies, did you meaniiere you just cutting up, or do you remember any tall tales, some 'iild stories, or something like thB t? !1r. Dyson: VeIl, It ain't been long since I been tole some, and I've tole 'em. And durnit, I can't get 'em in my head right now. Mr. ThJson: Little school boy ,mEted his daddy to buy 'em a bicycle. Tole him he couldn't; he ;1asn't able to. When the evenin" next, the 5 boy come home from school, he had two bottles of some kind of chemical. Hent out there in the yard, and the ole msn lras sittin' on the porch. He dug him up some worms, and take and dipped 'em down in each ,one of, these chemicals. Takin' a hammer, and drove 'em, dem worms, dmm in the ground. Ole man said...went out there, says, "SOli," says, "If you'll tell me what kind of chemical that is,T1 says, "I'll buy you a bicycle." Says, "There's the name of it on the bottle, daddy." Next mornin', the Iittle boy got up, got out on the porch, and there's two bicycles. Says, ''\"Jhat's the idea, daddy?" Says, 'I just asked for one." Says, ,r,-Jell, I Eot one, and your mother wanted to give you one." Swilley: Tell that one again." That was a good one. Mr. Dyson: Two little boys were waIkin' dmID the road, run acrost some 'cimmons, about half ripe. One of them says to the other one, "I-That is them?" Says, "I don't kno'l, but we'll get some and ta.ke 'em home and ask momma. 11 He gain' on up the road, and had the cuu-nosity; he just slipped one of 'em up and bit it off and went che,dn' it. Walks on a little further, says "Brother," says, "You got anything t' say t' me?" Says, ',,",Thy?" Says, "If you have, you better say it." Says, "I'm a-drawin I up. II Mr. Dyson: The steward ,lorked on a airplane, and went t' and bought a, one of them mini dresses. C-ot on the plane, and "alked up to the pilot, says, "Say, pilot," says, "How you like my mini dress?" He looked... turned his head over and looked at it. "That's fine," says, "I can might near see the cock-pit." Mr. Ilfson: I 'lent to a place to nail on some shingles. And it Has the worst foggiest place I'd ever saw in all my days. But it wouldn't clear up, and I thought I'd go ahead and see if I could get 'em on. I start- ed to nailin' 'em on. First thing I known, I done run two feet over 6 the side of the house, nailin' them shingles d01m on that fog! Revolutions 166 through 18h are space. S,dlley: That was Mr. G. M. Dyson, just outside Mableton, Georgia, in Cobb County, April 22, 1967. Mrs. T. L. (Lucy) Buse was born in Milton County (now kno,m as Alpharetta, Georgia), on April 6, 1901. She has been a life time resident of North FUIton County. 11r. Buse was born in Lee County, near Bal~dn, Mississippi in 1900. He moved to Alabama in 1912 and came to Atlanta, Georgia in 19.3.2, ,mere he has lived since that time. Mr. and J'frs. Buse Here intervie"ed in their home on Driftwood Court, Roswell, Georgia, on three occasions. My <dfe and I were visiting durinfi the intervie.Ts, and on some of the footage, there is inter- ference from a television set and a baby's crying. l'ie had no control over these things. &dlley: Tell the one about the Philadelphians. Mrs. Buse: Well, one time there was a Jet-, and a Gentile. They l;ere tramps. And they l"ere goin' through the country, and they got real hungry. So the.\' decided they'd go up to this house upon the hill and ask for somethin' to eat. So the Gentile says, ,rolell, I'll go first." So he went up, and the lady come to the door. He asked for somethin' to eat. And she says, ''Vlell, I don't give anyone something to eat, 'ri.thout they're a Christian. Are you a Christian?" He said, "Yes, Ham." ''Vlell, to prove to me -mat you're a Christian, you must quote a verse out of the Bible." So he said, "f;amson took the jawbone of an ass, and slm; 10,000 Philistine?" So, she eave him somethin' to eat. And he went back dO'lll and told the Jm; he got somethin' to eat, and he'd have to prove too, that he was a Christian. So the 7 Gentile told the Jew what to say. So the Jee;, he went up and knocked on the door. The I,oman says, "l-Jell, are you a Christian?" He said, ''Yes, Mam." She says, lI~lell, to prove to me that you're a Christian," says, "You must quote a verse out of the ~." He says, ''Well, a man took the jawbone of an , of a mule, and beat the ass off 10,000,000 Philadelphians." Swilley: That was Mrs. T. L. Buse, in Ros1Vell, Georgia, on the 29th of April, 1967. The next section will be a general discussion dealing with folk life. Monroe &rilley and his vrife, Nan S,Tilley, talk with Mr. and HI's. T. L. Buse about folk life on Hay 7th, 1967, in North Fulton County, Ga. Hr. Buse: 'dell, you know hmr it wuz played. Nan Swilley: No, he doesn't. Tom does. ~!rs. Buse: Tmm Ball? Ho,; would you play it? Hit a ball and run to one base and back? Hr. Buse: Yeah. Monroe &rilley: I guess that's the T,'ay. How do you play it? How many outs are there? Hot, many outs do you get? I1rs. Buse: 1rJell, there wuz three outs. Mr. Buse: Yeah. You just, ah, if he catches you out, you just out. Nan &ri.lley: How many people on a team? Monroe StTilley: Yeah. How many people on a team? Hr. Buse: Hell, just as many as you can get on Wasn't no certain amount. Just like you have five boys, 10 boys, fifteenyou'd divide 'ern up, and then choose Monroe S,lilley: See torho'd bat first? 1'11'. Bus e : Yeah. 8 Nan Swilley: \\fell, Vlho played the outfield, or what kind 0f field? Or ,1here did you stand; or first base, or? Hr. Buse: Hell, they was scattered everyt.,here. You didn't have no certain place. You just had a stick up there in the road and a stick down here in the road, and you run up there and back. Monroe St.,illey: Yeah. lrr. Buse: And ah Honrce Suilley: '/hat Has theif you hit the ball a relatively short distance, then you could only run it once, right? Mr. Buse: lliat's right. If you didn't get back home, you HaS out. Nan SHilley: Oh, you couldn't run to one end, and have somebody else hit you in? }Ir. Buse: No, no, no Nan S,Iilley: You had to run back and forfu? Mr. Buse: Ever'body, every individual, his score is counted. He made more than anybody else, see 110nroe S,lilley: Yeah. !ian S,1illey: Oh, it Hasn't a team. It "as just Mr. Buse: No! It Hasn't aThat "as tO~71 ball. Just knock as many as you could. Fifteen, twentyThe one that got too most home runs, he was the best. Monroe Swilley: Pretty soon you get tired and say, I~Tell, he's got 43 home runs; I'm going home. I ain't never going to get to bat." Hr. Buse: That's right. Nan SWilley: Ttlhat other games did yall plaJ' l-men you "ere little? Mr. Buse: Huh? Nan S'-7illey: I'!hat other games did yail phy ,rhen you were little? 9 Mrs. Buse: Stepoin' in those cow piles. Mr. Buse: '!hat wasI Can, I never ,lill forget that. Your mama tearin' you up on that deal. viowl '!hat was kind a roug.'lJ you kn01-' it. Monroe &.-illey: Are you kidding? I can't beUeve that, Tom. I got to... This is great; I got to get this. Mr. Buse: Yeah, just count 'em every time you step in one, you know. And the one that stepped in the !'lost, why, he "as the best. Revolutions 289 through 295 are space. Monroe Swilley: \-lell, I tell you though, what about, whBt about the... You said that you, on Guam, you said that you had seen some; and I thought you said there 1,ere some at Hork. Nan Swilley: Some ,;hat? Monroe &Jilley: Some pOlka-dotted Nerroes; or some, you know, some spotted Negroes, or whatever you call tilem. Mr. Buse: Well, I tell you, that dOlm there, Nonroe. Why, they come out of them bamboo briars, or l-lhat you want to call it. And, ah, and they lived down there, and they, they used to go in two's and fours and "ash (you knml), squads, ever what you ,,'ant to call 'em. And maybe there'd be one and 1;>10 or three children; and they'd be just as spotted as one of them ole leopard dogs. Honroe S,lilley: In other '"ords, they "ould actu'l.lly have spots? