Awful Harbingers[36]
From:
NURSERY RHYME SECTION
W'en de big owl whoops,
An' de screech owl screeks,
An' de win' makes a howlin' sound;
You liddle wooly heads
Had better kiver up,
Caze de "hants" is comin' 'round.
[36] This little rhyme is based upon a superstition once current among
Negroes, to the effect that bad luck would come when a screech owl
called near your home at night unless, upon hearing him, you would stick
the handle of a shovel into the fire about which you were sitting, or
would throw salt into it. The word "hant" means ghost or spirit.
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