MAINE I MARITIMES FOLKLORE COLLECTION I NA 23 1

MAINE I MARITIME FOLKLORE COLLECTION ACCESSION NA 23

DEPOSITOR: Alice K. Bryant TITLE OF PAPER OR PROJECT: SUMMARY: Folklore material collected in Woodland, Baileyville (Cooper), and Lubec, in the Fall of 1959. TYPED OR HANDWRITTEN: Typed

CONTENTS LISTING:

I. Introduction -A list of informants with brief information on each.

II. Dreams -Informant: Mrs. Riguette (untitled) A dream about a young nephew moving to a foreign country comes true.

-Informant: Mrs. Riguette (untitled) A dream about a sick women and the doctor is comes true a few weeks later.

-Informant: Mrs. Riguette (untitled) Mrs. Riguette dreams about her husband being hurt.

-Informant: Mrs. Riguette (untitled) A woman dreams that the cold war is going to be very long.

III. Superstitions -If you save your hair from haircuts you will not get headaches. -The devil may have "tripped" you if you are having a bad day. -A dream of babies may bring on sickness in the family. -New shoes on a table bring bad luck. -Coming in one door and leaving by another brings a stranger. -It is bad luck to pick up your own dropped glove. -The saying "rabbit, rabbit" will be bring good luck if said at the right times. -How to use the saying "bread and butter"

IV. Anecdotes and Tall Tales -Informant: Mrs. Perkins Two old ladies try to let a horse with a check rein on drink water.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins MAINE I MARITIMES FOLKLORE COLLECTION I NA 23 2

A game of echo is played in a cove.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A man gets angry at the games his friends are playing on him.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A boy uses his coat sleeve to wipe his nose.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A doctor has a high price for house calls.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A man has a hard time getting a deer.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman is asked to prove that she shot the deer in her car.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A man, a dog and a bobcat get mixed up in a fight.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman makes a mistake with her words and ends up being made fun of.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins Report of a sea serpent in the Chain Lakes.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A country hick proves his unworldliness.

-Informant: Ross Sadler A tale of Freddy Taylor and how his joke on a man does not end up well.

-Informant: Ross Sadler A trick involving a cross chain is played on logging men.

-Informant: Ross Sadler Another trick played by the logging men with a tag chain.

-Informant: Ross Sadler About a man who loves to give jokes but couldn't take them.

-Informant: Ross Sadler A porcupine track is mistaken as a bobcat.

-Informant: Ross Sadler MAINE I MARITIMES FOLKLORE COLLECTION I NA 23 3

A story of George Magoon and his son tricking the sheriff.

-Informant: Ross Sadler George Magoon scares the sheriff with a rifle.

-Informant: Ross Sadler George Magoon outruns the fastest runner the sheriff can find.

-Informant: Ross Sadler A joke about how small Topsfield is.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman is known for getting things for nothing.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman speaks her mind to the local store owner.

V. Forerunners -Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman is forewarned of her father-in-law's departure.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A wife gets a forerunner of her husband's death at sea.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman hears three raps on her door and later learns of her husband's death.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman tries to scare her children into going to bed.

VI. Local Expressions (definitions included) 1. sitting on the steps looking for work ... 2. the wind is up river ... 3. enough mouth for two sets of teeth ... 4. so cold that we have to bring the grindstone in at night ... 5. button up a window ... 6. green front. .. 7. red front. .. 8. down homers ... 9. over the river. .. 10. put a fire on ... 11. taste all in your mouth ... 12. don't send a boy on a man's errand ... 13. some ... 14. that changes the water on the beans ... MAINE I MARITIMES FOLKLORE COLLECTION I NA 23 4

