From The Sunny Side of Appalachia, Bluegrass from the Grassroots
by Betty Dotson-Lewis (B. L. Dotson-Lewis)
My Near Brush with Bluegrass
by B. L. Dotson-Lewis
I can’t remember when bluegrass music was not a part of my life. This acoustic music came with living in the Appalachian Mountains, part of our roots the way I understand it, but I was never confronted head on with this music until my father took it up.
My family moved west while I was still in high school and it didn't seem a big deal that I would stay behind with my sister and finish school in West Virginia. I was around 15. Like most teenagers I was heavy into listening to popular rock n roll.
When my father moved from West Virginia to the west coast he refused to give up his citizenship to Appalachia. His roots were in Buchanan County, Virginia, Jim Fork and later, Nicholas County, West Virginia. I have heard my father say that he wasn't looking for a western culture, he loved Appalachia. What the west could provide for him was taller mountains, bigger game and a closer relationship with nature. My father was born and raised in Southwest Virginia and his love for everything Appalachian, including mountain music, especially bluegrass never left his veins.
The way I see it, this romantic attachment to our unique culture makes my father totally responsible for my near brush with bluegrass.
You see, I was visiting my parents the summer between my senior year in high school and going off to Berea College. There, I would engage in a life of studying fine arts, foreign languages, and my entertainment would be symphonic concerts on the greens of a renowned institution of higher learning. I was seeking a liberal arts college degree. My father’s formal education went up to the 8th grade but he had common sense and a flare for writing.
Early on that summer shortly after my arrival at my western home, my father traded one of his hunting dogs for an old fiddle. He decided to take up playing bluegrass. The fiddle was his instrument of choice. No, he didn't read music.
The fiddle came in an old worn-out, banged up black case. The latch was broken on the case so a piece of hay baling twine was wound around and . . . (read moe in my book)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The Sunny Side of Appalachia, Bluegrass from the Grassroots (book)
by Betty Dotson-Lewis (B. L. Dotson-Lewis)
Introduction
Dear God,
How are Y'all? Good, I hope. Do you have a minute for me?
I wanted to tell you about my new book on Appalachia. This book covers the history of bluegrass music from the grassroots. I am using oral history interviews, photos, and stories about this music to tell the story which is so much a part of the cultural heritage of the Appalachian Mountains.
God, do you like bluegrass? Well, if Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, date of death, September 9, 1996; Carter Stanley, Ralph's brother, date of death, December 1, 1966; and, Maybelle Carter, date of death, October 23, 1978, made it passed St. Pete and through the Pearly Gates, I don't have to tell you about bluegrass music, you've got the best band around. Harps may be the instrument of choice on the bluegrass stage in Heaven, I don't know.
The title of my new book is "The Sunny Side of Appalachia: Bluegrass History from the Grassroots." Don't you love the title?
Just as my first two books came about, nothing was pre-arranged. I didn't know I would be doing this book, but you hold the plan for each of us in your hands. The urgency to write this book hit me in June on the Saturday prior to the opening day of "Music In The Mountains" Bluegrass Festival which is held here in Summersville, West Virginia where I live. Here's how it happened.
I was mowing my backyard. It was mid-afternoon and a pleasant day for working outside when suddenly, I realized a historical event was about to take place less than 4 miles from where I live. I needed to document this important history as it occurred. I dropped the handle of my John Deere, self-propelled mower on the spot as if I had been hit in the head by a faith healer such as Ernest Angsley. I grabbed a notepad, a pen, and keys to my Jeep, tied a bandana around my head to keep the sweat out of my eyes, and headed for the music park. I didn't even bother to change clothes, wash the grass off my arms and legs, or change from my lawn mowing shoes. An important mission lay ahead, or so it appeared.
I pulled into the music park; a cows' pasture transformed overnight into a bluegrass music venue. I parked, got out, and walked over to where the gate keepers, Burl Willis, his wife, Linda, and daughter Abby, were ushering hundreds of campers in for a week long diet of bluegrass music. The gatekeepers were locals, I knew.
I told them I wanted to do a book on bluegrass as part of my series on Appalachia's culture and traditions preservation. Our roots. I asked them how they thought it would go over with the new owners of the Bluegrass Festival. The Nazarene Church people who had purchased the campground, Bluegrass Festival, lock, stock and barrel, the previous summer. Burl, Linda and Abby got so excited. They told me they thought it was a great idea. I told them I wanted them to be part of my book. They said the next step would be to talk to Cindy.
Burl jumped on his golf-cart and took off to find Cindy, the new festival commander-in-chief. Shortly, they both returned and I met Cindy Pourbaix for the first time. I told her the same thing I had told the others, that I needed to do this book on bluegrass to help preserve this regional and local history of the mountain people. She agreed it was of utmost importance.
She asked me how I planned on doing the book and I said, "I would bring a hand held, battery operated recorder and a camera. I told her I would walk around the campground and ask fans of bluegrass for an interview. I told her I would ask musicians for interviews and people from the Nazarene Church. Just a random collection to represent the history of the music and its connection with Summersville, West Virginia, our bluegrass town.
She told me to come and go as I wished and get whatever information I could for this book which, she agreed would entertain, document, and educate.
So, that's how it all began. I am working very hard. It is so exciting. God, you have the most exciting plans for us.
God, thank you for the privilege of growing up here in these rugged, remote, beautiful mountains of Appalachia. Thank you for my heritage.
Take care,
B. L. Dotson-Lewis
Summersville, West Virginia
P.S. I thank you when I remember you.
(Paul from the Bible)
by Betty Dotson-Lewis (B. L. Dotson-Lewis)
Introduction
Dear God,
How are Y'all? Good, I hope. Do you have a minute for me?
I wanted to tell you about my new book on Appalachia. This book covers the history of bluegrass music from the grassroots. I am using oral history interviews, photos, and stories about this music to tell the story which is so much a part of the cultural heritage of the Appalachian Mountains.
God, do you like bluegrass? Well, if Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, date of death, September 9, 1996; Carter Stanley, Ralph's brother, date of death, December 1, 1966; and, Maybelle Carter, date of death, October 23, 1978, made it passed St. Pete and through the Pearly Gates, I don't have to tell you about bluegrass music, you've got the best band around. Harps may be the instrument of choice on the bluegrass stage in Heaven, I don't know.
The title of my new book is "The Sunny Side of Appalachia: Bluegrass History from the Grassroots." Don't you love the title?
Just as my first two books came about, nothing was pre-arranged. I didn't know I would be doing this book, but you hold the plan for each of us in your hands. The urgency to write this book hit me in June on the Saturday prior to the opening day of "Music In The Mountains" Bluegrass Festival which is held here in Summersville, West Virginia where I live. Here's how it happened.
I was mowing my backyard. It was mid-afternoon and a pleasant day for working outside when suddenly, I realized a historical event was about to take place less than 4 miles from where I live. I needed to document this important history as it occurred. I dropped the handle of my John Deere, self-propelled mower on the spot as if I had been hit in the head by a faith healer such as Ernest Angsley. I grabbed a notepad, a pen, and keys to my Jeep, tied a bandana around my head to keep the sweat out of my eyes, and headed for the music park. I didn't even bother to change clothes, wash the grass off my arms and legs, or change from my lawn mowing shoes. An important mission lay ahead, or so it appeared.
I pulled into the music park; a cows' pasture transformed overnight into a bluegrass music venue. I parked, got out, and walked over to where the gate keepers, Burl Willis, his wife, Linda, and daughter Abby, were ushering hundreds of campers in for a week long diet of bluegrass music. The gatekeepers were locals, I knew.
