North Carolina Folk-Lore Society
, BY CATHERINE ALBERTS ON
The first annual meeting of the.be laughed to scorn. The inanv
North Carolina Folk Low 8ocie
; ty, wan held at KaJelgh on Eaut-
er Monday, April JUtli 1913.
Bj folk-lore ia meant "that bo
dj of oral traditiou which inland
ed down by word of mouth from
one generation to another." And
this Hociety baa for. its purpose
: ' , the preservation by publication,
in the "North Carolina lteview,"
"The Journal of American Folk-
- Lore," and a volume of ' Annual
Proceedings of the North Curoli
' ua Folk-Lore Society'' 'such ma
terial as Is mentioned in a letter
, Kent out by the organization com
mittee shortly before waster won
dax, which will be found at the
: close of this article.
The Folk lore of the countries
of the old World has been the
basis of . many of our greatest
literary productions. The tradi
tions juf Ancient Greece as found
in these greatest epics, the Iliad
and 'Odyssey: the legends of au
; cient Itonie; the story of Cinder
- j ella so beloved by children of all
'ages and natures; the beautful
"Norse myths, the lovely Irish
fairy tales are all outcome of the
folk of those various countries.
While the wondrous stories of
baushee and brownie, demon and
dwarf, gnome and geni, elf and
fajr that filled our childhood
days with delightful, if somewhat
. fearsome . expectations of some
day encountering one , of these
mythical beings, all have descend
ed to us from such remote an
tiquity that they .'seem to be the
.common heritage of the human
me. . " v -
, Banish these marvelous tales
from the literature" of the world
and how" much the poorer we
should be? With what bed-time
t stories could mothers beguile the
; little ones? What would the
children do without those airy
, creatures of the imagination
with which the wondrous child
-world is filled? What facts of
history or science could ever com
pen sate them for the loss of those
beloved playfellows? And with
' what sad, reluctant leave taking
.. would fawn and fairy, goblin and
gnome, elr and troll part from
their lttle mortal friends !, How
mournfully would the I beloved
Uncle Remus shake his grey head
' and totter away from the little
boy and his friends, followed sad
ly' by Brer Fox and Brer Wolf,
I - and. all these merry comrades of
wood and field.,
. And but for the fact that writ
ers of various ages have rescued
1 from oblivion these beloved tales
and traditions, the world of to
day would be deprived of the mul
; titude of charming, stories that
' tor generations have beguilded
both children and grown ups of
all nations. - - ;
Lest the old tales and siiersii
, tions beloved and held in honor
b our grandparents should"' be
destroyed Wfore the steady inarch
i of civilization and the way of ed;
ucntional progress now sweeping
oyer our state, a number of the
best known and most highly eul
tared men and women in North
.Carolina have organized a North
Carolina Branch of the National
Folk-Lore Society.
- Such old wives tales, ghost sto
ries, superstitions, and beliefs in
r strange omens and curious cures
as the society wishes to collect,
' are numerous in our state. On
the isolated sand banks of our
- coast region, ,iu the secluded
mountain coves . of our western
counties, among the many rural
districts of a country whose! far
mers and fishers and sturdy moun
tameers have for generations liv
ed "far from the madding
crowd s ignoble strife," , he old
stories of strange and "supernat
ural creatures ond occurrences
. brought byrourancestorsfrom
' their homes across the sea, are
still told by the winter fireside in
these simple homes. The grand
-dame still brews her potent com
pound for the cure of diseases
which the dwellers in cities con-
- aider cases for a trained nurse,
or hospital fees. The farmer
till waits for certain phases of
the moon before planting his seed
and herbs. And the love-lorn
maiden steals by night to the cot
of the village wise-woman to .beg
jl. mystic potion wherewith- to
win the lad on whom she has set ;
ier heart. j j
But It a few
years
railroads, the automobiles, the
liural deliveries, the motor boats
all factors in the spread of civi
lization and sophistication, will
so occupied in keeping up with
the marvels of this marvelous age
that the things thought ' wonder
ful by our forefathers will fail
to thrill the children of the fu
ture. The aeroplane will frighten "a
way the Ariels of our childhood
days, the elf will be outdone by
electricity, no witch or wizard
can compete with the miracles in
working magic: the miracles of
fairydom will give place to the
wonders of radium, and the ge
ni themselves despair of working
deeds as miraculous ' ns those
wrought by the genius of the
Twentieth Century inventor.
