Papa was in fine storytelling mode the other night.  I tried
to take a few notes so that I could write some of them down.
Hopefully I have most of the details correct.  Forgive me
if I mess up a bit, and feel free to correct me.

Used to be that the Harris family lived where the Kirks do now.
Edna Hopkins lived there when I was young, but long before
that the Harris family did.  This story came home to me because
Bud Harris died a few weeks ago, and I hadn't realized until
recently that his family were originally Fernnook Folk.

There were several kids in the family.  Bud was one of the boys,
and Stella Ruth and Beauty Mae were two of the girls.  Stella fell
in a bucket of lye as a young girl and it affected her eyes especially.

One day the two girls walked back to the homeplace to get some
vegetables from Great-Grandma Hattie (or Happy as some called
her.)  Cousin Jetty was staying with Great-Grandma at the time.

Stella Ruth and Beauty Mae went to the door and asked if they
could have some 'maters and 'taters.  Jetty told them that that
wasn't the proper way to say those two vegetable names.  They
were really tomatoes and potatoes.

A few days later, Mrs. Harris walked back to Great-Grandma's
house and knocked on the door.  When Granny Hattie answered,
Mrs. Harris said, "Miss Hattie, could I have some malettuce?"  She
must have reckoned that if 'taters and 'maters wasn't proper enough,
then surely lettuce wasn't either.

I was telling Hattie (the younger) this story today and she said,
"Are you sure she wasn't saying "more lettuce?"

I guess we'll never know.