I told them I wanted to do a book on bluegrass as part of my series on Appalachia's culture and traditions preservation. Our roots. I asked them how they thought it would go over with the new owners of the Bluegrass Festival. The Nazarene Church people who had purchased the campground, Bluegrass Festival, lock, stock and barrel, the previous summer. Burl, Linda and Abby got so excited. They told me they thought it was a great idea. I told them I wanted them to be part of my book. They said the next step would be to talk to Cindy.
Burl jumped on his golf-cart and took off to find Cindy, the new festival commander-in-chief. Shortly, they both returned and I met Cindy Pourbaix for the first time. I told her the same thing I had told the others, that I needed to do this book on bluegrass to help preserve this regional and local history of the mountain people. She agreed it was of utmost importance.
She asked me how I planned on doing the book and I said, "I would bring a hand held, battery operated recorder and a camera. I told her I would walk around the campground and ask fans of bluegrass for an interview. I told her I would ask musicians for interviews and people from the Nazarene Church. Just a random collection to represent the history of the music and its connection with Summersville, West Virginia, our bluegrass town.
She told me to come and go as I wished and get whatever information I could for this book which, she agreed would entertain, document, and educate.
So, that's how it all began. I am working very hard. It is so exciting. God, you have the most exciting plans for us.
God, thank you for the privilege of growing up here in these rugged, remote, beautiful mountains of Appalachia. Thank you for my heritage.
Take care,
B. L. Dotson-Lewis
Summersville, West Virginia
P.S. I thank you when I remember you.
(Paul from the Bible)
Interview with Mrs. Jesse McReynolds (Joy McReynolds) found in The Sunny Side of Appalachia, Bluegrass from the Grassroots
Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys
Dear Betty,
Thanks so much for your interest in our Pick Inn. We did an interview recently, and here it is. As you can see, Jesse is a man of few words. I, on the other hand, could go on about the Pick Inn all day!
Feel free to use what you like, or ask more questions, and thanks again so much. Joy & Jesse
From Jesse--
1. Why did you decide to establish a bluegrass-themed bed & breakfast, at this point in your career?
After traveling on the road for 60 years, I want to slow down on touring but still have a place to play my music.
2. Are you still planning to tour some and play dates on the road?
Yes, I will be doing some touring on some special dates in 2008.
3. Can you tell me more about the kinds of shows you will be hosting in the dinner theater?
What can visitors expect to see and hear? The dinner theater is something that we plan to do in the future. It will be a family-type show with me and my band and special guests. And we will be booking other bands on different occasions. We want to feature traditional bluegrass and gospel music.
From Joy--
4. If folks come and spend some vacation time at the Pick Inn, they will get to to meet you, as well as Jesse. Could you tell the bluegrass fans reading this column a little about yourself, and your connection to the music?
I think of myself as a farm girl, raised in the pretty countryside around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My first recollection of bluegrass music was as a little girl, around the late 50's or early 60's. I was sitting in the back seat of our car with my sisters, and heard the most wonderful sound come on over the radio. I asked our Dad what that music was, and he said it was "Campbell's Corners". I wanted to go there in the worst way! Dad also told us about a place called "Sunset Park" which was right close by. We never did get there as a family, but I never forgot that music.
It wasn't until 30+ years later, after I became a music reporter, that I finally got to Sunset Park. It felt like coming home. By this time my parents had passed on, but I took the rest of my family with me and we all fell in love with it. When the park closed down a few years back, it was like losing a friend. That was the one and only music park I ever visited, and it is a treasured memory. But perhaps more of a loss than the music, I really miss sitting at the picnic tables with my sisters during the supper break, under those big old shade trees. I hope we can provide that kind of experience at our Pick Inn. A feeling of "this is our home in the country where I can bring my family, or just come by myself and be with people that feel like family, and enjoy good music".
Jesse and I married in May of 1996. I really believe that a finer man has never walked the earth. So kind and gentle, while at the same time a dynamo in perpetual motion. You need a lot of energy to keep up with Jesse. I love it. He keeps me young!
Jesse has lived on this beautiful property in Gallatin, Tennessee since he and his brother Jim bought the 90 acre farm back in 1964. They split it up and lived side by side all their lives. Jesse gave his children a few acres, and the Pick Inn is on the 10 acre parcel he and his first wife, Darlene, gave their oldest son, Keith, back in the 1970's. Keith loved this particular property for it's serenity and view of Old Hickory Lake. He called it "Meditation Hill".
Jesse helped Keith build the log cabin at the Pick Inn. Keith and wife, Debbie, had two lovely children, Amanda Lynne (Jesse named her!) and Garrett. Keith was a wonderful man, musician, father, and man of great faith. Keith got his religious foundation from Jesse and Darlene, who sadly passed away in 1993. Then, after a long bout with MS, Keith passed away back in 2000. Over the last few years, Garrett and Amanda started joining Jesse on his shows, and we could see how special that was, and we appreciated how the kids showed so much respect and enthusiasm for singing & playing music with Jesse.
Last November of 2006, it was decided to sell their childhood home at an auction, and Jesse and I didn't think we had much of a chance to buy it because we thought it would be too expensive. But Jesse sent me and Garrett up to the auction and he said he was staying home to pray. Talk about the prayers of a righteous man availing much! I thought Garrett and I would just be bystanders watching it sell, but the bidding stopped, and Garrett turned to me and asked, "How about a thousand more?" Well, who could look into such a sweet face and say no? Not I! So little by little, we acquired the property back (after we made an emergency phone call to Jesse, who said, "Go for it!").
I look at the Pick Inn as a gift from God. I almost feel like we don't even own it. We are stewards of what God has given us, and we give God all the glory. I just hope we can be good stewards of it. I guess, in a way, we all own it, and need to care for it so it will be here, along with the music of our heritage, so our kids and grandkids can pass it down to their kids. We sure can't take it with us when we leave this earth, and there can be no greater pleasure for me than what God has made at the Pick Inn and worked through all who come there. Everyone seems to leave a touch of themselves behind, and we love that. We all own the place, as far as I am concerned.
I am so thrilled that Jesse has plans to construct an old-time brush arbors church and we plan to have revivals, youth camps, spiritual retreats, and possibly baptisms in Old Hickory Lake. We are especially blessed with the presence of our own "Fiddlin' Preacher". There is talk of a live radio show and many more wonderful ideas.
Well, as you can see, I could write a novel about the Pick Inn. To make a long story short, I love this old place. If I went on a vacation, I'd want to stay here, so why not share that blessing with everyone? I've walked my dogs on these trails for years, marveling at the birds, butterflies, wildflowers, pretty views, wildlife, and serenity. I don't think it pleases God to only make this kind of blessing available to a few.
There was one other childhood experience that made a huge impression on me as far as my love of nature. As Girl Scouts, we took a field trip to a place called the Tyler Arboretum. There, we learned how all the things that grow in the wild are important for wildlife to survive. So when you come and walk the trails at the Pick Inn, you won't see a golfcourse-type lawn everywhere. I have purposely left the wildflowers for the butterflies, birds and the bees to survive on. There are walking trails through wildflowers over 5 feet tall! I'd love to let teachers bring their classrooms in and see how important it is to preserve nature for the wildlife, and appreciate that these things that may look like weeds are important for the survival of many forms of life.
