"You don't live to Boston, then, do you? No; I calculate you are from the old country, though you speak English almost as well as I do. Now, I'm a Kentucky man, and my father was to Big-bone Creek, in old Kentuck, where he could lather every man in the state; but I could lick my father.""The Haunted Hogshead: A Yankee Legend". — from the London Literary Gazette No. 716. (9 Oct 1830) p. 1, col. 1.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Haunted Hogshead: A Yankee Legend.
I am writing the history of Big Bone, Kentucky, my hometown. Because of this I am interested in every early referenced to the place. Here is one I picked up from a publication of 1830. If anyone remembers this guy please let me know:
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This is part of that American tall-tale tradition. "Whup my weight in wildcats" style of story-telling. Notice the phrase "to Boston" and "to Big Bone Creek". Was this usage more common then than it is now? Styles in prepositions change fairly quickly you know, and there is a good bit of variation at any one time. I can't wait to get to volume 25 of my Big Bone History. I will have a big celebration to Big Bone Creek when it is published by Big Bone University Press. I should be about 90 by then.
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