Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia

by Carrie Hunter Willis; Etta Belle Walker

When a boy was twelve, he had his own small rifle and pouch and was made a member of the fort. He was given a certain port hole through which he took careful aim. He was often allowed to go with older men on hunting trips if he had proved himself worthy to be "among men."

Dancing as we know it was unknown, but few ever enjoyed anything more than those boys and girls did dancing their jigs and reels. Their music was simple and singing was something both old and young enjoyed to the fullest. Story-telling was an art then, and year by year, old, old tales grew longer and longer and Jack the hero, always conquered all the giants.

There was witchcraft in the Valley too, and when a crow or calf died or was sick, the owner often thought a witch had shot it with a hair ball or with some kind of curse. When a man lost his cunning in his once good aim, he was sure some one had put a "spell" on him. Some actually believed men were changed into horses and after being bridled, they were ridden all over the countryside. Many men thought this was why their bones ached and they felt too tired to work their farms.

The men who did strange things were spoken of as wizards. Some called them witch-masters, and these claimed they could stop the mischievous work of the witches and cure baffling diseases.

When a child was born with a frail body, or developed rickets, it was often thought to be caused by the spells of someone unfriendly to the family.

If one would get rid of the witch in his neighborhood a picture of the supposed witch was drawn on a board or on a stump and shot at with a bullet which contained a bit of silver. This bullet, if it struck the picture, was thought to put a spell on the witch.

We may smile at the thought of those superstitions, but few of us, if we are honest, will not admit that we have one pet superstition just as foolish as those referred to above.

Kercheval tells us how difficult it often was for the farmer to retain all of his crops. There were so many animals, like the squirrels and raccoons, which liked their grains. Storms would come and huge trees would fall on their fences, letting their horses and cattle get into the fields.

He makes us realize how difficult it was to procure the necessities of life. Where, for instance did they get the mills with which to grind their grains, where the instruments with which to make their farming implements and their household cooking utensils? Who were their weavers, their shoemakers, tailors, tanners and wagon makers? Of course there were none, for each farmer and his family had to rely on what they could do with their own hands or what they could trade to some neighbor in return for something done for him.

The first mills or hominy blocks were made of wood. A block of wood about three feet long was burned at one end, wide at the mouth and narrow at the bottom, so that when the pestle hit the corn it was thrown up and as it fell down to the bottom it was mashed. Gradually, each grain of corn was ground to a like size. When the corn was soft, as it was in the Fall, this grinding made a fine meal for mush or "journey cake" as they called this form of bread. However, this was slow work later on when corn got hard.