Family Tales of a Kentuckian
by Herbert Halpert and John Jacob Niles
Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Aug., 1942), pp. 61-71
It's mixed up-- I don't remember- another damn bit-- and I can't get it in my mind. There was something about a.trail of blood or something. I don't know when the cats left. Seems like there's some thing about shaking hands.; Seems as though this man at church-- they started to shake hands and they held a hand behind,, and he said, "No, I don't shake hands that way" --something there about leavin' the place.
I can't remember what the outcome. . . Seems as though she screamed in a woman's voice. Anyway he. drunk the rest of his rum that night.
I tried to piece it together-- but oh, a fellow could do that but it wouldn't be the story. I s'pose, I coulda built that up, but it
wouldn't be right I know.
I never did care much about witchery stuff--I don't believe it and it just isn't funny to me. These remarks come in, but I don't know how they come in, There's two or three things you can think of, but you can't get it clear. I can't just figure out the true words of that story.
(This is Motif G 252, Witch in form of cat has hand cut off; also compare Motif D 702.1.1, Cat's paw cut off t woman's hand missing. The editor was unfortunately unable to refer to what is probably a very full list of references by Archer Taylor.in Modern Philology, XVII, 59, note B. Gardner, p. 74, gives a text and in note 139 a long list of references. To these add: Randolph, pp. 37-38; Wilson, Folk-Say, 1930, pp. 166-67; PTFLS VII (1928), 132-34, and XI (1933), 96; JAFL VII (1894);
115; XII (1899), 68; XXII (1909), 251-52; XXXV (1922), 283-84; XXXVIII (1925),. 354-55; XLVII (1934), 296; LI (1938), 52. Also compare! FL XXXVII (1926), 166; Folk-lore- Journal ; I (1883), 53-54.)
Indiana university Herbert Halpert
FAMILY TAIES OF A KENTUCKIAN
Mr. John Jacob Niles, well-known Kentuckian folksong collector and concert artist, was a guest locturer for two weeks in July, 1942, at the Stimmer Institute of Folklore at Indiana University. He was kind enough to dictate to the editor the interview and the stories which follow. They were secured in two separate sessions, several days after Mr. Niles first told the stories, as he explains, to one of the Institute classes. Those who heard them at that time will be interested to note the differences between the two renditions, and to have Mr.. Niles' explanation of why he does not have one fixed form for the stories. The editor has supplied only titles and notes and the pleasant labor of taking them down. The material which follows is in Mr. Niles' own words.
NOTE: These tales may not be reprinted without the express permission of Mr. Niles and of the Hoosier Folklore Society.
"I have been actively engaged in the enterprise of writing down folksong, folk carol, folk ballad, and folk nursery rhymes for the last thirty-six years. I have been performing them to continental and American audiences since 1927. I am a complete amateur in the field of folktales, and really am more of a teller of folktales--not a collector at all. In fact, people have said my life is becoming a folk legend. "When I came to the Folklore Institute at Indiana University this summer, I encountered the very Interesting first number of the Hoosier Folklore Bulletin. On studying this delightful publication I realized at once I'd been telling Kentucky and family versions of the same tales as long as I have been able to tell anything. I offered to tell these tales to Dr. Stith Thompson's class on The Introduction to Folklore, and was delighted to discover that even educated folklorists there interested in these rambling Kentucky variants. It was only one step from Dr. Thompson's classroom to the pages of this Bulletin.
"I tell these stories continually. They're a part of our regular daily life at home, and I am called upon by visitors to repeat them
over and over again. Whenever my three brothers and I get together, these stories are sure to be told, arid particularly the ones concerning my father; And after all these years of re-telling, we laugh at them as
heartily as ever?as.if they were brandsfresh tales. They grew like
Topsy?all of a sudden we would find ourselves repeating a yarn, and
after a Yrhile the form of the s.tory would become crystallized?and pre
sently it would be an admitted portion of the family saga.
"Father's stories concerned carpenters and politicians and
jail-houses and the sheriff's office. That Yras usually his locale. He
delighted in outdoing bailiffs and process servers, and the legends con
cerning his life by his four sons today?the legend grovrs and grows. In
fact, he is quite candidly credited Y/ith things that happened years after
he died (1922). He becomes the convenient peg on which the folktale is
hung?because he's the kind of fellow who, had he been handy, Yrould cer
tainly have done the kind of things he Yras credited with.
