Sharon Kirk Clifton, Storyteller

The Tales Jack’s Mama Tells

Sharon Kirk Clifton

Storyteller, Workshop Presenter, Educator, Writer of Prose and Poetry(Teachers, be sure to read the note to you at the bottom of this page.)

Some folks say you can almost hear the screen door creak and taste the ice-cold apple cider when you listen to an Appalachian tale told by Jack’s Mama, Sharon Kirk Clifton’s pioneer persona for telling the stories of America’s highlands.

(Jack's Mama tells a tale about her young'nes at Spring Mill State Park, Indiana)

When this country's first settlers came, many arrived with few possessions. The stories that had been such an integral part of their heritage, however, did survive the perils of sea and land, stored securely in the memories of the people.

Most of the stories that make up Appalachia's oral tradition came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Germany, France, and Africa. Once in this country, many of the tales - as well as the people - mingled with the Native Americans who already were here, and had their own stock of stories. The Jack Tales constitute an important cycle in this tradition.

Many of the motifs found in the Appalachian stories are found in literary works such as Beowulf, the Arthurian Legend, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's works (including King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew), the Bible, and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, to name a few.

Despite the origin of the tales, the characters usually became Americanized as they were passed down in this country. For example, Jack, the Appalachian giant-killer, is likable and easy-going (except when it comes to giants), unlike his English counterpart, who is a cocksure, arrogant young hero.

As is the case in any literature, be it oral or written, the stories and the characters reflect the values of the people. Dr. Loyal Jones, former director of the Appalachian Center at Berea (Kentucky) College, is an excellent source to help one understand the Appalachian psyche and value system; he grew up on a montain farm in western North Carolina, and he has spent a large part of his life studying all things Appalachian.

In his booklet Appalachian Values, Jones says that the people who settled the southern Appalachians had started out along the east coast. They moved inland seeking space and solitude. The coastal areas were becoming too crowded for them.

"Although considerable numbers of them were literate," he says, "as evident in their signed public documents and personal books, they abandoned formal education when they took to the woods. This was a choice of profound significance for mountaineers. They chose freedom and solitude and mainly rejected the accoutrements of civilization. Perhaps the choice was both their strength and their undoing."

Jones goes on to identify the following values as being important to America's highlanders: religion and faith, individualism, self-reliance, pride, neighborliness and hospitality, familial ties (they'll stand up for kith and kin, even if they recognize that the relative is a scoundrel), personalism ("We are extremely reluctant to confront anyone and alienate him, if we can get out of it," says Jones), love of place (their first question to a stranger is often, "Where do I know you from?" followed by, "Now, who is your daddy?"), modesty (Jack, an Appalachian type of Odysseus, lacks Odysseus' hubris), sense of beauty, sense of humor, and patriotism.

"It was mountaineers who defeated a British army in the important battle of King's Mountain," Jones reminds us. "Many areas of the mountains were settled by Revolutionary War soldiers who were given land in lieu of money after the war."

A Personal Note from Sharon Kirk Clifton

When I received a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship Grant to research Appalachian oral tradition in 1991, I fell in love with the stories of southern Appalachia and the people who tell them.

Later, when I began work on a genealogy, I learned that my own familial roots penetrate deeply into the highlands of North Carolina. Though my mother and father were born and reared in central Indiana, I recognize that the values, dialect, and idioms which were familar to me as a child crossed over the Ohio River in the heads and hearts of my pioneer family members who settled Wayne and Henry counties.

I believe that these stories need to be authentically preserved and passed on to new generations. Therefore, I would love to tell at your venue.

My research continues. If you have any stories or information about southern Appalachian oral tradition or about your own experience growing up there, please contact me.Thank you.

A Note to Educators:

After "Jack's Mama" has told stories at your school, I want your teachers and students to know that they may e-mail questions and comments to me. I love to hear from them.

Here are some things teachers might direct students to listen for, as Jack's Mama shares her tales:

1. Remnants remaining in the stories that allude back to their origins. For example, in some stories, references are made to "the King" or "the King's girl." Some stories mention "the King of Scotland" or "the King of England."

2. Stories that remind the listeners of other stories that they have heard. For example, "Ashpet" is an Appalachian version of Cinderella; "Like Meat Loves Salt" is similar to Shakespeare's "King Lear"; "Old Bristle Beard" is similar to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"; "Sody Sallyratus" is a version of "Three Billy Goats' Gruff," etc.

3. References to the number three: wishes, objects, people, critters, etc.

4. Familiar words used in different ways.

5. Unknown words whose meanings are understood by the context of the sentence.

For further study, I suggest the excellent video series entitled THE STORY OF ENGLISH (particularly the segment called "The Gud Scots Tongue); Richard Chase's books JACK TALES and GRANDFATHER TALES; Donald Davis' JACK ALWAYS SEEKS HIS FORTUNE; and anything by Leonard Roberts, Loyal Jones, and Cratis Williams.

For more information, contact Sharon at

E-mail

812-346-7930

and let the telling begin!