#mcdowell county

Recent Acquisition - Photograph Collection

Summer in Appalachia is magical. The land simply comes to life. Summer makes me think of barefeet, slamming screendoors, katydids, lightning bugs, warm tomatoes, canning jars, swimming holes, sweet iced tea, sunning, watermelons, blackberries, flip flops, cotton night gowns, warm dirt, baseball, sun kissed faces, corn on the cob, fried squash, fresh cucumbers, guitar picking on the porch, clotheslines, campfires, and honey bees.

Sweet Summertime Memories.

•Appalachian Burial Customs & Superstitions•

Customs surrounding death have drastically changed over the last 60 years here in the mountains.

One of the first things to happen after someone died, was the tolling of the bell. The church bell would ring to notify the community someone had died. Traditionally each ring represented a year the deceased person had lived. The number of rings helped folks figure out who had passed away.

With no funeral homes, the deceased was kept at home until burial. Neighbors, friends, and family would gather at the home to comfort the grieving family. A few would stay all night “sitting up with the dead,” this is probably the most well known tradition made famous by Ray Stevens and his funny song. Although I haven’t set up with the dead, my aunt, uncles, and Granny were all laid in state at my Granny’s house instead of the funeral home. And yes some folks did sit up all night.

Folks pitched in helping prepare the body, digging the grave, and making the casket. Often a piece of rock or a wooden marker was used for a headstone. A huge difference from today’s typical funeral home process.

Filling in the grave after burial was reserved for close friends of the deceased.

There are many Appalachian superstitions surrounding death such as:

•If a bird flies in the house someone will die

•If a picture falls off the wall someone will die (how crazy is this one)

•If you hear a screech owl at dusk someone will soon die

•Death comes in 3s (3 people out of the community will die in a short span of time)

•Mirrors must be covered after a death in the house or whoever looks into one and sees their reflection will die

•Howling dogs in the night signify death

•If you dream of birth it signifies death

When someone dies-all the clocks in the home must be stopped-to prevent another death

•It is bad luck to walk on graves

•Pregnant women should never look at a corpse or it will mark the child (when my Granny died I was pregnant with the girls-and was warned over and over about this)

Appalachian Folklore, Wives Tales, and Superstitions: The lore and sayings may vary based on location, family tradition, and other factors, but this is just what I’m sharing from my experiences!

•Deaths and births always come in threes.

• Don’t throw your hair out! If a bird builds a nest with it, you’ll have migraines.

• “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.”

• If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming.

• If you’re giving someone a wallet or purse as a present, put money in it to ensure they’ll never financially struggle.

• Spirits can’t cross running water.

• Cats and dogs won’t enter a room where spirits are present.

• Carry an acorn in your pocket for good luck, a penny for prosperity, and a nail for protection.

• If you’re having nightmares, put a Bible under your pillow. They’ll go away.

• Take a spoonful of honey to keep your words sweet.

• It’s bad luck to walk over a grave.

• A horseshoe hung above a door ensures good luck.

• A horseshoe in the bedroom staves away nightmares.

• If your right hand itches, you’ll soon be receiving money. If the left itches, you’ll be paying it.

• Rubbing a bit of potato on a wart helps it to go away.

• If the soles of your feet itch, you will soon walk on strange grounds.

• Black eyed peas, greens, and/or pork and sauerkraut should be eaten on New Year’s Day to welcome good luck and good fortune.

• Driving a nail into a bedframe or crib will drive away curses.

• If your ears are burning, someone’s talking about you.

• If you dream of fish, you are or will soon be pregnant.

• Listen to the wisdom of children, they see and know more than we think.

I Am Appalachian- Tent Revivals; Flea Markets; Hog killings; the train whistle late at night; cars that stop when the dead pass; the rooster crowing as the sun comes up; getting flogged when gathering eggs; baptizing in the creek; hunting ginseng; turning the antenna outside so your Dad can see the news; rabbit ears with aluminum foil on them; dinner on the grounds; drinking from a spring on the side of the road; canning food; eating home grown food and sharing it with others that go without; frog gigging; watching a garden grow; dirt track racing; Bluegrass Music; the pain of death and the joy of a newborn baby; Thunderstorms under a tin roof; Hickory Switches you had to go get yourself; Learning to drive on icy mountain roads.

I am made up of many things; the field hand, farmer, soldier, mill worker, teacher, and many others. They have lived, loved and died in these mountains.

This is where and what I come from. I am Appalachian!

The hollers echo with the past and new,

a changing world, but roots remain so true.

For in this place, the ghosts of hard-won days, still walk the winding paths in misty haze.

And every ridge holds stories, wild and deep,