15. work a sixteen ... 16. bath ... 17. up the point, squaw town ... 18. more of something than Carter has pills ... 19. willywags and puckerbrush ... 20. put your money where your mouth is ... 21. down to the last button on Gabe's coat... 22. shit of bake a cake ... 23. using a wife first name and her husband's first name lets one know who she is. 24. we are eating high on the hog ... 25. the ice is out.. . 26. it's snowing down south ... 27. an unclaimed treasure ... 28. the devil is beating his wife ... 29. busier than the devil in a gale of wind .. . 30. busier than a one armed paper hanger .. . 31. either fish or cut bait. .. 32. he has a tongue that hangs in the middle and wags at both ends ... 33. he gets dizzy if he puts on elevator shoes .. . 34. the more you stir shit, the more it stinks .. . 35. the wheel that squeeks gets the grease .. . 36. as good as a spare pump on a dry mountain ... 37. as useless as a poop hole in a snowbank ... 38. as much chance as a snowball in hell ... 39. long johns ... 40. give away your rear and shit out through your ear ... 41. it happened before you were a twinkle in your father's eye ... 42. flatter than last years cow turd .. . 43. queerer than a three dollar bill .. . 44. as welcome as a skunk at a May party ...

VII. Mysticisms -Informant: Mrs. Perkins A woman has a strange experience at a seance.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A dream about an invitation from a teacher comes true.

-Informant: Mrs. Perkins A man with supernatural powers does not know he has them.

VIII. Miscellaneous -A rhyme about a breakfast call at a woods camp. -An old doctor had a special saying when he delivered a baby girl. .-.,-,.v( Ir r J IL.•~>·,, I · ltyv'IL:

tlttl 1 /\le( J 1 Cf' ''?tl. t 1 11 .. Z r- r 11 ••d e.,, (

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q-:, 1 I o fi ti cl 1 , ' t"··~ ''" ( 6 u1 ALICE K. ~TT >i • • I INTRODUCTION y {li I collected my stories from three sources. 23 001 (1). ---;: Frank Pe:~ · s, nee Florence Bacon. Flip ~ s she is called) was bor~ ~ n Grand Lake Stream. She is 45 years old and has lived most of her life in \'loodland. She is a great hunter and bas spent a good deal of her time with her nale relatives in the woods. She is well known as an entertaining story teller \oJhetber the story is one like thes e or just an ordinary joke . . ;_, 0 Other people can tell the same things tb&t she does a n no t ~e t 9f ~~ ur4" -- - Y'~'1Jr1 the reaction that she does. She is the inventor of many of the ftrtrJ .. local expression that we use and is never at a loss with a snappy comeback. (2) { Mr. Ross Sadler s a local farmer about 55 years old. He was born in Cooper and lived there until about twenty years ago when he bought a farm in Baileyville. He spent nine years in woods camps and was never noted as a story teller. He ·was a good natured ma,n who loved practical jokes but vias a good friend of the newer, young fellows who came in to work. He seemed to en- joy telling me the few stories that he did and only regretted

l '-y · " that he couldn't remember more but ~ias reluctant to tell any (_.' --:1. '" with any smut in them maybe because his daughter was present G:~J_){,V 1.1:;.ll'.u.-12. 1 rtu during the t _elling. He told me a few t~les abou - eorge ~goo li) , - . and remembered him and his family. He said that George was a strange man - never would stay put very long. One time he came to his grand.mother's house in the evening very hungry. She fed him and gave him a place to sleep for the night but he said that he couldn't stay and struck out again into the night. ( 3). Mrs. Violet Riguette s born in Lubec and is no·w in her late fifties. Since---- her marriage she bas lived in New York, fl.'-/. 2

Chicago and for shorter periods in other places throughout the south and west. She is a11peculiar woman who follows fads and 23 002 at different times won't eat certain foods, etc. She talks very loudly as though people were deaf. She has always claimed that she had dreams that came true and is very sincere when she says this as she definately believes this. She told me that people used to say that she only thought she had these dreams and so now whenever she has one she tells someone a bout it so that ·when it comes true she will have a witness to the fact that she fore- told it. She said that her dreams seem to reveal things and if they seem to have any meaning she will tell the people that are invomved. When I talked with her her husband attempted to cor­ rect her at different times and she quickly shut him up saying tba t she v.Jas the one that had had the dreams and tba t therefore ebe was the only one who could talk about them. He claims to be psychic and told me that be follows bis hunches about things and is alv~ys correct and gave me one example concerning the death of his mother. Needless to say they get on peoples nerves and are avoided ~hen DREAMS