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Allover his face and body and hands. Mrs. Buse: Hhat kind of spots? Mr. Buse: Black. N'l.n S,Jilley: v!hat colorbut, '~at color was their skin? !!r. Buse: Black. You seen one spot, it 1,ould be half on one side of 10 his mouth and half on the other. And his mouth just the thickest spot on 'em, seeI seen t!-TQ or .three like that. Honroe S,dlley: Hy goodress. I had wondered about that. You said they "ere on Guam. I thouc;ht that you mentioned you had seen some in your work. Mr. Buse: Na", Naw, Nal', Naw. I don't kno't Monroe S'tHIB"".f: vlere they the children of, of ah... !1r. Buse: Oh, "there was a lot of, most of 'em ,ras gr01ffi people. Revolutions 326 through 334 are garbled and impossible to transcr:Lbe, due to poor recording conditions. (Mr. Buse was reluctant to sneak directly into the microphone.) Nan Swilley: What other games did Jrall ola~r? Mr. Buse: ].'hat do you mean, other games? Nan Swilley: vihen you were a little boy. Honroe S'dlley: Before, before T. V. and radio, there must have been particularly, there must have been things that you did to occupy :rour time, or just as a hobby, or something of that nature, ah, that you did. Revolutions 343 through 359 are garbled, and could not be transcribed. Monroe S>dlley: Did you ever have any spend-the-night parties? Mr. Buse: No, no, no. 'Bout seven or eight o'clock, it was time to go home. }bnroe Swilley: Did you, were you born in Hississippi? Hr. Buse: Yeah. Honroe S'dlley: Thet's what I'm thinking about, things that you might have done 1,hen you "ere young in 'Jississippi. Ano~her brief garbled portion. 11 Monroe Swilley: ""as it Creoles? Did you say they were called Creoles? Mr. Buse: I think that's .mat you call I em. Nan S;iilley: Pintos. Monroe S.-illey: Pinto, or, you knmi. Mr. Buse: Well, that Creole i3 a ",hite nj.gger, ,,,hite with golden hair lookin', kinky, aCId .,ith his lips all turned up, there.. Nan Swilley: tJhat was your favorite food that your mother cooked? Something special, what was your special favcrite? Mr. Buse: Ever-thing she cooked was good. Nan S"illey: 1'1hat did she a:> ok? Mr. Buse: Chicken, cakes, pies, didn't make no difference "hat. Monroe Swilley: Lucy, I tell you something else that would be something I could use--recipes. You know, iha t you have, that you just knm..... Or recipes that you have used for a long time, and that you recall as being pretty old recipes. Things your mother gave you, or your grandmother. Nan S,rrlley: Hhat about your boiled custard? Mrs. Buse: Well, that's a tradition; that's a tradition in our family, my mother's faMily. Revolutions 398 through 406 are garbled. Monroe &rilley: But, seriously though Lucy, that, that, if you've got a recipe for custard that is, as you say, traditional, or something trBt, a recipe that you keep Mrs. Buse: Well, I don't know the recipe, and I don't guess I've ever had a recipe. I've always made mine by guess. Hr. Buse: I'll tell you a good I-un old man John Foster tole me. He lived 12 out on Stone Hountain. He ,'ent out...no, He lived here in Atlanta. And he went out on Stone 110untain to see his uncle. And he 1-1as, oh, about eighteen years old. And his uncle 1-1as clearin' up his farm. That ,laS when they;,as opening up Stone 110untain, (you know) clearin' the farm~ And so they ,rouldn't let him go.. So, somebody had to go with him, if they went to somebody's singin', like if they 1-1as a Sun- day night, you know. Monroe: They had a rospel singing, o~ an all night singing Mr. Buse: Yeah. No, you'd jest go do,m there and sing a hour. Monroe SWilley: Shape-note singing, or ahshape note or fa-so~? Mr. Buse: Yeah, either kind. Honroe SVJilley: Have you ever been to any of those? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Honrce Swi.lley: Fa':'so-la singin'? Hr. Buse: Shoot, yeah. Lucy, her daddy used to be a lead in 'em. Honroe Swilley: He used to lead fa-so-la? lor. Buse: Yeahl Up here at Alpharetta, all day singin's. Monroe S.lilley: That's one of the things that 1-le've talked about in class, you know, shape-note singin' and fa-so-la singin'. Hr. Buse: Any way, old man John he had ah, two girls and a boy. They went do,rn there, to this here singin'. And John, he, old man John (I call him old man, b'lt he 1-1as a young boy back then; he's just a little older than Lucy.) Any 1-1ay he, ah, wuz on the outside. So he, ah, he left a little bit before they did,_ see. He 'lUZ gain' to scare 'em when they oome back by the house, you know, goin' back home. So, h0 went up there, and so his uncle come do.m the road; and he wuz goin' 13 There "as a big ole chestnut log, big hollar log, that you could stand up in, see. And ah, so old man JOPJl crawled up in the log, so when they come by the road, comin' right on by, he'd scare 'em. And his uncle come clown the road, a:1d ah, got up in the log, too, ,mere he was. And he backed up on old man John, and old man John sald, "uumph", tryin' to, tryin' to cough, he's tryin' to choke it dOl'll. FJld it scared his uncle, you kn01i, and he "ent out; just trimmed the top of his head, jest tore it all t' pieces, and went home, you know. So, old man John got out, and run back dOl'll to the place,(and it Has as fer as from here to the road and back.) and he ['at with the other kids, and he come on up the road. Next mornin', his uncle ,lUZ sittin I across the table eatin' breakfast, and he looked at him, and he picked up his head. He had it done up right. He I d just tore the top of his head up, you ImoH. And she'd patched it up, and put a plaster over it, you kn01i. Monroe Swilley: Now, ho,", did he hurt the top of his head, exactly? 11r. Buse: Hittin' the top of the log, as he run out, see. Monroe Swilley: Oh, Oh, lihen he tried"hen he backed up? Mr. Buse: Yeah. He raised up pnd run out of the log, you kno". He thought he'd got on a bear or somethin' , I don't know ,>hat. And old man John said he "anted to laugh the next rnamin' so bad, he Has about to die, and he know'd not to crack a smile, 'cause he just kept on, his uncle just kept on eatin', and cuttin, his eye on him to see if he's a-watchin' him. He's tryin' to find out who done it, see. Monroe Swilley: ,fuo had been in the log? Mr. Buse: Yeah. ~~o was in the log besides him. But I, I seen peo- pIescare each other at night so much that-a-way, I could just feel how, knOt, how he felt, you know, 1-,hen he come out of that log. "lonI'Oe Swilley: Just like ihat fena ,rna felt the Jap, thought the Jap Has after him there on the islands? Hr. Buse: Hell, yeah. 'dell, he did, he come runnin', come out of that there lareens, or latranes, ever what else you call it, you knOl,. Where you, ah,., Mrs. Euse: Latrines? Mr. Buse: Yeah, you know. You dig them holes, you... Nan Swilley: Foxholes. Hr. Buse: Nat;, NaVl. 101here you go bathroom, you knO". Monroe St-lilley: Latrine where you go to the bathroom. Now, you're talking about t,hen the, when the guy was trving to surrender. That's what you're talking about. Mr. Buse: Yeah. Un-hunh. Monroe SVlilley: I'm talking about the one when he W'lS asleep on his bunk. And you scared him, and you scared him. Mr. Buse: I just sat; him laying do,m, and he was laying there with his hat on. And I just took 1'IY cold handI just laid it on him tIlereo He took mosquito net and all with him. Mon!be Swille-of: He took that tent do,m tryine to get out of there. Hr. Buse: He >lent out t.'orough there, screamin' and hollarin'. Here come the S.P. 's and M'-P. 