• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Faculty/Staff Personal Papers WKU Archives Records 1935 UA37/44 Tidbits of Kentucky Folklore Gordon Wilson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/fac_staff_papers Part of the Folklore Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Oral History Commons, and the Social History Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty/Staff Personal Papers by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ORIGINALS TIDBITS OF KENTUCKY FOLKLORE by Gordon Wilson Vol. I Nos. 1-100 TIDBITS OF KENTUCKY FOLKLORE SERIES1 W. K, T. C. by Dr, Gordon Wilson Artfole I V Introduotion I/ .Artiole XXIV Passing Institutions-­ Dresses, Breeohes, and Artiole II V Folk Psyohology Pants, Part I, Article III ✓Breakdowns /Artiole XXV Passing Institutions-­ Dresses, Breeohes, and .Artiole IV V Play-Party Games Pants, Part II. .Artiole V V Kentucky Ballads and Songs Article XXVI t/Passing Institutions-­ Up On The Joist Article VI /The Virginia Reel v/ .Article XXVII Passing Institutions-­ Artiole VII V Fiddles and Violins The Home-l{ni t Yarn Stooking, Part I. Artiole VIII l,,1rild Greens Artiole XXVIII Passing Institutions-­ .Artiole IX V Folk Prejudioes The HOJ11e-Knit Yarn Stooking, Part II. Artiole X /'Passing Institutione-- ChipB Artiole XXIX Passing Institutions-­ The Home-Knit Yarn Article XI ✓Passing Institut1.ons-­ Stooking, Part IIIe Gourds· 1--/ - A....-ti <!;le X1I tt\5:s.i"''i rV\s-t'i11.. rb-i11~-- ~ / ,-rc.,it-ts V.btiole XXX Friday Afternoons .Artiole XIII VPassing Institutions-- The Old Fe.11\ily Nag, Pt. I , · Artiole XXXI Four.t~Sunday in May at Mt. Zion Artiole XIV Passing Institutions-- The Old Fe.11\ily Nag, Pt. II , 1--/Artiole XXXII Folk By-Words // Artiole XV Passing Institutions-- Article XXXIll//Folk Similes The Old Family Nag• Pt. III. Artiole XXXIV Passing Institutions-­ Passing Institutions-­ The Trundle Bed Slates Artiolo XXXV Folk Industries ,. Artiole XVII Passing Institutions-- Praaohing All Day and Dinner .. Artiole XXXVI Negro Spi:rituals, Part I. on the Ground 1. .Article XXXVII Negro Spirituals, Part II. v Article XVIII Passing Institutions-­ The Clook Tinker Article XXXVIII Passing Institutions-­ Misoellaneous Artiole XIX 0011c Etymology Artiole XX Vsuperstitions about Birds v/ Artiole XXI Superstititons about Animals , ,/Art1.ole XXII Superstitions about Love Artiole XXIII Some Folk Remedies 1 1 TIDBITS OF KEN :t1-1c·,~y FOL'.fLOTIE S J-'IRS 111 VJ'Q :{., P0 G0 ------ -----nfoconPeries by :,9 ✓ Seoond Introduotion )Artie lCl 41 Passing lnstituti.ons--'rhe Family Album, Part II lA.rtic le 48 Posainr, r,,Jtitutions--Tho Open k'freplaoe, Part I \Ai·tiolo 45 Pass:1.ng Inatitutiona--'l'ho Front Ro,~,, Part n ,_,/ ~·:rtio lo 4G l'osaing Institutions--The F'lyhr nm, t,/ IA:rtiole 47 Passing In atitutiona--Sooond Table } (,Article 48 [Article 49 0., sing Institutions---The Vld Rail en·o \ {Artl.clo 50 Pear.inf; Inatitutio,10--Sido Si;ddles ~-Arttc 11 51 V Pe oing !nati tutions--"wi,pping Work l!1rtiole fi2 V ,r'usaing Institutions--Tho Livery "table firtiolo ,;:, 0essing Institutions--The Famil§I Graveyard ~,rtio lo 54 Paas:i.!ig Iuati tutioua--Subsod.ption 8chools r.Artlclo 55 l'Mning InstitutJ.ons--Singing Soh"ols ) fArtio 'o 5G VPc1trning lnstitut:1.onu--<:ol.ng Barefooted l 57 V Passing Inatitutions--The Ash-Hopper Passing Institutiona--'rhe Smok:ehouae,Pert I 1...-/'(Artiole 5'J Passing Inatitutiona--'.Iho Smokehouse.Part IT lfrtiolo 60 V Passini'( In □ titutions--Cooking on tho F1.re (Artiolo (Jl //Passing Ina'd.tutions--Ra1; Ct:P'petu • VPen,:,ing In sti1;,itl.ons- ,,(/_ui l ta VFaard.ng Institutione--'.I'ho Pack P edd.J.01· Dr. Gordon 'l•Uaon (Artiolo 04 /Paosing Institut:i.ona--Tha Country Doctor r (Artie le GG V/, " " rr Series by Dr. Gordon Wilson .Article 66 Vsitting Till JJedtime Article 92 Passing Institutions-· / Shawls · Article 67 V The Folk and Lant,Uage Article 93 Passing Institutions­ Article 68 V Folk Typee••Tht; Neighborhood Boaster Going To TO'Wll .Article 69 ~ Folk Types-..The Negro Uncle Article 94 Passing Institutions-1 Fancy Bonnets, Art:tole 70 ✓Folk Types-•Jim crow Et Al Article 7l ✓ Passing Insti tutions••Ohildren I s Day Article 96 Superstitions About Modern Inventions Article 72 ✓Folk Types~-The Cornfield Philosopher ✓ .Article 96 stereotyped He.bits Article 73 L,,/ Folk Heroes .Article 97 Folk Types•-The Scout Article 74 v'Folk Names for Birds Article 98 Folk T-.)lpes--The Article 76 VPassing Inetitutions.. -Cheese nnd Crackers Desperado Article 76 /Passing Insti tutiorfs••lliding Behind .Article 99 Pe.rents and Children Article 77 V The string Band Article 100 l•'idelity and the County Seat Article 78 V Passing Institutions--The Linen Duster .Article 79 VFried Apple or Half-Moon Pies .Article 80 vPassing Institutions--The Attic Article 81 l//"Folk Types--The Hillbilly VPassing Insti tutions--Scythes and Cradles Article 83 /Passing Institutions--~a Article 84 Folk Types--The Cowboy Article 86 Folk Types--The