Blind Pig & The Acorn

How Cold Is It At Your House?

When I got up this morning-it was 8 degrees. After I dropped the girls off at school, the radio informed me over 2/3rds of the US is experiencing below average temperatures-and the forecast is for the freezing weather to continue over the coming week.

Before the weather channel and radio announcers came along, folks had a variety of signs they watched to indicate when cold weather was coming. Things like:

• If the corn shucks are thicker than usual-it'll be a bad winter.
• If animals grow a thicker coat than usual it'll be a bad winter.
• There are all sorts of sayings about woolly worms-some seem to contradict each other. Granny swears if she sees a solid white one it'll be a bad winter. She seen one the summer before the big blizzard of 93.
• If squirrels gather more nuts than usual-it'll be a bad winter. I don't know how many nuts they gathered-but I know I've seen more squirrels this year than ever before. We seen so many cross the road in front of us-I finally told the girls I thought squirrels were taking over the world.
• If snow lies on the ground for 3 days you can expect more snow within the week. Since we don't get much snow-some of you will have to say whether or not that one is true.
• If there is a bumper crop of mast (berries, nuts) it will be a bad winter.

I've heard all those saying since I was a kid, but I learned a new weather indicator this year. Pap told me about it first, then I read about it in Marshall McClung's book.

Old timers said you could tell how cold it was by the leaves of a laurel (rhododendron to most folks). See the photo above was taken last summer by me-notice the leaves-all straight and relaxed.

I took this photo yesterday-see the leaves-how they are rolled up? The tighter the leaf is rolled the colder it is. It was 26 degrees when I took the photo above. Neat uh?

Hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me how cold it was at your house this morning.

Tipper

p.s. I wrote about cold sayings this time last year you can see them here.

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The Belled Buzzards

Ever hear stories about a buzzard that flew around wearing a bell? Here's an old newspaper article detailing one such instance:

My first introduction to the belled buzzards was from Gary Carden's book Belled Buzzards, Hucksters, and Grieving Specters: Appalachian Tales: Strange, True & Legendary. Since I first read about them-I've discovered belled buzzards have been seen in several states-Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Most of the sightings or 'hearings' caused folks to believe the belled buzzards foretold death. One legend even tells the story of a belled buzzard harassing a man after he killed his wife-to the point of the man turning himself in for her murder. 

As I was researching the subject I found this explanation from Arkansas:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rkinfolks/stories/evafosterverdun.html 

The link details a correspondence between folks discussing the phenomenon of the belled buzzards seen in Arkansas. The lady tells of her brothers bringing home a couple of buzzards to keep as pets. Their mother nixed the idea and made them let the buzzards go. Before turning them loose the boys tied bells on their necks. Makes me wonder if all the other belled buzzard sightings were the result of would be pets gone awry.

Have you ever heard of the belled buzzard? I imagine it would be an eerie sound to hear one as it flew over the house.

Tipper

p.s. Check back tomorrow for the last Spooky October entry-it's one of my favorites-cause it happened not to far from where I live-and it will for sure give you chills.
 

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Bottle Trees

Ever seen a bottle tree? Usually the bottles are stuck on the branches of the tree.

This one near my house-has some bottles on branches-and some hanging from branches.

The history of bottle trees can be traced back centuries. The thought is-at night when spirits are roaming the countryside they get sucked into the bottles and can't get out. Once morning arrives-and the sun begins to shine-the heat kills the bad spirit stuck in the bottle. I've seen a few bottle trees around my area-but believe they are more common farther south. To see some amazing bottle trees click here.
 

As my Spooky October continues-more folks are joining in. Here is a great link for you to check out:

Harbor Hon tells the scary history of a statue called Black Aggie

Hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me if you've ever seen a bottle tree-or maybe you have one?

Tipper

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Spooky October 2

This entry for Blind Pig & The Acorn's Spooky October comes from David Templeton.

Elizabeth’s Song

When Kasie and I were first married, we lived in a house that was built on land long owned by the Fish family of Lawrence County.  The deeds and abstracts, and local lore, led us back over two centuries of the Fish family.  Their graveyards were very close to our house, one in back, just up on a hillside a few yards from our back door; the other graveyard was across the road.  Elizabeth Fish, daughter of the first land grant owner, was buried across the road and her mother and her daddy were buried up the hill.  These graves go back into the late 1700s and early 1800s.

 Elizabeth, as a young girl and fair maiden, loved to sing and it is said that she could be heard a way down into the valley below, singing haunting love songs that would hopefully be heard by Willie, a boy who lived across the valley; a boy for whom her love went unrequited.  

 Elizabeth also loved her horse and loved to ride about the hillsides singing her love songs.
 One summer evening at dusk Elizabeth was out riding and singing and she saw the boy coming through the fields toward her, as if coming to court her.  Excitedly, Elizabeth spurred her horse to carry her to meet the boy.  Riding under the spreading limbs of a great oak tree, Elizabeth was dashed from her saddle by a low hanging limb and her neck and back were broken in the fall from the horse.

 She died there, never making it to the boy whom she believed had come to love her.
 Now, lo these centuries later, legend says that she can be seen in the mist that is often seen there at dusk; there in the low place where the great tree once stood. 

