Yesterday's journal mentioned a "chicken pound." When Lou Ann read that post she told Dale about the mistake I had made. She was familiar with a chicken coop, a chicken pen, and a chicken yard, but she'd never heard of a chicken pound. Whatever could I have been meaning? Dale says she was positively bent out of shape. Dale, of course, knew exactly what I had meant. O'cockers have been keeping chickens in pounds for generations.
So I went to my dictionary. A "pound" is "an enclosure for animals...." Exactly as we use the term here on Ocracoke.
We also have "pound nets" on the island. Again, according to my dictionary, a "pound net" is "a fish trap consisting of a netting arranged into a directing wing and an enclosure with a narrow entrance." The next time you cross Pamlico Sound look for the pound net stakes set out by local fishermen.
We also "pound the preacher" now and then, or at least we did in the past. Years ago, when the preacher barely made enough salary to sustain himself and his family neighbors would bring him a pound of butter, or a pound of rice.... At least that's where I think the term came from. Unfortunately, my dictionary doesn't list this definition of "pound." Maybe this is one very local use of the word.
Here at Village Craftsmen we're curious. We've asked a number of our customers and none of them (including those from elsewhere in Eastern North Carolina) has heard of a chicken pound or pounding the preacher (though some said they'd like to). If you use these terms, please leave a comment -- and be sure to tell us where you are from. Check the comments link below to see the results.
You can read our latest newsletter here. It's about Ocracoke Islanders and "tokens of death."