Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-07-12
"a Swappin Match"

able paper and of sober habits, tn
Philadelphia Press. But what shall W,
say to letter which one Of its CORE
spondents puts off ON us for straight
factP We lay the substance of part Of
this letter before our readers and LEI
them say what they please. We DOM
say anything, except that the story may
amuse.
The correspondent tells us he was rid.
ing on horseback through the region be-
tween the Smoky and the Nantehala
mountains in North Carolina. He
stopped for the night at farmhouse
and asked what was the news in that
district. He was told that nothing ever
happened there except Mormons or a
"swappin match" He asked what the
latter was, and the people of the house
were amazed at his ignorance. The
mistress of the mansion answered:
stranger, a swappin match is where we uns
swap horses, mules, wives an sfch."
DO you mean to say that they trade wives7"
"Jes' So" said the man of the house. IAN
thar's gwine ter be big swop over yon at Bill
Days tomory."
With flask of excellent brandy the
correspondent opened the heart Of the
brave mountaineer, and at length got
permission to attend the swappfn match.
All the rustic population that had COWS,
horses, mules, hounds or other live
stock to trade was there. In addition,
some of them had brought along the
human partners of their joys and sor-
rows to trade off these too. A keg of
moonshine whisky opened the ball, and
then began the dicker. One man want
ed a COW and pair of hounds thrown
in as ''boot" if he took the other fellows
wife off his hands, but the other man
regarded this as too high.
A young man named Long wanted to Swap
an angular, red headed, fiery tempered wom-
an Of thirty for good looking, plump and
good natured young woman in the possession
OF another mountaineer named jackson. To
al Appearances the women were utterly indff-
tereRt; II they were not they showed no oppo-
sition by word or action. jackson replied 10
Longs proposition by saying; Tibet gal can
dig more seng, chop more wood, an kin beat
anythin shoottn on the erik. III call 1t swan |
4 you'un IL throw in yer old riding mar"
Its morn III Civ, Jacksin. Ny wuman's |
good cook and kin hoe as much coh'n as any |
woman in this narborhood. I'll trade event.
There were dozen or so of propositions pro !
and con, which finally ended in Jackson's get |
ling red COW and three sheep as boot
Another trade which seemed to excite the /
disabilities Of the bystanders was between /
couple of men, in which one named Punt cot |
n exchange small, thin Tipped, sharp fea-
.ured woman with swapping black eyes and |
disposition not winning by any means.
According to the general opinion Punt was |
likely TO have lively time of it until he could
'oax somebody to take the woman off his
hands.
In all there were six wife trades that
lay. The exchanged wives went peace.
IDLY home with their new owners, and
jook charge of the other woman's chill
iren without any apparent feeling in
he matter, and the children themselves
ooked on the new mother as quite the
roper thing and made no opposition.
Nobody seemed to feel that there was
unlawful or immoral in these
rades, and the custom had prevailed
rom time immemorial in these noun.
ain forests, where no outsider pene-
rates. The correspondent says that he
'assed on through another gap in the
Mountains next day, and came On an
'ntirely different community. Here he
mentioned the wife trading custom of
he people he had left, and found it ex-
'ited no surprise. Everybody knew
bout it, nobody wondered at it.
He was told that centuries ago this
smoky mountain tract was settled by a
'ariety of people of English, Scotch
rish and even some Indian blood. They
lad lived alone and intermarried, gen.
ration after generation, cut off from all
he outside, world and their pecularities
lad only grown stronger. They wear
till the homemade tow-linen garments
discarded elsewhere, even in the print
i've parts of the country, half century
go. It is in these mountains, he was
old, that the Mormon elders make their
converts.
Tough yarn, this. But what a field.
IL unworked, is here for the historian
md rornancer.