Although we often hear about the Ohio Buckeyes, there are fewer recollections regarding the buckeyes of North Carolina. A buckeye is a nut that grows across the state, but painted buckeyes from the mountains are the most iconic, in my memories at least. I don’t know why we referred to them sometimes as “painted” but we did. Buckeyes sort of look like a chestnut but only a rube would mistake the two. Children soon learn that buckeyes are deadly poisonous if eaten. However, the story was that only one half of a buckeye is poisonous, but it was impossible to predict which side. The belief that only squirrels can tell which side is edible, however, completely false because I have seen squirrels happily eat both sides. Cows, pigs, or humans who decide to take on this risky Appalachian roulette can end up with muscle weakness, paralysis, intestinal distress, and vomiting. And, they might just die. Native Americans and early pioneers would sometimes leach buckeyes to make them edible, but from personal experience, I can tell you that buckeyes do not taste good!
When I was just knee-high to a grasshopper, I loved to go hunting for buckeyes, almost more than looking for arrowheads. Their deep rich brown color accented by the distinctive lighter colored “eye” and their dense, smooth texture made them beautiful. They seemed like exotic mountain jewels and I used to drill holes in them with nails to make necklaces. Buckeyes shrink, but they rarely rot. Besides their obvious aesthetic qualities, buckeyes bring good luck and have curative powers, if you use them according to the prescription.
According to my kin, for good luck, a buckeye is supposed to be carried in your front pocket. My mom told me that when my Grandpa Church died, he had a buckeye in his pocket. He knew well the risks of leaving home without his buckeye and he would never have ventured onto the golf course, his favorite pastime, without his charmed nut in place. He told me that in the old days, politicians would sometimes etch political messages on buckeyes and give them out to their constituents.
A buckeye can also ease the aches and pains of rheumatism. Some women, including my mother and my Grandma Church carried buckeyes inside their brassieres to reduce breast maladies. My mom believed that a buckeye in her bra could reduce the size and pain of lumps in her breasts and somehow absorb other toxins. When I was a child, it was not uncommon to see a “buckeye bump” showing through her blouse. Nowadays, buckeyes have seemingly lost their appeal and I haven’t seen one for many years. The last one that I saw belonged to my mother. Shriveled, it looked like a well-polished prune. Perhaps all the luck dried up.