"I'm glad there's some folks gettin' interested in the old ways. This new generation don't know such things, but when they find the old songs and the tales, they'll delight in them."
--Granny in Grandfather Tales (Chase & Williams, 1948)
The Southern Appalachian region has a rich heritage of folklore and songs passed down orally from European immigrants settling in the mountain range situated from New York to Georgia (Abramson & Haskell, 2006) from the 18th to the 20th centuries (Hanlon, 2000). Since the middle of the 20th century, variations of the folktales have been compared to publications such as Grandfather Tales (Chase & Williams, 1948) and The Jack Tales (Chase, Chase, Ward, Halpert, & Williams, 1943). The population consisted of Native Americans, African-Americans, and Europeans and, combined with strong Christian influence from the Bible, Appalachian folklore nevertheless has a strong major theme of a culture based in the rural mountain experience. The culture, society, and politics of Appalachia are illustrated in its folklore. The stories are still told orally at times such as at dinner tables, family gatherings, church, or while doing chores. Although making a confident statement as to the source of the stories is challenging due to few written copies, an examination of the region and its people allows a discussion of the contributions to literature and music of the Appalachian people.
The Geology of the Appalachian Mountains
The eastern region of the United States is considered to be the cultural area from southern New York to northern Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama (Abramson & Haskell, 2006). The Appalachian Mountains extend from Canada to Alabama, but Appalachia is defined only to the southern and central parts. The total area of the Appalachian region encompasses 195,000 square miles inhabited by over 20 million people. While Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Birmingham, and Chattanooga lie within the boundaries of what is considered to be Appalachia, the people of the region also reside in areas of high poverty. The economy once relied heavily on forestry, industry, and mining; diversification has recently taken place by adding service and manufacturing industries (Arc.gov, 2016). Nevertheless, Appalachia remains economically depressed with many section of the area mired in poor health, diminished education, and high numbers of unemployed. While the poverty rate during 1960 was 31 percent and has decreased to 17 percent since 2009, counties with rates over 1.5 times the national average rose from 295 during 1960 to 90 in 2013.
The People of Rural Appalachian Communities
The original settlers of the Appalachian region were Native Americans, primarily of the Cherokee tribe (Webb, 2012). The European immigrants in the early 18th century were generally English, German, and Scot-Irish (Ennis, 2006). They were farmers and craftsmen who found the land along the Delaware and Chesapeake Rivers to be already taken by English settlers and therefore moved west along the Appalachian Valley. African-Americans migrated into the region and by 1860, comprised about 10 percent of the population (Webb, 2012). In fact, John Henry was a black folk hero from the Appalachians who worked as a steel driver for the railroads when they were being built through the mountains during the 19th century (Inscoe & Nelson, 2008). Competing with a steel drill, the character was associated with actual places and events and grew into the champion with superpowers in tall tales.
The Cherokee Indians developed a relationship with the European settlers, teaching them how to grow crops of corn and squash and the medicinal qualities of local plants (Thompson & Moser, 2006). The Native American influence also extended into storytelling with the incorporation of animals of the region. For instance, the chipmunk was called “Seven Stripes” after a bear scratched his back (Kelley, 2011). Some Cherokees lived closely with the Appalachian settlers while others stayed back in the forests. The pioneers lived much as others did in undeveloped parts of the young country (The Moonlit Road, 2009). Cabins had one room, women dyed cloth with berries and bark, and men hunted in the day and night with fierce dogs. Community events included corn shucking, house raising, and attending church. Music for social events was supplied by fiddles, banjoes, and dulcimers that alternative between humor and ballads. Mountain men battled with the British, some Cherokee tribes, and Confederate soldiers since Appalachian people did not own slaves.
German, Dutch, and English pioneers brought words and phrases to the Appalachians found in Shakespearian plays (The Moonlit Road, 2009). However, as time passed, words were mispronounced, sentences were rearranged, and a new language formed in the mountain groups. Although modern communication has corrected some of the grammar and speech, some words such as “a-childing” for a pregnant woman, “a whoop and a holler” for a long distance, and “yan side” for the farthest side still endure. In addition, Appalachian dialect continues to distort other words such as “kiver” for “cover”, “fur” for “far”, and “et” for “ate”.
Today, the Appalachian Mountains continue to act as a physical barrier between the people of the region and the outside world. Disease and malnutrition with high mortality is associated with the lowest poverty levels in the country secondary to lack of sanitation or running water and overcrowded housing (The Moonlit Road, 2009). Although associated with descriptions such as “illiterate” and “destitute”, the residents of Appalachia are independent and satisfied with their lives. In many areas, the language of the residents remains undiluted by modern contact. The people are close-knit and feel an affinity with nature with a strong sense of how the world should be. Folklore handed down for generations plays a strong part in the current beliefs of the Appalachian culture.