"I never tell them in quite the same way, and oftentimes tell
them about different people, interpolating new names and locations. My
reasons for this are hard to explain. I believe it is an attempt on my
part to prevent the yarn from becoming stale to me?because, after all,
if the yarn seems stale to me, I could never tell it Yrith any enthusiasm
to somebody else,
??A11 the boys in the Niles family take great/delight in teasing
their mother. This perhaps is the reason for insisting there is a re
lationship between my mother and the Ebenezer Leaksaps of Pulaski County.
As far as I can tell, there never Yrere any Leaksaps in Pulaski County
there may never have been a Leaksap in any county, but we put 'em in. I
have been encouraged to tell these tales in foreign countries, and all
over the United States of America."
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1. The Dog With The Screwed-Down Nose
Now this man Ebenezer Leaksap, who is one of my mother's tore
down relatives in Pulaski County, was a great hunter. And as he grew
older,- he wanted to reach out into new fields and hunt bigger game. He
had hunted stink cats, rabbits, squirrels, 'possums, and weasels, but
at 55 he had a great yen for huntih' bears. So Ebenezer went out to
hunt himself a bear-huntin' dog.
He went everywhere, all over the county. He went all over the
adjoining counties lookin' for suitable dogs. None of them seemed to
fit his requirements. Now don't get the idea that Ebenezer wanted a
free dog. He was willin1' to pay up to a dollar and a quarter for the
proper animal. One of his principal requirements was strength and
bravery. The next most important requirement was' that the d?g have
large nose holes so he could smell the bear quickly*.
Finally, after he had almost given up hope ?f findin' the
proper kind of dog-animal, after the price had risen from a dollar and a
quarter to a dollar and fifty cents, a man at the back end of Pulaski
County sent in a message that he thought he had the animal Leaksap was
a-seekin'. Next morning, bright and early, Ebenezer hot-footed it over to
examine this fabulous hound, and at first sight was" more than delighted.
The animal was obviously powerful, energetic, mean, and brave as a lion.
But on close observation Ebenezer's sperrits fell. Said he, "Mister,
your dog won't do. He's big enough and he looks brave enough$ but he
has that unfortunate failing in common with so many of his kind, namely,
he has them tiny nostrils. Vihy, his nose-holes is so small, he couldn't
smell a bear if he was in the cage with him.'"
But the owner of the*dog answered Ebenezer saying, "Don't
decide too quickly, Mr. Leaksap. His' nose-holes may look small to you
now.- There's a wrench goes with that dogJ I've got his nose-holes
screwed down for squirrel hunting!"'
?Everywhere I,go in the mountains the people ask for that yarn
about the dog with the screwed-down nose. The bigger the yarn, the better
those guys love it. There is something about all spoofing those fellows
delight in.
2. A Hot Fight With A Bear
Once upon a time there was a man a-walkin' over the Sugarlands
not a fur piece from Gatlinburg. He was a-walkin' along by himself.' He
didn't have no friend with'him?he didn't have man or woman-person.* As
he got to that-little plateau on the highest end of the Sugarlands, hit
was near dark?and it was scarey. He was walkin' through a part of the
woods where woodchoppers had been workin'. They'd been takin' out pitch
pine to be cut tip into long thin strips of kindlin' for Yankees. First
they'd cut out the big trees, and then they'd quarter 'em up, and then
64
they'd eighth 'em,and finally split 'em down into little pieces like lead
pencils and tie 'em in tyundles,. put 'em in. freight, cars, and send 'em to
New Jersey?where they sold 'em for more than they Yrere worth.
Now as this man was a-walkin' along, he .looked up,- and all of
a suddenty there was a b'ar. Hit was a big b'ar. Hit stood as tall as
a man and much wider. The man realized, he was in a tetchous position.
He looked at the bear and the bear looked at Mm?and he knew the bear
didn't mean him no good.
Now this man Yras not carryin' -a gun-rifle nor a pistol. He
didn't even have a good pocket-knife. But bein' a very resourceful ,
fellow, he reached around for a long hunk of pitch pine, and as the bear
advanced on him?mouth open and claws. out?he began to belabor the bear
with the hunk of pitch pine. The bear fit, and the man fit. The bear
clawed the man, and the-man whacked the bear. To be truthful about it,
the man beat on the bear so hard and so fast that he het up that piece
of pitch pine so hot that the rosin melted, ran down the stick, trickled
on to his arm, found its Yray down to his elbow?and drapped off onto the
ground.
