TRAUMFEST ON THE BLUE RIDGE 13 
and they have good appetites. Many of them bear 
picturesque names bestowed upon them by the 
white people and yet more remarkable ones of their 
own selection, their feeling for rhythm alone often 
guiding them in their choice; hence the delightful 
name, Greenville Female Seminary Simms, proudly 
worn by a young girl of Traumfest. 
By far the most interesting characters among 
them are the few survivors of the old regime, who 
are really proud of their slavery and the fact that 
they learned how to work and how to behave. Among 
them is Aunt Hootie, whose full name she will 
proudly tell you in a sort of rhythmical chant. This 
is it — " Anna Maria, Lucy Lees, Licif^er, Mary 
Ann, Markalma, Gallahootie, Waters, Mooney. 
Aunt Hootie for short." Waters and Mooney were 
acquired by two excursions into matrimony, but 
the other names were bestowed at the baptismal 
font. Aunt Hootie is pious. When she comes to visit, 
which is generally about dinner-time, she graciously 
accepts an invitation to stay, never omitting rever- 
ently to "make a beginning," as grace before meat 
is expressed in the mountains. Aunt Hootie's "be- 
ginning ' ' is simple, but to the point ; folding her hands 
and composing her features she reverently remarks, 
"O Lord, thou knowest I need this," and proceeds 
to verify the assertion. 
Near her picturesque cabin on the outskirts of 
Traumfest is that of Aunt Eliza, who, though a 
churchwoman, is not, properly speaking, pious. She 
has outlived slavery and her husband, for both 
