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Grandmother. Dey wouldn' hurt you.

Mother. Dey could tu'n demselves into what dey wanted.
E. C. P. How?

Grandmother. By a-greasin' demselves.

Girl. Granny, did yer ever see a witch?
Grandmother. No, I never seen a witch.

Visitor. Ain't you glad dat dose time is done away? Do you reckon dat sich people could ever get into de kingdom o' heaven? Mother. No, 'cause dey has to sell demselves to de Devil. Dey say dere ain't nothin' you can't do if you sell yerself to de Devil.

Visitor. Grandma says she went to visit Annie, an' dat night she saw a heap o' black cat all one color. Would never visit Annie again. Mother. Said dey was a-learnin' a girl to be a witch. Went into

a store.

Grandmother. A cellar.

Mother. De girl spoke de name o' de Lord, an' tu'ned natchal. Dey tu'ned her back to a witch. She spoke de name o' de Lord again, an' tu'ned natchal again. Tu'ned her back again, but said dat nex' time dey would leave her dere. An' dey did. Found her dere de nex' mornin'. Say, witches could go t'rough keyholes. Had only to call any animal dey wanted to ride. Nex' mornin' horse sweatin' in de stable. Would have to say, 'Go t'rough thick' or 'Go t'rough thin,' des as dey wanted to go. Said once a man said, 'Go t'rough thick' when he wanted to say, 'Go t'rough thin,' an' what a ride he had dat night! Said he never would go out again.

Grandmother. Honey, dere used to be a heap o' witches.

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Marking ten (cross) to keep off witches, or pouring out grain to delay them, as they would count it, were unfamiliar beliefs. If you dream of new lumber, it is a sign of death, "sign yer goin' to lose some of yer kinsfolk." — "Dream of yaller clay, sign of a corpse." "Say if you dream of being in a crowd o' people, some of dose people will die." "If a horse shakes wid de gear on him, sign of death," or "if he brays at a buryin'."-Wear a new dress at a funeral, and you will not live to wear it out. People "sit up" after a death, "prayin' an' singin' all night." Mirrors or glass-covered pictures are covered, and the clock is stopped, "so people won't have to ask de time of death."

For whooping-cough a syrup is made of swamp alder. — Poplarbark is steeped for pelagra. For "de snake-bit," dollar-weed is a remedy. The bite of a "rattlesnake pilot" is worse than that of other rattlesnakes. How to remove warts seems to be proprietary knowledge. Two or three persons were mentioned who could do it, “but dey wouldn' tell yer." In one case the curer would "jus" look at

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'em."

In another case of two warts, the warts were pricked, and a drop of blood put on two grains of corn.

For slow dentition the two front feet of the ground-hog may be hung about the infant's neck. To make a child walk, you should "sweep it down wid a new broom befo' you sweep de house wid it."

"If a rooyster crows on yer doorstep, sign of a stranger comin', sure sign." "If a rooyster crows after sundown, sign of hasty news or fallin' weather.". Pigs might be killed on the "full o' de moon" to make the meat "swell;" and corn might be planted at full moon or "whiles the moon a-growin'." About the efficacy of these methods for corn-planting my friends were doubtful, since they had planted both ways, and "it didn' make no diffunce."

"Ol' Christmas," twelve days after Christmas, "Praise Day," is or was treated (the custom is passing) like Sunday; people would do no work. That night the domestic animals go down on their knees, and "Praise Day breaks [dawns] twice." Chickens come down from their roost; "it gets dark again, and dey have to go back I seed it." Rosemary and poke "put out - I seed it."1

"Rich man, poor man, fit de beggarman," or, "Rich man, poor man, beggarman, t'ief," is said to prognosticate a mate; and the counting is done on the "thorns" of the holly-leaf. It is a country of mistletoe as well as holly, but the custom of kissing under the mistletoe is unfamiliar.

1 Compare North Carolina (JAFL 30: 208).

SEVEN FOLK-TALES FROM THE SEA ISLANDS, SOUTH CAROLINA.

BY SADIE E. STEWART.1

I. THE RELAY RACE.2

DE terripin an' de deer ha' a race. Mr. Terripin git all his kinspeople togeder an' place one at each mile-pos'. W'en Mr. Deer git to de fi's' mil'-pos', Mr. Terripin say, "Ise heah, Mr. Deer." Mr. Deer jum' to de nex' mil'-pos', but Mr. Terripin was dah; and so 'twas at ebery mil'-pos'. Mr. Terripin say, "Well, which one can run de fas'est, Mr. Deer?" "I can't fo' say, fo' I still t'ink Ise de fas'est runner in de worl'." - "Maybe you air, but I kin head you off wid sense."

2-3. FIRE TEST: MOCK PLEA.3

Once upon a time Bro' Rabbit and Bro' Fox and Bro' Bear had a little house in de woods. Bro' Bear had tub o' sugar an' butter. Bro' Bear ax Bro' Rabbit to stay and min' de sugar and butter until he git back. When Bro' Bear git back, he ax Bro' Rabbit and Bro' Fox who been eat his sugar an' butter; and da each one say, "Notta me." Bro' Bar say to Bro Rabbit, "I don't know what to do wid you, lessen I t'row you in de briers." Bro' Rabbit say, "Please don't t'row me in de briers, and I'll tell you who eat de butter and sugar." "I'll fin' out who eat um," said Bro' Bear. So he mek a big fire in de back ya'd. Bro' Rabbit tried to jum' 'cross de fire, and fell in. When Bro' Bear come out an' see Bro' Rabbit in de fire, he tek 'im out and t'row 'im in de briers. Bro' Rabbit kick up his heels and laughed. "T'ank you, Bro' Bear. Here's wha I was born."