 When the land was broken up and sold as smaller parcels, we bought the land on which the tree had stood and built a house there.  We knew the old ghost stories about Elizabeth and it added a certain romance to our place.  Our mischievous daughter, older of two, would kid and scare her little sister with yarns about Elizabeth’s ghost.  We all made up so many stories about Elizabeth that she became a part of our lore and accepted as real.

 There was one thing that we didn’t talk about though, didn’t tell one another until years later, after the kids had grown up and left home and after we had moved away: We had all heard singing; faint, very, very faint and woeful singing.  We had all heard it and never spoke of it.  We had heard it about the house, inside, and out along the hillside where the oak tree had stood, and about the roadside across from where the graveyard lay, and mostly we had all heard Elizabeth singing when we saw the mist.  Each of us said later that we had looked about for the source of the sounds and never seemed to come close.
 But, we were embarrassed to say we heard her because we had all made such fun of the tales and the tingling and the teasing of each other about Elizabeth and knew we would not be taken seriously. 

 We are no longer there.

 Now Elizabeth can sing without derision, as we are long since gone.  And we hope she has since found her Willie, come across the field to love her. And when we gather at Thanksgiving, we often talk about Elizabeth as if we had known her.  We each believe we have.

Kinda neat-my first 2 submissions for Spooky October had a musical facet to them. Don't forget-you're more than welcome to play along too. Write a scary post-a funny scary post or just a post about Halloween-grab the photo at the top and link back to me-or email me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com and I'll send you the picture if that is easier.
 

I enjoyed Elizabeth's Song-and I hope you did too.

Tipper

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The Devil's Tramping Ground

Near Siler City, NC is a large circle that measures 40 feet across. No vegetation of any kind grows within the circle. Early white settlers who came to the area thought the circle was used for Indian Ceremonies. Somewhere along the way the story of the Devil's Tramping Ground was born.

Legend tells the circle was made by none other than Lucifer himself. Each night the Devil paces the circle while he plots evil deeds to spread across the land. If an object is placed within the circle it is mysteriously moved by morning. Local hunters say their hounds refuse to go near the circle-as do horse owners. The area seems to be void of any animal life-even birds refuse to fly above the circle.

Appalachia is full of scary stories about ghosts, witches, painters, hainted houses, etc., yet religion is woven so tightly through the history and culture of Appalachia-that the Devil plays a significant role in the fear factor too. When I was growing up-I was much more afraid of the Devil getting me than a ghost or a monster.

One time-a childhood friend of mine decided she'd heard enough about the Devil and wanted to see what he really looked like. Her and a cousin decided they'd just dig him up-after digging a while they unearthed something they took for his hair. Once they hit hair their bravery left them pretty quick. As kids will do-they decided to fix the mess they'd made-I mean how could they face their southern Baptist parents after digging the Devil out. They found some old concrete mixed it with water and poured it in the hole, all the while hoping fervently that it would hold him tight. 

What were you most afraid of as a child?

Tipper

p.s. The photo was provided by Old Rebel you can see some of his other photos here-or learn more about him here.

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What To Do For A Toothache

Ever have a toothache? In my opinion, a toothache is one of the most aggravating and painful problems to have. Lucky for folks today relief is usually just a phone call away.

Back in the day-things were a little different. Dentists weren't plentiful, it was hard to get into town to see one, and even if you could-you might not have the money needed to pay the bill. As with most ailments-there are tons of old medicinal remedies for toothaches in Appalachia-I've even tried a few myself.

A few years ago, I had a severe toothache. I kept taking pain medication and putting off going to the Dentist. One night when the the pain was pretty bad, Pap told me to take peroxide and swish it around in my mouth-then take a toothbrush and dip it in the peroxide and brush the tooth as hard as I could-all around it. Well desperate as I was-I did what Pap said. Honestly-for about 15-20 minutes I thought I was going to pass out from the pain-it was almost unbearable-but after about 25 minutes it eased off and actually quit hurting.

Appalachian Toothache Remedies:

• hold liquor in the mouth for several minutes-then swallow
• chew ragweed leaves
• put cinnamon oil on the tooth
• put clove oil on the tooth (I tried this one-couldn't really tell that it helped)
• put persimmon juice on the tooth
• place a piece of cloth soaked in kerosene on the tooth
• hold a warm bag of ashes, salt, or water on the cheek (I've tried this with a hot water bottle-it seemed to help a little)
• if the cavity is deep in the tooth-the hole can be stuffed with soda, spider webs, aspirin, alum-that was burned, cow manure, or salt

Now for the really crazy ones:

• take a splinter/piece of a tree that has been struck by lightning and pick the cavity
• get up before sunrise each morning and say a Bible verse for 3 days
• make a hole in a tree trunk a little higher than the toothache sufferers head-cut a piece of their hair and place it in the hole and plug up the hole

Prevention tips:

• carry a hog's head bone in your pocket
• always put your left shoe on first
• wear nutmeg around your neck
• always cut your fingernails on Friday
• never cut your fingernails on Friday

Ever tried any home remedies for a toothache?

Drop back by in the next few days to read about tooth pulling-it'll make you cringe-or in Pap's case pass out.

Tipper

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