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Take a Hike Day
"I am Appalachia. In my veins
Runs fierce mountain pride; the hill-fed streams
Of passion; and, stranger, you don’t know me!
You’ve analyzed my every move–you still
Go away shaking your head. I remain
Enigmatic. How can you find rapport with me–
You, who never stood in the bowels of hell,
Never felt a mountain shake and open its jaws
To partake of human sacrifice?
You, who never stood on a high mountain
Watching the sun unwind its spiral rays:
Who never searched the glens for wild flowers,
Never picked mayapples or black walnuts; never ran
Wildly through the woods in pure delight,
Nor dangled your feet in a lazy creek?
You, who never danced to wild sweet notes,
Outpouring of nimble-fingered fiddlers;
Who never just “sat a spell,” on a porch,
Chewing and whittling; or hearing in pastime
The deep-throated bay of chasing hounds
And hunters shouting with joy, “He’s treed!”
You, who never once carried a coffin
To a family plot high up on a ridge
Because mountain folk know it’s best to lie
Where breezes from the hills whisper, “You’re home”;
You, who never saw from the valley that graves on a hill
Bring easement of pain to those below?
I tell you, stranger, hill folk know
What life is all about; they don’t need pills
To tranquilize the sorrow and joy of living.
I am Appalachia: and, stranger,
Though you’ve studied me, you still don’t know."
~ Muriel Miller Dressler
Scotch-Irish in your ancestry? You may have ties to the Appalachian Mountain range, formed over a billion years ago, running from the Island of Newfoundland 2,050 miles southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States. Pioneers from the British Isles led early expeditions into the wilds of the American continent and later. Irish Protestants from the northern counties of Ireland – dubbed “Scots-Irish” or “Scotch-Irish” – developed passages and settlements in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the Highlands of Northwest North Carolina, and portions of Central and Eastern Kentucky. This tartan embodies the uniquely blue-green of the Great Smoky Mountains peeking through silvery mists, combined with deep, rich browns of the earth and the coal black of the forest floor and the mysterious cave systems that honeycomb these ancient mountains. Two red lines converge in the black emulating eerie red eyes staring out at you; an homage to the unique folklore of the region. Appalachian folklore is particularly rife with tales of strange beings and sightings, giving rising to generational myths and superstitions passed down through the oral traditions of both native tribes and early settlers. Of the many tales coming from the Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains, is a Cherokee legend, describing a race of small, bearded white men who lived in the mountains long before the Cherokee. The men were said to possess all the land from the Little Tennessee River to Kentucky, with a line of fortification from one end of their domain to the other and lived in rounded log cabins. They were said to have large blue eyes and fair white skin and were sun-blind during the day, emerging from their homes only at night to hunt, fish, wage war and build their fortifications. Because they could only see in the dark, the Cherokee called them the Moon-Eyed People. Some believe they were descendants of a small group of Welshmen who came to America long before the Spanish and settled in the Smoky Mountains around 1170. As the legend goes, the Moon-Eyed People eventually abandoned their homes and traveled west, never to be seen again. But there are plenty of apparitions and sightings still to be had. So if you are taking a kilted hike today ... it doesn't hurt to carry a good luck charm or two! 👻 ⛰️ 🌖 👁️
Scotch-Irish (or Scots-Irish) Americans are American descendants of Ulster Protestants who emigrated from Ulster (Ireland's northernmost province) to America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their ancestors had originally migrated to Ulster mainly from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England in the 17th century.
Upon arrival in North America, these migrants at first usually identified simply as Irish, without the qualifier Scotch. It was not until a century later, following the surge in Irish immigration after the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, that the descendants of the earlier arrivals began to commonly call themselves "Scotch-Irish" to distinguish themselves from the newer, poor, predominantly Catholic immigrants. At first, the two groups had little interaction in America, as the Scots-Irish had become settled many decades earlier, primarily in the backcountry of the Appalachian region. The new wave of Catholic Irish settled primarily in port cities such as Boston, New York, Charleston, Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans.
Some of the most famous of Appalachian legends passed down are:
The Bell Witch
Bigfoot
The Brown Mountain Lights
The Flatwoods Monster
The Moon-Eyed People
The Moth-man
The Wampus Cat
And you may recognize some of the Appalachian superstitions passed down throughout the centuries:
Never close a knife you didn’t open, or you’ll have bad luck for 7 years.
Keep a penny in your washer.
Always go out the same door you came in.
Eat black eyed peas or collard greens with hog jaw on New Year’s Day.
Don’t wash clothes on New Year’s Day or you will wash a family member out.
Don’t sleep on New Year’s.
Don’t do any canning or gardening on your period.
Plant your crops under the full moon.
Don’t walk under a ladder. If you find yourself under one, don’t turn around– back up.
Don’t let anyone sweep under your feet.
Never give someone a set of knives as a gift. If you give them to newlyweds, it will cut their love!
If a black cat crosses your path, turn and go a different way.
Never repay salt that you have borrowed.
If a bad storm is coming, put a 2-edged axe into a stump facing the storm to ensure the storm goes around you.
If you spill salt, throw a pinch over your left shoulder so you won’t have bad luck.
When you drop your fork, it means a woman is coming to visit. If you drop a knife, a man is coming to visit.
Don’t cut your baby’s hair before their first birthday.
Your baby has to fall off the bed before their first birthday.
Run a chicken over your baby to keep if from getting chicken pox.
Don’t let a pregnant woman see a dead person or the baby will have a birth mark.
If cows are laying down, or leaves are upside down, it’s going to rain.
Hang a horseshoe upside down to keep good luck from running out.
Wear a buckeye in your bra to ward off rheumatism.
Hold your breath when you pass a cemetery, or you’ll be the next to die.
If you see a white horse, you’ll have good luck.
Hold your feet up when you’re crossing a railroad track, or you’ll lose your boyfriend.
If you’re walking with someone you have to go on the same side of a post or obstacle, or it will break your friendship.
Don’t wash clothes on Sunday.
If your nose is itching, it means company is coming.
Open the window when someone dies and cover the mirrors so that their soul can leave.
Hang a mirror by the door to protect against evil.
Never leave a rocking chair rocking, or you will invite spirits.
For more detail, click the beautiful Smoky Mountains!