Poor Boy Who Became Famous Article 86 Some Burial Customs Article 87 Folk Types--The c;outhern Colonel Article 88 What is Folklore? Article 89 Why Do Institutions Pass? Article 90 Passing Institutions--Yellow Poplar Article 91 Passing Institutions--Lo~ J!ouses INTHODUC'.l.'ION }I I Civilization, in spite of its blessings, is the enemy of most of the things that make up our cultural inheritance. With education comes sophistication, which rarely sees any value in custolllfl that differ from standardized forms, which sells the old furniture and buys the new, which doubts the value of anything that has attained to a great age. Such rapid changes are taking place that a middle-aged man of our time finds it difficult to recreate the conditions of his childhood. The student of folk-lore, like the lover of antique furniture, sees a value in customs that are passing and tries to rescue them from oblivion. He has no desire to oppose inevitable change; he hopes, rather, to record what men have thought and done, so that students of other times may be able to visualize a little more accurately the conditions under which their ancestors lived. Kentucky is rich in folk-lore. ~eaause of the late development of our educational system and om, still more backward transportation, we still have in many parts of the state almost prim- itive conditions. It is a challenge to the student of folk-lore to study vanishing manners and habits before they have utterly disappeared. The pioneers came to Kentucky almost in a body, Within the lifetime of the earliest settlers the state grew from a few forts in the wilderness to a populous commonwealth occupying •l-.1.--ef all of its present area. It was less tha}n fifty years between the settlement of Harrodstown and Boonesborough and the complete occu- pancy of the Jackson Purchase, the "last West" of Kentucky. Most of the settlers were English, Scotch, and Scotch-rrish, but there were a few Germans from Pennsylvania and Huguenots from the Carolinas. 2 There is, then, a fairly close relationship between the folk customs i'i of any two sections of the state. While nU!llerous bodies of immigrants have settled in Kentucky since pioneer times, few of these have left any very noticeable influence, except in the coal-mining areas in the mountains and in the cities along the Hhio River, The early settlers and their descendants have always been dominant in determining the customs peculiar to our state, Our folk-lore is largely that of the time of ~ueen Elizabeth, when the earliest settlements were being planned and when the Lowland Scotch were emigrating in large numbers to northern Irelan~ taking with them their age-old customs and traditions. Potato famines and the lure of free land drove thousands of the bcotch-Irish to America. In language and traditions they were quite similar to the English of the tidewater areas of Virginia and the Caroiliinas. Conservative of their customs, language, and traditions, as all emigrants are, es­ pecially in places remote from the main lines of travel, these early settlers and their descendants have preserved almost intact what has elsewhere been wholly or partially lost. For a long time Kentucky was the half-way house between the older settlements and the new. Before roads and railroads were built across Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Kentucky, with its Wilder­ ness Road and Ohio River, was the point of departure for the unsettled regions to the north, south, and west. Some of the pioneers on their way to the newer regions got only so far as Kentucky; others returned after a stay on the borders, In these ways we have received all sorts of stories, songs, and customs that owe their origin to regions far away, to supplement those brought by the first settlers. From time to time I shall discuss briefly in this column various phases of Kentucky folk-lore: songs and ballads, superstitions, 3 folk customs, folk industries, language, and passing institutions. Various members of the Kentucky Folk-lore Society, who have done original investigations in these fields, will aid me in the preparation of such artiv-les aseare concerned with their individual researches. It is hoped that these brief sketches and essays will awaken Kentuckians to the value of our folk backgrounds and will promote further investigations by professional and ,amateur alike. u,vf' /"''{' ;u/_ Ji'OLK PSYCHOLOGY !:::I '2,/ Incidents otherwise puzzling often seem clear when viewed in the light of folk-lore, A oase in point is the :E'loyd Collins disaster, Many another man has lost his life in a cave or in a mine, but somehow no one else has appealed so strongly to the folk imagination as did this otherwise unknown Kentucky cave explorer, 'l'he tragedy appealed to all sorts of people, was soon interpreted in several ballads, and within a few years has acquired all the necessary elements to ally it with the deeds of bonnie Barbara Allen or of Robin Hood and his merry men.

Load more

  215

Copy Link