Tuesday's Tune ~ Swamp Witch Hattie

The village of Sicily Island was at one time surrounded by bayous, rivers, lakes and swamps.  From a sketch of the riquets owned by the early settlers you can see the following:

North of Sicily Island:
Deer Creek
Big Bayou

East of Sicily Island:
Fool's River
Devil's Bayou
Falcon's Bayou

Southeast of Sicily Island:
Tensas River
Tiger Bayou
Lake Lovelace
Lee Bayou

South of Sicily Island:                                                                                                           Little Cash Bayou
Big Cash Bayou
Cash Lake
Black Bayou*
Hooter's Bayou

Southwest of Sicily Island:
Bayou Louie

West of Sicily Island:
Ouachita River
Beouf River

Traces of the smaller bayous can still be found today.

We grew up hearing many of the scary tales of the bayous and swamps.  When Jim Stafford wrote and performed 'Swamp Witch' (aka Black Water Hattie) back in 1973, it was only natural that many of us associated the song with our surroundings.

After all, Hattie lived in the Black Bayou*!

I am including two videos.

The first video was created by YouTube member, batlady2.  The artwork alone is quite scary.

The second video was created by YouTube member, JSA1957 and is actually the 'storytelling' of 'Swamp Witch'.  The facial expressions of the child in the video remind me of how enthralled I would become when the song played on the radio.