Ozark Superstitions

Ozark Superstitions by VANCE RANDOLPH. Preface: For obvious reasons it is not practicable to credit every item in this collection to the individual from whom it was obtained, as I have done in Ozark Folksongs and some of my other books. But for the sake of the record, I set down here the names of certain persons who have directly furthered my investigations. Among these must be listed Mrs. Anna Bacon, Galena, Mo. Dr. Charles Hillman Brough, Little Rock, Ark. Miss Nancy Clemens, Springfield, Mo. Dr. George E. Hastings, Fayetteville, Ark. Mr. Charles S. Hiatt, Cassville, Mo. Mrs. Dorn Higgins, Sulphur Springs, Ark. Mr. Earl Keithley, Day, Mo. Mr. Lewis Kelley, Cyclone, Mo. Mr. Maurice Lamberson, Bentonville, Ark. Mr. Cass Little, Anderson, Mo. Mr. Ernest Long, Joplin, Mo. Mrs. May Kennedy McCord, Springfield, Mo. Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Mahnkey, Mincy, Mo. Mrs. Mabel E. Mueller, Holla, Mo. Mrs. Geraldine Parker, St. Louis, Mo. Miss Rubey Poyner, Southwest City, Mo. Mr. Otto Ernest Rayburn, Eureka Springs, Ark. Dr. Oakley St. John, Pine ville, Mo. Mr. Clyde Sharp, Pack, Mo. Mr. Elbert Short, Crane, Mo. Mrs. Isabel Spradley, Van Buren, Ark. Mr. Fred Starr, Greenland, Ark. Mrs. Olga Trail, Farmington, Ark. Mrs. Ruth H. Tyler, Neosho, Mo. Mr. John Turner White, Jefferson City, Mo. Mrs. Marie Wilbur, Pineville, Mo. and Dr. J. H. Young, Galena, Mo. I wish to acknowledge my indebt edness to these people, but they are in no way responsible for my interpretation of the material, nor for the general character of the book. of the preliminary studies upon which this volume is d were printed as early as 1927, in the Journal of American viii PREFACE Folklore. My books The Ozarks and Ozark Mountain Folks, published by the Vanguard Press in 1931 and 1932, contained accounts of backwoods folk belief. Many supernatural narra tives, and some notes on water witching, first appeared in Ozark Ghost Stories and Tall Tales from the Ozarks, published and copyrighted by E. Haldeman-Julius, of Girard, Kansas. Several yarns about witchcraft were printed in Folk-Say, a regional annual edited by B. A. Botkin and brought out by the University of Oklahoma Press other related items first saw the light in the quarterly University Review, published at the Uni versity of Kansas Citj I am grateful to the owners of these copyrights for permission to reprint the material here. V. R. Galena, Missouri June 10, 1946 Contents include: 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. WEATHER SIGNS 10 3. CROPS AND LIVESTOCK 34 4. HOUSEHOLD SUPERSTITIONS 53 5. WATER WITCHES 82 6. MOUNTAIN MEDICINE 92 7. THE POWER DOCTORS 121 8. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE 162 9. PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH 192 10. GHOST STORIES 211 11. ANIMALS AND PLANTS 240 12. OZARK WITCHCRAFT 264 13. DEATH AND BURIAL 801 14. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS 328 BIBLIOGRAPHY 343 INDEX 353