Some people are still working stock, building chimneys, making syrup, curing warts, and witching water the same way their fathers and grandfathers did a hundred years ago. This Publication of the Texas Folklore Society is a collection of essays on some of the olds ways–the customs–still practiced in Texas. It is not an exercise in nostalgia, but a look at practical ways of dealing with problems of survival and coping with nature and people.

Francis Edward Abernethy is Regents Professor Emeritus of English at Stephen F. Austin State University, the former executive secretary and editor of the Texas Folklore Society, the curator of exhibits for the East Texas Historical Association, and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Folklore