4. IN THE WELL.4

"Mornin', Bro' Fox!"-"Mornin', Bro' Wolf!"-"Want sumpin' fo' eat?" "Yah, beca'se I bee hungree."-"Well, follow me to

1 Miss Stewart is a graduate of Hampton, and in 1919 was a teacher at Penn School, St. Helena Island, South Carolina. — E. C. P.

2 Informant, Morris Chaplin of Wallace Plantation, St. Helena. For bibliography see MAFLS 13: 102 (note 1). — E. C. P.

Informant, Harold Rhodin of Indian Hill Plantation, St. Helena. For "Fire Test" compare Georgia (Harris 1: XVII; Harris 2: XLII); North Carolina (JAFL 30: 193, No. 46 [b]). For bibliography of "Mock Plea" see MAFLS 13: 15 (note 4); also comparative, Dähnhardt, IV, 43-45.-E. C. P.

Informant, Charlotte Seabrook of Thompson Plantation, Paris Island. - Compare Georgia (Harris 1 : XVI). — E. C. P.

de well to git suh cheese." When dey git to de well, Bro' Fox say, "Jum' in de bucket, Bro' Wolf." "Meeno trus' you, Bro' Fox. You jum' in fi's'.” ——“Ef you no wanta go, I da gwine down. Me git de bes' cheese dow." Bro' Fox jum' in an' gone. Time Bro' Fox git down, he sta't fo' eat all de cheese. Den him slip back in de bucket, an' say, "Bro' Wolf, ain't you fo' ready to come down agin?"

Bro' Wolf da jum' in de bucket and gone down. Bro' Fox been da come up. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Well, Bro' Wolf, me gone. When you da comin'?"

5-6. WHO DIVES THE LONGEST: CARTLOAD OF FISH.1

Once upon a tim' Bro' Rabbit an' Bro' Wolf have a half a bag o' tallow. Bro' Rabbit tell Bro' Wolf, "Let's go down to de crik side an' see which one can dibe de longis'." Bro' Rabbit an' Bro' Wolf be gone. Soon as Bro' Rabbit git down, he sneek back wid his schemy se'f an' gone in de hous' an' eat all de tallow. Ebber nown den Bro' Rabbit biluk fo' see ef Bro' Wolf been a-comin'. him sneek back in de crik and dibe unna. Rabbit wait a little while, an' den him come u'. "Shum [see] me, Bro' Wolf, I bee' tell you I could dibe de langis'."

Atta Bro' Rabbit git t'rough,
Bro' Wolf come u'. Bro'

Bro' Wolf and Bro' Rabbit come out de water and mek fo' de house. Bro' Rabbit fo' tell Bro' Wolf to sha' de tallow. Bro' Wolf went fo' de tallow, and come back an' ax Bro' Rabbit who eat de tallow. Bro' Rabbit say, "I dunno, Bro' Wolf, but I know I ain't eat um. Some one mus' fo' tief it whil' we been a-dibe."

"Let's go down to de roadside and wait fo' de man to come 'long wid a ca'tload o' fish," said Bro' Rabbit. Bro' Rabbit an' Bro' Wolf gone down to de roadside an' drap to sleep. Bye'm bye a man came along wid a ca'tload o' fish, an' t'row'd Bro' Rabbit on top um. When Bro' Rabbit git nigh a bush, him tek a 'tring o' fish an' mek fo' de bush. Nex' day de man come 'long an' ketch Bro' Rabbit playin' de same trick. De man fo' look at Bro' Rabbit an' say, "I can't trus' you, Bro' Rabbit." So he tek a stick an' struck um, an' Bro' Rabbit mek fo' de woods as ha'd as he could go.

7. THE RICH OLD MAN.2

Once upon a time a ol' man git married to a ol' 'oman. De ol' man los' all his money, an' the ol' 'oman wanted to left 'im. So she

1 Informant, Harry Daise of Capers Plantation, St. Helena. - Compare Georgia (Jones, XLI; Harris 2: LII); Louisiana (MAFLS 2: 115-116); Bushmen (Hone ÿ, 22-23); France (Cosquin, 2: 159, 160). — E. C. P.

* Informant, Clarence Simmons of Oaks Plantation, St. Helena. — Compare North Carolina, O. D. Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, No. 47. New York and London, 1917. — E. C. P.

cook 'im a good dinna. When de ol' man git t'rough fu eat, de ol' 'oman led 'im down to de crik-side, an' tied his hands behin' 'im. Den de ol' 'oman went way back from de ol' man, and ran down de hillside as fas' as she could. When she get almos' to de ol' man, he step aside an' let her go overboa'd. She begin to cry and cry for he'p. De ol' man look at her and shake his hade [head], and said, “I — wish — I could he'p-you, but me hands are tied behin* me."

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