E 8 MS.-Regius 12 D xvii, p. 123 a. Editions.-C. ii, 344; L. 105. Translation. - C. ii, 345. Analysis. See analysis of E charms, pp. 138 ff.-Magic salves as agents of expulsion are recommended in charms EE 8, EE 16, EE 17, EE 18, EE 19, EE 20, EE 28, and EE 29. 1. — Þām mannum, etc. Refers to the incubus myth (cf. D 1, note to line 1). 7.- The throwing of the herbs into running water doubtless symbolized the desired carrying-away of the disease or of the disease-demon expelled by the magic salve. 10. Recelsa and sena. A sanctifying formula (see pp. 151 ff.). Translations. — C. ii, 115; Eng. Med. 123. 2.- - Faul. See charac. 3 (d), p. 114. Pliny (xxviii, 5) has a charm for driving away scorpions, in which one word, duo, constitutes the formula. 3. Neorxnawonge. Cf. "sanctification by contact" (pp. 152 ff.). Ε 10 MS.- Regius 12 D xvii, p. 43 b. Translation.-C. ii, 115. For charm practices connected with sexual constriction, see p. 138. The same malady is mentioned in D 4 and in BB 13. 2.- Haligwater. An appended sanctifying word (see p. 154). - E II MSS. Cotton Vitellius C iii, (=V in textual notes), p. 46 a; Bodley Hatton 76 (= B); Harley 6258 b (=O). Edition.-C. i, 364.. Translations.-C. i, 365; Brooke, 138. For exorcism of demons with nauseating foods, see charac. 4, p. 115; and p. 139. - Cf. A 2 and E 6, both "against a dwarf." 1.- post. The same excrement, worked into a drink, will cure a "specterhaunted" man (see Cockayne, i, 365, 14). E 12 MS. Regius 12 D xvii, p. 122 b. Editions.-C. ii, 342; L. 104. Translations.-C. ii, 343; Eng. Med. 137. Wifgemadla is translated in the dictionaries as "woman's talk;" but it is plain that something like "bewitchment" or "spell" is meant (see laws 2 and 17, pp. 140 ff).— Eating swallow-nestlings produces miraculous results in EE 24. E 13 MS. Harley 585, p. 189 a. Analysis. See analysis of E charms, p. 138. - The cure is to be effected by running water (see charac. 10, p. 121). 5. Credan, etc. Cf. "substitution of church formulas" (pp. 147 ff.). Editions.-C. ii, 296; L. 89. Translation. - C. ii, 297. For elves and their influence, see Group E, p. 137. 1.- Uncūbum sidsan. Cf. yflum gealdorcraftum (D 4, line 6). Evidently bewitchment by mischief-working sorcerers is meant (see p. 138). Ten other remedies in which a thaumaturgic drink is prescribed are EE 1, EE 2, EE 6, EE 10, EE 11, EE 12, EE 15, EE 21, EE 25, and EE 29. In contrast to E 14, these charms are all distinctly Christian in form, and most of the potions have holy water as an ingredient. 2.- Récelses. See note to E 8, line 15.-Gāgales. Cf. D 5. BALLADS AND SONGS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA BY LOUISE RAND BASCOM THE process of collecting the songs common to the mountain section of western North Carolina is a difficult one, for the mountaineers suspiciously evade direct questions, and vanish entirely if too closely pressed. Hence the collector must necessarily be content with the scraps which he overhears in passing a cabin, unless he is so fortunate as to be acquainted with the different clans, or so lucky as to be able to attend one of those interesting celebrations known as Fiddlers' Conventions. The convention is essentially an affair of the people, and is usually held in a stuffy little schoolhouse, lighted by one or two evil-smelling lamps, and provided with a rude, temporary stage. On this the fifteen fiddlers and "follerers of banjo pickin'" sit, their coats and hats hung conveniently on pegs above their heads, their faces inscrutable. To all appearances they do not care to whom the prize is awarded, for the winner will undoubtedly treat. Also, they are not bothered by the notetaking of zealous judges, as these gentlemen are not appointed until after each contestant has finished his allotted "three pieces." To one unused to the mountain tunes, the business of selecting the best player would be not unlike telling which snail had eaten the rhododendron leaf, for execution and technique differ little with the individual performers, and the tune, no matter what it may be called, always sounds the same. It is composed of practically two bars which are repeated over and over and over again until the fiddler or banjo picker, as the case may be, stops abruptly from sheer fatigue. The first effect is like one of the strange tom-tidi-tom noises heard on a midway, but after a few unprejudiced moments of attention, melody, stirring, full of pathos, rich with suggestion, emerges from the monotonous din. Strangely enough, no matter how sad the words and music may be, they are always rendered as rapidly as is compatible with the skill of the musician, and without inflection. The tunes are played at all of the dances, whistled and sung by the men and boys everywhere. The mountaineer who can- not draw music from the violin, the banjo, or