History 4

Issue No. 4 | Season Four | Superstition and Folklore

On This Day

The Old Ways, the Crimson Smoke & the Lullabies

The Old Ways Made New

People came from quite a distance when they followed King Westler to this valley. And with them, they brought their own superstitions and folklore. Life was hard, and answers were few. When the rain would not come, or a child fell deathly ill, they tried the old ways. But it did not work as they expected. The valley was not the place they had left. Different herbs grew here, different stones lay under the ground, and what an old way called for could not always be found. So the people adjusted. Two steps added where there had been one, hands turned out instead of up, a word repeated twice where once was enough. Nobody set out to change anything. They only changed what did not seem to be working. In time, the valley made them its own. What began as the beliefs of one people became the beliefs of this place, and Westler has kept them ever since.

A leaning stone cottage in the woods, ringed with roses, and a woman sweeping the doorstep — The leaning cottage in the Asper woods, as it is told.

The Folklore

The Folklore of Marscals Maypum

We all know of Miss Marscals Maypum. We have all seen the crimson smoke rise out of the Asper woods, even those of us who have never found the cottage it comes from. The cottage walls lean to one side. The chimney curves so far over that the smoke appears to come out of the middle of the roof. And it smells of roses, which not one of us can explain. The council met on the matter once and found the smoke to be perfectly safe.

They say she is a witch. They say she can see clean into your soul, and that the crimson smoke is children boiling in her cauldron. Mothers tell their children that should they ever cross her path, they are not to speak to her. And yet the whole valley keeps its hours by her chimney. When the crimson smoke rises, the day’s work begins. When it stops, we go home to our suppers.

Nobody has ever asked her about any of it. Not the smoke, not the roses, not the sweeping. She has lived out there for as long as most of us can remember, and in all that time not one soul has knocked on that leaning door. Is anybody brave enough to try?

Matta A. Rhymes tells what happened when somebody did →

On the East Side of Town

The Red Fox Inn

The Red Fox Inn sits back off a narrow alley on the east side of town. You could walk right past the door, though everybody knows where it is. Inside there is a good fire, a hot supper, and something to take the edge off a hard day’s work.

Behind the bar stands Johnny, though it was a distant grandfather of his who built the Red Fox, stone by stone and board by board, back when the valley was still new. It was built comfortable, because the work was hard and the people of Westler needed somewhere to put the day down.

Much of what this valley believes was said here first. People carry it out with them, and before long the whole valley knows. Should you find yourself wandering in the door, stay for a good supper, good company, and good lore that you can take with you.

Step inside the Red Fox Inn →

A narrow cobbled lane at dusk, lamplight in the windows of the Red Fox Inn — The Red Fox Inn, back off its alley on the east side of town.

The Old Wives’ Tales of Westler

Lullabies handed down in Westler for the settling of children

From the Old Book

Lullabies

Rock-a-Bye Baby for a child who cannot be settled.

Hush Little Baby for a child who will not sleep.

Bye Baby Bunting to keep the bad dreams away.

The paper prints these as they were given and makes no claim as to their effect.

An open book titled Lullabies, drawn in black and white