's do,m there. They looked for that JaPJ and they looked for hj.m. He just swears, I reckon he swears to this day, that was a Jap. He felt that cold knife on him. It VlUZ my cold hand. Monroe S"illey: He ffi;ears he just missed meeting his maker. Mr. Buse: Toot was ,mat he thought it 1-laS. I,Yell, they was a lot of I em gettin' killed, at that time. 15 Monroe Swilley: Oh, yeah, I inBgine so. Nan Swilley: Did yall ever play "ain't no bugger-bears out tonight"? Mr. Buse: I.jope. Nan Swilley: Oh, that ,,'as fun. Monroe SloJilley: "That l"as that one about my big black toe? Nan S'lilley: N01-1, that is a ghost story, and Aunt Lucy used to tell me. And she cannot remember it to save her life, and neither can Aunt Ibrothy. Monroe &lilley: ,Jell, now Nan Swilley: It's something about, something about little kids. And they Here out in the turnip green patch. And they saH tM.s great big ole blacle toe. Mr. Buse: You didn't tell her that? Nan SloJilley: And they took. They picked it up and took it in. They were real hungry, and they had theirrlOther cook it up in a batch of turnip ereens. And tl">.at ni[ht, "hen they "ere asleep, they heard this "thump, thu.mp, thump" from the chimney. And it Has at tHelve o'clock. And all of a sudden, they heard this voice in the living room. '''!ho's got my bip: black toe? vfuo' s got my big black toe?" And they 'lere hid- ing under the bed. And that's all I can remember. Monroe Sliilley: N01-1, di.d Dora thy tell you that? Nan Swilley: Dorothy says ste can't remember.it. Mr. Buse: I'll tell you, one time 1-1hen we was kids, (some of us Here pretty good size kids) we's all at the table. You know how kids jaw at each other, sit there and JOH. !'lomma and pappa and all of 'em done got up from the table; there's just us kids there at the table. And, ah, 16 a ,lindoH right beside the table, and 'He'd keep it fuere open. And ah, I believe th9.t "as Lula, my sister, I believe. A11vays ,rill believe that Has her. Somebody come around there, and stuck his head in that "inder. Didn't have no screens over winders back then. It looked like she "as nine feet tall. And ah, stuck her head in there, and "e's about the time"e'd all seen her'about the same time, right up over us, you know. But He like to tore that table up gettin' out of there. _~nd do you know, there never ,JaS no more arlSument in fuat kitchen. That's a fact. There never ,iaS no more argument. And ttat, that ;;cund up the argument. Monroe S',ille,f: After seeing her? t1r. Buse: Yeah. She 1'JaS a ghost, you know, a witch. Honroe 8'..Tilley: You thoueht you might have seen a witch? Mr. Buse: Be did. She Has there. YeahYes sir. Monroe SHilley: You all felt, since you all were little, you all felt that maybe it <las some sort Hr. Euse: Oh, I know it) !1on:me S-;1illey Some sort of spirit that ,las irritated Hith you all for al<lays fussin, at the table, or something. Hr. Buse: It 'TaS then. But after we gotalways'flhen Luls come in there, runnin' in there. And Nom.rna and all of 'em, Hhen \[e Has screamin' and hollarin', why ue know the bugfer got us. Monroe Swilley: We know the bugger got us. Hr. Buse: Yeah)' Hell, he was there! Right there oyer you, you 1m"". Because wets fussin l, and they al"lays said old burT"erts foin' to get you, if you don't quit tlmt. Monroe S,rilley: Yeah) 17 Mr. Buse: And he like t'got us. I'm tellin' youThat stuff, that fixed the argument,' riZht there. Nan SWilley: Did ;your :nother ever 'tell you any stories at night? Mr. Buse: Unh-unh. Oh, she done always tell you a fell, not m'.lc'1, you knoK. 110nroe S,rilley: You don't reme:nber an;\' of 'it, at all? \-Ihat about anything like mustard plasters, anything that used to help colds, ;\'ou kno"'? Or sore thro~, anythinG in partic'2lar that you did back then, that you don't do todaythat maybe medicines. Mr. Buse: Well, you don't doyou don'tYou had mustard plasters for bad colds. And ,~u'd put it on ;\,our chest, and all, ;\'ou know. And if you had a-hurt-in' on your back. Boy, ;\'OU oo'.lldn I t lay still, un- til momma Revolutions 296 through 299 are garbled. Monroe Swilley: Yeah! Did youListen, did anybody ever use asphedity? Mr. Buse: I don't know. Mrs. Buse: Use'what, Monroe? Monroe SoJilley: Asphedity. You ever heard of it? llrs. Buse: 'io. Honroe S,:illey: ";ell, I guess that "Tas...that's the second one I drel" a blank on. Ne,n SvTille;\': Did she ever make you sassa-frass tea? T~rr. Bnse: Yeah. L:lC;T makes it. Monroe &,illey: what is sassa-frass tea? I don't even know Mr. Buse: Lucy made me sO"le the other day. Monroe S;-Jilley: I don I t even knNc;;hatit is. Hr. Buse: C-o in there and tell Lucy to let you smell of soone of that 18 sassa-frass. l'!onroe S-,rilley: No,:\'Iait a !!1inute nOH. Nan SeJilley: It's made out of sassa-frass root. Mr. Buse: She's got some in a fruit jar in there. Go in there and let hershe boils it. She ain't got nothin' Nan S"~lley: "fuat does it t~ste like, Uncle Tom? Mr. Buse: Kindy like tea, only it tastes just like that sassa-frass. Go smell it. You've smelled sassa-frass. Nan S"<;illey: I'Ye tasted it, but I can't remember what it tasted like. Mr. Buse: You ffi1eeten it, or put milk in it. Fix it up like you do tea. Nan Sllilley: vJell, is it supposed to be good for you? Mr. Buse: Oh, yeah. Nan &/illey: vJha t other unusual things, you knm:can you think of? l~r. Buse: Hell, they, they used to be a lot of aifferent kinds 0 f creeds there, but I <bn't know .!nat they were no..;. Back then Mom!na and them, we didn't have no doctors mUCh.,. Nan Swilley: Yeah, they used herbs. Mr. Buse: Yeah, they used all this old, ahbutterfly weed for some- thin'. And they used this kind of.several different kind of ;reeds. They used, I re~ember, ~~ey used to be a weed, I forget the name of it, But MO"'J.'la and those boys 'wuld go get it, and old people This is the end of the first side of the tape. It contains 726 revo- lutions. 110nroe Swilley: Hr. Tom Buse. May lll, 1967, in P<os;lell, G"., North Fulton COUllty Hr. '3nse: Nm" you mean she's goin' to ,,,rite that up? Monroe Swilley: No, that's just for a label. No''', look. I want you 19 to first tell me the one about the ;mlnuts used for dying the socks,hoH they did that. 'Cause I'm not sure that I eat it, last time. Nr. Buse: I don't knoH ,:hat all I Nan Swilley: H01,r'd your mother &,fe your socks? Mr. Buse: Well, ah, you knoH. She just get w~lnut leaves, Halnut hulls. And she'd put 'em in a wash pot and boil it, and get the juice out of it, you know. And then she'dall of our socks, He'd h~ve brown. He Houldn't have ole Hhite wool socks. We'd have brown wool socks, you know. Nan S<,ille-.f: Yeah, did she Imit your socks herseIf? 11r. Buse: Yeah. She'd knit all our rocks, And ah, she'd knit our socks, and she'd knit our s;]eaters. Things like that He hnd to have. That's the only way we got 'em, you knoH. !Jan St,illey: And she dyed'en all in the walnut stuff? Hr. Buse: Yeah. Anvthinr ;]hite. And theyou kno,:, that would soil. ';'ith us goin' to school, we all had bro,m stockings; and they come up above our knees, you know. Honroe SWilley: Yeah. Did you wear high top sh~es? You, know, high top shoes? l1r. Buse: Yeah. unh-hunh. Honroe SWilley: You know, they <bn't Hear them any much any more. They ;:ear tIle 101';, the low heel, the 10H kind. Mr. Buse: No, Hell, these Has a ,,-ill. vihat we called, "hen tiTe t,;ent to school, we vrare "brogans". Monroe &lilley: "Brogans?" Hr. Buse: Yeah. With brass toes on 'em. Monroe Sv;illey: Brass toes? Nr. Buse: Yeah. And then Nan S;,illey: To keep them from wearing out? --------------------------------------------------- --- 20 !1r. Buse: No, th at '-las just the way they fi xed 'em, you kna<'. !'!onroe SwHley: l{ith brass toe s? Hr. Buse: Yeah. With, the toes of the shoes, there .muld be brass. Nonroe S"iHey: Yeah. Hr. Buse: And you mulct take a biscuit, ~_nd kind a shine it. It'd look like new money. Nan S.rilley: How -farDid yaH have to .,alk to school? Hr. Buse: Yeah. \{e had to "'.Ilk to school. '-:e Halked about, just about three miles, I guess. Honroe S,lilley: I'Jell, nOH, ,laS this, .;as this in mississippi? !!r. Buse: No, it was in Alabama. Homoe S.