The old stories held dear by
our forefathers will sum be en
tirely superseded - by the fairy
tales pf science. The old omens
and cures the ancient signs and
symptoms all stand in danger of
wing, utterly forgotten. There
fore the 'members of the Folk-Lore
Society have banded together for
the purpose of collecting from-ev
ery available-source the folk-lore
of our state. And in order to
help the society in its eonimenda
We work, the newspapers in ev:
cry county are asked to .invite
their readers to write down any
such material of their kind which
they may happen to possess, and
to send it to the proper authori
ties.
The Advance will srladlv re
ceive any such contributions, and
will see to it that the stories
reach the Secretary of the Socie
ty-
And in order that our readers
may know just what contribu
tions are desired, a circular let
ter published by the Society is
printed below
- The Detail of the Report Are,
in nnvj o jouows:
; 1. Name. The Society, which
wilKbe a branch of the American
Folk-Lore Society, finall be called
the North Carolina Folk-Lore So
ciety.-
2. Dnes. The annual dues,
payable in advance, shaH be one
nonar a year for annual mem
bers, and three dollars and a half
for Journal Members (thdse who
pay $3.50 will receive the Jour-
nay of American Folk-Lore and
will become at once members also
of the American Folk-Lore Rocie
.1. Meeting. The first annual
meeting shall bff held in the Sen
ate chamber in Raleigh on Easter
Monday, March 24th 1913, when
professor George L. Kittridge, of
Harvard University, one of, the
most distinguished scholars in A-
merica, will . deliver an address
on folk-lore. .;
4. Members. Any citizen of
the state shall le eligible to mem
bership on the. payment of one
dollar, and all who send their
names. and dues to the acting sec
retary, Frank C. Brown, Dur
ham, North Carolina, before
March 24th 101.1 ' shall become
charter members of the Society
and shall so be enrolled.
C. Purpose. Folk-lore is that
body of oral tradition which is
handed down by word or mouth
from generation to generation .
North Carolina is particularly
rich in popular lore, and it is ex
tremely important that such ma
terial be saved ere it is extremely)
For Sal
Bridgeport 6 1-2 Horse power Harine
Engine Good as new, has never had any
hard service Perfect running order.
Now installed in my launch. Has a
Schfebler ' Carburater , and a Wizard
Tlaffneto Will sell whole outfit to the
party sending first check for 75.00
O. F." ALBERT
terial as is still available should
be saved before it has been entire
ly forgotten. The North Caroli
na Folk-Lore Society shall have
for its purpose the preservation
by publicaton In the North Caro
Una Review, the Journal of the
American Folk-Lore, and a vol
time of Annual lroceedings of the
North Carolina Folk Lore Socle
ty such material as is' mentioned
among the following items:
(a) Customs such as those con
nected With planting, harvesting
crops, and slaughtering animals
(b) Children's games.
(c) Signs and superstitions
connected with the weather.
(d) Cures used by the. country-
people for various diseases ; su
perstitions regarding shrubs,
plants and trees. .
(e) Unusual social usages, such
as throwing rice arid old shoes at
a newly married couple.
(f) Stories of local celebrites
and queer characters; place le
gends. '
(g) Unusual words; peculiar
dialectual forms.
( h ) Popular tales. esjeciallyi
those connected with "spooks',
"ha tits", witches, and witch and
conjure doctors.
(i) Jokes, proverbs, and rid
dles. I
(j; Ballads and popular songs.
