an’ de sun beat down on ‘im, an’ beat down on ‘im, an’ beat down on ’im, fer th’ee er fo’ days, ’til it baked ‘im as ha’d as a brick.  An’ den a big win’ come erlong an’ blowed a tree down, an’ it fell on ‘im an’ smashed ’im all ter pieces, an’ groun’ ‘im ter powder.  An’ den a big rain come erlong, an’ washed ’im in de crick, ’an eber sence den de water in dat crick’s b’en jes’ as yer sees it now.  An dat wuz de een’ er po’ lonesome Ben, an’ dat’s de reason w’y I knows dat clay’ll make brick an’ w’y I doan nebber lak ter see no black folks eat’n it.”

My wife came of a family of reformers, who could never contemplate an evil without seeking an immediate remedy.  When I decided that the bank of edible clay was not fit for brickmaking, she asked me if I would not have it carted away, suggesting at the same time that it could be used to fill a low place in another part of the plantation.

“It would be too expensive,” I said.

“Oh, no,” she replied, “I don’t think so.  I have been talking with Uncle Julius about it, and he says he has a nephew who is out of employment, and who will take the contract for ten dollars, if you will furnish the mule and cart, and board him while the job lasts.”

As I had no desire to add another permanent member to my household, I told her it would be useless; that if the people did not get clay there they would find it elsewhere, and perhaps an inferior quality which might do greater harm, and that the best way to stop them from eating it was to teach them self-respect, when she had opportunity, and those habits of industry and thrift whereby they could get their living from the soil in a manner less direct but more commendable.

Superstitions and Folk-Lore of the South

During a recent visit to North Carolina, after a long absence, I took occasion to inquire into the latter-day prevalence of the old-time belief in what was known as “conjuration” or “goopher,” my childish recollection of which I have elsewhere embodied into a number of stories.  The derivation of the word “goopher” I do not know, nor whether any other writer than myself has recognized its existence, though it is in frequent use in certain parts of the South.  The origin of this curious superstition itself is perhaps more easily traceable.  It probably grew, in the first place, out of African fetichism which was brought over from the dark continent along with the dark people.  Certain features, too, suggest a distant affinity with Voodooism, or snake worship, a cult which seems to have been indigenous to tropical America.  These beliefs, which in the place of their origin had all the sanctions of religion and social custom, became, in the shadow of the white man’s civilization, a pale reflection of their former selves.  In time, too, they were mingled and confused with the witchcraft and ghost lore of the white man, and the tricks and delusions