the "French harp," is probably non-existent, and not infrequently one may see a gaunt idler squatting by the roadside, picking the banjo, and at the same time working the "French harp," held in place by a wire around the player's neck. The fiddle is always a battered heirloom; the banjo is home-made, and very cleverly fashioned, too, with its drum-head of cat's hide, its wooden parts of hickory (there are no frets). The "French harp" is such as can be purchased at the nearest general merchandise store for five, ten, fifteen, or twenty-five cents, according to the affluence of the buyer. Mention must also be made of "the fellers that han'l the bones." These instruments are long, slightly curved sticks of locust-wood, and they excel any castanets which can be bought. The ability to manipulate them is undoubtedly an art practised only by a few, who are looked upon as rarely accomplished. The women are also endowed with musical talent; but they regard it as the men's prerogative, and rarely touch an instrument when their husbands or sons are present. The author has known a certain woman for a dozen years or more, and never dreamed that she could handle a bow till, upon one occasion, when much was said in admiration of her son's skill, she mentioned casually that she had n't "knowed the time" when she could n't fiddle. The tunes are very old. One fiddler, aged ninety-four, states that he is playing his great-grandfather's "pieces." They undoubtedly originated in the mountains, but it is difficult to come to any decision in regard to the words, though it is probable that they also have their origin there. Certainly "On the Banks of the Wabash," "Just One Girl," and other so-called popular airs, never reach the mountains, though upon occasion the old tunes will reappear embellished with some ornate title bequeathed by a passing stranger. As few members of even the new generation can read, it is obvious that the memory is made to retain the sound of the spoken words. Thus, in true ballad style, each man renders the same song somewhat differently, and often the same man cannot repeat the same song twice in the same way. The mountaineers object to having it thought that the songs are in any way connected with oral tradition. One woman, for example, made this remark: "You kin git 'em all in a book we've got that's got 'Nellie Grey,' 'Mollie Darling,' an' all them old songs in hit; " but the book was not forthcoming upon request, and as the woman who ventured this remark belongs to the lowest class of mountaineers and cannot read, it is probable that she has never possessed such a book. Other illiterate mountaineers delight in talking of the "ref'rence books in their trunks." They certainly own no trunks, and probably the daily papers pasted on the walls to keep out the cold are the nearest things they own to "ref'rence books," and these, of course, have been given them. Still, an allusion to "Mollie Darling" and "Nellie Grey," known quantities, as it were, is not to be despised. However, the tunes bearing these names have no resemblance to the original ones; and it is not likely that the words correspond either, though the author has never been so fortunate as to have heard them, if, indeed, they are sung. Very few mountaineers, familiar with many tunes, know the words to more than one ballad, and then they always state that they do not know it all. This further complicates the work of collecting, for a score of those persons who happen to be approached may not know the words of the song desired. It seems difficult for them to remember the words, although they hear them sung repeatedly. When the ballads are sung, they are rendered in an indescribably high, piercing, nasal head tone, which carries remarkably well, and which gathers unto itself a weirdness that compels the blood to jump in the veins. Some of the songs are coarse, considered entertaining, no doubt; but they are chiefly romantic or heroic in character, and, like the lovers' laments, here quoted in the vernacular, have as many versions as there are singers. KITTY KLINE A 1. Take me home, take me home, take me home, 2. "Oh, who will shoe your little feet, Oh, who will glove your little hand, 3. "Oh, Popper'll shoe my little feet, And Mommer'll glove my little hand, 4. "Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, I'll weep like a willer, an' I'll mourn like a dove, 5. "If I was a little fish I would swim to the bottom of the sea, "Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, etc. 6. "If I was a sparrer bird, I would fly to the top of a tree, And thar I'd sing my sad little song, . Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself. "Oh, I can't stay hyar by myself, etc. This stanza and the preceding will be recognized as belonging to "The Lass of Roch Royal" (Child, No. 76). |