5. What are you looking forward to, specifically, about being a bluegrass innkeeper? I see how happy people are when they get to meet Jesse. He is a blessing to so many. This will give folks a chance to come and see him at home. I think it is a very nice way to say "thank you" to the fans, as well as a nice way for the fans to come and meet a hero they think may never get a chance otherwise to meet. I think this will be the greatest pleasure of all for me... to see people get to meet Jesse and find out he's a regular, down-to-earth person who just happens to be a musical wizard!
As far as the B&B, we are not yet classified as a Bed & Breakfast. We will be seeking approvals to do that in the near future, and I do look forward to that very much. Right now it already gives me great joy to see our visitors come and enjoy the countryside and the music. This will be a dream come true for many musicians who think it is the ultimate thrill to play music with a bluegrass legend like Jesse. We are looking forward to having teaching camps for all the bluegrass instruments. For me, the Pick Inn is a labor of love. The best compliment I've gotten so far is "it feels like coming home to Grandma's".
But, more than anything, I love Jesse. This is a dream of his. If I can help make this dream happen, nothing could make me happier. ~ Joy McR.
Jesse & Joy McReynolds
The Pick Inn
Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys
Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys
Dear Betty,
Thanks so much for your interest in our Pick Inn. We did an interview recently, and here it is. As you can see, Jesse is a man of few words. I, on the other hand, could go on about the Pick Inn all day!
Feel free to use what you like, or ask more questions, and thanks again so much. Joy & Jesse
From Jesse--
1. Why did you decide to establish a bluegrass-themed bed & breakfast, at this point in your career?
After traveling on the road for 60 years, I want to slow down on touring but still have a place to play my music.
2. Are you still planning to tour some and play dates on the road?
Yes, I will be doing some touring on some special dates in 2008.
3. Can you tell me more about the kinds of shows you will be hosting in the dinner theater?
What can visitors expect to see and hear? The dinner theater is something that we plan to do in the future. It will be a family-type show with me and my band and special guests. And we will be booking other bands on different occasions. We want to feature traditional bluegrass and gospel music.
From Joy--
4. If folks come and spend some vacation time at the Pick Inn, they will get to to meet you, as well as Jesse. Could you tell the bluegrass fans reading this column a little about yourself, and your connection to the music?
I think of myself as a farm girl, raised in the pretty countryside around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My first recollection of bluegrass music was as a little girl, around the late 50's or early 60's. I was sitting in the back seat of our car with my sisters, and heard the most wonderful sound come on over the radio. I asked our Dad what that music was, and he said it was "Campbell's Corners". I wanted to go there in the worst way! Dad also told us about a place called "Sunset Park" which was right close by. We never did get there as a family, but I never forgot that music.
It wasn't until 30+ years later, after I became a music reporter, that I finally got to Sunset Park. It felt like coming home. By this time my parents had passed on, but I took the rest of my family with me and we all fell in love with it. When the park closed down a few years back, it was like losing a friend. That was the one and only music park I ever visited, and it is a treasured memory. But perhaps more of a loss than the music, I really miss sitting at the picnic tables with my sisters during the supper break, under those big old shade trees. I hope we can provide that kind of experience at our Pick Inn. A feeling of "this is our home in the country where I can bring my family, or just come by myself and be with people that feel like family, and enjoy good music".
Jesse and I married in May of 1996. I really believe that a finer man has never walked the earth. So kind and gentle, while at the same time a dynamo in perpetual motion. You need a lot of energy to keep up with Jesse. I love it. He keeps me young!
Jesse has lived on this beautiful property in Gallatin, Tennessee since he and his brother Jim bought the 90 acre farm back in 1964. They split it up and lived side by side all their lives. Jesse gave his children a few acres, and the Pick Inn is on the 10 acre parcel he and his first wife, Darlene, gave their oldest son, Keith, back in the 1970's. Keith loved this particular property for it's serenity and view of Old Hickory Lake. He called it "Meditation Hill".
Jesse helped Keith build the log cabin at the Pick Inn. Keith and wife, Debbie, had two lovely children, Amanda Lynne (Jesse named her!) and Garrett. Keith was a wonderful man, musician, father, and man of great faith. Keith got his religious foundation from Jesse and Darlene, who sadly passed away in 1993. Then, after a long bout with MS, Keith passed away back in 2000. Over the last few years, Garrett and Amanda started joining Jesse on his shows, and we could see how special that was, and we appreciated how the kids showed so much respect and enthusiasm for singing & playing music with Jesse.
Last November of 2006, it was decided to sell their childhood home at an auction, and Jesse and I didn't think we had much of a chance to buy it because we thought it would be too expensive. But Jesse sent me and Garrett up to the auction and he said he was staying home to pray. Talk about the prayers of a righteous man availing much! I thought Garrett and I would just be bystanders watching it sell, but the bidding stopped, and Garrett turned to me and asked, "How about a thousand more?" Well, who could look into such a sweet face and say no? Not I! So little by little, we acquired the property back (after we made an emergency phone call to Jesse, who said, "Go for it!").
I look at the Pick Inn as a gift from God. I almost feel like we don't even own it. We are stewards of what God has given us, and we give God all the glory. I just hope we can be good stewards of it. I guess, in a way, we all own it, and need to care for it so it will be here, along with the music of our heritage, so our kids and grandkids can pass it down to their kids. We sure can't take it with us when we leave this earth, and there can be no greater pleasure for me than what God has made at the Pick Inn and worked through all who come there. Everyone seems to leave a touch of themselves behind, and we love that. We all own the place, as far as I am concerned.
I am so thrilled that Jesse has plans to construct an old-time brush arbors church and we plan to have revivals, youth camps, spiritual retreats, and possibly baptisms in Old Hickory Lake. We are especially blessed with the presence of our own "Fiddlin' Preacher". There is talk of a live radio show and many more wonderful ideas.
Well, as you can see, I could write a novel about the Pick Inn. To make a long story short, I love this old place. If I went on a vacation, I'd want to stay here, so why not share that blessing with everyone? I've walked my dogs on these trails for years, marveling at the birds, butterflies, wildflowers, pretty views, wildlife, and serenity. I don't think it pleases God to only make this kind of blessing available to a few.
There was one other childhood experience that made a huge impression on me as far as my love of nature. As Girl Scouts, we took a field trip to a place called the Tyler Arboretum. There, we learned how all the things that grow in the wild are important for wildlife to survive. So when you come and walk the trails at the Pick Inn, you won't see a golfcourse-type lawn everywhere. I have purposely left the wildflowers for the butterflies, birds and the bees to survive on. There are walking trails through wildflowers over 5 feet tall! I'd love to let teachers bring their classrooms in and see how important it is to preserve nature for the wildlife, and appreciate that these things that may look like weeds are important for the survival of many forms of life.
5. What are you looking forward to, specifically, about being a bluegrass innkeeper? I see how happy people are when they get to meet Jesse. He is a blessing to so many. This will give folks a chance to come and see him at home. I think it is a very nice way to say "thank you" to the fans, as well as a nice way for the fans to come and meet a hero they think may never get a chance otherwise to meet. I think this will be the greatest pleasure of all for me... to see people get to meet Jesse and find out he's a regular, down-to-earth person who just happens to be a musical wizard!
As far as the B&B, we are not yet classified as a Bed & Breakfast. We will be seeking approvals to do that in the near future, and I do look forward to that very much. Right now it already gives me great joy to see our visitors come and enjoy the countryside and the music. This will be a dream come true for many musicians who think it is the ultimate thrill to play music with a bluegrass legend like Jesse. We are looking forward to having teaching camps for all the bluegrass instruments. For me, the Pick Inn is a labor of love. The best compliment I've gotten so far is "it feels like coming home to Grandma's".