1. It was during 1940 nephew vms attendine Annapolis and it was getting near the the time for his graduation. One night I dreamed that he rang my doorbell and he had come to say good-by as he was going to

Iceland. I woke with a start and it wo. s so real that I went down to answer the door. Then I realized that it had been a dream. I alwayw wrote to him andin rny next letter mentionea my dream to him. It was only a matter of a month later that he -was graduated and I got a letter saying that he was eoing to Iceland. He came to say good-by just as he did in the dream eigi1.3 . ~ and since then he has always told me to be careful what I dreamed about him as it was likely to come true. (3)

2. ~uite a few months before (!ffs. Demer8J took sick I had a dream about her. I was living at my mother's at the time. In a dream I saw a woman laying on a couch. I couldn't make out her fEJ,ce but I knew that she was a friend. But I couldn't see her face. It was all twisted. Then I sawl Dr. Crane) come in. When he was ---~ ready to go she took her pocketbook out to pay him. She took out two Liberty Bonds to pay him with and laid them on the table. Well I came downstairs and told the family and then I completely forgot the dream. I heard 1-Irs. Demers was sick and I went down to see her and happened to be there when the doc- tor came in. Now I had completely forgotten the dream and nev- er thought about it until she took out her pocketbook to pay him and took out two Liberty Bonds and payed him with them and then the dream flashed into my mind. (3)

}.. :"\. (3) as told /by -Mrs. Riguette ) f'J, '1. 1

3• My husband was working at the World's Fair managing a place. I came home here to visit and in a dream saw Ed (her husband) 004 with blood running down over his shoulder. It was aw:ful the~e93 was blood all over him and he looked dreadful. I was alarmed

2-) oO ~~ and told my mother that I should go back sooner th4n I had planned. Well, I did and nothing happened for about a week. Then one day Ed came home with blood running down all over him. He had to have fourteen stitches taken. The dish washer had come back on his day off. He had been drinking and took his spite out on Ed by hitting him on the head with a glass.(3) 4. I told my husband that this was goihg to be a long war even if it wasn't a hot war because once I dreamed I saw soldiers marching off to -war and when they came back they were old men and they had long beards. The ground was beaten down until there -wasn't a blade of grass left. I said then that it -was going to be a long SUPERSTITIONS

1. A local hairdresser told me that she had one woman customer23 005

that always saved her hair when it was cut and ~ut it into a box. She claimed that if she did this her head didn't ache, but that if it was thrown away she suffered with headaches. 2. At a local laundry I kept dropping things and finally remarked that I should have stayed in bed that day. The elderly lady that was cleaning the place said, "The devil tripped you." When I asked her where she had heard that expression she said that it had always been used in her family.

3. My mother believes that if she dreams of babies that she is 1{)/6 1 '6·~ going to hear of a serious sickness. She firmly believes this and says that it has always been this way with her. She has evellte1JLphonedeme to see if we were all well after such a dream. 4. Putting new shoes on a table brings bad luck. 5. Coming in one door and leaving by another brings a stranger. 1~1}. 5'06. If you drop your glove let someone else pick it up for if you do it yourself it is bad luck. 7. See a pin, pick it up, all the day you'lm have good luck. s. Say, "Rabbi:t, rabbit" the last thing before you go to sleep on the last day of the month and the same thing the moment you 11~'1.S ;:i...... J11 wal<:e up the next morning and you will have good luck. 9. If you are \iillking with someone and each pass on opposite sides of an object say, "bread and butter" or it will mean bad luck. ~. t{. 6

