The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-09-27
By RONALD AUTRY
APP Newsfeatures

Nashville, Tenn.-The sun is "a
sottin" on the o1d-time Tennessee
mountaineer, the colintrv's SUI
preme individualist, and his an
cestor's way of life.
On the way out is the simple
existence in which some noun
taineers raise their crops, herd
their flocks, weave their cloth.
cobbie their shoes, grind their
grain in water-wheel mills and
attend Old Harp singings.
The ballads of medieval Europe
still are heard in the mountains
but less often than the hot
ticks of radio.
The water wheels still turn in
the mountains--but you hear
more about the atomic bomb
works at Oak Ridge.
And the omnipresent tourist Is
there, accompanied by a blaring
auto horn that skaters the silence
of the hills.
The latest report on the minor
ity of Tennessee mountaineers
who still preserve the customs
of yesterday comes in semi-offil
cial form from 9 state agency, the
Department of Conservation,
whose publication, the Conser-
vationist, says in a current issue:
This free and rugged way OF
life is vanishing before the forces
of civilization. For a decade the
customs of many have changed
rapidly as good roads, electricity,
the radio and tourists reached
into their gorges and coves.
Modern Youngsters
only the elderly people with
stood this tide of progress as
most OF the youngsters went mod
ern with a bang--lipstick, new
slang and all"
But now, the Conservationist
says, the transformation is be-
coming more complete because
of the service men returned from
eli parts of the world and their
wives from outside the hills. They
will revamp the way of life in
the mountains"
Electric ranges, washing ma
chimes and other electric appli-
ances already have appeared in
hand-hewn cabins in the hills,
largely because of the iva and
rural identification.
Electric pumps have cut out a
lot of water-toting from the
spring on the hillside and many
q black wash pot has disappear
ed from beside the creek.
Vet despite the invading influ-
ences some of the older east
Tennessee aaantalhtefs sttll.5e
tain customs peculiar only to
themselves. Some even use dia-
lect containing the flavor of APP
proved speech during the Eliza
bethan Age.
Elizabethan Phrases
ut began to come down dus-
ky" they say, or:
THE sun was a sottin''; TITS
not generated in him to STEAL"
s'Thar wasn't even a sprig of
fire in his place. Il didn't want
to be catched in the rain and no
shelter"
Some of their verb and noun
spellings date back to Chaucer.
The hill-dweller might say: The
waspes have their nestes in the
postes."
Like some of their speech, their
dances and ballads have come
down through the centuries and
are accompanied by "fiddles,"
guitars and banjoes.
Sometimes Old Harp hymn
singings are held in a church or
school house. drawing people from
miles around. The Old Harp song
book was brought from England
by early settlers, and the music
to which the tunes are sung is
the same that was used by ancient
Welsh and Irish harpists. There
is no aceompanist to the hymns.
Living independently of the
country's industrial and economic
systems, the mountaineers-says
Earl Cchaub, Conservationist edi-
tor--have escaped the stereo-
typed patterns that shaped the
lives of their fellow eountrymen.'
Each man has been his own
carpenter, blacksmith, butcher,
gardener and handyman, making
his own farm implements, leath-
er goods, furniture, home and
tree-fiber ropes.
Engineers Interested
Many mountaineers are making
their contributions to the new
order. Modern engineers are stu
dying the foundations and cor
ner joints of the old grist mills
to learn how they eliminated vi
bration.
They are studying the different
types Of water gargets that turn
water over or away from the old
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