But, more than anything, I love Jesse. This is a dream of his. If I can help make this dream happen, nothing could make me happier. ~ Joy McR.
Jesse & Joy McReynolds
The Pick Inn
Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mountain Talk
Mountain Talk
In Appalachia, we know where you're from by the way you talk.
By Betty Dotson-Lewis
In the corner of Appalachia where Tennessee meets Virginia, where this photo was taken, dialect is more southern. Mountaineers like to talk and you can tell what part of Appalachia people come from by the words they use. Karen Stuebing, photographer
Hi, Y’all.
Maps are essential in locating and describing where people live in our country. Some who are proficient in map talk, refer to latitude and longitude when pinpointing a specific state, town or region.
However, people who live in the heart of the Appalachia region spreading across the mountains of West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, Alabama, eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are quickly and easily identified not by lines on a map, but by their dialect.
My home is located high in the mountains of West Virginia — Latitude: 38.28 N, Longitude: 80.84. I speak the mountain dialect of the central coalfields of West Virginia: “Hi, How are Y’all? I live in the holler by a crick close to my kin.”
My parents migrated to central West Virginia from Southwest Virginia. They held on to their Virginia accent which was noticeably different from their children’s speech. They said things like: wite, nite, lite, youins.
West Virginia is the boundary state between the North and South. There is no single West Virginia dialect. Instead it depends on what part of the state you live in.
For example, if you live in the northern part of the state, which borders Ohio and Pennsylvania, the accent is more northern. The primary marker being the long “l” sound. Residents in the interior of the state speak more like people from Kentucky or southern Virginia. Residents of the southern counties have a very pronounced southern twang.
Regardless of where you live in West Virginia, we are all blessed with a bit of that southern twang. The further you go into the mountains – the more twang and colloquialism you will find.
So, come with me on a dialect journey into the Appalachian Mountains.
Linguists refer to the southern mountain dialect as the folk speech of Appalachia. The archaic speech can be narrowed down to sort of a Scottish-flavored Elizabethan English. Dialect variations can be traced to immigration patterns. The southeastern coalfields of West Virginia were settled by miners immigrating from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Along the Ohio River, which was more industrialized, a large number of the immigrants came from Eastern Europe.
There are communities in the southern part of the state that are almost entirely African-American. Mine owners brought in former slaves during the mine wars of the 1800s to replace the striking miners, and because these communities remained segregated, the dialects of the southern slaves lived on in the speech.
I have compiled a list of words and phrases commonly used in mountain dialect and their standard English translation:
Holped – helped
Heered – heard
Deef – deaf
Afreared – afraid
Blinked milk – sour milk
Weary – worry
Near – nigh
Reckon – suppose
Backset – Backset of the flu
Ill – bad-tempered
Gom – Mess
Fillum – Film
Pert-near – almost
Ahr — hour
Am-Bew-Lance — ambulance (Call an am-bew-lance.)
A-mite — a little (You're lookin' a-mite peak-ed today.)
Arthur-itis — arthritis (Dad’s arthur-itis is really actin' up.)
Bar — bear (Llnes, tagers and bars, oh my.)
Battree — battery (The car’s battree is daid.)
Beholden — owe (I don't want to be beholden to you.)
Briggity — egotistical (The young man is acting briggity agin.)
Book Red — educated (He went to college -- he's book red.)
Cheer — chair ( Pull up a cheer and set a spell.)
Choirpractor — chiropractor (If you are down in the back, go to the choirpractor.)
Co-cola — Coca Cola, any brown soft drink (I ordered a co-cola at the diner.)
Crick – stiffness (I’ve got a crick in my neck.)
Decoration Day – Memorial Day (We visited the family cemetery on Decoration Day.)
Ate Up – completely infected (Dave’s ate up with the cancer.)
Elm — "m" The thirteenth letter of the alphabet. (Dial Elm for Murder.)
Far — fire (The mountain is on far.)
Haint — ghost (from haunt) (I’m afraid I will see a haint in that house.)
Hard — hired (He was the hard hand on the farm.)
His people — relatives (His people came from Ireland.)
Het — upset (She got het up over the contract.)
Hisself – himself (He built the barn hisself.)
Ideal – idea (Try to come up with a good ideal.)
Ink pin – pen (Give him the ink pin.)
Kin – related (He is kin to most of the people in this holler.)
Outsider — A non southern West Virginian (Mountain folk are skeptical of the outsider.)
Parts — neighborhood (It is good to see you back in these parts.)
Pizen — poison (That snake is pizen.)
Plain spoken — honest or genuine (The people trusted Jim because he was plain spoken.)
Poke — bag or a sack (She carried the groceries home in a poke.)
Polecat — skunk (A polecat ran under the old building.)
Put Out — angry or upset (The mayor was put out with the council’s decision.)
Red Light – stop light or traffic signal (My town has one red light.)
Skittish — nervous (The boy was skittish when asked to recite a Bible verse.)
Spell — a while. (She stayed on the mountain for a spell.)
Spell — being lightheaded or dizzy. (The woman had a spell in the doctor’s office.)
Thar — there (Thar's a pretty little pony in the field.)
Wrastlin’ – wrestling (My son is on the wrastlin’ team.)
Actin' Up — hurting (His injured knee was actin’ up.)
Agen — against
Bile – boil
Brung — brought
Carry — take or drive
Churched — excommunicated
Drug — dragged Et — eaten
Holt — hold
Kindly — nearly
Learned — taught
Mosey — go to
Pack — carry
Peart — well
Plumb — completely
Reckon — guess
Retched — reached
Rinch — rinse
Sangin' — digging up ginseng
Worsh — wash
Monday a week — next monday
Shore — sure
Down in the back — back injury
Cut the light on — turn the light on
I don’t care — Yes, please. I would like some. (Do you want more coffee? I don’t care.)
Worshington - Washington
One North Carolina scholar uses the term "constellation of features" in describing the distinctive mountain speech.
Here are some of my Kentucky relatives, Jean D. Fuller on the left and Judy D. Coyle on the right. There is a commonality between the dialect spoken in Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
For example, the letter “t” is added at the end of words such as “across” and “twice” making the words “acrosst” and “twice” becomes “twicet”. This pronunciation was common among English speakers centuries ago and Appalachia is the only region that has held on to the pronunciation.
The pronunciation of the letter “i” is much different in certain words such as “light” and “fire” than in other parts of the U.S. “Light” sounds like “laht” and “fire” sounds like “far”.
Hollow becomes Butcher Holler in Loretta Lynn’s song about her East Kentucky homeplace, Coalminer’s Daughter.
Mountain folk are famous for coining their own words to express a thought or observation. The word “sigogglin,” for example, means something that is crooked.
In rural Southern Appalachia an "n" is added to pronouns indicating "one" or ownership. So, "his'n" means "his one", "her'n" means "her one" and "yor'n" "your one," i.e., "his, hers and yours." Another example is the word “yernses” or yours. “That new car is yernses.” Use of the word "dove" as past tense for dive, "drug" as past tense for drag and "drunk" as past tense for drink are grammatical features characteristic of older Southern American English and the newer Southern American English.