-lilley: Alabama? Hr. lhse: Yeah. And then in Mississippi, too. 1'!e moved to Alabama, ,;hen ever <1e "las t;1,elve years old. ,Jhen I 1,a~ welve years old. J1onroe SWilley: You were born in Mississippi, or Alabama? Hiss- issippi? Where in J1ississippi? Hr. Buse: In Lee County. Monroe S,;illey: Lee County, l-lississippi? Hr. Buse: Right close to Balmlin. _~in't you eeen dO',m th3re? Nan SHilley: Yeah. Bald,,1.n. That's T,lhere V.lC;" bourht all t".at material. Hr. Buse: Yeah. Nan &-lilley: Did your mother fix your lunch to take to school? Hr. Buse: Yeah. She fixed all of our lunches, a'ld in one bucket. And He all eat together. There was fOT.lr of us. Nan Swilley: What'd shewhat was yourwhat would yall have? Mr. Buse: ~e had, you know, ham &~d buttered biscuits, and ffileet potatoes. 21 And everything that you could think of. Nan S,:illey: That sounds good. You're making me hungry. l"lonroe S,:illey: Listen, one thing I ..:anted to ask you about Has when you ,mnt to school, did the various families, ;;hen they had lunch time, Hould they go,6ff and eat together? I mean, you know, eat their little lunches tcgether. Or ,:ould they all eat in one biggroup? Or ..mat? 11r. Buse: Yeah. ",ell, sometimes they'd be t'ilO or three boys and two or three. girls; and the bo;,rs would be big. They didn't Hant to eat ..nth the girls because other boys theftJld, ah, their mother would fix all the boys' lunch tcgether, and then the girls' lunch together, see. Honroe S>.d.lley: Yeah. i1r. Buse: But, ah, more than just tI,o. Honroe S...nlley: Did fa:nilies Mr. Buse: eah, the whole fa~ily eat Honroe S;>"illey: Families did eat together at school lunches. Hr. Buse: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'Te did nOlo:. 'Cause we had a big, v:hat He called a "Ten-pound lard bucket," you knOl'. And vIe just piled that thing full. And Nan SEilley: Feed an army. Hr. Buse: Hunh? Nan S,dlley: Feed an 'l.nny. Mr. Buse: And Vle'd go out thne and sit down. And it 1-ladn't nothin, nevI, 'cause ever-body done that. I mean, it wuz mighty few that had separate lunches, you know. l1ighty few of them, 'cause the parents didn I t have time to make separate lunches for no four or five, or six, you see. Nan Sw"illey: If you misber.aved in school, ..mat happened? 22 Mr. Buse: Hunh? Nan Swilley: If you misbehaved in school, what, well, "mat'd the teacher do? Mr. Buse: v/ha t did teacher do? Nan Swilley: Un-huh, tJhen you misbehs'led2 Mr. Buse: Well, she'd keepshe'd keep you in that period, you know. Uan S;,':illey: Ohhh, she'd keep you inafter school. Honroe St>illey: Did you have a recreation period; I meC'.n, you know, a play period of any kind? Hr. Buse: No, no, no. You'se outyou got out at twelve o'clock, and went back in at one. Nan S,Tilley: Oh, for lunch. An hour for lunch. Uhat time did yall have to be there in tIE morning? '-lr. Buse: Fe had to be there at eieht o'clock, and we'd get turned out of school at four o'clock. Nan S,ulley: That's a lot of school in one day. Mr. Buse: That's right. That's nr.atit Has; that's trhat you had to do. And, ah, in the winter time, brother, you had to hustle up to get back hcme 'fore dark. I{onroe &Tilley: Yeah. I'll bet so. Hr. Buse: And ;Talk all of it. Nan Stulley: Cold) Hr. Buse: And, nell, one time, weTs late about comin' home, and ah, so a little ole boy come by the school house and hollared "school butter," you knoH. And that tTaS a bad ;Tord for kids back them days, you know. And they all took after him; and they caught him down there in a little 23 old branch with a bridge across it. And these big boys just picked 'em up alld throlved him in the 'creek, see. Of course, me and my brother, ,Ie had to , stand and look on, you know. 1'!e didn't have nothin' to do \dth it, but ne looked on, to see what they's a-goin' on. Hell, \'lhen ,re got home, momma whipped us. Poppa come home, he whipped us. And we got back and the next morning, school teacher~hipped us. We got three whippin's for looking ,at that. Nan SWilley: Bet you didn'.t look at anything like t.l:lat any more. Nr. Buse: Lord, no. Nan S,Tilley : hickory stick? \'!hat did your d9.ddy use to whip you? Razor strap or !!r. Buse: Hunh? Anything he could get his hands on. Nan S\nlley: At the time, anything that ,las handy? Hr. Buse: Yeah. That's tight. If he had a walkin'stick, he'd rap you ,lith that w~lkin' stick, or anything, you knO'I. It didn't mtter to him. NOl" momma generally use her hands; she'd very seldom ever go eet a switch or a:J ything like that. Honroe Swilley: '!hat kind of'.where'lhat kind of house did you live in? Hr. Buse: Just, ah, neatherboard house,you 1<00'1. ,Just a regular frame house. Monroe Swilley: Fr~me house? Hr. Buse: Yeah. J1onroe SWilley": Do you remember it nell enough to ,Ihere you might could draw H on a piece of paper? Hr. Buse: Naah. I don't know. Lucy seen one of 'em the other day; Fe went dOlm to where I was a boy. 24 Nan Swilley: How many roomS did it have? Monroe S'dlley: Four rooms, six or seven? Mr. Base: One, t~o, three, four, five, six. It had six rooms. There "ras two girls and three, three boys, or four boys stayed there, and momma and poppa. Nan S,dlley: And a kitchen. Vfl~r Buse: L'mm-hum. Nan S',illey: Did yaH keep any animals? Mr. Bl1Se: One time we had about twelve or thirteen mules. Nan S,rilley: }!ules: Mr. Buse: Yeah. j'ie faI"lled all the time. Nonroe S,dlley: That's '''hat I wanted to asl{ about, 'fum. Hr. Buse: Hunh? Monroe &,rilley: I "ant you to tell me those Old, those remedies that "ere used before...before you had many doctors in the back country. About, about the mules ar.d so-on; "hen he had Horms. That one about the Horms, now, that, I think ,!Ould be real Blod. Nr. Buse: Yeah, "hat ,re didn't call it bein' "orms. ~!e called it the "lampus, If you kn01" when they ha.d "orms. Monroe ~"illey: l-a-m-p-u-s? Mr. Buse: Yeah. T r:\less that's rieht, yeah. That's just a name for it back then. The old people give it to 'em, you know. Nonroe S''illey: Yeah. NOH, ho'" 'JOuld they EO about this? l1r. Buse: Thoy'd take ah, take his pocket kni:e, get it food and sharp. And open his mouth up there, and cut that third bar b2.ck there. And itl"d bleed, ond heIdeatit, and... }lonroe Swilley: Underneath the upper lip? 25 Hr. Buse: Unh-huh. In the upper, you knm'l. You've got some bars. Run your tounge up in yours. You've got 'em. 1;Iell, a mule's got... ,10nroe S1-ri.lley: And he'd slit one of the bars? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Amule's got bars; they'd be as big as your finger, see. 110nroe Swilley: Yeah. Hr. Buse: And that's they ,faY. And his stomach ,;auld achetake 8. .pole arid ro.b his stomach. And he'd Plonroe SWilley: In ot.1}er Hords, one man would stand on one side of the pole. Another man Hould stand on the other side of the pole, and rub his stomach 1-Jith the pole. Hr. Buse: Yeah. Just mb him back and for.-Iards, and. 1-~onroe S,rilley: !'lake him break Hind? rr. Euse: Yeah. T:.l1at' s right. Monroe S..:illey: No", this business of the, of the "1ampas." The idea ..ras that the mule ,-rould s,.,allo1-1 the blood. Is bat right? ;r;r. Buse: Yeah. 'lll-hunh. Monroe S>rilley: And, if he had norms, or a stomach ache? '1r. Buse: Yeah. Get do.m in his paunch, and they, they'd quit kna>1- in' on him. And they, the-J'd go to eatin' on the blood, see. And they, and t,i-,ey'd get the... Honroe S..riH"J: He'd expell them? Mr. Buse: Yeah. I don't know.