[philmont] An Eastern NC Christmas Tale

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the following piece of folk lore from
eastern North Carolina. It is passed on to me from a member of my
troop.
YIS
Fred Mussler
T357 Raleigh NC

The following story is one that has been reprinted in the Rocky Mount
Telegram every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, the
reprint of a column written by a very special friend of my family,
Vernon Sechriest, longtime editor of the paper and Scoutmaster even
longer of Troop 7, where my dad was a Scout and earned his Eagle.

The story has become a Christmas tradition in these parts, so I send
it to spread some eastern North Carolina culture around the world.

So here is the story of Horace, the Christmas Mule. Merry Christmas to
you and your families.
kip
Horace the Mule Rides Again
Mrs. George Wood, now deceased, of Chowan County had a mule who was
named Horace. On Christmas Eve she called up Dr. Satterfield in
Edenton and said to him, "Doctor, Horace is sick, and I wish you would
come take a look at him."

Dr. Satterfield said, "Oh Fanilamb, its after 6 o'clock and I'm eating
my Christmas Eve dinner. Give Horace a dose of mineral oil and if he
isn't all right in the morning phone me and I'll come out and take a
look at him."

"How'll I give it to him?," she inquired.

"Through a funnel," replied the good doctor.
"But, he might bite me!!!," she protested.

"Oh, Fanilamb - you're a farm woman, and you know about these things.
Give it to him through the other end."

So Fanilamb went out to the barn, and there stood Horace, with his
head held down, just moaning and groaning.

She looked around for a funnel, but the nearest thing she could see to
one was her Uncle Bill's fox hunting horn, hanging on the wall, a
beautiful gold plated instrument with gold tassels hanging from it.

She took the horn and affixed it properly. Horace turned his head, but
paid no attention.

Then she reached up on the shelf where medicines for the farm animals
were kept. But instead of picking up the mineral oil, she picked up a
bottle of turpentine and she poured a liberal dose into the horn.

Horace raised his head with a sudden jerk. He let out a yell that
could have been heard a mile away. He reared up on his hind legs,
brought his front legs down, knocked out the side of the barn, jumped
a five-foot fence and started down the road at a mad gallop.

Now Horace was in pain, so every few jumps he made, that horn would blow.

All the dogs in the neighborhood knew that when that horn was blowing
it meant that Uncle Bill was going fox hunting. So down the highway
they went, close on Horace's heels.

It was a marvelous sight! First, Horace - running at top speed; the
horn, in a most unusual position, the mellow notes issuing therefrom;
the tassels waving; and the dogs, barking joyously.

They passed by the home of Old Man Harvey Hogan, who was sitting on
his front porch, well into the cups as they say down east. He hadn't
drawn a sober breath in 15 years, and he gazed in fascinated amazement
at the sight that unfolded itself before his eyes.

Incidentally, Harvey is now head man of Alcoholics Anonymous in the
Albemarle section of the state.

By this time it was good and dark. Horace and the dogs were
approaching the Chowan River Bridge. The bridgetender heard the horn
blowing and figured a boat was approaching. So he hurriedly went out
and elevated the bridge.

Horace went over the edge, straight into the river and was drowned.
The dogs jumped into the water after him, but they could swim and
climbed out without much difficulty.

Now it so happened that the bridgetender was running for the office of
Sheriff of Chowan County, but he managed to get only seven votes.

The people figured that any man who didn't know the difference between
a mule with a horn up his rear and a boat coming down the Intercoastal
Waterway wasn't fit to hold any public office in Chowan County.

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Sun Dec 24 20:27:02 2006