The Stob

Today, I was surprised by some old lore I hadn't heard since the 1980's.  I was in the convenience store and we were discussing the weather.  The woman, next in line said, "it's sunny and raining, so the Devil is beating his old lady."  A bit of old East Tennessee, English (or German or Irish?) misogynistic 19th century folklore, which I never expected to hear again in the 21st. Surprising.  Once the Devil, was thought of as the power of air (Biblical).  In the old South, and England, the Devil and Giants were said to have 'Castles' in the air (i.e. Jack the Giant Killer).  Lightning, was considered a force of God or the Devil, equally, since the Medieval Period.  Therefore, a lightning struck tree was the special repository of 'magia/mantic power', in the South the burned/blackened portion was considered a charm to scare away thieves.  A lightning struck tree could be a special meeting place for Witches ( American Chestnut-Virginia), Oak (Tennesse

My neighbor, who is Welsh-American (Evans), has told me that older family members (1890's to 1950's?) once used Carbide, from a miner's headlamp (C2H2) for tooth abscess.  Obviously, the pain and danger were extreme, but it seemed to work for people who had no access to dentistry or funds to pay for dentistry.  The nerves were literally, burned out (over-excited and deadened) from the "cure".  People were made of stronger 'stuff' back then, apparently!