Old hillbilly wives tales and what my grandmother told me.

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In Kentucky there were lots of old wives tales. I had many memories of my granny and my aunts sitting on the porch discussing these tales and many more that I can't remember them all.Here are just a few of old tales in Kentucky. If a pregnant mother saw anything like a snake, bird or bear; the unborn baby would be "marked" by it. The baby would have characteristics of that animal or a mark on their body that resembled the animal. My grandma Ollie always said to give catnip tea to all the newborn babies in our family to help them break out in "hives" or the baby would die. A woman with a newborn baby had to lay flat of her back in bed and not stand up for nine days. This was thought to protect the woman's back later in years. Granny Ollie said that if a family member broke out with the "hives" for an unknown reason, the blood of a black chicken had to be rubbed on the hives to cure them. In the old days, a stick was cut longer than a child with asthma and placed in the attic. When the child grew as long as the stick, he would be cured of the disease. Last but well remembered, my granny told me this old tale; To catch a wild bird, put salt on it's tail feathers. I tried that as a child growing up in the Kentucky mountains. I still haven't caught a bird .