My curious and jocular heroes : tales and tale-spinners from Appalachia / Loyal Jones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jones, Loyal, 1928-2023, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Folklore--Appalachian Region.

Folklore.

Tales--Appalachian Region.

Tales.

Folk music--Appalachian Region.

Folk music.

Oral tradition.

Storytellers.

Storytelling.

Appalachian Region.

Storytelling--Appalachian Region.

Storytellers--Appalachian Region.

Oral tradition--Appalachian Region.

Physical Description:

viii, 236 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2017]

Summary:

"With this book, Jones introduces to new generations four scholars of Appalachian folkways who made major contributions to the arts, culture, and values of the Appalachian people. Bascom Lamar Lunsford, born in North Carolina, collected ballads, songs, tunes, and stories--before there were tape recorders--by committing them all to memory and later recording his "memory collection" for Columbia University (1935) and the Library of Congress (1949). Josiah H. Combs, a Kentuckian who got a doctorate at the Sorbonne, taught languages, collected stories and songs, gave ballad recitals, was an authority on Kentucky mountain speech, and was a great raconteur. Cratis D. Williams, another Kentuckian, was the father of Appalachian studies based on his massive dissertation, The Southern Mountaineer in Fact and Fiction. He was a scholar and teacher, a singer of the old ballads, and teller of folk tales. He became Jones's treasured mentor. And the master storyteller Leonard W. Roberts, also born in Kentucky, was a pioneer collector and publisher of Old World folktales, riddles, ballads, and lyric songs, too. Beyond mere biography, this book introduces the reader to some of the lore preserved and performed by Lunsford, Combs, Williams, and Roberts throughout their lives. The end of each biographical chapter is filled with collected stories, songs, and jokes representing the breadth of each man's research and repertoire. With "My Curious and Jocular Heroes," Jones provides not only the historical and cultural contexts of the lives of four of his personal heroes, but also brings together significant texts and music from Appalachian folklore in order to make a contribution to the field of Appalachian studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Bascom Lamar Lunsford 7

Jokes, Stories, Songs, and Recitations That Lunsford Liked to Perform 26

Josiah H. Combs 55

Combs's Stories, Scholarship, Wit, and Songs 74

Cratis D. Williams 117

A Sampling of the Scholarship, Wit, and Humor of Cratis Williams 134

Leonard Ward Roberts 171

Tales, Riddles, Jokes, and Songs from the Leonard Roberts Collection 188.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Jones, Loyal, 1928- author. My curious and jocular heroes

ISBN:

9780252041136

0252041135

9780252082672

0252082672

OCLC:

983824508