Old Handed Down Tales

Jack Tale Storyteller Ray Hicks of Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Most people have heard the English folk tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk." But did you know that there are many other tales about the clever boy named Jack? The earliest English and Scottish settlers brought these tales along with them to America. They were popular all over the country in the 18th century. In most places these oral tales were gradually replaced by written forms like novels, newspapers, and almanacs, and later by radio and TV, but they survived and are still told among people with a strong oral tradition, including some folks in the mountains of western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. In these "Jake tales" Jack is usually the youngest of three of four brothers. He isn't very big or very strong, but he uses his head. With good luck and a little bit of magical help he always manages to outwit his enemies --- cruel masters, giants, and even the devil himself. The stories retain traces of their British origin, but have been adapted to the American scene. Jack still vies for the hand of the king's daughter, but the king farms a pretty homestead up the branch, and the princess knows how to clean a stable and milk a cow.

Richard Chase is widely known for his books and public performances of Jack tales. His family came from New England, but Chase was raised near Huntsville, Alabama, and in 1924, when he was 20, he visited the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky. He was captivated by students singing traditional American ballads and from that time on devoted his life to collecting the traditional songs and stories of the mountain South. He first learned Jack tales from the members of the Ward, Harmon, and Hicks families of Beech Mountain, here in Watauga county, and later worked with the Virginia Writers' Project folklore and collecting program in Wise county, Virginia. Chase wanted all American children to have access to this cultural heritage, so he traveled widely giving dramatic performances of the tales and publishing them in books, including The Jack Tales, 1943; Grandfather Tales, 1948; and American Tales and Songs, 1956.

Chase's versions of Jack tales are not exactly the same as the stories he heard in the mountains. He added ideas from European stories and often combined episodes from related tales into more elaborate and lengthy renditions. Still, it was his dedication that restored Jack tales to popularity.

The man in the photograph above is Ray Hicks of Beech Mountain, North Carolina. He is one of the most famous storytellers in the United States. You may also read about Ray's cousin, Orville, whose presentations are part of our educational programs.