-mere they found out that remedy. But, and then again, if they hadif his sto~ach was stopped up, and they couldn't get him to '!love, they'd get about a aome box of, of ah, ,-rhat do you call it? Monroe Swilley: I'm not; I don't ""nOl-'. Hr. Buse: Yes, you do. Salts. 26 Honroe Sl<illey: Smellin[' salts, or something? Mr. Buse: Uaw. Just regular salts you take, Monroe Swilley: Yeah. Hr. Buse: And put 'em in a quart bottle. And pull his head up over the door, Y?U know, and just stick it up there in the corner of his mouth, and let him drink that ,lhole ouart of salts. If,onroe Swilley: Yeah. It'd make hin throw-up or sOr.Jething? 01'. Buse. It'd m2ke his bowels; no, it'd make his bowelS move. Eonroe Srlilley: Dh, there was another q'J.estion I "anted to ask you about. Oh, did youdid you tell me that you'd ever played Andy-Over? Mr. Buse: Yeah. An..'1ie-Over. It Thrml the ball over the house and catch it; then run around the house Honroe Srlilley: Now whatI've read a description of the ga"1e, but I'm not clear. If you can remember how you olayed itexactly what did you do? How did you play? And what was the object of it? Mr. Buse: Heh? Dh, it was play, just play, that's all. YOU'd stay on this side of the house, and you'd throw it over. And if you'd catch it, and you couldn't come around the house if you dropped it, see. I mean, if you didn't catch it. Then you'd come around, and the first one of 'em you could hit Mrs. Buse: 'You'd throw it at 'em. Mr. Buse: Yeah. You'd throw it at 'em. And if yOU hit one of 'em, they's out, see. '10nroe SwiIle: Un-huh. Mr. Buse: But if you didn'tand they they'dYou'd be over there, and they'd be over here. P.nd then, if yoUthrolled the ball over to them,) 27 and they didn't catch tt, ,.my, you'd be standin' and look to see Hhich way around the house they'd be comin', see. Monroe S,lilley: Un-huh. Hr. Buse: And, if they didn't come around the house, then you'd be lookin' up, all at the same time, for it to come over to catch it. So's you could catch it. Monroe S,lilley: Urn-hum. Nr. Buse: And you'd be ,:atching for them to come around the house, and for the ball to come over, all at the same time. Monroe Sl-Jill~: Did youdid you ever play red-rover? Mr. Buse: No. I never was no "ring around the rosey" and all that "drop the handkerchief"...I never ,;as no hand playing nothing like that. Honroe S-willey: \~e used to...I can remsnber, myself, playing red-rover. Mr. Buse: Yeah. Yeah. ,10nroe S'<illey: 11any tin:es, out in the school yard and everything. 11r. Buse: Hell, "hen the... ['!rs. Buse: VJouldn't you hollar "Annie-over"? Nr. Buse: Hunh? Mrs. Buse: '"iouldn't you hollar "Annie-Over"? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Trey'd thro>: the ball over, and then, if they caught it, well, you'd be looking for them to come around the house, and you'd be lookin' for it to come over the house to catch it, if it COPle over Mrs. Buse: Well, I've played it, Tom. 11r. Buse: So, you ,wuldn't know,rhich-a-,-ray, what, nhich-a-,"ray, the house, they was comin t Honroe SWilley: Yeah. Mr. Buse: You'd try topeople under the house, you'd try to find out. 28 About that time, one of 'em ,~:mld bounce you ~Jith that ball, right the side of the head. Honroe Swilley: And you ,lere out? Hr. Buse: Yea.'l. Yeah. You's out. Monroe S"illey: Oh, me. Did youyou weren'tyou told me that you plEyed town ball, didn't you? !1r. Buse: Yeah. That ah, tmm ball. That's just every time you, in other words you had t,'0 bases like that. I don't know whether you ever played it. Monroe S<lilley: In other words, you had a home plate, ri[;ht? Mr. Suse: Yeah. Right there. And up here Monroe Swilley: You had a base. Hr. Sus"': Aoout t'>1enty-five or thirty feet. You'd hit the ball and you'd run up there and run back. Run up there and run back. Monroe S<Jilley: Unh-huh. And you'd do that until you were Mr. Buse: And then another '-lay, ~'e were...after you...If you had a big crowd, "by you, you'd have four bases. And then you'd just, you'd hit ever-thing that come along, you know. And you'd just make a home run. And there'd be ten or fifteen out in the field, and about that many battin', see. Monroe Swilley: Un.'l-huh. !-lr. Buse: And, when three got out, why, they changed sides again. ~!onroe S"Jilley: Unh-huh. Viell did you...Could you get a man out by hitting him ,Jith the ball...hit him "ith the ball? 11r. Buse: Yeah. Anyway, it didn't make no difference ,,'hetheranyway you could get 'em out. Monroe &villey: Yeah. 29 Mr. Buse: That's the reason thEW called it town ball. 'Cause you could just keep on battin' as long as you wanted to, you see. Monroe S,Jilley: Dnh-huh. Mr. Buse: It wasn't nothin' for neither side to vet t,mnty-five or thirty home runs, you know. That's the reason they'd get Monroe &;illey: Just knock the ball allover the place. Vir. Buse Yeah. Monroe &,illey: HOH'd you, ,:hat was Mr. Buse: lie11, you'd have you a wide board with a, ,mere you could get over your hands. Couldn't miss it. Monroe Swilley: It wasn't a bat though. Hr. Bus e: No, no. Honroe S,rilley: It ,-ms a board. lir. Buse: Yeah. A bqard. You didn't have no bats. Monroe Swilley: Now, what "JaS it a regnlar kind of ball, or was it a cloth ball, or rag ball, or sornething like that? Mr. Buse: Yeah. You'd get a yarn Bock, rolled ont. And make a ball yourself. Monroe S>rilley: Yea.'o. Hr. Buse: That's the only balls we had at school.Just regular yarn balls. You ravel up a sock some way. You get a pretty good sock, ..my, you'd hold on to that one, 'cause you had you a ball right t;'ere. And then, when you'd get it, you'd, you'd ..rind it just as tight as you COUld, all the ,-laY around, you know, and makeand keep it level. And then you'd take sewing thread, just sew it allover, just as much as you could. Monroe SWilley: Just to hold everything in place, right? 30 Mr. Buse: Yeah. And, you knm'J, ttat thing "lOuld last you a month or two. 'Cause when it soaked full of water, he knocked you dm,~ ,dth it, brotherl Monroe Slilley: Sopped. Mr. Buse: Yeah. The water would fly ever'Where when he'd hit you. Monroe S.lilley: Oh, me. l'Ir. Buse: Oh, kids used to have, a They c,'uld have a good time out 0 ' nothin'. You, you mveA kid can't have no time nO>1, if you don't give him $5.00 or $10.00, you kno,! it? Monroe S"illey: Un-hun. Mr. Buse: He'll.he ain't plqying, if he ain't got money. l'1onroe S.dUe:,.: But now, back inback in the earlier tLlleS, they could entertain themselves with much.less.;.to do. Mr. Juse: Well, you didn't haveyeah, well Monroe Svlilley: Didn't have T.V., didn't have the T.ovie houses every- 17he re, and. llr. Buse: Nope. Monroe Stlilley: And you didn't have'/ell, you didn't have big league sports do~'U here. Mr. Buse: If two or three kids come over to see youwell, you didn't play out in the yard. You'd come in, there. They'd be in there talkill', and He'd be in here and be dmm on th+allet. And they'd play drop the handkerchief, and they'd play this. And then, boys and girls, and they'd get a big kick out of it, you know. Honroe Sw"illey: Yeah. 11r. Buse: And blindfoldthey'd play that, you, and you wouldn't think 31 HOnI'Oe S,,"illey: Bilnd man's bluff, or something? Hr. Buse: Huh? Honroe S"'illey: Bilnd man's Mr. Buse: No. Just blind fold one of 'em, and ever which one she'd teched, or he teched, why then, they'd have to blind fold them, see. Honroe S!lille-.f: Um-hum. Mr. Buse: All of 'em'd be in the room. She'd just be Honroe Swilley: Groping around? Hr. Buse: Yeah. T:ryin' to Ilnd one. And sheever, ever whichever l'lho she teched, tren,they'd blind fold t!1at one, see. Monroe Sw"illey: Un-huh. Tell me VIT. Buse: Just somefuin' to be doin'. Thatl'las all, youkn01-1. T1Bt's They could think of a lot of little things, back like that. 110nroe S'lHley: Did youDid your familyDo you reme".lber ,lhen the automobiles first came in? Hr. Buse: \-Jell, I can remember mighty lmll the first automobile ever I sawwhen wels 1'-1rs. fuse: I reme:nber one, 1"lonrce. Nr. Buse: 1913.. ~1913, ,Ie's movin' to Alaban'.a; and ,Ie come to Tupelo, Nississippi. Monroe ~"illey: Lucy, wny don I t you come on in? Hr. Buse: Tupelo, J.lississippi. And an Honroe S>lilley: The first time you ever saw one l"1S in 1913, in T>.lpelo? