Appalachian folklore
Hillbilly oral heritage
Appalachian folklore encompasses the traditional beliefs, stories, and practices of people in the Appalachian mountain region of the eastern United States.
It blends Scots-Irish, English, German, and Cherokee influences into a distinctive body of tales, superstitions, folk remedies, and music.
Jack tales, passed down orally, feature a clever young hero outwitting giants and witches.
The tradition includes beliefs about haints (ghosts), signs and omens, and herbal healing knowledge: Granny knew all the old Appalachian folklore about which plants could cure what ailments.
- shape-note singingNotation using geometric symbols
- haintDialect word for ghost
- ginsengPerennial with tonic root
- bloodrootSap-staining native wildflower
- John HenryLegendary steel-driving laborer
witch · ballad · quilting bee · work songs · front porch · sassafras · dulcimer · conjure · foxglove · willow bark · fiddle tunes · old-time music · oral histories · storytelling · elderberry · dandelion tea · banjo · Daniel Boone
- Southern folklorehaint, conjure, root work, root doctor, root doctors
- medical historyHippocrates, germ theory, bloodletting, Galen, four humors
Appalachian folkloreacademic scholarship
Educational funding for achievement
literary canon · textbooks · encyclopedias · scientific literature · archival records
Appalachian folklorehigh culture
Society's esteemed artistic traditions
elite culture · classical literature · opera · court culture · classical music