Horse’s mane tied in knots? It’s a witch!

During the days leading up to Halloween, North Carolina Miscellany is posting articles from North Carolina newspapers about one of our favorite Halloween characters, the witch.

“Do witches ride horses?” One man posed this question to the Greensboro Record in 1911 looking for an explanation as to why his horses’ hair was knotted every morning. He took care to comb out their manes and yet when he checked in the morning, the manes were so badly tangled again no comb would help. The man was skeptical of the explanation he received as a child that the tangles were due to witches riding the horses at night and tying their manes and tails into knots. The query was subsequently posted in several other papers across the state. See this reprint from The (Charlotte) Evening Chronicle for the explanation to this man’s life long question.

The Evening Chronicle (Charlotte, NC.). January 17, 1911. p 4.