?I always thought the "story never ended properly; you never
know what happened to the bear. I heard it in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
(This lying tale is interesting for its careful building up
to an anti-climax.)
3* ?The Fish In The Stable
That story Yras told to me by Dr. Funkhouser of University of
Kentucky. These two men?-Dr. Funkhouser had been tryin' to get 'em to
help him dig up-some Indian relics?and they'd been pretty lazy about
it. And they turned about to tease the.good professor with a tale
about their fishin'. They said:
One of 'em would say, "Oh, the fishin' down-here's v/onderful."
Other Yrould say, "Yep, that's right." "Not very long ago I threw my
bait over the side and a fish come along, took bait, hook, line, sinker,
pole and all?and just went away with it." The other fellow'd say, "Yep,
that's right." "A little while later Yre was out here fishin1 one day,
and Yre took in ten Mississippi spoonbills?they weighed 40 pound apiece?
nearly swamped the boat." And the other feller says, "Yep, that's right."
Said, "About three months ago I caught a- catfish nine feet long. Had
great big brown- eyes?just as pretty as you please." The other fellow %
says, "Yep, that's right." The .feller said, "I was gonna whack him on
the head"with a boathook, but he looked at me'so pathetic-like.I couldn't
do it." Other-fellow said, "Yep, that's right." "So I just made a little
harness out of some: strings ? had here in the boat, and I drove him right
up on to the bank, and into the stall beside my coYr. And I just fed that
fish on hay." And the other old fellow says, "That's right."
65
And he turned to his friend and said, "How long did I have that
fish in my barn feedin' him on hay?" ?rWhy,
" he said, "must've been five
or six weeks?et a power of good -hay," He said, J?I finally thought I'd
breed that fish to my big jack, but my wife objected to it*" And his
friend says, "Why, you know that's a damned lieJ You can't make the
professor and myself believe anything like that !"
(This fits under Motif X 905, Lying Contests. For stories of
harnessing big fish see Ericson, SFQ V (1941), 115j N.J> Guide, p. 129j
Thomas, pp. 59-61. Compare also, this Bulletin, p. 16. Add: Hoosier
Tall Stories, pp.. 11-12.)
4. Shingling On Fog
Father told it in his lifetime. He had this excellent carpenter,
and particularly was he skilled at shingling roofs. He could handle a
?hingle-preacher more accurately.and more rapidly than anyone in the
?ommunity. ?The preacher is a tool for locating the next row of sliingles.
?One morning they were shingling up to the comb of the roof?th? ridge-?
and they wanted to get it done before lunch time. And father encouraged
this carpenter to move along a little faster so they could eat lunch.
About that time up come a fog. Hit was the pure-thickest fog
they'd seen in that country in years. Father was standing on the ground
waiting and wondering what had happened to his roof shingler. He knew
he had only a few more shingles to lay. He kept hearing him drive and
drive and drive, and he wondered what had happened. He called up to him
and said, "Pete, what are you up to?".. Well, he said, "Mr* Niles, I'm
a-shinglin'." Father looked up and thought he'saw the body of th? car
penter right over his head layin' shingles. Father got himself a ladder
and climbed up to see what had happened. On arriving at the edge of the
roof he realized the fog was so thick that his prized shingler had shingled
sixteen feet of the fog.
(For variants see Hoosier Tall Stories, pp. 7-8? C. Carmer,
Listen For A Lonesome Drum, p. 379^ Sandburg, p. 88j Shephard, p. 183$
Thomas, p. 63j ThompsonDrum, p. 379^ Sandburg, p. 88j Shephard, p. 183$
Thomas, p. 63j Thompson, .pp. 134., 272j and from Delaware County, N. Y.,
in Halpert ms.)
5. The Dangerous Mosquitoes
A legend Yre hear around Reelf oot Lake in southwest Kentucky
and northwest Tennessee?the state line runs through the middle of the
lake.
Mosquitoes down there are so big that they are said to fly away
with small children occasionally. They got so bad one year about the
turn of the century that a smart young feller from Sewanee came over there?
a "bugologist" they called him?and he crossed the big mosquitoes Yrith
lightning bugs as a protection for the people who lived on the perimeter
66
of the lake. In this way the human-person could see the big mosquito comin'
with his tail.all lit up, and get himself a two-handed hickory club,and
protect himself.