Outsiders are often confused by the use of the word y’all, meaning the second person plural of you. When speaking about a group, y’all is general. You know the group of people as a whole. All y’all is more specific. This means you know each and every person individually in that group. Y’all can also be used with the standard “s” possessive. “I’ve got y’all’s assignments ready.”
Here are some other expressions contributed by some of my Facebook friends: Virginia Winebrenner Sykes: This is a good site," idn't" it? I hear so many people, including my mountain girl self, say "isn't" this way. Another one, I don't say, but have heard said is brefkast instead of breakfast.
Anna Dennison Circle: Whoppin – whipping; boosh – bush; dropped her calf – gave birth; peak’ed – pale; gone and done it again; smitten – likes; yonder – over there; and nary – none,
Shirley Tinney: "If'n” is a word I've heard.
Sue Underwood Mergler: How about "over yonder"? My boys pulled me aside one day after a visit to West Virginia and wanted to know were Yonder was, because Granny was always talking about it.
Builder Levy: Back in the early ' 70s when I was visiting and photographing in Mingo County and I would ask Nimrod Workman and other old timers I would meet, how are you doing, the answer would be, “Terrible!"
Pat Williams: Feeling "tolable like" meaning pretty good.
Karen Butler Britt: Stilts or Tom Walkers; toboggan-hat or sled; Jennie or mule; church key or bottle opener; leather britches aren't pants but dried green beans. Hominy is corn kernels soaked and cooked in lye to remove it from its kernel. Huckleberries are wild blueberries. Icebox was a refrigerator with a huge block of ice to keep food cool. Mule trader wasn't someone who traded mules but would trade pretty much anything for a good deal.
Although this unique mountain dialect is changing, losing some of its distinctiveness, it is not going to disappear in the near future -- with 20 million people living in the Appalachian region.
Bye y’all.
Comments19 July 2010 - 9:23am — editor
"Buddy"
Eastern Kentucky coal miners refer to each other (and those they are talking with) as "buddy."
"I'll tell you now, buddy, it's hard work." "Hey, buddy, pass me some salt."
I don't know if the use of "buddy" in this familiar, friendly way extends to West Virginia coal mining places.
20 July 2010 - 7:14am — Tipper
Southern Highlands of Appalachia
Wonderful post!! I live in the Southern Highlands of Appalachia-born and raised as they say-and most all the words shared in this post are familiar to me. I write about all things Appalachian at www.blindpigandtheacorn.com Each month I have an Appalachian Vocabulary Test-you can go here to see them: http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com/blind_pig_the_acorn/appalachian-dialect/
My favorite part of your post-is where you state our lovely dialect isn't going to dissappear anytime soon-I so agree. The wonder of the Appalachian Dialect is alive and well in my neck of the woods-and I'm trying to ensure it stays that way too!!
Thank you for celebrating our rich language.
Tipper
20 July 2010 - 8:19am — shaina
Fixin
One thing I didn't see on the list that I say and hear people say all the time is, "fixin".
Like, "I'm fixin to leave."
A friend of mines brother from New Hampshire heard me say that and said, "You're fixin? What are you fixin?" So I had to explain to him that it meant, about to.
20 July 2010 - 9:19am — Dr.Townsend
Our phrases
Even though I went off to school and came back, I feel that I did lose some of my accent. I realize that I should be proud of my Appalachian twang and the phrases my parents used (and I still use).
I was in Connecticut a few years ago. I was at a conference and someone asked me how I was going to get back to the airport in a couple days. I told them that I had a ticket to take a shuttle van back to the airport. The new colleague said, "Would you like to ride with me to the airport." I responded, "I wouldn't care to." She looked at me funny and asked, "Does that mean you want a ride or you don't want a ride?" ... www.dailyyonder.com
In Appalachia, we know where you're from by the way you talk.
By Betty Dotson-Lewis
In the corner of Appalachia where Tennessee meets Virginia, where this photo was taken, dialect is more southern. Mountaineers like to talk and you can tell what part of Appalachia people come from by the words they use. Karen Stuebing, photographer
Hi, Y’all.
Maps are essential in locating and describing where people live in our country. Some who are proficient in map talk, refer to latitude and longitude when pinpointing a specific state, town or region.
However, people who live in the heart of the Appalachia region spreading across the mountains of West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, Alabama, eastern Tennessee and Kentucky are quickly and easily identified not by lines on a map, but by their dialect.
My home is located high in the mountains of West Virginia — Latitude: 38.28 N, Longitude: 80.84. I speak the mountain dialect of the central coalfields of West Virginia: “Hi, How are Y’all? I live in the holler by a crick close to my kin.”
My parents migrated to central West Virginia from Southwest Virginia. They held on to their Virginia accent which was noticeably different from their children’s speech. They said things like: wite, nite, lite, youins.
West Virginia is the boundary state between the North and South. There is no single West Virginia dialect. Instead it depends on what part of the state you live in.
For example, if you live in the northern part of the state, which borders Ohio and Pennsylvania, the accent is more northern. The primary marker being the long “l” sound. Residents in the interior of the state speak more like people from Kentucky or southern Virginia. Residents of the southern counties have a very pronounced southern twang.
Regardless of where you live in West Virginia, we are all blessed with a bit of that southern twang. The further you go into the mountains – the more twang and colloquialism you will find.
So, come with me on a dialect journey into the Appalachian Mountains.
Linguists refer to the southern mountain dialect as the folk speech of Appalachia. The archaic speech can be narrowed down to sort of a Scottish-flavored Elizabethan English. Dialect variations can be traced to immigration patterns. The southeastern coalfields of West Virginia were settled by miners immigrating from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Along the Ohio River, which was more industrialized, a large number of the immigrants came from Eastern Europe.
There are communities in the southern part of the state that are almost entirely African-American. Mine owners brought in former slaves during the mine wars of the 1800s to replace the striking miners, and because these communities remained segregated, the dialects of the southern slaves lived on in the speech.
I have compiled a list of words and phrases commonly used in mountain dialect and their standard English translation:
Holped – helped
Heered – heard
Deef – deaf
Afreared – afraid
Blinked milk – sour milk
Weary – worry
Near – nigh
Reckon – suppose
Backset – Backset of the flu
Ill – bad-tempered
Gom – Mess
Fillum – Film
Pert-near – almost
Ahr — hour
Am-Bew-Lance — ambulance (Call an am-bew-lance.)
A-mite — a little (You're lookin' a-mite peak-ed today.)
Arthur-itis — arthritis (Dad’s arthur-itis is really actin' up.)
Bar — bear (Llnes, tagers and bars, oh my.)
Battree — battery (The car’s battree is daid.)
Beholden — owe (I don't want to be beholden to you.)
Briggity — egotistical (The young man is acting briggity agin.)
Book Red — educated (He went to college -- he's book red.)
Cheer — chair ( Pull up a cheer and set a spell.)
Choirpractor — chiropractor (If you are down in the back, go to the choirpractor.)
Co-cola — Coca Cola, any brown soft drink (I ordered a co-cola at the diner.)
Crick – stiffness (I’ve got a crick in my neck.)
Decoration Day – Memorial Day (We visited the family cemetery on Decoration Day.)
Ate Up – completely infected (Dave’s ate up with the cancer.)
Elm — "m" The thirteenth letter of the alphabet. (Dial Elm for Murder.)
Far — fire (The mountain is on far.)
Haint — ghost (from haunt) (I’m afraid I will see a haint in that house.)
Hard — hired (He was the hard hand on the farm.)
His people — relatives (His people came from Ireland.)
Het — upset (She got het up over the contract.)