ANECDOTES AND TALL TALES 1. This was told to me by a Game Warden at a party given at:?! 006 mother's house. One of the wardens told about coming through the Machias woods and seeing two little old ladies driving a horse and buggy. The horse had on a check rein or whatever you call the things that keep a horse from putting his head down. The ladies stopped by a br.ook to let the horse drink but of - course the horse couldn't get down to the water so the ladies were trying to lift the back of the buggy to lower his head. (1) 2. There were two guides in Grand lake who used to take parties out to-gether. One wa~Beaver Ba~and the only name I ever heard the other called wa srFete - the Dan.;) They liked to play tricks on the sports when they could so one day Pete hid in the bushes near Dyer Cove and Beaver was with the sports. Beaver told them that there was an echo in this cove and they ha-haed

him so he told them to try it. One fellow yelled, "Hello there~

11 and sure enough the echo came back, "Hello there , so each of /,c...Sfflt] them tried it. Finally one guy yelled, "What're doing," and back came the echo, "Shitting you damned fool". Evidently Pete got tired of the game. (1) 3. One fellow who used to work in the woods camps was~Freddy Baker / and he was noted for being as strong as an ox. He was a little simple minded and the others used to tease him a lot. One day one of the guys kept tormenting him by taking every piece of bread that Freddy nut by his plate. He took it for a while and then said, "I think you'd better atop that." The man laughed and grab­ bed the next slice. Freddy stood up and sais,"I told you once-and I told you kindly",and with that picked him up and threwr-him out

(1) as told ~s. Perkins ) f'J, l/. 7

through the wall of the camp. Of course they were only leantos

in those days. This gave birth in my family to the use of th~3 007 expression whenever we had told anyone once to do something.(l) 4 . 'When Val was a youngster Boston was considered the outside world and anyone coming from away was spoken of as coming from Boston. One day a lady visitor stopped him on the street and started to talk to him. He was as cute as a button• After a while she noticed that one of his navy blue coat sleeves was [X J much shinier than the other and asked him why. He gave her a disgusted look , "You all the way from Boston and don't know snot." (1)

5o We were playing cards one night and the talk got around to the high price of medical care. One man told us this story of

a local doctor, who it seems was called one ni~ht after mid- night to see a patient out in the country. After be treated her the husband asked what he owed him and the doctor told him that he got twenty-five dollars for coming so far so late at night.

The farmer said, 11 That's a bit steep isn't it?' The doctor said, That's my fee." So the farmer paid him. 'When the doctor went out r- _t J71] he found that his car was mired down in the mud and slush so the farmer hitched up his horse and pulled him out. As a matter of coutesy the doctor asked what he owed him never dreaming that he'd have tp pay. The farmer said,"Twenty-five dollars' to which

the doctor replied, 11 Isn'T that a lot?" "Thats what I charge for pulling anyone out this time of night". The teller ended with the fact that he didn&t know if the story was true or not but it 11Bde a good story.

( l) as told lYTrs. Perki /'J. 'I. 8

6. Thie is a story that I have heard from many different sources. sam a local man went to work one night on the late shift after a day spent in the woods hunting. Wben asked what kind of luck2 3 00 a he'd had he told this tale. I hadn't been out very long this morning when I saw a deer. I sighted him and fired. He went down and I went up and started to tag him. As I was fastening the tag she got uo and took off so I followed. I tracked that deer for moat of the day and finally saw her in a clearing at the foot of of a snall rise. I got ready to fire at her again when I heard shots and saw her fall. Two hunters came out of the woods below and walked up to ber. I yelled at them and they waited till I caught up with them."That's my deer"I said. "Wbat do you mean"

one of them said, "we just ,shot her". "Well, that's my tap: on her" I said. One of the guys looked and sure enough there was

my tag. "It 1 s your tag alright and if your quick enough to tag ~x] her before you shoot her you can take the G.D. deer. 7. This is a true story that took place in Woodland about 15 years ago and I remember hearing about it at the time but have not been able to verify the names of the game warden or the hunters. Many women have hunting licenses but not many of them ever go in to the woods and the first time that they know that they shot a deer is when their husbands bring it home. One night the game warden stopped a car carrying a deer at the junction of routes 1 and 9. The tag declared that it was killed by the woman in the car. The v.ia.rden showed hie disbelief of her even being able to shoot the gun not alone kill a deer so asked her if she'd-show him that she could. He v.ia.s so confident that he put his own watch on a tree as a target. She v.ia.sn't a very good shot but luck was with. her and she made a direct hit. He never again asked a woman to prove that she had shot her own deer. ( LcclN.ctl<-£ 8. My father and grandfather were out once running a trap line up in Grand lake Stream. They had Dad's hound dog with them and !S 0 0 9 they were going along the dog tangled with a bob-cat. Grarnps t}4 J-41 ~~ ; thought a lot of that old dog, (he was an erratic old devil ~~~~

