After ALL THE PRETTY HORSES (see previous post), the Border Trilogy continues with THE CROSSING. In the book’s early going, sixteen-year-old Billy Parham visits an eccentric old Mexican man who is rumored to be a brujo. Billy seeks this man’s advise regarding the ways of wolves as Billy has been stymied in his attempts to trap a wolf who has wandered into New Mexico from Mexico. As Billy is helping the old man rise up from his bed, McCarthy writes “The boy almost put his hat on the bed but he caught himself.” Now what is that supposed to mean, you may ask. Perhaps some western readers of McCarthy may know the reference here, but for rest of you, the HAT BLOG comes to the rescue.
Hats on a bed are back luck - not only bad luck, but specifically the kind of bad luck that this Mexican man may be particularly susceptible to. Here is what Texas Bix Bender writes in HATS AND THE COWBOYS WHO WEAR THEM, 1994, Gibbs-Smith: “Seems the expression comes from way back when people believed in evil spirits – other than the ones you drink. These evil spirits lived in the hair. This probably came from static electricity in the air crackling and popping when you came in and took off your hat. So, the idea was, don’t lay your hat where you’re gonna lay your head ‘cause evil spirits are spilling outta the hat. It doesn’t make any sense. But then, superstitions seldom do.”
So there you have it - why Billy caugth himself before putting his hat on the bed.
Fred Belinsky
My mother used to say "don't hang out your hat," meaning (I always thought) "don't complain, or think you're special." I later suspected it was a reference to beggars.
Joe Haldeman
Posted by: Joe Haldeman | March 21, 2009 at 08:17 AM