The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-09-20

The stock is mainly 'English dhu
"Scotch-Irish,' with only mere anu
there a French or German name. IN
four interior counties, there is no Tor
eign-born inhabitant; in eight otiiers
are but two or three. Native STOCK,
inbred. Untouched by immigration
stationary, grown stagnant, Dut SCUM
and fine of origin, sprung from me
race of c~OnQuering pioneers ana cous-
ined by h Kentucky "blue blood or
which the world has perhaps heard
| as much as s%utfices. No foreigners, no
negroes. The region was non-slave-
holding a unsu1ted 10 pianta-
lions. The people are democratic
like all mountaineers; mad ana AYE
little knowledge of the negro, ana 90
not show the deep-seated prejudice 20
the social equality Of blacks ana
whites which characterizes the Ken
tuckians. Indeed. till 1906 there
existed "a fl~ourishing college for the
co~education CT the Bluegrass BLACKS
and int whites on the western
maree Of the Cumberland plateau
and it probably couldn't have existed
anywhere else south Of Mason ana
DiSon's line, the author tells us.
How do on contemporary ances-
tors look? Well, the men are tall
and lank, though sinewy, with their
bony faces, salloW skins and dull
hair" Their shoulders droop, they
L loohoo Jo-AiN
Though their faces are i~nscrutable,'
they are never stupid. They do a lot
Of thinking, but screen themselves
with impenetrable reserve from the
furriner,' the outsider. The women
have always 'deIicately moulded and
refined patient faces. simple and ma
tural gentle, gracious and
unembarrassed, SO that in talking with
them one forgets their bare feet,
ragged clothes and Grass ignorance
Hard is their lot and rot goodly is
their heritage. Between L and Is
d girl marries a youth between II II
Is:
The motive in marriage 5 very ele-
mental, betrays little of The romantic
spirit. Husband and wife speak of each
ether as my man ana my woman A
girl when she is 90 is put on the Gull
A man is included in this undesirable
category 1T IS; after that he can get no
one TO take him except. some poor wilder
woman rs one mountain matron express.
ed il. adding. gals Oh the cul list spend
their time jes' bunmin' around among
their folks During a ride of so miles,
only one cd maid; her lot was Il sorry
one, living now with a relative. now with
i friend earning her board by helping
to nurse the sick or making herself useful
in what way she could.
'The mountain system Of economy does
not take into account the unmarried wo-
man, 50 she plunges into matriInony with
the instinct of Representation. Then
come clildren and the mountain families
to the standard of the patriarchs.
4 family Of from ten to fifteen offspring
is no rarity, and this characterizes not
only the mountains of Kentucky, but the
whole area of the Appalachian system. In
addition to much child bearing all the
work Of the pioneer home, the spinning
and weaving. knitting of stockings, some
times even the making Of shoes and moe
casins. falls on the woman. More than
tIi rIo noI - II khn on"
searches for it when it has wandered away
in the range Of forest, hoes weeds in the
corn, helps in the ploughing, carries water
from the spring. saws wood and lays
stake and ridered' fences.
"a mountain woman who has a husband
and two sons and who had been employed
all day in making a fence, lifting the heavy
rails above the height of her own head,
replied in q ~listless way to the question
as to what the men did, with the men
folks they mostly sets on = fence and chaw
tobacco and talk politics.
AS usual the men ok have the
best of the bargain. The woman Eat
40 looks twenty years older than her
husband" who tempers his superior
ity, however, by great frequent
draughts Of moonshine whiskey,
which has go per cent more alcohol
than the standard liquor A strong
race that can survive this heroic drink
and years Of fried egg greasy meat,
"h~alf-haked soda biscuits eaten hot,
or corn pone with Jumps of saleratus
in it,
We wish we could take our readers
into the ~windoWless one room log |
cabin Of the nOuntaineer. show them
the flintlocks hanging from a rafter.
the trough washtub followed from a
log, the clay lamp, eloquent Of Car
thage or Rome. "in which grease is
burned with a floating wick the
spinning wheel, the paper flowers. theJ
home woven c-Ounterpanes'' of old de-
sign. the calico quilts in which the
feeling Of the woman is eK-
pressed: and outside, morning g~lories,
phIox, h~ollyhocks, dahlias, the good
Old-fashiOned flowers, invite us The
feasts, the funerals, the rude district
the preachers, some Of whom
have been known to distill whfskey
or take a sWig in the course Of a ser
mon; the faithful circuit rider. going