anyway) so he went up and grabbed the cat by the scruff of the ~ ( ~ neck and Dad stood back and watched to see what ·was going to happen. Finally he said, "Frank, you want me to help you hold him?" Gramp said, "J-----C------no, come help me let go of him." ( 1) A 9. When the rich sports started coming to Grand lake some of the local people tried to impress them with the fact that they weren't country hicks. One girl in particular was forever try- ing to impress them and one day while she was out hunting she met up with a party of New York doctors that were there for the first time. In passing the time of day with some casual con- X J versation one of the doctors said what beautiful country it was and what a wonderful place it was to bunt. Trying to build up her home town she said, "yes, it's the most wonderful hountry

to cunt in. 11 (I don't know but what she was right) After a long 1-760 J moment of silence the laughter burst forth and she said that if there had been a hole around as big as a beechnut she would have crawled into it. (1)

10. I can remember my fa th er telling me a bout the the time years ~ 30 ~ J ago that there was a sea serpent reported to have been in the Chain lakes. He said that it left an imprint in the ice that two men could skate up abreast and it v:a s thirty feet from hump to bump. (1) 11. A man from out in the country was in a local store one day and the clerk asked how his large family was. He said that his oldest boy had gone away looking for work, "Yes sir he' a gone up to Boston to find something and if he doesn't find a nyt hing ~ 'dal:: Sti~

there he's going right on to Massachusetts." 12. Did you ever know(l;~·..:.He was a widower, used to 2 3 01 a \ \ 1o10 "" live in Woodland. Well you ite there ain't no such thing as a

9ro~Hnhaul. This Freddy was yardin logs in the woods and a young fellow came in to work with him. He thought he'd be smart and told the young fellow to go into camp and get a cross haul. So the young fellow he goes into camp and hunts all around and can't seem to find it. So the boss sees him and says, "What are you in here for?" Freddy sent me in after a cross haul." "You damned fool there ain't no such thing." So he fires the young fellow. Two or three years later the young fellow happened to be back in again and meets Freddy and says, "Is this Freddy Taylor?" And he recognizes the young fellow and he says, "No, this is his brother•i "You son of a bitch - youlook enough like him to be him." And he drawed off and pasted him. (2) X J 13. We used to play tricks on each other out there and we used to like to get out in the woods ahead in the morning. Some of us would sneak out and unfasten one tag chain (a chain that crossed) on the sleds. When a fellow comes out and·puts his horses on they'll start hell bent for election out the loggin road and the hind sled would either go off the road or knock the feet out from under another team. (2) 14.When they come in at night as they leave the yard where the logs are piled all the crew wants to ride in on the teams and the teamsters think they shouldn't haul those fellows back to camp cause the horses have worked hard all day so they let the tag chains way out to the last link. As the men are settin on the hind bunk the teamsters start the team in a trot for camp and

(2) as told 15(. -Ro~s Sadle~)

...... _~ - t;. '/. I/ when the tag chain comes tight it yanks the sled from under the crew and they're settin in the road. (2) C)~ 011 15. Mort liked to give a joke but couldn't take one. We was haufil'f'g wooa and came to a sidelin place and Mort's sled was off the ) 1..1J8 J road and he makes a big slew in the road. So the next morning ,.- the boss sends a couple of men down to fix the road and put a side log and skids in to build it up. We was in waiting to have dinner and one fellow hollered, "I see the road monkeys built a board fence to keep that guy in the road." Mort was sittin on one deacon's seat opposite me and he never cracked a smile though everyone else just about split laughin. (2)