Myths and Legends
During the later part of the 19th century, Appalachia became recognized as a distinctive area of the region and the legends and myths of the people are representative of their behavior, temperament, and isolation. Appalachian myths involve worship rituals and legends are tied to figures with at least some basis in fact (Leary, 2014). The myths and legends of the region contribute to the folklore of its people (Bronner, 2013). The folklore of the culture is represented in pictures painted in songs and ballads, tales, nursery rhymes, and riddles and jokes (Hanlon, 2004). These forms of preserving folklore are achieved by continuous retelling, sometimes making subtle changes to fit contemporary concepts or creating satires of the original story. In addition, the folktales may be transplanted from one region to another as families relocated within the same Appalachian community.
The stories represent a culture with experiences as rich as those in major cities, but a difference is the view from small, rural communities looking outward toward a foreign urban society (Leary, 2014). The Appalachian people realize they are characterized as hillbillies playing banjos and ignorant rednecks. The stereotypes applied to them increase the sense of isolation from a more modern and affluent outside world.
The residents of the Appalachian Mountains region dwell in the “buckle of the bible belt” where the major religion is Protestant (The Moonlit Road, 2009). Regardless of religious teachings against ghosts, tales of apparitions are told from one resident to another. Ghost stories are felt to be legends because they are attributed to the actual experience oneself or others. Ethical or moral lessons are added by the teller of the supernatural tales and therefore contain life lessons pertinent to Appalachian culture. One example takes place in Elizabethton in Tennessee (Moore, 2011). One of the earliest settlements, there is a stump of a sycamore tree still present beside an old covered bridge. The first court of the Watauga Association was held under the tree in 1772 when thirteen men deliberated the legislature of the new country. There are testaments by individuals stating they see not only the men, but the tree in ghostly form.
There are ancient stone configurations that may be seen along some of the ridges in the mountains that include some constructed by men (NorthCarolinaGhosts.com, 2016). A Cherokee legend attributes the structure to the Moon-Eyed People, a race of men who were small in stature who lived there in the past. Unlike the Native Americans, the men had perfectly white skin, wore beards, and had eyes no sensitive they could not see in daylight. For that reason, they only came out at night and lived in underground caves. In Fort Mountain Park, a stone wall 850 feet long on the top of a ridge is felt to have been built in 400 to 500 C.E. One version of the legend is that the wall was constructed during a war between the Cherokee and the Moon-Eyed People and the latter were driven from the region. The story of the Moon-Eyed People is not felt by the Native Americans to be a folktale, but rather a description of another type of humans who differed from the Cherokee. It should be noted that if the Moon-Eyed People were white men that pre-dated the landing of Columbus, they would have been part of the lends of Prince Madoc, a Welsh prince who said across the Atlantic Ocean in 1170 and landed in the area of present-day Alabama. That legend states the colonists were driven into modern south Alabama and Florida and integrated into Cherokee society, becoming light-skinned Native Americans who continued to speak Welsh.
The Music of the Appalachian Region
The study of ballads and folk songs demonstrate sign of the persistence of the Appalachian people to retain their individuality (Bronner, 2013). Folk music is a tie to the past, before the communities suffered the impact of modernization. When the different cultures of Europeans, Native Americans, and African-Americans blended, the music of the Appalachian people underwent a type of hybridization as when the blues of the slaves mixed with the country strains of earlier settlers. Today, the music of the region is considered by many to be the most recognized feature of the isolated rural culture of Appalachia (Encyclopedia of Appalachia.com, 2016). The most popular genres are bluegrass and country while performances of ballads and music played by string-bands still take place informally within the communities.
Like the oral folklore passed down for generations without written copies, Appalachian music is learned by rote (Encyclopedia of Appalachia.com, 2016). The music of the Cherokee and other peoples indigenous to the area leave few recordings of performances, particularly when much of the music was incorporated into secret rituals. European settlers introduced ballads sung a cappella and fiddling; over time, musicians in Appalachia introduced accompaniment of the ballads with instruments. The creation of new “native American” ballads included actual history and the reality of Appalachian society. The lyric folk song emerged, promoting emotion rather than the tragedy themes of ballads.
Southern gospel music took root in the Appalachian communities in the 1920s and spread even further with the advent of radio and the ability to record performances for mass distribution (Encyclopedia of Appalachia.com, 2016). The practice of shape-note singing, using a variation of Western notation from books, continues in the area to this day. In churches, the minister would speak a line from a religious hymn and the congregation would sing the line in chorus (Lined-out hymnody). The African-American population in Appalachia contributed to religious music with spirituals and singing quartets. Dances were accompanied by only a fiddle or with a banjo; the fiddle/banjo combination became common by the end of the 19th century. String-bands developed by adding a mandolin and guitar, instruments already played in Appalachian communities.