Hisself – himself (He built the barn hisself.)
Ideal – idea (Try to come up with a good ideal.)
Ink pin – pen (Give him the ink pin.)
Kin – related (He is kin to most of the people in this holler.)
Outsider — A non southern West Virginian (Mountain folk are skeptical of the outsider.)
Parts — neighborhood (It is good to see you back in these parts.)
Pizen — poison (That snake is pizen.)
Plain spoken — honest or genuine (The people trusted Jim because he was plain spoken.)
Poke — bag or a sack (She carried the groceries home in a poke.)
Polecat — skunk (A polecat ran under the old building.)
Put Out — angry or upset (The mayor was put out with the council’s decision.)
Red Light – stop light or traffic signal (My town has one red light.)
Skittish — nervous (The boy was skittish when asked to recite a Bible verse.)
Spell — a while. (She stayed on the mountain for a spell.)
Spell — being lightheaded or dizzy. (The woman had a spell in the doctor’s office.)
Thar — there (Thar's a pretty little pony in the field.)
Wrastlin’ – wrestling (My son is on the wrastlin’ team.)
Actin' Up — hurting (His injured knee was actin’ up.)
Agen — against
Bile – boil
Brung — brought
Carry — take or drive
Churched — excommunicated
Drug — dragged Et — eaten
Holt — hold
Kindly — nearly
Learned — taught
Mosey — go to
Pack — carry
Peart — well
Plumb — completely
Reckon — guess
Retched — reached
Rinch — rinse
Sangin' — digging up ginseng
Worsh — wash
Monday a week — next monday
Shore — sure
Down in the back — back injury
Cut the light on — turn the light on
I don’t care — Yes, please. I would like some. (Do you want more coffee? I don’t care.)
Worshington - Washington
One North Carolina scholar uses the term "constellation of features" in describing the distinctive mountain speech.
Here are some of my Kentucky relatives, Jean D. Fuller on the left and Judy D. Coyle on the right. There is a commonality between the dialect spoken in Southwestern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
For example, the letter “t” is added at the end of words such as “across” and “twice” making the words “acrosst” and “twice” becomes “twicet”. This pronunciation was common among English speakers centuries ago and Appalachia is the only region that has held on to the pronunciation.
The pronunciation of the letter “i” is much different in certain words such as “light” and “fire” than in other parts of the U.S. “Light” sounds like “laht” and “fire” sounds like “far”.
Hollow becomes Butcher Holler in Loretta Lynn’s song about her East Kentucky homeplace, Coalminer’s Daughter.
Mountain folk are famous for coining their own words to express a thought or observation. The word “sigogglin,” for example, means something that is crooked.
In rural Southern Appalachia an "n" is added to pronouns indicating "one" or ownership. So, "his'n" means "his one", "her'n" means "her one" and "yor'n" "your one," i.e., "his, hers and yours." Another example is the word “yernses” or yours. “That new car is yernses.” Use of the word "dove" as past tense for dive, "drug" as past tense for drag and "drunk" as past tense for drink are grammatical features characteristic of older Southern American English and the newer Southern American English.
Outsiders are often confused by the use of the word y’all, meaning the second person plural of you. When speaking about a group, y’all is general. You know the group of people as a whole. All y’all is more specific. This means you know each and every person individually in that group. Y’all can also be used with the standard “s” possessive. “I’ve got y’all’s assignments ready.”
Here are some other expressions contributed by some of my Facebook friends: Virginia Winebrenner Sykes: This is a good site," idn't" it? I hear so many people, including my mountain girl self, say "isn't" this way. Another one, I don't say, but have heard said is brefkast instead of breakfast.
Anna Dennison Circle: Whoppin – whipping; boosh – bush; dropped her calf – gave birth; peak’ed – pale; gone and done it again; smitten – likes; yonder – over there; and nary – none,
Shirley Tinney: "If'n” is a word I've heard.
Sue Underwood Mergler: How about "over yonder"? My boys pulled me aside one day after a visit to West Virginia and wanted to know were Yonder was, because Granny was always talking about it.
Builder Levy: Back in the early ' 70s when I was visiting and photographing in Mingo County and I would ask Nimrod Workman and other old timers I would meet, how are you doing, the answer would be, “Terrible!"
Pat Williams: Feeling "tolable like" meaning pretty good.
Karen Butler Britt: Stilts or Tom Walkers; toboggan-hat or sled; Jennie or mule; church key or bottle opener; leather britches aren't pants but dried green beans. Hominy is corn kernels soaked and cooked in lye to remove it from its kernel. Huckleberries are wild blueberries. Icebox was a refrigerator with a huge block of ice to keep food cool. Mule trader wasn't someone who traded mules but would trade pretty much anything for a good deal.
Although this unique mountain dialect is changing, losing some of its distinctiveness, it is not going to disappear in the near future -- with 20 million people living in the Appalachian region.
Bye y’all.
Comments19 July 2010 - 9:23am — editor
"Buddy"
Eastern Kentucky coal miners refer to each other (and those they are talking with) as "buddy."
"I'll tell you now, buddy, it's hard work." "Hey, buddy, pass me some salt."
I don't know if the use of "buddy" in this familiar, friendly way extends to West Virginia coal mining places.
20 July 2010 - 7:14am — Tipper
Southern Highlands of Appalachia
Wonderful post!! I live in the Southern Highlands of Appalachia-born and raised as they say-and most all the words shared in this post are familiar to me. I write about all things Appalachian at www.blindpigandtheacorn.com Each month I have an Appalachian Vocabulary Test-you can go here to see them: http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com/blind_pig_the_acorn/appalachian-dialect/
My favorite part of your post-is where you state our lovely dialect isn't going to dissappear anytime soon-I so agree. The wonder of the Appalachian Dialect is alive and well in my neck of the woods-and I'm trying to ensure it stays that way too!!
Thank you for celebrating our rich language.
Tipper
20 July 2010 - 8:19am — shaina
Fixin
One thing I didn't see on the list that I say and hear people say all the time is, "fixin".
Like, "I'm fixin to leave."
A friend of mines brother from New Hampshire heard me say that and said, "You're fixin? What are you fixin?" So I had to explain to him that it meant, about to.
20 July 2010 - 9:19am — Dr.Townsend
Our phrases
Even though I went off to school and came back, I feel that I did lose some of my accent. I realize that I should be proud of my Appalachian twang and the phrases my parents used (and I still use).
I was in Connecticut a few years ago. I was at a conference and someone asked me how I was going to get back to the airport in a couple days. I told them that I had a ticket to take a shuttle van back to the airport. The new colleague said, "Would you like to ride with me to the airport." I responded, "I wouldn't care to." She looked at me funny and asked, "Does that mean you want a ride or you don't want a ride?" ... www.dailyyonder.com
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Robert C. Byrd's successor
West Virginia's newspapers are filled with questions, comments regarding the successor to West Virginia's Senate seat of Robert C. Byrd. Byrd died on June 27, 2010 at the age of 92. He was the longest serving Senator.
Age and length of sevice are important but more importantly is what Byrd's life represented. He was orphaned at the age of one or two so he never really knew his parents. An aunt and uncle adopted him and moved him from his birth state of North Carolina to the coalfields of southern West Virginia.
His adopted father made a living for the family by working in and around the coal mines. The family moved around to different coal camps. Byrd, at a young age, adopted the strongest work ethics and a strong desire for education. He loved his country. His desire to serve led him to politics. He made bad mistakes but he acknowledged those mistakes and told his people why he acted as he did. He said that he became a member of the KKK to gain political support from powerful people -
rich people who could help him win elections.
