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Virginia folk legends

Thomas E Barden c1991 © University of Virginia Press

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ISBN(s)

9780813913353 (paper)
9780813913315 (hardcover)

Subject

Folklore

Citable Link

Table of Contents
Stats

Frontmatter
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (page XIII)
INTRODUCTION (page I)
ANIMALS (page 31)
- 1. A Horn Snake Kills a Cruel Mistress (page 35)
- 2. The Child and the Snake (page 36)
- 3. A Black Snake Chokes an Infant (page 37)
- 4. A Black Snake Squeezes a Girl's Body (page 37)
- 5. The Walking Rattlesnake (page 38)
- 6. A Race with a Panther (page 40)
- 7. The Bear and the Panther (page 41)
- 8. The Eagle and the Baby (page 43)
- 9. Cats Feed on a Corpse (page 43)
- 10. Daniel Boone's Dog Thrasher (page 44)
- 11. The Faithful Dog (page 46)
- 12. The Good Watchdog (page 47)
- 13. Solomon the Wise Horse (page 48)
BEGINNINGS (page 49)
- 14. Why Negroes' Hands Have White Palms (page 54)
- 15. Why Butterflies Was Made (page 55)
- 16. Why Colored People Work for the Whites (page 56)
- 17. The Man in the Moon (page 56)
- 18. The Origin of Gypsies (page 57)
- 19. Disobedient Sammy (page 58)
- 20. How Vote Buying Started in Wise County (page 59)
- 21. Why the Buzzard Is Bald (page 60)
- 22. The Legend of the Dogwood Tree (page 61)
THE CIVIL WAR AND EMANCIPATION (page 63)
- 23. James Bowser, Emancipation Hero (page 69)
- 24. Henry ("Box") Brown: Mailed to Freedom (page 71)
- 25. A Confederate Spy (page 72)
- 26. A Premonition of Death (page 73)
- 27. The Curse of the Carbine (page 74)
- 28. A Yankee Drinks from a "Poisoned" Well (page 75)
- 29. A Young Girl Shoots a Yankee (page 76)
CONJURE AND WITCHCRAFT (page 79)
- 30. A Conjuror's Revenge (page 86)
- 31. A Slave with a Magic Hoe (page 88)
- 32. The Conjuror's Beck (page 88)
- 33. A Witch Rode a Girl to Riceville, Virginia (page 89)
- 34. Devil Bill Boggs (page 90)
- 35. The Witch Tree (page 91)
- 36. Montague and Duck Moore (page 93)
- 37. A Silver Bullet for a Witch (page 94)
- 38. Witch Mountain (page 96)
- 39. A Witch's Gun Charms the Woods (page 98)
- 40. Aunt Lucy's Bewitched Cow (page 99)
- 41. Cooking a Witch's Shoulder (page 100)
- 42. A Conjured Girl Tries to Jump into the Fire (page 101)
- 43. A Witch Gets Caught in a Store (page 103)
GHOSTS (page 105)
- 44. The Quaker's Gold (page 110)
- 45. Midnight Annie (page 112)
- 46. A Ghost Makes a Couple Argue (page 112)
- 47. The Headless Ghost of Griffith's Wife (page 114)
- 48. Nancy Loveall's Ghost Pounds Coffee (page 115)
- 49. The Old Plantation Master's Ghost (page 116)
- 50. Converted by a Ghost (page 117)
- 51. The Old Woman of the Pies (page 119)
HAUNTED HOUSES (page 121)
- 52. The Ghost That Squeaked the Door (page 124)
- 53. The Ghost's Little Finger Bone (page 125)
- 54. The Ficklin Field Haunted House (page 127)
- 55. A Civil War Haunt in an Old Log House (page 128)
- 56. The Dancing Couple (page 129)
- 57. Ghost Chains from a Logging Accident (page 131)
- 58. A Confederate Soldier in a Haunted Room (page 133)
- 59. The Haunted House of Saunders (page 134)
- 60. The Praying Ghost of the Old Barlow Place (page 136)
- 61. The Slave Trader's Haunted House (page 138)
INDIANS (page 139)
- 62. The Ten Indians (page 145)
- 63. The Women Who Married Indians (page 146)
- 64. Distrubing Indian Graves (page 148)
- 65. Indians Kill a Pioneer Family (page 149)
- 66.The Indian Who Lived in a Cave (page 150)
- 67. Two Indians Killed with a Boulder (page 151)
- 68. The Friendly Old Hog (page 153)
- 69.The Indian Boiling Pot (page 154)
- 70. Cry Baby and Your Mammy'll Come (page 155)
- 71. Indians Come down the Chimney (page 156)
- 72. Indians Capture a Bride on Her Wedding Day (page 157)
LEGENDARY PEOPLE (FROM THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FILES) (page 159)
- 73. Henry Armstrong, de Forgin' Man (page 163)
- 74. Bill Cabell, a Badman at de Bar (page 165)
- 75. Judge John Crutchfield: "Justice John" (page 168)
