I got a mug at a rummage sale a few years ago that features pictures of trees covered in Spanish Moss (yes, I know it is not a true moss), and a story “The Legend of the Spanish Moss.” I have no idea of how old this mug is or what company made it. Anyway, the “legend” is not like anything I have ever heard tale of here in the United States. I wonder if the custom described was practiced anywhere- or if it was just dreamed up to sell some mugs. Has anyone heard of the practice described below?
The poem on the mug, which I will not quote in full, begins:
There’s an old, old, legend, that’s whispered by Southern folks,
About the lacy Spanish moss that garlands the great oaks-
A lovely princess and her love, upon’ their wedding day, …
Okay, the princess reference is my first clue this was not really whispered by Southern folks! :dubious: The poem goes on to tell how this woman and her husband were killed on their wedding day. (This actually is a theme somewhat prevalent in folklore.) Anyway, the poem says that it was the custom of the local people to cut the dead bride’s hair and hang it in the branches of the oak below which she and her husband were buried. In time, the hair turned gray and spread from tree to tree.
This story is supposed to explain Spanish Moss, though I think it is just kind of morbid. :eek:
Has anyone heard this in connection with Spanish Moss? Is it/ was it a custom anywhere to cut the long hair of dead women?
Indian chiefs’ daughters were often referred to as “princesses”. [This page](http://www.co.beaufort.sc.us/bftlib/spanish.htm#Legends of Spanish Moss) features a couple of versions of an alternate legend. As this tale is told, the Spanish moss represents the beard of a Spanish soldier. When unnamed, he falls in love with a chief’s daughter; when identified as Gorez Goz. he’s a brutal man who buys the frightened maiden.
Somewhere between the romanticism of the one account and the savagery of the second is this account, which specifies that the girl is Seminole. Your mug is apparently reflective of a minority view, as it has the plant representing the transmuted tresses from a female’s head, as opposed to a man’s facial hair.
I was actually searching for the legend that you described. My grandpa told me the story as a little girl and I was trying to remember it… but yes it does exist, except when he told me he had a piece of moss and at the end of the story he would kinda strip the moss off of the hair that’s inside. Just to help make the story sound real… he was a GREAT story teller!!
There was more of a focus on death in the 1800’s, and saving locks of hair and making jewelry out of the hair of the deceased was common. This legend would not sound so strikingly morbid in that context.
it does exist, except when he told me he had a piece of moss and at the end of the story he would kinda strip the moss off of the hair that’s inside. Just to help make the story sound real… he was a GREAT story teller!!