|
OF ALL THE BOGEYMEN OF CHILDHOOD, NONE
WAS MORE FEARFUL THAN OLD RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES. JUST HIS NAME COULD
TERRIFY CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY THOSE AS VISUALLY IMAGINATIVE AS MYSELF. THE
LEGEND CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE OZARKS, WHERE THE IRISH BROUGHT IT OVER
FROM THE OLD COUNTRY. THE APPALACHIANS WERE ALSO SETTLED BY THE CELTS AND
SHARED MANY OF THE SAME LEGENDS AND FOLKTALES. PARENTS WERE ALWAYS TELLING
THEIR KIDS IF YOU DON'T BEHAVE, OLD RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES WILL GET YOU.
AND BACK THEN, KIDS TENDED TO BELIEVE EVERYTHING ADULTS TOLD THEM.
THAT'S PROBABLY ONE REASON I ALWAYS DISLIKED THE TIMES WHEN HOGS WERE
SLAUGHTERED AND SCRAPED. THE PITIFUL MUTILATED ANIMALS REMINDED ME OF RAW
HEAD AND BLOODY BONES. BUT THAT'S ONE FEAR I CONQUERED AT AN EARLY AGE. ONE
DAY OUR MOTHER WENT TO TOWN TO GROCERY SHOP. SHE LEFT MY OLDER BROTHER IN
CHARGE (AND AS YOU KNOW THAT IS LIKE LEAVING THE FOX IN CHARGE OF THE
HENHOUSE). WE HAD A FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR WHO LIKED HIS "SIPPINS." WHEN MOM WAS
GONE HE BROUGHT HIS JUG BY TO SHARE WITH US. I DON'T REMEMBER HOW MUCH I
SIPPED, BUT AFTER A WHILE, I FELT BOLD AND COURAGEOUS, A DESTROYER OF
DRAGONS. I WENT ABOUT THE HOUSE LOOKING IN EVERY DARK CORNER FOR OLD RAW
HEAD AND BLOODY BONES, DARING HIM TO COME OUT AND CONFRONT ME. WHEN MOM
RETURNED SHE PAID A VISIT TO THE NEIGHBOR. I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE SAID TO HIM
BUT HE NEVER GRACED US WITH HIS PRESENCE AGAIN. MY BROTHERS HAD THEIR LAUGHS
FOR YEARS, BUT I WAS NEVER AFRAID OF RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES AGAIN. I HAD
CHALLENGED HIM AND FOUND HIM WANTING. THE SMALL AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL I CONSUMED
ACTED LIKE A CATHARSIS. I HAD PROBABLY CHASED HIM BACK TO THE OZARKS,
PERHAPS EVEN THE EMERALD ISLE! BUT PARENTS SOON REPLACED HIM WITH A MORE
EFFECTIVE MEANS OF MODIFYING THE RAMBUNCTIOUS BEHAVIOR OF KIDS. IT WAS
CALLED "THE SWITCH." AS FOR RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES, I HAVEN'T HEARD OF
HIM IN MODERN TIMES. BUT OCCASIONALLY I SEE SOMETHING THAT REMINDS ME OF HIM
ON THE SCI-FI CHANNEL. BUT JASON AND FREDDY KRUEGER ARE PRETTY TAME COMPARED
TO OLD RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES. |
