Rip Shlii Ridge and
Nowhere Branch
Huko University’s pul» licit ion of
Frank C. Brown Folklore* Col loot ion
■narks nioniinionlal step in study of
American l.ife.
tty NORMAN K. NELSON
“The Churches live at foot of Dark
Ridge, on end of Nowhere Branch.
Beech Creek, near Pogy Mountain."
This hastily scribbled passage in the
notebook of the late Dr. Frank C.
Brown, Duke University professor anti
eminent folklore collector, reads like
a signpost on the boundary of some
whimsical wonderland. Many such
"signposts" point the way to regions of
North Carolina rich in folklore, and
Dr. Brown’s travels in these regions
have produced one of the largest and
most significant folklore collections
ever to be amassed mainly by the
efforts of one man.
The first three volumes of a five-
volume set, "The Frank C. Brown Col¬
lection of North Carolina Folklore."
will be published next week, June 25,
by the Duke University Press. Climax¬
ing nearly 40 years of field work and
painstaking scholarship, the collection
brings together for the first time a
host of folk songs and ballads, super¬
stitions, riddles, legends, proverbs and
childrens’ games from every corner of
North Carolina.
The collection includes a grand total
of over 38,000 folklore items. Nearly
all of North Carolina's 100 counties
are represented, and some 651 con¬
tributors provided material for the five
volumes which will total some 3.5(H)
pages.
Just What Is Folklore?
Folklore, Dr. Brown pointed out, in¬
cludes everything which makes up the
body of knowledge and material things
possessed by the people, created by
them and inherited from past genera¬
tions. Ghost stories, anecdotes, recipes,
weather forecasting, use of magical
powers — all these are part of the wide
realm of folklore.
For instance, there is the story of a
"waumpaus” which stole hogs on
Roanoke Island some two decades ago.
The waumpaus. it was reported,
"walks upright most of the time with
a squealing hog in its arms; makes
screams much like a radio soprano,
and runs the scale downward to bull¬
frog bass; has a track like a dog but
as large as a horse’s footprints."
Wilkes County boasts the "guy-
scootcr-sky, the wonderful native steer
with hind legs several inches longer
than forelegs, thus admirably adapted
to mountain climbing." and in Bla¬
den County there are the " ‘vociferous
gallinippers,' a kind of powerful mos¬
quito” that goes on the rampage after
sundown and in one case is reported to
have carried off a Negro baby.
Tar Heel folklore is plentifully
sprinkled with proverbs and sayings
like these: "A good word never yet
broke a tooth"; “empty wagon rattles
most"; "A good bite of earthworm will
cause a child to cut teeth without
trouble.”
A traditional "tall talc" runs like
this: " ’Jccms' Owens was big and
black and always went barefoot. One
day he was cutting a ditch and standing
in the shallow water in the bottom of
it. Suddenly he saw what he thought
was the head of a black snake, poking
up through the mud. ‘Look out,' he
cried, and with his spade came down
on the snake's head. Then he
screamed. He had cut off his big toe!"
I)r. Brown and Folklore
Dr. Brown founded the North Caro¬
lina Folklore Society in 1913. Through¬
out his 30 years as secretary-treasurer,
he sought to stimulate interest in
collecting folklore, and he was per¬
sonally a tireless collector. The collec¬
tion contains many items scrawled on
old envelopes, cards and pages from
memorandum pads, evidently without
previous plan, but most of his personal
collecting was done on carefully
planned field trips.
Names such as Pick Breeches. Rip
Shin Ridge. Little Hungry Creek. Pow¬
der Mill Creek and Meat Camp con¬
stantly lured him on. Fquipped with a
mobile recording unit, for more than
.30 years he traveled thousands of miles
over treacherous backwoods roads to
record folk ballads and songs. A field
trip might include a hundred mile jour¬
ney to some nearly-inaccessible moun¬
tain cove to visit a locally-famed
ballad singer, and then a tiresome
drive in the opposite direction to pick
up a lead that he had heard of long
before.
For years Dr. Brown insisted that
Hattcras Wreck. (Wood engraving by Clare Leighton).
THK STATK. Vol. XX; No. 3. Entered a* «crond-cla» matter. June I. 1913. at the Po»tottice at Kaleleh. North Carolina, under the act of
March 3.
187».
PubUthed by Sharpe Publithln* Co.. Inc.. lawyers Bids.. Ralelijh, N. C. Copyrlsht. 19a?. by the Sharpe Publishing Co.. Inc.
