H
E
CLARION
THE
VOICE
Of BREVARD COLLEGE STUDENTS
^ Collector
Of Old Tales To Be Told
Edition 4
Parents are constantly telling
their children about the good old
days and family traditions. The
children of today are so caught
up in the make-believe world of
movies, television, and dime
novels that they never seem to
notice the rich family heritage
that is theirs for the asking. This
family heritage is an oral one
passed down from generation to
generation like a rare vase which
is handed down. The vase, a
material object, can be broken,
stolen, or sold at a flea market;
on the other hand, an oral family
heritage is a tale, a nonmaterial
object, which can not be broken,
stolen, or sold; only preserved in
the minds of those who tell the
tales and those who listen.
Richard Chase is a listener and
collector of tales.
Mr. Chase began collecting
tales fifty years ago when he
heard a group of children start to
sing a ballad without being told to
at the Pine Mountain School in
Pine Mountain, Kentucky. Here
he heard of the death of folklorist
Cecil Sharp in the year 1924.
Eleven years later, Mr. "Chase
was invited to lead the singing at
a meeting of 700 teachers in
Raleigh, North Carolina. While at
the teachers meeting, he con
tacted an old woman he knew
near there who knew the
traditional ballads; so he brought
her before the group of teachers
losing. Afterwards, a young man
came up and said that his people
knew tales that had been passed
down from generation to
generation like the ballads the
woman sang. The tales the young
fellow told about were mostly
about a boy named Jack; not
Jack of “Jack and the Bean-
stalk” like in the library books
because the young fellow’s
family did not tell tales that way.
Mr. Chase collected and com
piled the tales about Jack into a
book called The Jack Tales which
came out in the early 1940s.
For seven years Mr. Chase
collected tales from North
Carolina, the Virginia mountains
and Eastern Kentucky and his
own experience. Many of the
tales Richard Chase has
collected have a foreign an
cestry. An example of this is
Chaucer’s “Miller’s Tale” which
has an oral tradition in North
Carolina. In his other coUection
of tales Grandfather Talcs, The
tale of “Wick^ John and the
Devil” has two versions in Uncle
Remus. Through his books
Richard Chase has given the
people of American living uses of
their cultural heritage.
According to Webster’s Dic
tionary, folklore is traditional
handed down orally and
unreflective by kinfolk. When one
thinks of folklore, he thinks of log achievements — or even if you
cabins and pioneer tools, the ~ AprU 19 is for you.
material things like in Foxfire. ^ ® person who likes to
According to Chase, “These acknowledge your friends’ great
things cannot break-in and steal then April 19 is also for
or moth nor rust corrupt; these
are the lasting things in our
cultural heritage.”
Linda Cain
tales are for the telling, ac
cording to Chase, and they exist
only when they are told.
The telling of tales has always
been an important part of family
life until the media created a
make-believe world with eternal
happy endings. In the words of
Granny London: “Law! This
generation comming along don’t
know how to have a good really
good time. But, if these
younguns, this generation
commin’, only had the chance to
know these old tales and songs
and all that. Law! Wouldn’t it
delight ’em.”
1st Honors Day
To Be Held
In April
If you are a person who loves to
be recognized for his
The tales in Richard Chase’s,
books have lasted for centuries.
Concerning ballads the late Cecil
Sharp says: “Small demand
these things make: that of being
known-to be loved.” Mr. Chase
wrote these tales and ballads
down as he heard them in their
native dialect. The tales will
continue as long as people have
the opportunity to know life;
- -
Richard chase speaks to
students. (Photo by Steve Gaul)
Remember the date, for it
marks the first official Honors
Day at Brevard College.
Formerly, the awards for
outstanding work in various
fields were presented at Com
mencement in May. But this
year, the administration has
decided that the merits are to be
distinguished by a day all its own.
Aside from the recognition of
the Phi Theta Kappa members,
the tapping of Big Sisters, and the
esteem of being on the Dean’s
list, campus organizations will be
awarding those students who
have shown any number of
superior qualities. Not just those
who have the highest scholastic
averages, but people who have
been the friendliest, work the
hardest, or simply have been of
^eat service to others will
receive recognition on the
campus of Brevard College.
In addition, the top five
sophomores with the highest
grade-point averages will be
acknowledged. The apex of the
freshmen will also be recognized.
The day will begin at ten
o’clock when classes officially
cease for the remainder of the
afternoon. At that hour, the
ceremony will commence in
Dunham auditorium as the
faculty, garbed in academic
regalia, present the honors.
Following this affair, students
are free to relax for the day or
attend a picnic on the campus
grounds. Parents will be invited.
Students Celebrate
Valentine^s Day
Bobbi Bullock was crowned Valentine Queen Monday,
February 13 in Dunham Auditorium as Brevard College
students celebrated Valentine’s Day with a dance
featuring the Nantucket Band. Pend Armistead was
crowned King by Dean Houk with Jane Vocelle and
Bobby Kivett being titled Princess and Prince
respectively. The dance lasted from 9 p.m. until 12
midnight with refreshments served in the lobby.
Will Wood Replace Gas
At Brevard?
Representatives from the
Tennessee Valley Authority met
recently with several Brevard
College staff administrators to
discuss the possibility that
Brevard College’s heating
method could be transferred
from gas to wood. Brunner Hunt,
Brevard College Business
manager, and TVA Represen
tative Dr. Larry Klein both agree
that the project will take several
months to complete.
In actual practice, the system
called “pyrolysis” would utilize
wood chips, sawdust, and other
excess lumber products.
Pyrolysis, the TVA represen
tatives explained, burns the wood
without the waste of burning the
oxygen, unlike other con
ventional heating methods.
Dr. Klein suggested that there
are such systems for individual
homes and very large in
stitutions, but none for the boiler
units such as those in use at
Brevard College If the con
version from gas to wood proves
itself as a safe, efficient heating
method, the new system would
feasibly serve as an exemplary
pattern for other smaller in
stitutions.
The system would bum wood
residues such as sawdust and
chips, trimmings from trees, etc.
Officials pointed out that every
effort would be made to purchase
the residues here in Transylvania
County.
Well aware of the past heating
problems Brevard College has
experienced, Brunner Hunt has
expressed optimism for the
heating conversion and men
tioned last year’s shortage of
natural gas as a reason for the
college’s need to save energy.
Last year, natural gas rates were
up 20 per cent.
Vital questions still must be
answered before an absolute
conversion will take place. Will
the price of wood residue in
crease? Will Maryville College,
now in the process of changing
from gas to wood, be successful
in its attempt to save money?
Mr. Brunner Hunt has already
sent the consumption data from
Brevard’s ten year gas heating
history to Maryville. “They have
assured their interest in helping
study the project and at that time
wUl ask some trustees about the
propositions,” Mr. Hunt said,
“its a large undertaking.”