C. Those Who can Serve the
Society. It is by no means nec
essary that the collector be a
trained folk-lorist. Many per
sons throughout the state will
doubtless be glad to contribute
from their memory or observation
local superstitions and traditions
and thus save them from obliv
ion. To these the society will
look for material and on these it
will depend to preserve the tra
ditions of our state.
REDUCTION IN COST
To paint the woodwork of a
room one coat of L. & M. Semi-
Mixed Real Paint Use one quart
of paint , made by mixing 1 part
of turpentine with two parts of
L. & ,M. Semi-Mixed Real Paint,
cost K f 36
The painters labor costs
about " . -75
Total costs 1141
Compare this with the cost of
ready mixed paints. But for out
side painting add 3 quarts of lin
seed oil to a gallon of tne u.
M. Semi-Mixed Real Paint. This
will make 1 &4 gallons of the
best paint costing about 11.40
per gallon.
Sold by
D. M. JONES COMPANY
FOR.SALEIBY
J. B. FLORA SCO.
ELIZABETH CITY, N. C.
FAICY PATENT )f J
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TYPEWRITER
A great many claims are made
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writers. This issoniething any
one can test. Take a rod of
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Smith & Brothers typewriter will
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Multiply this quarter of an
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HERBERT PEELE Act.
Elizabeth City, X. C.
Norfolk Southern
Railroad
Route of the
NIGHT EXPRESS
Schedule in Effect January 7th.
N.B. The Following schedule
figures published as information
ONLY and are not guaranteed.
TRAINS LEAVE ELIZABETH
CITY (
South Hound
10:53 P. M. Daily for Raleigh
Pullman Sleeping cars for Ral
, eigh, Goldsboro-and interme
diate stations.
11:35 A. M. Daily for Raleigh,
Coldsboro, and intermediate
stations. Pullman Parlor car
for Raleigh.
0:22 A.M. Daily for Norfolk
. and intermediate stations.
2:00 P.M. Daily for Norfolk and
intermediate stations.
2 :10, P.M. Monday. Wednesday
and Friday for Suffolk.
For further Information, apply
to F. L. Garrett, Ticket Agent.
Elizabeth City, N. C.
W.A.WITT
GenT. Sup't.. .
W.W.CROXTON
Geni. Pass. Agl
NORFOLK, VA.
- f Or. ' " -m n 111 nCTIK!
L. C. Smith & Bros. Typewriter
In buying a typewriter you want a satisfactory answer to three questions:-
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By answering these queries with the needs of the typewriter owner and user In
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Some people think that's typewriter is a typewriter and that is all there is to it. Machines may.
look alike out there is a lot of difference in efficiency.
. The new Model Fire is built not only for straight correspondence but
for tabulating, hilling and ia fact for every service needed in the
average business. -. r ': ,'-
Its ball bearings it all points where friction developes through action,
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Write for free book of oar new Modet Five.
. C. . SMITH & BROS. TYPEWRITER CO.
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oooo
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N R. PARKER SON,
I The Real Estate Men 5 Bee Hive Bldg
WE ARE PLEASING
Of people with bur smooth
edge collars plus tie space
attached, a trial will con
vince you that we are im
proving all the time.
See our delivery man
phone us, or bring yourr
Laundry in person either
of the three just so we gcCi
it . ,A
ALBEMARLE STEAM LAUNDRY
lLARRY ENNIS SKINNER, Prop.
Corner McMorrine and Matthews Street.
II PHOTOGRAPHS'
Don't wear the children out taking them
shopping around town. . before you have their
PICTURE TAKEN. Go to the Studio at once
on your arrival in town before they get fretful;,
and clothes toil d. i '
ZOEULBR'S STUDIO
v Poindexter Street " Elizabeth City,N C.
its
(Bait Bearing Long Wearing)
LOTS
'Phone 125
ins
i
si
way by service
Norfolk, Va,
.1
7
time,' all
ions will
6
11
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