- 76. How Railroad Bill Chased Himself to His Girl's House (page 170)
- 77. William Wydeman: Peacock and the Soldiers (page 173)
LEGENDARY PEOPLE (FROM THE ANGLO-AMERICAN FILES) (page 177)
- 78. Daniel Boone's Tricks on Indians (page 181)
- 79. Ira Roberts, the Strongman (page 182)
- 80. Molly Mulhollun, the Cabin Builder (page 183)
- 81. Major Mike Wallace (page 185)
- 82. Booker Mullins, the Bear Fighter (page 186)
- 83. Thomas Jefferson's Manners (page 187)
- 84. Jonny Appleseed (page 188)
- 85. Gowl James, the Human Ratter (page 189)
- 86. Doc Taylor's Walk with Riley Mullins (page 191)
- 87. How Doc Taylor Got Named "The Red Fox" (page 192)
MURDER AND VIOLENCE (page 195)
- 88. A Strange Light at a Murder Site (page 199)
- 89. The Murderous Tavern Keepers (page 200)
- 90. Killing an Unwanted Infant (page 202)
- 91. Scaring the Widow (page 202)
- 92. The Robinett Death Hole (page 203)
- 93. A Murder Belief Solves a Crime (page 205)
- 94. A Strange Funeral (page 208)
PLACE-NAMES (page 211)
- 95. How Dragon Run Got Its Name (page 216)
- 96. How Bloody Branch Got Its Name (page 217)
- 97. How Champion Swamp Got Its Name (page 218)
- 98. How Haddix's Branch Got Its Name (page 219)
- 99. How the Bull Run Mountains Got Named (page 220)
- 100. How Mother Leather Coat Mountain Was Named (page 223)
- 101. Hickory Gap and the Hickory Gap "Church" (page 224)
SIMON KENTON (page 227)
- 102. How Simon Kenton Left Home (page 231)
- 103. Simon Kenton's Growing Tree (page 232)
- 104. Simon Kenton's Exploits (page 233)
- 105. Simon Kenton's Indian Wife and Family (page 234)
- 106. Simon Kenton's Indian Disguise (page 235)
- 107. Simon Kenton Traps a Brandy Thief (page 237)
SPIRIT DOGS (page 239)
- 108. A Devil Dog Comes for a Slave Owner (page 243)
- 109. Two More Devil Dogs (page 244)
- 110. The Death Dog (page 245)
- 111. The Warning Dog (page 246)
- 112. A Spirit Dog Causes a Broken Toe (page 248)
- 113. A Devil Dog in the Path (page 249)
- 114. The Ghost Dog on Indian Creek (page 250)
- 115. The Dog That Turned to Rags (page 251)
- 116. The Ghost Dog on Chinquapin Hill (page 252)
SUPERNATURAL EVENTS (page 255)
- 117. Dogs Chase an Invisible Creature (page 258)
- 118. The Boat That Would Not Move (page 259)
- 119. The White Dove: A Dead Wife Returns (page 260)
- 120. Jack-ma-Laterns: Lights in the Woods (page 262)
- 121. The Cat Woman (page 262)
- 122. The Murdered Man's Hat and the Melted Snow (page 264)
- 123. The Disappearing Old Gray Horse (page 265)
- 124. The Haunted Woods (page 266)
- 125. The Fiddler of Peter Cave (page 167)
- 126. The Shower of Stones (page 268)
- 127. The Black Cat (page 271)
TREASURE (page 273)
- 128. Ocean-Born Mary (page 277)
- 129. The Two Pine Trees (page 279)
- 130. A Gold Hunter Finds a Ghost (page 279)
- 131. The Sign That Pointed to Gold (page 281)
- 132. The Beverly Diamonds (page 282)
- 133. The Story of Swift and His Compass (page 283)
- 134. A Spirit Dog Guards Swift's Mine (page 284)
- 135. The Old Woman Who Found the Silver (page 284)
- 136. Swift's Silver Mine (page 286)
UNUSUAL EVENTS (page 287)
- 137. A Smallpox Epidemic: A Curse on Whites (page 290.)
- 138. How Cox's Snow Got Its Name (page 292)
- 139. A Scar Identifies a Slave Woman's Husband as Her Son (page 293)
- 140. The Old Negro That Flagged the Train (page 294)
- 141. Dick the Slave Boy and the Wolves (page 295)
- 142. Murder at the County Line (page 298)
- 143. The Woman Dressed in Black (page 300)
- 144. The Boy Who Turned Wild in the Woods (page 301)
- 145. The Wild Girl (page 302)
- 146. The Man Who Ate Live Meat (page 303)
- 147. Roast Cat for Breakfast (page 304)
- 148. The Naked Bull Ride (page 305)
- 149. Caught in the Graveyard (page 307)
- 150. A Man Dies of Earwigs (page 308)
NOTES TO THE LEGENDS (page 311)
- Appendix A. VWP Workers (page 339)
- Appendix B. Legend Tellers (page 340)
- Appendix C. Counties Where Legends Were Collected (page 344)
- Appendix D. Places Where Legends Were Collected (page 346)
- Appendix E. VWP Workers and the Counties Where They Collected Legends (page 348)