(Huge insects belong under Motif X 1021, Lie; the great animal.
For a text and references on mosquitoes flying away with human beings,
see this Bulletin, p. 49.)
S. Turned Out Of His Skin
That has to do with a man?he was a-huntin' for a coon to get
the skin to make a hat. He just didn't happen to have his gun-rifle with
him, and he happened to come on a very handsome big black coon. Now this
coon was sitti-n1 there asleep?dozin' . Eyery now and then this coon
would open up his mouth?-*yawn. . The man just waited, and 'long come a
time when he yawned a pretty good-sized.yawn, and he just rammed his
hand right down the coon's throat and grabbed him by the tail and turned
him inside out. The coon was very surprised, so he just shook off his
skin, ran away to his winter quarters to grow another one. And the man
took the' skin and made himself a nice-pretty hat.
?That came from the neighborhood I am in now?Clarke County.
(For an Indiana text and references to turning an animal out of
its skin, see this Bulletin, pp. 14-15, and Miinchiausen, p. 36. This
text, however, has combined with a form of another Munchausen yarn, Type
1889, Motif 911.1, Man turns wolf inside out. For the latter see M?lnchausen,
pp. 41-42 (wolf); Boggs, JAFL XLVII -(1954T/S16, No.- 47 D (panther);
Indiana Guide, p. 121 (bear); Halpert ms. from New Jersey, (bear).
7. The Breathing Tree,
There's a bee tree on the "side of Boone's Creek?hit's a
sycymo '. Has a large hole in one side about 20 feet from the ground?
hit's a large tree. Through this hole the wild bees come and go. It's
a very large beehive of vdld black bees?the meanest kind of bees; they'll
sting the skin offa you. And they got so numerous some years ago that
there wasn't room enough inside for all.of 'em?some of 'em had to sit
on the outside of this bee hole. When Yrinter time came, they all managed
to get inside and find room to hibernate by breathin' in rhythm. They'd
exhale and inhale in such a way as not to crovrd one another too much.
But if you watch carefully, you could see the sides of the sycamo' bulge
out Yrhen they inhaled and go back to its normal size when they exhaled.
We proposed to cut the tree down and rob the honey, but the
bees are so mean nobody has the nerve to try to smoke 'em. Boone Creek
is the outside edge of my land for a quarter of a mile.
(For Indiana variants and a Tennessee reference see this Bulletin,
pp. 14, 52-53.)
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8. The Poisonous Hoop-Snake
Pegleg Pete was walkin' along in a little swampy piece of
country near Pond Creek one day?that's- the southern end of Jefferson
County, Kentucky?when he saw a horned hoop-snake rollin' for him. Being
well informed in snake lore, he realized that this was a very dangerous
moment, but he was unable to get out of the path of this vicious reptile.
But his mind?cutting like a buzz saw?prompted him to take the blow of
the poisonous horn on his peg-leg. The horn naturally stuck in the leg,
and Pegleg destroyed the snake promptly. But the pizen was so potent
that'the wooden leg swelled up to enormous proportions. Pete started
out by whittlin1 it down to keep it within its normal size, but whittlin'
was ineffectual. He finally got a hand ax and chopped away three
bushels of kindlin' and two hard piney knots before the thing stopped
swellin'.
?I think the piney knots are the best part of the story.
(For Indiana variants and a list of references see this
Bulletin, pp. 18, 52. Add: Puckett, p. 43; Sale, pp. 55-56; M. A. Owen,
Voodoo Tales, New.?ork.and London, 1893, pp. 246-53.)
9A. The Remarkable Razor
This man Yras set upon by a big bear. And the man habitually
carried a large and very sharp razor for social purposes. The bear
made a pass at the man, and the man.grabbed his razor and made a pass
at the bear. The bear smiled and said, "You think you did me some harm,
don't you?" The man said, "I did do you some harm, but you won't know
how much harm until you go to move your head!"
?The sneeze is also used in some cases: "Until you go to
sneeze." I've known it ever since I was a small child. That's
Jefferson County, Kentucky.
SB* The Remarkable Razor
A Negro soldier is combatting a German soldier in the first
World War. The German soldier is fighting with a bayonet and the
American Negro soldier is fighting with, a. razor. The German makes a
pass at the Negro and misses him. The Negro makes a pass at the German,
and the German laughs. He says, "HaJ HaJ You missed me, didn't you.?"