The influence of African American Appalachians in the 1910s and 1930s brought forward “hillbilly” music and variations on blues and jazz (Encyclopedia of Appalachia.com, 2016). Appalachian natives who became successful blues performers included Etta Baker, George Benson, and Bessie Smith. The genre eventually was called “rhythm and blues” by the end of the 1940s. Musician such as Lionel Richie and Nina Simone achieved commercial success only after relocating out of the region. The evolution into “soul” music promoted the careers of Appalachian natives Wilson Pickett and Percy Sledge.
The content of Appalachian music is characterized by harmony, gospel quartets, string-bands, and “high lonesome” vocals (Encyclopedia of Appalachia.com, 2016). Popular performers having lived in Appalachia include Roy Acuff, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Chet Atkins. These musicians lend a regional style to their music that was vital to the development of the genre. Appalachian natives Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs promoted bluegrass variations from their native home while contemporary Appalachians Ricky Skaggs and members of Lonesome River Band, Union Stations, and Blue Highway continue to play the genre. The soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? (IMDb, 2000) sold several million copies and the attention it brought to Appalachian music has encouraged many performers still residing in Appalachia to look back to their culture’s traditional music.
Themes of Appalachian Oral Traditions
The cultural tradition of the Appalachian people has been shared for centuries through the use of folktales (Hanlon, 2004). Folklore is passed down with examples of historical experiences for the children of future generations. Most often, the main characters are young adults learning how to cross over from childhood to adulthood in the world outside the homes of their youth. The stories of The Jack Tales of Richard Chase depict a trickster of a teenager who achieves his goals by using initiative and opportunity (Chase, Chase, Ward, Halpert, & Williams, 1943). Although storytellers in Appalachia frequently note the importance of teaching life lessons to children, it is often a life-long process. Personal success for the rural people depends on following the instructions of adults in the community while sharing work, meals, and folktales. The folklore of the Appalachian people translates their experiences into their definitions of right and wrong and how individuals learn from them.
Appalachians recognize the ways in which their culture is marginalized in mainstream society and do not want themselves defined by them (Hanlon, 2004). For that reason, their folklore is generally situated in the past, being prefaced with, “Why back yonder,” and “Once upon a time,” Their legends have specific times or places for historical references and the folktales of the Appalachian culture are not as simple as originally perceived. The heroes of the folklore are not always lucky, but they usually get that way. They may not be intelligent, but they work hard and figure out ways to overcome danger and challenges. For example, in “Jack and the Northwest Wind (Haley, 1992), Jack took three trips before he learned the foolishness of trying to stop the winter wind from being so cold; in addition, a wise old man advises Jack to not rely on tricksters who steal from him and Jack ultimately punishes the thieves, brings rewards to his family and community, and serves as an example for his people.
There are less cheerful stories in Appalachian folklore, also. Tales of murder and ghosts are a common theme. The Ballad of John Hardy is based on the real incident of a worker on the railroad in McDowell County, West Virginia (WVCulture.org, 2015). In 1893, Hardy became involved in a drunken brawl and killed a man. Found guilty of murder he was hanged the following year. More than 3000 people came to the hanging of Hardy, who repented before God the morning prior to his death when he was baptized. The Greenbrier Ghost of Greenbrier County, West Virginia was a young woman probably murdered by her husband (Taylor, 2001). Her neck was broken and he went to great lengths to hide it during the funeral. A month later, the victim’s mother stated her ghostly daughter appeared to her for four nights, explaining how she was killed. An inquest was held, but the husband was acquitted. He left town and died three years later in an epidemic. Background history revealed he had two other wives, one of whom reported he often beat her and the other died under mysterious circumstances.
The folklore of the Appalachian culture also borrowed from other folktales. One instance is the story of “Big Red Cap” which came from one of the many versions of “Little Red Riding Hood” (Leary, 2014). Big Red Cap was either a young girl or young boy and the villain was danger in the form of a predator such as a coyote or wolf. The basic premise of an innocent lost in strange surrounding with a danger present was given an Appalachian spin by changing the tale to a male potential victim pursued by a female huntress. She is a sexual predator that represents the possible moral harm from inappropriate behavior and innocent Big Red Cap’s travels take him from his rural home into the city rather than Red Riding Hood’s trip from the town into the woods.
Conclusion
The folklore of the Appalachian people has been transmitted orally from the original settlers in the 18th century. While it is true that the modern world impinges on the culture of the rural farmers of the region, luring young people away and changing ways of life essentially the same for generations, the people of the Appalachian Mountains remain a section of America that continues to build on a rich heritage. Native American stories of mystical animals blended with legends of Jack Henry and morality tales such as Big Red Cap. Music from Appalachian African Americans mixed blues with country, leading to the genre of rhythm and blues and soul. Ballads and lilts continue to be sung around dinner tables and at community gatherings. While many families in the rural areas of the Appalachians live in abject poverty, they are still proud of the history of their ancestors and continue with the folklore dating back hundreds of years.
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