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Folklore From the Carolinas

© Virginia Marin

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Ever since the opening of the New World, North and South Carolina have been among the most romantic, historic and legendary spots in the Americas for writers of folklore...

The states' beautiful shore lines with spectacular sand dunes; sub-tropical forests; Indian Reservations; mountains and dense, impenatrable swamps contrasted with the strange Gullah influence that brought voodoo from distant, African shores all gel with immigrant cultures to make the Carolinas rich environments for wonderful tales.

Although each state has folklore particular to them, five themes of similarity dominate all of Carolinas' folklore: The Gray Man and other ghost tales; White Lady tales; Pirates; African tales and Native American lore. Among pirates, Blackbeard reigns supreme, and family tradition of this author tells of our very own family pirate who plied the waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Native American lore dwells heavily on Creation Myths and the Great Spirit, while African tales concentrate on malvolent spirits, social groups and extended families. Of course, Tales of the Gray Man and other ghost tales seem to have an endless procession.

White Lady tales are ghost tales, with a different bent, in that the character is always dressed in white. The White Lady's appearance generally forebodes death in a home. She is a relic of Teutonic mythology, representing Hulda, the goddess who received the souls of maidens and young children.

Each state also has it own particular folklore. From African lore in the Low Country of South Carolina, and from Daufuskie Island in particular, come tales of Hags and Haints. Hag and Haint tales hold a respectable place in Gullah Folklore. Hags are witches who live normal lives during the day but by night they shed their skin and haunt people in their sleep. Haints, on the other hand, are spirits of the dead.

Gullah houses on Daufuski Island, as well as in the South Carolina Low Country around Charleston, have their shutters and doors painted a particular shade of blue, known as haint blue. The blue color is thought to prevent these and other evil spirits from gaining entry to the house.

Every back road in South Carolina seems to have a plantation gate, an old church or an errie graveyard, each with a story to tell. Some of the lore stems from little known facts--like the WWII German prisoner-of-war camp which was located in Myrtle Beach, or the folktales of a sixteenth-century French dwarf who haunts a particular mansion in Beaufort or the strange legends associated with George Gershwin who once lived on a small street in Folly Beach.

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