If you hear the noise of the chase
Going down the stream
Then run up the stream.
If you hear the noise of the chase
Going up the stream
Then run to the high mountain,
Then run to the high mountain.
118. Baby song, to please the children (p. 401): This song is well
known to the women and was sung by both Ayâsta and Swimmer.
119. When babies are born: The wren and the cricket (p. 401): These
little bits of Indian folklore were obtained from Swimmer, but are
common tribal property.
120. The Raven Mocker (p. 401): The grewsome belief in the "Raven
Mocker" is universal among the Cherokee and has close parallels
in other tribes. Very near to it is the Iroquois belief in the
vampire or cannibal ghost, concerning which Schoolcraft relates
some blood-curdling stories. He says: "It is believed that such
doomed spirits creep into the lodges of men at night, and during
sleep suck their blood and eat their flesh. They are invisible"
(Notes on the Iroquois, p. 144). On one occasion, while the author
was among the Cherokee, a sick man was allowed to die alone because
his friends imagined they felt the presence of the Raven Mocker or
other invisible witches about the house, and were consequently afraid
to stay with him. The description of the flying terror appears to be
that of a great meteor. It is a universal principle of folk belief
that discovery or recognition while disguised in another form brings
disaster to the witch.
The "diving" of the raven while flying high in air is performed by
folding one wing close to the body, when the bird falls to a lower
plane, apparently turning a somersault in the descent. It seems to
be done purely for amusement.
121. Herbert's spring (p. 403): The subject of this old trader's
legend must have been one of the head-springs of Chattooga river,
an upper branch of Savannah, having its rise in the southern part of
Jackson county, North Carolina, on the eastern slope of the ridge
from which other streams flow in the opposite direction to join
the waters of the Tennessee. It was probably in the vicinity of the
present highlands in Macon county, where the trail from Chattooga
river and the settlements on Keowee crossed the Blue ridge, thence
descending Cullasagee to the towns on Little Tennessee.
126. Plant lore (p. 420): For ceremonies, prayers, and precautions used
by the doctors in connection with the gathering and preparation of
medicinal roots, barks, and herbs, see the author's Sacred Formulas
of the Cherokees, in the Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, 1891.
Violet--The Onondaga name signifies "two heads entangled," referring,
we are told, to "the way so often seen where the heads are interlocked
and pulled apart by the stems" (W. M. Beauchamp, in Journal of American
Folk-Lore, October, 1888).
Cedar--For references to the sacred character of the cedar among
the plains tribes, see the author's Ghost-dance Religion, in the
Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, part 2, 1896.
Linn and basswood--The ancient Tuscarora believed that no tree but
black gum was immune from lightning, which, they declared, would
run round the tree a great many times seeking in vain to effect
an entrance. Lawson, who records the belief, adds: "Now, you must
understand that sort of gum will not split or rive: therefore, I
suppose the story might arise from thence" (Carolina, pp. 345-346,
ed. 1860). The Pawnee claim the same immunity for the cedar, and
throw sprigs of it as incense upon the fire during storms to turn
aside the lightning stroke (Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories, p. 126).
Ginseng--For more concerning this plant see the author's Sacred
Formulas, above mentioned.