Evening star., 1933-08-22
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

As the shallow waters of the south
fork" of the Potomac wind between
the ragged Shenandoah mountains and
the eastern Alleghanies in West Vi-
ginia, they make a narrow valley Of
lush meadows and corn fields where are
preserved, little changed for a half
century, the folk ways of the central
Appalachians.
The hard surfaced road has not yet
penetrated this valley, which lies on
the edge of the new Shenandoah Ma
tional Park. 1t Is inclosed by sheer,
SCARED prec;pices of half billiOn-year-
old rocks, and stony slopes sparsely
covered with stunted pines and ghostly
dead chestnut trees, where white and
black sheep find scant pasturage. The
rich farms are scattered irregulariy
along the river bottom, receiving each
Spring new life from the down WASH of
the mountain sides.
The social life of the present genera
ton Is much the same as it was in The
days of their grandfathers. The farm
ers are prosperous. with progressive
ideas. But they live much to them
selves. Difficulties Of transportation are
pension bridges for pedestrians are
thrown over the rain-sWollen runs.
Farm cabins in the green hollows at the
heads of mountain brooks are accessible
only ON foot or horseback There Is
no village where the institutions Of a
new day might focus for the whole rs
miles between the two county seats Of
Moorfleld and Franklin.
Notable among the surviving institu-
tions are the mountain fiddlerS. The
weird. plaintive music of the Appala-
chan mountaineer has been discovered
and popularized by stage and radio dur
ing the past few years-almoSt sure
sign that as native folkWay it has
perished 1t has passed into the hands
Of the conscious artist and just as sure
ly out Of the hands Of the mountain
minstrel who unconsciously, out OF the
spiritual depths of the countryside,
drew their weird effects.
But In this land of shepherds the
minstrel is as much in evidence as ever
Almost nightly the flddlers gather at
some farm house or cabin and play.
sing and dance until close TO midnight.
This is the supreme recreation OF the
neighborhood There are few of the
younger generation that do not play
some stringed instrument. They come
afoot, on horseback and In battered
open cars from miles around.
Fiddlers Will walk as much as 10
miles from some isolated hollow" to
take part in such festivity. Nights
are black in the mountains. with thick
mists boiling around the pine-covered
crags. There are spectre like process
sionS of these white shirted fiddlers and
their gals" down the mountain paths
In the dark and across the sWaying
bridges hung from wire cables.
Neighbors for Generations.
The ethnic makeup of the long val
ley and its fnger-like projections along
the mountain runs has changed little
since Revolutionary days. There are
the same old families which have been
neighbors so long that nearly every one
is related and courtships and funerals
are the affairs of big community
family. This region is one of the last
spots in the East where still is 10 be
found the family graveyard Elsewhere
these have been merged into village
cemeteries Here the small. inclosed
plots are scattered all along the river.
Through the long years the family, by
means of this institution, keeps its
hold upon its dead.
The bottom and the hollows ha'