While I was working on my first book on Appalachia - titled: Appalachia Spirit Triumphant (a cultural odyssey of Appalachia by B. L. Dotson-Lewis (2004) I called Sen. Byrd's office frequently. I spoke with Martha Ann McIntosh, his assistant. She arranged for me to get a story about Robert C. Byrd for my book. She told if I could come to D.C. she felt positive I could see Byrd in person. I never did get to go.
I did meet him in Beckley at the Regional Airport. I heard he was coming in so I asked a friend, Joan Moore, if she wanted to go over and meet Sen. Byrd. We met him as he got off the plane. He was so nice and friendly. He hugged us. He was warm and kind.
For all the talk about Sen. Byrd's replacement - it cannot happen. Whomever gets the seat - it is a filler - not a replacement. Robert C. Byrd was one of a kind. He was our West Virginian.
Age and length of sevice are important but more importantly is what Byrd's life represented. He was orphaned at the age of one or two so he never really knew his parents. An aunt and uncle adopted him and moved him from his birth state of North Carolina to the coalfields of southern West Virginia.
His adopted father made a living for the family by working in and around the coal mines. The family moved around to different coal camps. Byrd, at a young age, adopted the strongest work ethics and a strong desire for education. He loved his country. His desire to serve led him to politics. He made bad mistakes but he acknowledged those mistakes and told his people why he acted as he did. He said that he became a member of the KKK to gain political support from powerful people -
rich people who could help him win elections.
While I was working on my first book on Appalachia - titled: Appalachia Spirit Triumphant (a cultural odyssey of Appalachia by B. L. Dotson-Lewis (2004) I called Sen. Byrd's office frequently. I spoke with Martha Ann McIntosh, his assistant. She arranged for me to get a story about Robert C. Byrd for my book. She told if I could come to D.C. she felt positive I could see Byrd in person. I never did get to go.
I did meet him in Beckley at the Regional Airport. I heard he was coming in so I asked a friend, Joan Moore, if she wanted to go over and meet Sen. Byrd. We met him as he got off the plane. He was so nice and friendly. He hugged us. He was warm and kind.
For all the talk about Sen. Byrd's replacement - it cannot happen. Whomever gets the seat - it is a filler - not a replacement. Robert C. Byrd was one of a kind. He was our West Virginian.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Mountaintop Removal
By Betty Dotson-Lewis
As a resident of West Virginia, the mountaintop removal area I have firsthand information on the mining method. I can see the smooth crest of the mountain which used to be a jagged natural rise (a sludge pond is behind that smoothness) from my home. One sludge pond is right above a facility which used to house an elementary school until the school was closed. Now, the facility houses a home for wayward children.
I too, like Silas House, encourage the President to take an aerial journey over our destroyed heritage, our mountains. However, I believe some of the reasons the past, present and future of mountaintop removal remains in the hands of (our) West Virginia politicians. When top ranking officials are in favor of mountaintop removal and tell those in D.C. West Virginia cannot survive without this form of the removal of coal - why would a President think differently. Also, the miners are scared to death there will be no other jobs and even though for many it is not their choice of coal mining - they think it is better than welfare.
Please understand until our state top ranking political officials take a stand to stop mountaintop removal - it is going to be very difficult to get the President to stop this devastation to one of the most beautiful, rugged mountain regions in Appalachia.
PS. I do believe Sen. Byrd was lending in the direction of finding alternative methods - now, he is gone. We can only pray that Gov. Manchin will appoint a successor who cares more about the people and the environment (the mountains) than huge, profit making absentee coal barons.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Mountain Eagle -July 31, 1975
THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE....WHITESBURG, LETCHER COUNTY, KENTUCKY..THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1975
Can presidential candidates face mountain issues?
By JAMES BRANSCOME
The Appalachian states will elect the next President of the United States. They will also determine through their primaries who will be the Democratic nominee.
Those statements are, of course, speculative but no more so than most of the guessing that passes for political analysis on the 'op-ed' pages of the daily newspapers. So, we're entitled to our own unsyndicated divining.
Without getting bogged down in geography, the mountain coalfields alone will have five preferential primaries next year in which to choose among the horde of Democrats who fancy themselves capable of lobbing the first bomb, vetoing the most bills, and taping their every utterance--all talents that seem to have become standard fare for the office in one variation or another after the electorate and presidents discovered that bureaucrats, not presidents, have really run the country ever since the passage of the Civil Service law in 1883.
But charade or not, mountain folks have an unequal chance to decide whose wife, dog, swimming pool, and belly scars the county will have to live with for the next four years.
Assuming that no frontrunner skunks everyone else through the New Hampshire and Florida primaries, the field will then be left open for the Democratic candidates to argue that no clear consensus will have merged until they have all had a chance to test their strength in the South and Midwest against each other and particularly against George Wallace. That raises the prospect that delegate bagging and media courting will last all the way to at least the West Virginia primary, which in 1960 made the decisive choice between Kennedy and Humphrey.
The varied political history of the mountains and the mountain states makes these areas unusual testing grounds for candidate-picking. This is especially true when gut issues and not glamour are what the race is all about, as may be the case this year if Kennedy decides to forego the campaign. The region constantly swaps parties and voting patterns, as evidenced by Bill Brock's defeat of Albert Gore in Tennessee, Wendell Ford's defeat of Marlowe Cook in Kentucky, and Arch Moore's defeat of John D. Rockefeller IV in West Virginia.
The matter goes even deeper than that, however, West Virginia has the most highly unionized labor force in the country; North Carolina, the least organized Eastern Kentucky has a Republican district right beside a Democratic one, as does the Blue Ridge of North Carolina. There is a moderate Byrd in West Virginia and an apple butter Byrd in Virginia.
But on top of that, the mountain sections all, have one thing in common;
the largest concentration of unemployed, underemployed, non-middle class voters in the United States. And, with few exceptions, they also share a history of little grass roots action to pick a candidate whose platform matches the region's needs.
Participation in politics as a means of social change is a highly arguable proposition, especially in a region where power is concentrated in the economic and governmental institutions in a way it isn't in the rest of America. Corporate executives, Tennessee Valley Authority board members, and Forest Service bureaucrats don't have to be elected to office.
Yet the political process is the only alternative available to those social change advocates in the region whose other approaches in the last decade have produced about as much "social change" as one scoop out of an abandoned hen house.
Anyway, the politicians are headed toward the mountains, and we might as well prepare to demand something from them rather than having to endue the usual slop that the speech writers and the media pour out every time they campaign down this way.
North Carolina could prove an interesting primary. There, favorite son, Terry Sanford will be trying to prove that he can beat George Wallace on home turf. Sanford, the president of Duke University and an avid golfer, at the most exclusive resort in the Blue Ridge, will tee off a campaign claiming that he, not Wallace, is the friend of the little man.
Guessing the outcome of a primary in the North Carolina mountains is hazardous business. That section is home for both Sen. Sam Ervin and Gov. James Holshouser, the latter a right-winger from Boone who is close to setting a record for incompetence in an office that has never amounted to much in that state. Come to think of it, Sen. Ervin's only claim to merit before Watergate was that he had read the Constitution and could tell pretty good jokes poking fun at the moonshiners over in Avery County.
North Carolina somehow has gained a national reputation as a liberal state. I presume that the reason is that an inordinate number of New York Times reporters, including columnist Tom Wicker, claim to have been born there. Regardless, the animosity the mountain folks feel toward flatlanders could be capitalized upon by someone other than Wallace if the effort is made.