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Yeah. And we went to Tupelo, we's goin' to catch the train there and come to Jacksonville, Alabama. Monroe Sw"illey: \"Ihe.t did you ride in on from you.r farm, or your house? Nr. Buse: In a vmgon. 32 Honrae Swilley: In a "Iagon? l-!r. Buse: Yeah. Uncle AnNy uncle, Andrew Phillips, he took us to the train, see, at Guntown, Nississippi. That's where we go ever sum- mer, do,;n there. Monroe SWilley: Gu.11to,m? I'1r. Euse: Gunto,;n. And He'd...He took us there, and we stayed til next morning.about ten 0'clock. j'le caught this Httle aI' fast train, pullin' one coach, goin' do,m to Tlroelo. Honroe S,lilley: Yeah. Mr. Euse: And I, I stood at the ,r:i.nder and looked ou.t. And that's the first automobile, ever I seen in my life. And they had a streetcar there, too. It had ~les to it; and I never had seen nothin, like that. I ,laS scared to death. 2:' s afraid to move. lilly, ,:hen I come dmm oil that train, I didn't know where it was a-takin' me, or ~TIat it was goin' to do. i10nroe S,Jilley: I imagine Mr. euse: Kind-a like the little boy that we used to devil, you know. They come to Hark .Iith you, and say "HOH in th8 world did you get in to.ill? Did your mother or SO",8Did your mother hove to pour sand in your shoes, so's you could walk in therl shoes?" Been barefooted so lonG, you know. Theywe used to be ragged pretty good about boys comin' to Hark wi.th us after, you knowkn.O,dn' ",hat you used to have to .mar. It takesknowin, they never did even see it, you knoH. Honr08 SwilltO'J: Un-huh. Mr. Buse: And a lot of 'em used to de'Til 'em about pullin' their shoes off, so they could get on the train, you knO.I. Gain', hke they's goin' in the house. 33 t';OnI'Oe g,-;illey: Yeah. 111'. Buse: And they used to be some pretty fIood arvrment, you kn()H, about vherehoVl they was ra~ seo, a.'1d lJ!n t they ';'Tas ra"2.sed .on. Nonroe Swilley: And hOH far they ,lent to school? Hr. Buse: Yeah. Honroe S"n.lley: And how many feet of snOF they had to ,mlk through? !'ir.. Buse: Yeah. And in the game, J~u know, rJJ~nG each other. 1'1onroe 31,..:.lley: Yeah. Yeah. Did I had a question in mind, and it just slipped. Just a mj.nute. Let me see if I can recall it. Oh, ,,,hen did you Come to Georgia? ::1'. Buse: Hell, I tell you. I come to Georgia in 1922, and about the first of December. Nonroe S'l-J'illey: 1922, about the first. Nr. Buse: Yeah. The first of December. And 1. . 1 ',ent to ":ork ,rith the po-;''8r company about and 2nd or 3rd of December, ;:fter I come over here. And I ",orked forty-t1'ro years and seven months ,rith the pol<er com- pany. And I seen a lot of country boys come to to,m, too. }Tonroe SWilley: I guess so. I'l-laS ridinp- 111th ';'ou the othe l' day, a.-,d you said something about havinf seen this l;hole side... this northside grow up, practically. Hr. Euse: That's right. You lmOi"l ",;i1at? The;Y' had a I1rs. BliSe: He's seen all of Atlanta grm:. Nr.. Buse: Yeah. You take "lhen weHhen I first Hent to work ,-;ith come to Atlanta, I Viorked five years out on construction, I come into Athnta. And'l-Then I'l-lent to work for distribution, that "as in '32, we j'.1St l>.ad distribltion 1dres fIoin' 'bout half-way to Stone t'ountain. Eonroe SWilley; Unh-huh. Unh-huh. Hr. Buse: That's a fact. 110nroe S,1illey: NOH you've got them out a lot further than that. Hr. Buse: Oh, just likeldres thick as they can be, all the 1ay through Stone l.iountain, and all. Just like it is from here to Buckhead. Ever hO'1se has f,ot electricity. Honroe S,ti.lley: Thethe thing I Hanted to ask you 'JaS were your peo- pleare your people generally of Scotch-Irish ancest~'? English? ;1r. Buse: No. 110. Hy dadd-.f on my daddy's side ,;as Irishman; and on my mother's side "Ias Dutch. Honr'Oe S,lilley: Dutch? Mr. Buse: Yeah. She's a Ii.ttle ]'oman. She ,mula "lalk under my arm. Monroe Sin.Hey: P.eally? Short, little 1-/om,m? 11r. Buse: That's right. She could walk under my arm. Honroe S,dlley: "TasDo you lmo"l-J ,fnether or not she Hasshe CB.'Tle over from Hr. Buse: '10. No. She lJaS raised, she 'JaS raised right here. Right close to BaldHin, Hississippi, Honroe S..JiHe-y-: Bal&,in? Hr. Buse: Yeah. And her daddy, my grandpoppa, "hy, before the Civil liar, "arYJhy he, he had that far.n there. He come back there, and he staked out that farm, and ",hat they mmed. He cleared it all..."hat ,'e call "t>16nty mile bottoms", and them bottoms'd just make t>1O To three hundred bushels of corn extry, you kno", just rich soil. And he had them big Cyprus trees on it; and they just cut 'em. And ever-body back then... they'd have log rollin's, you know. Monroe S."illey: Yeah. Tell me about that. H? Base: They'd have log rollins'. And ever-body, say, on Saturday or 35 Monday, they'd have certain days to go to your house. And actually had to have a gallon of liquor or something there, ~n.d put on the bottom of the corn, at corn shuckins', so they could, you know. And so. Monroe SWilley: Be competing for something? Hr. Buse: Yeah. Just Have a prize. }tr. Buse: On the log rollin', see Who's the best ma~. l>'fonroe SJilley: N01'r, vrhat hOH wO'J.ld you Hr. Buse: And they'd pile all them logs up and set fire to 'em, just keep 'em burnin'. And "lflybe you'd keep on ever year, til you'd finally OD get forty-five or fifty acresin them bottoms, see. gJ1d land. And back then it Hasn't worth over $4.00 or 85.00 an acre. l1onroe 3';lilley: Unh-huh. I'Jell, nN;, hm ',10u:'-d Hr. Buse: Nov" that sal1e land is bringing about ~\3GO an acre. Monroe SHilley: Urn-hum. It's making a difference. ~~. Buse: Yeah. Monroe S,lilley: On that log rolling, nOH...hm, Hould you fD about log rolling? I mean, did you put the logs in the ,;ater or something? Hr. Buse: No, No, Nonroe. You just cut 'em for enough men, yo'). see. They'd be forty-five or fifty of you. And you'd get there, and yo,,'d have mUles there, end :\'ou'd have chains. And you'd pull 'em up close together. Roll 'em all up on one pile. As big a pile as you could get I em in. Honroe S1-iilleJr: And burn re:n? Mr. Buse: Burn lem. Monroe S.;illey: It was a process of clearing land, Huh? Hr. Buse: Yeah. That's "hatthat was the whole object. You don't 36 Wasn't no money exchanged whatever. I'[anroe S,lilley: Just kind of a get together. Hr. Buse: That's :right. That's right. Monroe fr~nlley: Were you, in a sense Mr. Buse: Nobody, in other ,"ordsnobcdy didn't have no money to pay nobody. !.Ionroe S,lilley: Yeah. r ,ianted to ask you something. Do you recall. ho,; large, ~bout how large your family farm was in Mississippi? Mr. Buse: Oh, r think when my grandfather diedr don't know whether he bought itit was about a hundred and four or five acres of it. ['[onrae Swilley: ,Iell, now was that an ,average size farm for that, that type of thinG? Nr. Euse: -,Iell, it nas a little bit large farm, but he'd,he'd bought SO"le of it, the hills to eo IJi th it ~you knm,. Like that bottom back up here about a mile a blmch of "mat 1'1e call black jack hills. You gro>7ed black jack bushes, but wadn't any of that cultivatin'land. See, just this bottom, level bottom dmm in here is all cultivatin' land. Nonroe S>iilley: You say that it was a little larger fuan the average... 