Leather Britches

How I first heard of Leather Britches I can not remember, but I have heard tell of them most of my life. I have never really known of anyone who has actually eaten them.For the last few days, I have been working with a bushel or so of green beans,  and have worried that they were a little more mature than I generally like.We have discussed whether they might be too tough to eat after all the work that's gone into canning them, but then we think about those Leather Britches that we've heard so many stories about. It seems folks somewhere, are stringing their beans up on a string and hanging them up to dry completely,before storing them away for the winter.Then when they need beans, they put a few in a pot to soak, and when they have been revived to a point, they proceed to cook them. Well, I've seen beans that have been dried out to shell, and the hulls sure don't seem like anything one could ever tender up enough to chew,much less swallow or digest. I wonder if I am missing something in the story.The article above speaks of North Carolina. Hopefully someone from that area could enlighten me as to how the story really goes.