That too afforded the means for courting couples to pair off and
pursue their romance.

The iron pot filled with sorghum was swung over the hearth fire to
bubble and boil. In due time the mother of the household dropped some of
it with a spoon into a dipper of cold water. If it hardened just right
she knew the sorghum had boiled long enough. Then it was poured into
buttered plates to cool. Often to add an extra flavor the taffy was
sprinkled with walnut kernels. The task of picking out the kernels with
Granny's knitting needles usually fell to the younger folks. There on
the hearth was a round hole worn into the stone where countless walnuts
had been cracked year after year.

When the taffy had cooled so that it could be lifted up in the hands the
fun of pulling it began. The girls buttered or greased their hands so
that it would not stick, and the boys, of their choice, did likewise.
Pulling taffy to see who could get theirs the whitest was an occasion
for greatest merriment. "Mine's the whitest," you'd hear a young,
tittering miss call out. Then followed comparisons, friendly argument.
And when at last the taffy was pulled into white ropes it was again
coiled on buttered plates in fancy designs of hearts and links and left
to harden until it could be broken into pieces with quick tap of knife
or spoon.

Once more the courting couples paired off together and helped themselves
politely when the plate was passed.

Riddles and fortunes, taffy pulling and harmless kissing games, like
Clap In and Clap Out, Post Office, and I Lost My Kerchief Yesterday,
made for the young folk of the mountains a most happy and (to them of
yesterday) a most hilarious occasion.

And when a neighbor like Aunt Binie Warwick gave out the word there'd be
a frolic and dance at her house, nothing but sickness or death could
keep the young people away. Such an occasion started off with a
play-game song in order to get everyone in a gay mood. The hostess
herself led off in the singing:

Come gather east, come gather west,
Come round with Yankee thunder;
Break down the power of Mexico
And tread the tyrants under.

Everyone knew how to play it. The boys stood on one side of the room,
the girls on the other, and when the old woman piped out the very first
notes the boys started for the girls, each with an eye on the one of his
choice. Sometimes two or more of the young fello