And the Negro says, "You think I missed, don't you? But your jugular
vein knows better. Just wait till you try to turn your head."
?That was current in the A.E.F. ?everybody knows it. He
sometimes uses a bolo instead of a razor, and sometimes instead of turn
ing his head, he says, "Just wait till you sneeze."
(Compare these stories nvith The Disastrous Sneeze, this Bulletin,
p. 22.)
68
10. "I'm The Biggest Liar"
The season is July?early August. Two men meet on the road.
One of 'em is obviously a local farmer named Charley. The other one is
a dressed-up sort of a fellow who is very inquisitive. On being en
couraged, the farmer begins to talk bit about his ability as a hunter.
The dressed-up one says, "Well, so you are a great hunter, are you?"
The farmer says, "I see you don't know me! I'm the greatest partridge
hunter in all these parts." The other -man"says, "Yes? How many partridges
did you get?" "Oh," he says, "I shot thirty-six yesterday morning."
The dressed-up one says, "Do you know exactly who I am?" The
farmer says, "No." The dressed-up one says, "I am the state game warden."
Says the farmer, "In that case, Mister, I am the goddamdest liar in Clarke
County."
?It must be remembered that partridges are out of season in
August *
(For a text and references see this Bulletin, p. 22. Add:
Hoosier Tall Stories, pp. 10-11.)
11. "Daddy's Got A Hat On"
Man come along, says, "Little Ben, where's your daddy?" Says,
"Daddy's in the hog yard a-feedin'. You can tell him, 'cause he's got
a hat on."
?That's been known since the beginning of time as far as we're
concerned.
(This would belongto the motifs on the humor of ugliness,
between X 130 and X 200.)
IS. Owl's Hoot Misunderstood
My brother was walkin' through the forest long after dark?
rather a small boy, he was. All of a sudden someone said (this is said
rapidly) "Who! Who! Who are you?" The little boy kneels down and says,
"Good Lord, I didn't do it. It's only little Leland Niles."
?He tells it on himself. My mother tells it on him," too.
(This belongs, under Motif J 1811.1,- Owl's hoot misunderstood?
Although this might seem like a purely local tale, there are New Jersey
and Pennsylvania variants in the Halpert ms. Compare the story and re
ferences on p. 28 of this Bulletin.)
69
13* IM Cora And' The Cfr.oys
It has to do with a very rich man, who was a great miser, who
had a powerful yield of corn one year and no one else in the neighborhood
had any, and he wouldn't give his neighbors any corn to make their bread*
He made a powerful corn-crib to keep his corn in, and it was good and
solid with the exception of one small hole 'which passed unnoticed. A
crow found this small hole in the corn-crib, and brought his friends and
his friends' friends, too, and'carried away the miser's corn, a grain at
a time, till there was no thin' left but cobs.
'
?This is what comes of
bein' a miser.
?I think it's my mother's story. It's told for the moral's
sake.
(This apologie seems to be related to the Endless tales in
which corn is taken away a grain at a time. See this Bulletin*, pp. 33-34.
Add: Lanctot, JAFL XLIV (1931), 262 j Lambert, Barbeau, Daviault, JAFL
LIII (1940), 157.)
I4* The Ring On The Corpse
This concerns the World War No. 1. Young man and young woman
in love vrith one another decide to get married at the end of the Yrar.
Some time during the summer of 1918 the ?iar Department announces the
death of the young man?killed on the battlefield of Chateau Thierry.
There is great grieving. The young woman is not consolable.
Some time In December of 1918, to the great delight and con
sternation ?f the family, the young man appears. His reported death
seemed to have been an error. The young woman is in a transport of
delight. The families hold a great feast. There is drinking and dancing,
and the marriage is planned foi1 the next day. As the young man leaves
that night, she gives him a ring which he put on the little finger of
his right hand.
The next day dawns,'marriage guests arrive, but the groom is
missing. In fact, he is never seen again.
Some time in April of 1919,. the Graves Registration Bureau of
the. United States Army Yrrites the parents of the young man, and announces
the. fact that his body mil arrive in" Louis ville, Kentucky some time in
the next week. His body does arrive, but before it :is finally interred,
the coffin is opened, and the ring is found on the little finger of the
young man's right hand.
