Hide Article Text (OCR)
Sarasota SceneFlats. BammitsAndBLOWING BOCK. N. C-Snow-ahoe-sized tracks leading uphill from a point oo the Linvilleroad were identifable as being neither animal nor human so it was suggested to a native inhabitant that theae Blue Ridge Mountains might harbor their ownatominable snowman.“No” .the native said soberly. “I don't think its that Himalayas critter, but it could be that time are the tracks of a Gardenil or a Flat or a Bammit or maybe aBe hinder We’ve got all them in these mountains. By this recital of names theresident of these hills opened the floodgates of mountain superstitions — a portion of Americana which is dying all too rapidly.For the outlander it can be explained that this Gardenil is a huge and dreadful critter who can puff himself up to look just like a mountain cabin and he eats very well indeed during spells of weather of the type which has prevailed here for the last month.All the Gardenil need do is make like a cabin and perch on a hillside to await a weary .storm-driven traveler who is in search of warmth and refuge. The traveler will then walk into the inviting cabin and when he passes through the door he actually passes through the mouth of the carnivorous creature and Into its stomach .And that’s the end of the wayfarer.The Flat is an interesting and deceptive beast who looks exactly like an outsized white rug It thrives in weather like this sinceit easily camouflages itself in the white snow drifts ..When a passerby steps on the creature it wraps itself around the unfortunate and the end result is strangulation. Our informant was not certain whether the victim was then eaten or not.Brammits are hairy beasts with flapping ears, a long nose and curved tusks. The hill folk report it looks much like an undersized elephant with a mule's hide and hair. There is reason to believe it will dine on small children — at least old grandmothers say this is so — but it is not as feared as Brammits, Flats, Gar-denils and Behinders.That Behinder is an interesting critter because no one has the slightest idea of its appearance. Its name stems from the fact that it creeps up behind people and immediately devours them. No one has ever survived an enBy STAN W1NDHORNcounter with a Minder so naturally there have been no reports of its appearance.These and many other mountain superstitions linger through this area and they deal with nearly every phase of life. One we are still trying to understand is the business of cancelling names. It is supposed to divine true love between boy and girl, but the manner in whiefi it actually operates still remains a mystery. Either we were unable to comprehend the jargon of our informant or we cannot understand simple arithmetic — very likely the latter.A boy and girl print their names on a sheet of paper and then they cancel wit like letters. For example: If the letter “S” appears in both names the twoletters are crossed out or erased. When this cancelling has been completed the remaining letters are supposed to foretell the course their young love will take. We fail to comprehend the intricate method for reading the “signs” left by the remaining letter*. WmPopularity of, this superstition (now it’s no more than a game) is indicated by a look into the school text books used by youngsters in this region. Most of them contain evidence that this cancelling game has been played many times over by present and prior users of the books.Less common in the pursuit of true love is the “dumb dinner” which was once a favorite pastime of mountain girls. Girls who still practice this custom will meet after dark in a mountain home or cabin. There they will set a table with knives, forks, spoons, plates and cups — everything exceptThen a silent girl stands behind each chair. At some pre-arranged time the candles are blown out and the girls continue to stand in the dark. Eventually each girl is supposed to be able to see a ghost-like figure sitting in the chair before her and this will be the man she is destined tomany.It must be pointed out that these and many other tables and customs are mere folklore, for mountain people of today are not naive, superstitious hillbillies. Their religion is rarely of the shouting, rolling, snake handling variety and a majority of the young people have attained at least a high school education.ST:Such superstition* they mightpractice are generally concernedwith some phase of nature andwe are not entirely certain thatthey are not right. They still plow, plant and harvest according to phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac.When talk turns to other superstitions concerning witches.Blade Arts, bats and curses a middle aged man or woman will smile and recall that an Id grand-mother told them such stories while sitting around the hearth on winter night* like these.They suspect that some peoplestill believe in such things just as they concede that there are still some inhabitants of the Blue Ridge who ably qualify as Snuffy Smith or Chick Webb versions of hillbillies.The reason they know that there are still “typical” hillbillies in the Blue Ridge is that the genuine hill folk, whose ways have not undergone noticeable change in the last 200 years, are the ones who suffered the leastduring continuing snowstormswhich have isolated countlesshomes and hamlets.In recent years the one-time hillbilly has motorized himself with a (now useless) automobile and he has spent about as much time in town as he spends on the “back 40.” Power line* (now down) have been strung through many rural sections and unpainted cabins contain electric stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, water pump* and television sets. It has become a custom to forget old arts of canning and preserving foods and abandoned veg-table cellars are playhouses foryoungsters. There has been (he weekly drive to town and the supermarket and the larder is seldom filled for more than seven days at a time.These people — these moderns have known suffering and hunger during the month in which roads have been impassable.However, the true hillbilly whose wife fills shelves with canned goods, a cellar with vegetables, buys flour by the barrel, meal in 100-pound sacks and cooks on a wood burning range is doing just fine. He’s eating high on the hog, toasting his toes on the door of an opened oven« sleeping in a warm bed and having no worries whatsoever about the state of the plumbing. Hedoesn't care if it keeps snowing until the Fourth of Jiihr.
Newspaper Details
Sarasota Herald Tribune
Sarasota, Florida, US
Thu, Mar 24, 1960
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Kevin S.
CA 27 Dec 2021
Other Publications Near Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota Herald Daily Tribune
Sarasota Herald Sunday Tribune
Sarasota Herald
Sarasota Journal
Sarasota News