16. The way it start ea was George and Wilsie was cuttin logs way out back. As they was comin in to dinner this day they see these tracks in the snow across their pa th so when theycame into camp they said they had seen a bobcat. So they was tellin it while we was eatin dinner. So there was one fellow there that had a hound and he thought he'd earn a good days pay if" he got that cat. So he asked the boss for the afternoon off. He runs out to his place about a half a mile after his dog. He gets back a puffin and a pantin with the sweat rollin do·wn his face with the dog and those cord wood cutters take him out and show him the track. Instead of being a bobcat it was a porcupine. He was nadder than bell. (2)

17. I a skea Mr. Sadler if' he'd ever heard the story o~ Geor P""..e C~and his son tricking the sheriff and this is ·1t1a t he said. The way that happened was-they tried to catch him - him andd his son was in the barn. They see the sheriff comin so the son

says, "You stay here fa th er and I' 11 run for the woods. That

(2) as told y os s Sadleri was Frank. George sticks his head out the barn winda and hol- lers to his son and says, "Run, father, run". So they followed 23 012 the son half way down to the woods and the sheriff says, "You ain•t(-George :Magoon~- -- Iyt was tougher than a bag of hammers. He could go a week without anything to eat. (2)

18. I don 1 t know what the hell he had done but George Magoon was up on the edge of the field cuttin wood. Seems as though what ever he'd done they had the sheriff come up to arrest him. And

the sheriff got up there and George had ste~ped around on the back side of a brush pile. And the sheriff said, "You'd might as well give up this time- we've got ya". George said, "We'll see

about that". He reached down and picked up a rifle so 1'.fr. Sheriff took himself back home and left George cuttin wood. Scairt the sheriff almost to death. That's a story they told. There might not be a bit of truth in it. (2)

19. Seems as though they had G. }~goon up for - be shot a deer I guess - and they couldn't ketch him and be we.s workin in the woods and in order to ketch him they sent away and had a runner (fa st runner) come. And as he was workin in the woods - he was limbin up a spruce tree - and this runner stepped up to the butt of the tree and George was at the top. And the runner says, "You might as well quit I got you now". George dropped his axe and took off on foot. He went so fast the runner never see him again.(2) ~ J 20. Around this area they tell of the tourist whostopped at e. \~DO store in Topsfield and asked where Topsfield was. The answer that he received was- "Don't move a G D inch.

I ' . 21. There was a lady who used to live near my mother who w-as

noted for getti~g things for nothing. At one time she went in ( (2) as told b~ Roes Sa dl ei to Canada, bought a fur coat and charged to another lady. The coat was delivered to her and later the owner of the store came to collect for it. He went to the home of the lady to whom it 2 3 013 was charged and discovered that he had gone to the wrong party. He inquired around and found out the identity of the buyer and went to collect his money. She refused to pay for it and he threatened to sue her for the price of the coat. Her answer was, "Go ahead, who brought it over"? ( 1) 22. I can remember mearing another story about the same lady. Of course she had a shady reputation but none the less was liked by everyone. You couldn't help but like her - she always spoke her mind and if you didn't want an honest opinion it didn't pay to ask her. She awed everyone in town too. One day she sent one of her children to a local store on an errand and the kid came back to tell her that the owner wouldn't give the items. So she got dressed and went down herself. It was noon time and there was the usual crowd hanging around in the store. She asked the

owner why he hadn't given the ~rticle to the child and be re- torted that she hadn't sent any money with the child. Her answer to that was, "No I didn't because I didn't have it, but if I had climbed in that back window of yours as often as you've asked me to I'd have it". With that she turned and walked out.(1)