11r. Buse: Yeah, yeah, and .ah~ he run ""country store, too. You know,. in years after that. Honroe &rilley: Yeah. Hr. Buse: And, ah, he 'cumulated a little, and he could buy a lot of thgt hill land for fifty cents a acre, see. Monroe S>Tilley: Yeah. Hr, Euse: So, that's the Hay ho", cum him Iiith fue land. He put 1em up a little store after the 'Tar thereo And Nonroe S,JiEey: Yeah. 37 Mr. Buse: Vlent t' ditchin' his land off, and he started off three or four more. l1onroe Swi.lle:\': That "as after the First ,'Iorld H'lr, you 'Jere talking about? Mr. Buse: Yeah. Teat was the Civil 1'lar, you know. Bac;, b'tv1een the Yankees and ah Monroe Swilley: You mean, you mean he set him up a little store after the Civil Har? Mr. Buse: Yeah. After ah, what...after just a fe,J years after it ,TaS over ,iitho And he was a-plO1;in 1 there. And he got a littlea little ahead, sellin' chickens and hogs, you knOll. They'd sell an ole, an ole hog .-iith four or five pigs. And he I d sell the ole hog for four or five dollars, and give 'em all eight or nine pigs. Monroe Stiilley: Yeah. i'fr. Buse: Just give I em to himJ Monroe SWilley: \-Jell, 1,hat about"lhat ",as the average size of a of a plot of ground or a farm? Mr. Buse: V~ll, , ffi ,Monroe, there never ;-;as no certain amount. . some of lem, before the "lar'd started, they had 102 acres, and. niggers W8.S a-1'lorkin': The:r had slaves, you*lmo't,J", in the flat lands. Of course, it 1,asn' t up there around "here we lived. But J.n the nat lands... 11rs. Buse: Oh, the:/",asn't slaves, Tom. Mr. Buse: irlell, they "1as .,hen grandpa...but they didn't use none in tha.t part of fu e country. Monroe Swilley: Un-huh. Mr. Buse: Du.n in the delta, where they used most of the slaves, you knml, to farm all that...and trV\trice country do'ill there. And they ------- - - - - - - - - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - 38 give a lot of that to them niggers, Nhen they couldn't get no help. l'lonroe SHill)': Yeah. ]'ftr. Buse: Hell, in South Georgia, they done the same thing. Now, and niggers "'<Us 110rlds of that Iand in South Georgia. Honroe S1oJilley: Yeah. Hr. Buse: And, ah, that theregive to their children. It Has give to them niggers 1,-hen they free'd 'em. 'Ihe,y- couldn't raise no rice, you knoH. And the nigE'ers quit. So the "hite people just give 'em the ]and. Monroe SHUley: Urn-hum. Mr. Buse: That'shan come em with it, nOH. They just hand it dmID to. You got two or three kids, you give 'em to your kids. And they give 'em to their kids, and just hand- it right on d01ffi -the line. Nonroe Swilley: Um~hum. Mr. Buse: I, I've hunted on a lot of it !lrs. Buse: l'lr. Buse: !'Irs. Buse : l1onroe, they used to have corn shuckins'. Yeah. I'm tarred. You.Let Lucy talk to you a -1,hile. They used to have corn shuckins'. And they'd be gangs of people to come. Monroe S.~lley: A~d, ah, just to see Mrs. Buse: To justNo, just men and women. And the men would shuck corn, and the llomen v1)uld cook diner for ever-body. Honroe S1,;illey: Um"hum. Hrs. Buse: And they'd shuck up all of the man's corn, you know. !'Tonroe S\-lille-j: Yeah. 11rs. Buse: P~d then, "hen diner time come, well, the women'd have a good diner. ~ney'd cook ever-thing imRginable. And they'da dish pan they'd make that full of chicken pie. 39 r1onroe SH'"illey: Ummmm. Mrs. Buse: And you tAlk about bein' goodbut nOH, that "as Some- thin' good. They'd cook ever-thing. Honroe S1lille-S: Um-hurn. }fuat kind of stuffNOHcorn? firs. Buse: Corn. ~onroe Swilley: Potatoes . ah, 1~1at ? Mrs. Buse: ~Iell, ah, I don't knOti'. Monroe SWilley: Just everything. Mrs. Buse: Back then, ah, you could save dry beans, back then. And ,reevils wouldn't get in .~ 1 ", because back then they just Hasn't any. People didn't know how to can back in those days, like He do now, you knoVJ }lonroe S,rilley: Ummmm.. l1rs. Buse: 'Cause they didn't know how to keep stuff. It would spoil. But they'd have potatoes, and they'd ma.1<e potatoe pies, sliced pota- toe pies. Honroe Swilley. Unh-huh. Mrs. Buse: And, ah, they had plenty of countlOY butter and milk, you know. 3l,eet milk, .butter milk, and plenty of butter. And they'd use tha t butter to se'lson-up their chicken _pies, and their sliced potatoe pies. And they'd make cakes. They'd have cakes, and they'd have pie. Ah, dried fruit pie, you knOt;. Honroe S-,lill"'J: Unh-huh. Mrs. Buse: And, ah, they'd haveback then you could keepyou could take peas, you know, dried peas, ,lithout weevils gettin' in 'em. They'd cook peas 'n anythin'. Oh; and another thing is they used to dry beans, green beans. They Here called, an, some thin , , "shoe-strinp' beans ll or 40 sOt1lething like that. But, they'd take those beans and soak 'em, and cook 'em. And they'd be like green beans. l1onroe SHilley: Yeah. l'1rs. Buse: They Hould still be freen, you lmoH. Hhen they dried out. They'd, Hell, they'd just cook ever-thing that you could think of that they'd have. Honrce SHilley: Did you ahRad you ever been to some of the revival meetings, or singings, that they had? Hrs. Buse: Fa-so-la siufings? ~onroe Slnll~r: Fa-so-la, or shape-note, you know,when they Mrs. Buse: ~ell, that Has fa-so-la. Monroe S,Jilley: Fa-50-la. It I 5 the same type thing. Ers. Buse: Yeah. It'5 fa-so-la. ~onroe ~iilley: Rave you ever been? Hrs. Buse: Hy dad, ah, yeah. lIve been. Honroe SOiilley: NOH, I've seen some of those books, you knm" 1-1ith the shape-notes in them. But I, just frankly cidn't knoH ~rs. Buse: fly d~d~r, and-Uncle Jim went tThe'second Sunday in June, they h~ve a singin' at Alpharetta, and have, ever since before I was borned. Monroe S1-nlley: Mrs. Buse: Yeah. A fa-so-la? And Uncle Jim and my dadc1y Hould never miss one of those singin IS. Monroe S>nlley: They loved to sing, huh? Hrs. Buse: Th8"r loved t"at kind of singin'. And they sang by the notes, you know. And, and people 170uld take diner, and, and sprea.d. A lot of people, yon knNJ, friends, you knm,. They I d spread together. Ane t'l~ybe 41 another bunch of friends would spread together. And I can remember back when I was little, ,and, and we GO to that June singin' and mo- ther would make a deHberry pie, and a Iittle, you knot", a little round pancustard pans, but it'd have a bottom on it, and a top on it, you Im01". lend that I!Quld be her first berry pie of the year, you know. Be- cause ~"e seennd of JU'1e, Hhy' they'd get ripe. And ,',e'd spread dinner "~th friends, and my daddy and mother's friends. And 1 remember one tLme, we Hent up there, and we, we'd go in a bug~ with t>10 horses hitched to it.hitched to tte surrey. Monroe Swilley: Yeah. Yall had a surrey? }~s. Euse: Urn-hum. !1onroe Swilley: H'lve any fringe on top? Mrs. Buse: 'Fringe on the top, all around it. ~owJ it doesnft it wouldn't look like th'lt many oould get in it, but my daddy got all of us in it. l1onroe Sviill~~: Yeah. BOH many i-jere there of :rou? f.1rs. Buse: 'They's fi'le children, six-seven. Seven of us. 110nroe S',;il1ey: md, ahHave you ever been to an old fashion funeral? I mean, 1:rhere,~you know, Hhere relatives and.- ~very?C?d-..'