With the abolition of the winner-take-all primaries in the Democratic races, sectional differences like those in North Carolina give agrarian reformers like Fred Harris a chance to pick up a few delegates. Resort developments, high property taxes, dams, and the Forest Service are major issues in that area that only the Wallaceites may be astute enough to spot.
Sanford claims already to have Virginia sewed up with the support of Henry Howell, a perennial candidate for office on the liberal ticket. He may have a chance in the Old Dominion where primaries are not allowed, but it may be another matter in Kentucky, where the party establishment loves him like they did Muskie in 1972. Having the established politicians behind him killed Muskie. But Sanford may not make it to Kentucky, because he may be beaten by either Wallace or Jimmy Carter of Georgia in his home state.
The West Virginia primary takes on added significance next year because of the United mine Workers reforms that allow the miners to have a say in which Democrat they will endorse. The candidates, including Texas millionaire Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, have already been courting the union hierarchy. Whether the new leadership will resist the pressures of the Washington kingmakers to whom it owes some favors for its own elections )such as Joseph Rauh, a liberal big wheel in party circles, who did much of the legal work that made the union reform possible) remains to be seen. With every vote in the primaries now counting for the convention regardless of the state winners, miners in West Virginia--a total of about 40,000--may not vote the straight union ticket.
The revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the mountains--an, area from which it has always been banned--suggests a frustration that folks want things done differently. Significantly, there appears to be little sympathy for Wallace in the mountains. That raises the possibility that the Democratic horde can be forced to run on the issues in the mountains.
It all seems important enough to write some more about, so beginning next week, I'll take a look at what one frontrunner, Sen. Henry "Scott" Jackson, is worth to the region. He has a 400 horsepower mouth on energy issues, but he seems to produce only putt-putt legislation.
Can presidential candidates face mountain issues?
By JAMES BRANSCOME
The Appalachian states will elect the next President of the United States. They will also determine through their primaries who will be the Democratic nominee.
Those statements are, of course, speculative but no more so than most of the guessing that passes for political analysis on the 'op-ed' pages of the daily newspapers. So, we're entitled to our own unsyndicated divining.
Without getting bogged down in geography, the mountain coalfields alone will have five preferential primaries next year in which to choose among the horde of Democrats who fancy themselves capable of lobbing the first bomb, vetoing the most bills, and taping their every utterance--all talents that seem to have become standard fare for the office in one variation or another after the electorate and presidents discovered that bureaucrats, not presidents, have really run the country ever since the passage of the Civil Service law in 1883.
But charade or not, mountain folks have an unequal chance to decide whose wife, dog, swimming pool, and belly scars the county will have to live with for the next four years.
Assuming that no frontrunner skunks everyone else through the New Hampshire and Florida primaries, the field will then be left open for the Democratic candidates to argue that no clear consensus will have merged until they have all had a chance to test their strength in the South and Midwest against each other and particularly against George Wallace. That raises the prospect that delegate bagging and media courting will last all the way to at least the West Virginia primary, which in 1960 made the decisive choice between Kennedy and Humphrey.
The varied political history of the mountains and the mountain states makes these areas unusual testing grounds for candidate-picking. This is especially true when gut issues and not glamour are what the race is all about, as may be the case this year if Kennedy decides to forego the campaign. The region constantly swaps parties and voting patterns, as evidenced by Bill Brock's defeat of Albert Gore in Tennessee, Wendell Ford's defeat of Marlowe Cook in Kentucky, and Arch Moore's defeat of John D. Rockefeller IV in West Virginia.
The matter goes even deeper than that, however, West Virginia has the most highly unionized labor force in the country; North Carolina, the least organized Eastern Kentucky has a Republican district right beside a Democratic one, as does the Blue Ridge of North Carolina. There is a moderate Byrd in West Virginia and an apple butter Byrd in Virginia.
But on top of that, the mountain sections all, have one thing in common;
the largest concentration of unemployed, underemployed, non-middle class voters in the United States. And, with few exceptions, they also share a history of little grass roots action to pick a candidate whose platform matches the region's needs.
Participation in politics as a means of social change is a highly arguable proposition, especially in a region where power is concentrated in the economic and governmental institutions in a way it isn't in the rest of America. Corporate executives, Tennessee Valley Authority board members, and Forest Service bureaucrats don't have to be elected to office.
Yet the political process is the only alternative available to those social change advocates in the region whose other approaches in the last decade have produced about as much "social change" as one scoop out of an abandoned hen house.
Anyway, the politicians are headed toward the mountains, and we might as well prepare to demand something from them rather than having to endue the usual slop that the speech writers and the media pour out every time they campaign down this way.
North Carolina could prove an interesting primary. There, favorite son, Terry Sanford will be trying to prove that he can beat George Wallace on home turf. Sanford, the president of Duke University and an avid golfer, at the most exclusive resort in the Blue Ridge, will tee off a campaign claiming that he, not Wallace, is the friend of the little man.
Guessing the outcome of a primary in the North Carolina mountains is hazardous business. That section is home for both Sen. Sam Ervin and Gov. James Holshouser, the latter a right-winger from Boone who is close to setting a record for incompetence in an office that has never amounted to much in that state. Come to think of it, Sen. Ervin's only claim to merit before Watergate was that he had read the Constitution and could tell pretty good jokes poking fun at the moonshiners over in Avery County.
North Carolina somehow has gained a national reputation as a liberal state. I presume that the reason is that an inordinate number of New York Times reporters, including columnist Tom Wicker, claim to have been born there. Regardless, the animosity the mountain folks feel toward flatlanders could be capitalized upon by someone other than Wallace if the effort is made.
With the abolition of the winner-take-all primaries in the Democratic races, sectional differences like those in North Carolina give agrarian reformers like Fred Harris a chance to pick up a few delegates. Resort developments, high property taxes, dams, and the Forest Service are major issues in that area that only the Wallaceites may be astute enough to spot.
Sanford claims already to have Virginia sewed up with the support of Henry Howell, a perennial candidate for office on the liberal ticket. He may have a chance in the Old Dominion where primaries are not allowed, but it may be another matter in Kentucky, where the party establishment loves him like they did Muskie in 1972. Having the established politicians behind him killed Muskie. But Sanford may not make it to Kentucky, because he may be beaten by either Wallace or Jimmy Carter of Georgia in his home state.
The West Virginia primary takes on added significance next year because of the United mine Workers reforms that allow the miners to have a say in which Democrat they will endorse. The candidates, including Texas millionaire Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, have already been courting the union hierarchy. Whether the new leadership will resist the pressures of the Washington kingmakers to whom it owes some favors for its own elections )such as Joseph Rauh, a liberal big wheel in party circles, who did much of the legal work that made the union reform possible) remains to be seen. With every vote in the primaries now counting for the convention regardless of the state winners, miners in West Virginia--a total of about 40,000--may not vote the straight union ticket.
The revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the mountains--an, area from which it has always been banned--suggests a frustration that folks want things done differently. Significantly, there appears to be little sympathy for Wallace in the mountains. That raises the possibility that the Democratic horde can be forced to run on the issues in the mountains.
It all seems important enough to write some more about, so beginning next week, I'll take a look at what one frontrunner, Sen. Henry "Scott" Jackson, is worth to the region. He has a 400 horsepower mouth on energy issues, but he seems to produce only putt-putt legislation.
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