(1) as told by s . Perk i ns ) ./ '3. 't . /4

FORERUNNERS 23 014 L. My husbands father was an old man and very odd and therefore hard to live with. He was a wretbhed person and gave me a hard time. One night when he was making his home with us, I went out for the evening and came home about ten thirty. The house was . sO quiet as everyone had gone to bed. Just after I got into bed I e"lol ../ ~,J 73 .1.~ heard three raps on the glass of the storm door. I spoke to my b/(l~,J.1] husband and told him to go down stairs as there ·was someone at the door. He said that there was no one there as he had heard

them before I came home and had gone down to look. Soon we both 0/k'I cJ heard them again. I was troubled and wrote to my sister who was

then living in Auburn. She told a friend of hers who is also a medium and he told her to tell me that it was the old man's >?'7J.'3, ~] wife letting us know that be would soon be leaving us. A month later he came at me with a knife and slashed rny face after which he ·was taken away to a mental hospital. (1)

2. This happened to my great grandmother who lived in Ship FBrbor, Nova Scotia. Her husband was a ship's ca-ptain and was avray on a

voyage. About the time that he was due home he a-ppeared at the door of their house three nights running. But when she ·went to

let him in be wasn't there. She later heard that it was during

this time tbat he was lost at sea. (1)

3. There is a woman still living a few miles from here whose hus-

band worked the night shift in the 1.'loodland mill and she would lock herself in while he was gone. One night she heard someone

pounding at the door three different times. I.ater~ that night

she was told that her husband had been killed on the block pile.(l)

(1) as tola b rMrs . Perk ' n l !tuJo~ .,;- / _; ( d ~J../ A, .J).uw/? -; i f' ~ · ·Cl!·:. JJS, ~- -1--L _/~ ~ ~'-U.. ruY ~ /~ )~ I (j ttJJ..' 1.( fut .(A.L u ~ 4 )'J..;..U ~ ~:I.P7 'I-~ --7~....X- ;:J~ ~~ - 7~ ~ ~'f' ~ ,c. .-rJ4f-. 4. My mother used to spend some time with her sister Alice who 11 ved in Grand Iake Stream and one night she went up to stay 2 3 01·5 over with her. Alice had a lot of youngones and had quite a time getting them to sleep at night. She used to try frightening them into going to sleep by rapping hard on a table and saying that it was the boogey man after them. Thie night my mother told her that this was awful and to stop doing it. rater that night they heard a loud noise outside and went to investigate. No one was ther and there were no tracks in the snow. It scared them both and my mother told Alice that this was a warning not to scare the kids anymore. (1) 5.

~ (1) as told h. -rre. Perkins ) r;. 'I. 1'6

Local Expressions l.'sitting on the stepsJ.(looking for work-1- has always been uee

16. 'bath'- the natives to this area ahrays speak of going to bath a child rather than bathe them 17. 'up the point'-' squaw town'- refers to the Indian reservation 18. •more of something than Carter has pills'- an abundance 'JJ'".,,_,J 19. 'willywags and puckerbrush'- a town even deeper into the woods l'J. 'I . 17

20. Put your money where your mouth is - if you want to bet put ;J~.,/J._. up your money. -v 21. Down to the last button on Gabe's coat - Down to the last 23 017 dollar. · 22. Shit or bake a cake - make up your mind. 23. On Deer Island N.B. there are so many people having the same names that they designate who they mean by giving both husband's and wife's name. To point out that they mean a friend of mine they call her Nellie Byron which means the Nellie that is mar­ ried to Byron. This way they distinguish those with identical names. 24. We are eating high on the hog - means tbat money isn't con- sidered when buying groceries this week. 25. The ice is out - out of Grand I.ake 26. It's snowing down south - your slin is banging r . 27. An unclaimed treasure - an old rrBid

28, The devil is beating bis wife ~ snowing with the sun out

29. Busier than the devil in a gale of wind - very busy

30. Busier than a one armed paper hanger - even busier ~ · 31. Either fish or cut bait - make up your mind 32. He has a tongue that hangs in the middle and wags at both ends - talks a lot 33. He gets dizzy if he puts on elevator shoes - afraid of heights 34. The more you stir sh-- the more it stinks -let sleeping dogs lie 35. The wheel that equeeks gets the grease -if you ask often enough for anything they'll give it to you to shut you up