! go up, and so on like tha t? live only been to one, myself. You kn01'J, 1:hen J~'[rs. CO't\Tart died. You know, r~v. em,art up in Cartersville. It ,~s kind of a .. I guess it was kind of an old ~e of funeral. Mrs. ~~se: Yeah. I've been. Monroe SWilley: But, ah I\1rs. Euse: 'Hhere they c~! out loud and morn over it. And Honroe Sivilley-: Yeah. I understand it IS "takin Ion, II J""ou k!1ow. Mrs. Buse: Well, it is takin' on. Tnis is the end of the second side of reel number one. It contQins 722 revolutions. !10nroe &,illey: O. K. Start off. lftrs. Buse: Hy brother and I, ,je' d put on so",e old clothes. And ue'd go dNm to that creek, and, and go in swimmin I, you knoH. And they ,jas a dam there at Rock Mill, and a mill that ground corn. And, of course, it backed up, you ]mo'J. P~'1d it >:as pretty deep. But "e'd go d01m there in smmmin I. And so, '1ildred, llJ'J younger sister, ,-Janted to go ,nth us one day. And "e let her go. And so, my brother and I, well, ue were playin l in the water, you know, and "e looked around, and we didn't see Mildred anY'dhere. And after while she come up. She'd already gone under once. And "e pulled her out. Monroe S,d.lley: j'!hat! You mean she nearly drowned? Mrs. Buse: Urn-hum. Monroe &,illey: Yall didn't even realize it. Nrs. Buse: NaIJ. I've thouGht of it a millionabout Monroe SHilley: Hmj close she ' Mrs. Huse: HOH close she came to dro,min'. But it would corne rains, a:;d that would get allover.it's called "Bottom lands", you kno". My daddy's fam up there, it's called bottom land. And it ud get all over that, r cause it conldn I t get over that dam fast enou['h. And it ud just flood ever-t.'1ing. j-\onroe S,<Jil18'J: Ummmm. Hrs. Buse: One rnamin,, ah, my brother and I, l,e'd ahmys go to school together, see. I went...l,hen I first started t' school, I Hent to school at a little ole school house right over there. I'll show it 43 sho.., you the place sometime. The trees are still standin' there, 1-;here the school house used to be. And it ..'as called "Midl,ay School House. II And that's ",here"le ",ent to school. And we had t' ,mlk thrcugh the 1'IOOds, and 'cross the creek, you kno-vi. And they "vas aYou ever seen a foot-log? Monroe S,lilley: ~funh-unh. Mrs. Buse: Hell, it "'as a, a big tree cut d01m across the, the creek, and Monroe S,illcy: You mean a bridge, made out of a tree? Mrs, Busc: No, it,lUz a foot-log. It's a foot-log. ]ifjonroe S",illey: ~Jell, ..;hat exactly is a foot log? H1'5, Buse: l':ell, I'm tellin' ya, that :it ;;uz a tree, cut d01m across the creek. And all of the limbs and ever-thing cut off of it. , . ..-lna, it "TaS, ah, smoothed off, you lmo"" so you could najl a plank to it. Honroe Sllilley: Yeah. Hrs. Buse: And then, my daddy ;;ouldhe put a, a handrail to it. Monroe SHtlley: So you could use it as sort of a foot-bridge? Hrs. Buse: It ,mz a foot-bridge, but1,e called'em foot-loe;s. Yeah. It ""uz a foot bridge. No, you had to ford the creek. in a buggy and horse. But, you ;;alked across tt on this, ah, foot-log. Honroe S,lilley: Ummmm. Did youI ,;ant you to, to tell me about that automobile, the f:irst one yO'J. say you ever saw, and Mrs. Buse: I ..mz goin' tc tell ya about him knockin' me offHe's get- tin f a tooth brush. ~\!e I s standin' on the foot-log. And, and he..'tve put our lunch basket down on the foot-log. And he ..mz gettin' us a tooth brush off.that was hanein' over the foot-log. And he, and in pullin' it, well it broke off. And he knocked me tn the creek. ;'Ionroe Swilley: Hhat, ,!hat f1rs. Buse: And we ;Jent back to the house just a-cryin', both of us 1;as a-cryinT Honroe SHilley: Oh, me. You and your brother? Mrs. Buse: He pulled me out. I~onroe SHillGJ': NOel, what Has this'vhat ;;as this toothbrush,That "as this? Mrs. Euse: It vJUZ sweetgum. !1onroe Swilley: S,reetgurn? Mrs. Buse: You never h~ve seen any? J.lonroe SHilley: Unh-unh. !1rs. Buse: There's a tree do,m there. some time. I'll show you a toothbrush Monroe S,;illey: Is that ,mat they call it? And it's from "hat kind of tree? A sweetgum tree? Nrs. Buse: It's a mreetgum, or blackgum, I guess. Dlackgum. Nonroe Svdlley: Yeah. Now, that I haven'tII'm not familiar Hith at all. l"lrs. Buse : 1,[ell.. Nonroe .g"villey: But, ahNow, tell me about that automobile. Mrs. Buse: Well, I told you I couldn't remember too muchenough about itand the date, or anything about it. l1onroe S,dlley: Oh, well j.t's just not J~rs. Euse: To tell ya, but01 Teasley, he Uved in Alpharetta. He ,TUZ one of the wealthiest men up there. And he had the first automobile any""here I knot" in this country. And, ahI ,laS tryin' to think of this man that shot himself. He shot his wife, and he "ent home an' 45 shot himself on his front porch. And 01 Teasley got him in the car with him, and drove from here to Atlantaah, from Alpharetta to Atlanta to the hospital, in, ah, let me see. I've foreotten the minutes, but it was just a short while. They, oh, the people just couldn't get over it, you know. And then, when they was more and more automobiles, my Uncle Bob Dimed one. Mother's brother, he O1<med a automobile, automobile, when the-.f >:ssn't very many. I"!onroe SHilley: Um-hum. Hhat about thetell me about the yellow root, now, and what it's used for. I"!rs. Buse: Well, I don't know, so other than it's used toit Was used for, you know, fever blisters, or Monroe Sl-lilley: 1,lould you, chel, it? Mrs. Buse: Unh-huh. Sore mouth. It wasn't poison. Monroe Swilley: It was called Brs. Buse: It Has a herb, you know, yelloH root. And I Houldn't doubt but 'That it isn't used today, in medicine thatyou knoH, thatwelll, Indians still make medicine. Monroe Sr,;illey: Yeah. Mrs. Buse: 'Cause I got a Cousin that married a half Indian, tr~t lives in Tennessee.- And he "lakes his livin' makin' medici.ne. Monroe S,dlley: Really? You mean like an oldregcuar old medicine man? That kind of thing? 11rs. Buse: Yeah. Oh, I don't kno,-; about that. Honroe S,-.1.116;1: vlell, you kno,-;, conjurin', or something of that nature. I1rs. Buse: Indians, the Indianswell, they were called medicine men, ';eren ' t they? 46 Honroe Slrilley: Urn-hum. 111'8. Euse: ~Jell, you knOH, Indians used to make medicine. And, and this boy that she married, his daddy made it, made medicine. And this kid learned hOH to make it. And he makes, I guess you call it, patent medicine. f~d he makes it, and he makes good money. A lot of money. Nonroe St-Jilley: Based on that, riGht? That's his Mrs. Euse: TI1at's histhat's his livin', just makin' patent medicine. 110nroe Slrilley: Urn-hum. No"", tell me li"h2.t you do to 'l'.ake sassa-frass tea, and... 11rs. Euse: You take the roots, and Hash 'em real Hell, and cut 'em up in little pieces. Monroe Swi.lley: Hon, I'm getting more of her than I am of Lucy. Revolutions 128 through 131 contain baby's crying. This could not be avoided. Honroe Sw-illey: I-jell, anYOiay, you "rash the roots Mrs. Euse: Real Hell. And you put 'en in 1-rater, and put 'em on a stove, and boil it. 110nroe S1JillEy: Yeah. Mrs. Euse: There's a ,mite sassa-frass, and there's a red sassa-frass. I'1onroe Swilley: Yeah. VJX's. Euse: NOH, the "hite, it tastes like sassa-frass; but it's the red that you drink. Monroe Swilley: Yeah. Hrs. Euse: The red tea that you drink. And I think the.t, that, they claim, purifies your blood. Monroe 51n.lley: Purifies your blood? 47 Mrs. Buse: Urn-hum. Monroe Swilley: Tell me, what does Mrs. Buse: 'Cause it's a spring time drink, you know. Monroe S,rilley: Yeah. Is it a Mrs. Buse: It's made from red tea. And you put sugar and milk in it, I do, like you was drinkin' coffee. }10nroe Swilley: \-;nat do youh, ah...uhat does it taste like, as far as something you knot-r? Hrs. Buse: Hhy, it tastes like it smells. I can't tell you ho,r tt tastes. Yourd have to taste it to know. 110nroe S"rilley: Um-hum. ";hat about ah...!)o you use if for any sort of remedy, or for Hrs. Buse: I don't lmeJH about that. Monroe s,nlley: Or, ahany kind of purification Hrs. Buse: l1edidne man might tell you. l'Ionroe, SWilley: Purific ation, 0 r 9J mething like that? Mrs. Buse: well, it's supposed t' ptlrify your blood. That's old timey sayin', you kno"r. Drink sassa-frass in the spring of the year, purifies your blood. I don't know. I just like it. I just like the taste of H. 1'10nroe Sh'illey: \-lell, I, I had read that itth3t i't "ras nsed some- times as, as 2_ c1lre, but as. Hrs. Buse: For what? l-1onroe 8',rilley: I have no idea. Mrs. Buse: \!e1.1, cut if off. That's all I know to talk about Monroe S.'illey: O. K. Nrs. :Suse: Right nO'". Can't think. 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. 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