?I think that's one of the most tragic and at the same time
dramatic things I've encountered in all my days.. It began to appear,
as ?ar as I can tell, about 1935 and '6 in Kentucky. I've heard it
70
applied to Clarke, Jefferson, and Fayette counties. It's a version of
The Suffolk Miracle, Child Ballad No. 272 A.
(This is related to Type 365, The Dead Bridegroom Carries off
his Bride. See Motifs E 215, E 361, etc.)
15. The Mysterious Race Winner
Harrodsburg Fair at Harrodsburg, Kentucky?they have a county
fair of considerable Importance with horse races, and visitors come from
all over the country to visit the Harrodsburg Fair. About five years ago
a colored man entered a very fine trotting mare in the trottin1 races.
At the time the entry was made no one paid any particular attention to
the mare's name.
The day of the race arrived, and the colored man with his mare
and a very fancy sulky trotted out on the track for the three-heat com
petition. When the race was.over, the colored man had won two out of
three heats very nicely?without even pushin' the mare. He started off
to the stables with the mare?and nothing was ever seen of either the
driver or the mare again. After some weeks of waiting to pay him off his
prize money, it was discovered that the mare had died fourteen years
before.
?This was told me by a porter in one of the Harrodsburg
hotels, and it's claimed to. have happened five years ago, and twenty
five years ago, and just at the turn of the century, by different people
in the co??miunity.
(This belongs.under Motif E 300, Friendly return from the dead.)
16. The Witch-Deer
There was a young man was in love with a young woman down there
in Jefferson County. They'd been "talkin1" for about a year, and the
young man thought it was., time to declare his intentions and marry up with
the girl. And the girl thought so too. Well, as soon as the boy's
mother realized the seriousness of the situation, she began to use all
kinds of little subterfuges to prevent the boy from goin' to see the girl*
The young feller, bein1 a self-willed boy, Tient anyhow? but, on approach
ing the girl's house he would discover a large deer blocking the pathway,
and for some time he was unable to pass the. deer and visit his sweetheart.
This went on for about a month. The boy mentioned it to his
friends and they told him the only thing to do was to mold a silver bullet
and shoot the deer. The next night the young man did just this?shot the
deer, and.went calmly ahead to visit his sweetheart. On his way home he
examined the body of the deer and discovered, the bullet had entered the
deer's neck just below the ear, and it had fallen on its right side.
71
On arriving home he discovered his mother lying on the kitchen
floor?dead. She had a bullet hole in her neck just below the ear, and
Yvas lying on her right side.
?Invariably after telling the tale in the back country they
ask you, "John, what happened? Did he marry the girl? Did they skin
the deer? Did the sheriff come and get him?". -.-And often I have to end
the tale and tell them that the sheriff came arid realized the woman was
at fault.
(For a witch-deer shot by a silver bullet see Neely and
Spargo, pp. 102-3; Thompson, pp. ?08-9. For references on Y/itch-animals
Injured by a silver bullet see Gardner, p. 57, note 56. Add: Randolph,
pp. 35-56; Thompson, p. 113. Many other references could be added.
See Motifs G 263, D 13?5.4 and G 275.)
Addenda
Mr. Niles told several other stories to Dr. Thompson's class
which were not recorded for lack of time. One that has a fairly wide
distribution is. that of the split dog. The dog was accidentally cut
in half by a thrown knife, and the halves were slapped together?
unfortunately, with 'two legs up and two down. But the dog was faster
than ever, because it could then run on either pair.
The Wry-Mouthed Family, on p* 29 of the Bulletin,- Mr. Niles
knew but had slight variations: , the young-man is "a religious young
man," and the final remark is "That's what comes of goin' t? church
"three times on Sunday!"
Indiana University Herbert Halpert
FOLKLORE BIBLIOGRAPHY A?? ABBREVIATIONS
In the last number of the Bulletin, pp. 34-36, the editor
presented a selected bibliography. In the notes to the tales in the
Bulletin several other books and' articles are referred to frequently,
and it seems Yrise to group some of them here. It is hoped that these
lists will be useful as a working bibliography for those interested in
the American folktale. Other lists on various topics will appear from
time to time in the Bulletin. On p. 34 a statement was made that needs
correction. Mr. Brewster's is the second, and not the. only collection
of Indiana folktales. A mimeographed -vVPA publication, Hoosier Tall Stories,
Yras published in 1937, 'and contains variants of some of the stories that
appear in these numbers' of the Bulletin. The editor is trying