36. As good as a spare pump on a dry mountain ~ useless 37. As useless as a p--- hole in a snowbank - pretty useless (/"\.- ~ .. ~~ ., 38. As much chance as a snowball in hell - not much of a chance ~· 39. Long Johns - long underwear ~ • 23 018 40. Give away your rear and s--- out through your ear - give any thing that you have: a·way

41. It happened before you were a twin~le in your father's eye - before you were born ~-

42. Flatter than last yea.rs cow turd - very flat

43. c:;,ueerer tban a three Clolla.r bill - very ocld ~-

~4;. As welcome as a skunk at a May party - most unwelcome f'J. '/. /e; MYSTICISMS

1 . I was visiting my sister Ealoner in Auburn one time and ehe23 01J took me to a seance. It was a billet type where you wrote your J question on a piece of paper, folded it and then put your init­ ials on the out side. There was another lady in the hall that night who had a brother named Karl in the Gestapo but I didn't know her. When the medium read your initials you put up your hand. He read this other woman's name and she put up her hand. He said, "A name comes to me. It is short, one syllable. It's a name I've never heard before". He thought for a long time and and then said that the name had an L in it. The other lady said that she had a brother Karl but he said that that wasn't the name. "Someone speaks this name over and over, won't be quiet." He put his head in his hands for a while then looked up and said, "Flip" and asked if that name meant anything to her and she said

Dt~ro J that it didn't. I raised my hand and identified mysel;f and· he asked if I had written a question and I told him that I had. He

said that maybe he'd get the meaning of this when he came ·to my

question. When he read my initials and I raised my hand he said; "Hello Flip, your father couldn't wait his turn". Flip is a name that my father gave me when I was just a baby but my sister doesn't use it and it had never been spoken or written at that meeting. (1) 2. I dreamed one night that Jack's teacher sent for me to come to ~ _Ot&/0 1 '& J school because he wasn't doing as weill as he should be. I saw Judy coming in the door and telling me that Linda wanted me to come that afternoon. The next afternoon I was ironing when Judy

came home saying that she had a message for me. su~e enough Linda

(1) as told )r:; Mrs. ~e~~~~ e J "-- fj. L/, ~o

was asking me to come up to school. By the time I got there

she had gone home so I went down to the house and before sh~ 3 (}:? 0 could tell me why she had asked me to come I told her. She wae amazed because she said that she hadn't even decided to ask me until just before school got out. (1)

3. My sister in Auburn has a friend who seems to be possesed with

a supernatural power that he doesn't even realize. I was visit- [?18"10] ing one time when her boy Kenny had an attack of asthma. He was all chokedCup with it. This man dropped in to visit and asked

for the boy and v..ra-s told how he was. My sister went out to make some drinks and after he got his he seemed to go to sleep in the chair. Suddenly he slid off the chair onto the floor and sat cross legged like an indian. "Bring me the papoose." She went and got the boy and sat him in his lap and he started rubbing Kenny's back with the strangest circular motions I've ever seen. Then he started to wheeze and the wheeze started to leave Kenny. Finally Kenny was breathing normally and my sister put him to bed. Slowly the wheeze left this nen and after a while he seem- ed to ·wake un and all that he said vms, "I must have fallen asleep." (1) • /.A).;-< ~ ~v- • . "" '7 c.1' .~ ~ /AP" .. .._ 4 ..- CtrQ#'"'' .n.~ ~~ l a ~ [t;..vU , AJV ,r}./.,,.., 1 ~ h .. VfV--'l () ~ \\ , ~ ,,~ ~ n p~ V\)J (f eef ... y ~ ..yr g 4

Aubt1Y1\

(1) as told by :.rs.--- l'erki s "--- I}, '1. 2/

MISCELLANEOUS BREAKFAST CALL AT A WOODS ·C.Af\IP 23 021 Six on the clock Bean on the tabe Rise and shine Up and at them Daylight in the swamp.

When olhd ~ . Jo5 delivered a baby girl be used to tell tbe woimn who assisted him that it didn't have a teapot but that she .i7(jo j bad a wonderful place to put one.