An overview of "Jack tales" in the collections of the American Folklife Center. The phrase refers to a loose cycle of adventure stories featuring a young hero, most often named Jack, who makes his way in the world with cleverness and wit. This post introduces the genre and presents five tales told by four tellers: Samuel Harmon, Maud Long, Nora Hicks, and Ray Hicks, who all come from the same extended family.
The latest items to catch my ear in the Archive of Folk Culture are two reels of recordings of Eunice Yeatts McAlexander, a ballad singer who was recorded in 1978 as part of AFC's Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project. McAlexander, who passed away in 1990, had many wonderful versions of traditional ballads brought over to Appalachia from Britain, and she's a great source for unusual ballad texts. In addition to traditional ballads like “The Two Sisters,” “Little Massie Grove,” and “Lord Bateman,” she also sang nursery rhymes and lullabies for the collector, Wally Macnow. This blog post provides a little background on the singer and her songs, and embeds the digitized reels, photos, and detailed tape logs so you can listen and follow along.
