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20 Sep 09 - 11:50 AM (#2727338) Subject: What is a mountain jack? From: Suffet If I could holler like a mountain jack, I'd climb the mountain and call my baby back. So goes a well known blues couplet. But what exactly is a mountain jack? Both Google and the Wikipedia are of little help. Does any Mudcatter know? --- Steve |
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20 Sep 09 - 12:10 PM (#2727357) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Fred McCormick A blues pianist and singer called Neal Roberts recorded a song called Wild Jack Blues in 1928 in Dallas, with animal imitations by Billiken Johnson. I starts: "Wildjack's on the mountain and he brays the whole day long" and ends "I'm gonna keep my wildjack if I have to chain him down". The rest of the song is in similar vein and it's obvious that Roberts is using a donkey to represent a phallic motif. Anybody ever heard of a mountain donkey? |
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20 Sep 09 - 12:14 PM (#2727361) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: VirginiaTam Might be attributed to folk hero character Jack. Mountain Jack Tales, children's book by Gail E. Haley Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly In a lucid, vibrant voice, Caldecott Medalist Haley ( A Story, A Story ) recounts stories which originate in the rugged North Carolina mountain country. Following a diverting introduction comes an animated assortment of 10 fairy tales, fables and tall tales with one commonality: each revolves around Jack, a young man who encounters kings, giants, mysterious old men and talking animals. In one tale the kind and zealous protagonist has brothers or a wife; in the next, he has none. This folktale Everyman will "risk just about everything to have an adventure. It's like a hunger he has, and his dreams will lead him into places where an older, wiser person might think twice about goin'." Haley's use of metaphor, hyperbole and dialect captures the playful spirit of mountain lore. Her emotive, elaborate wood engravings--as well as her afterwords about the stories, the art and the language itself--enrich this buoyant anthology. Ages 8-up. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 2-6-- Haley retells nine Jack tales in this collection that provides a kind of sequel to her Jack and the Bean Tree (Crown, 1986). Once again, she uses Poppyseed, a mountain woman, to provide the framework for the stories. The selections come from Haley's grandmother, and have changed over time as she herself has heard versions from other countries and from such mountain tellers as Ray Hicks. The origins and influences on her stories are discussed in an afterword, as is the process of creating the art. Like Richard Chase's The Jack Tales (Houghton, 1943), the stories feature a North Carolina dialect (a glossary is provided), but Haley's voice is more matter-of-fact, less ironic, and there's less dialect but it seems more artificial. Each story is illustrated with one or two bland, black-and-white wood engravings that seem too stilted for what should be lively tales. Young readers will find these offerings accessible; older children, teachers, and storytellers will appreciate Haley's background information and may incorporate it into their own oral tellings. However, Chase's book is still preferred. --Barbara Chatton, College of Education, Univ . of Wyoming, Laramie Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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20 Sep 09 - 12:17 PM (#2727364) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: VirginiaTam hhmmm Jack = jackass. And seems more probable. Another allusion to the mule which figures large in American folk song. |
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20 Sep 09 - 12:34 PM (#2727377) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Fred McCormick VirginiaTam. "Jack = jackass" That was a thought that hadn't struck me and it sounds highly plausible. I'm less convinced by the Jack tale theory though. Firstly, and I may be talking completely out of the back of my hat here, while Jack tales were widespread in England and White America, I don't recall that they penetrated the Negro tradition very much. Equally, and I could be talking pure off the top of my head crap again, I don't recall any Jack tales that deal with hollering on mountains. However, another thought has just struck me. Could the term 'mountain Jack' simply have meant someone who performed mountain hollers? |
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20 Sep 09 - 02:46 PM (#2727477) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Q (Frank Staplin) My parents called a pack mule a jack. Rather common name in the west for a mule, donkey. |
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20 Sep 09 - 02:58 PM (#2727492) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: open mike Jackie Torrence ,storyteller had several albums of Jack Tales. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002FS4M0E/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001UXJNJK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VV58MFAF2ZWA2RTPVCX and here is a book called Southern Jack Tales http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874835003/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001UXJNJK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VV58MFAF2ZWA2RTPVCX also a book called the jack tales... http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Tales-Richard-Chase/dp/0618346929/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b maybe some connection there? |
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20 Sep 09 - 03:53 PM (#2727540) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos A mountain jack is simply a woodsman in mountain country. They are renowned for being able to yell from holler to holler, like Swiss yodelers. Compare the construction to a lumberjack, a jack of all trades, etc. A "jack" is, essentially, a man in some sort of work. A |
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20 Sep 09 - 04:03 PM (#2727553) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: greg stephens I had a book which explained Leroy Carr's phrase as referring to a jack rabbit. I have no idea, or theory, as to which suggestioin is correct! |
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20 Sep 09 - 04:08 PM (#2727557) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bettynh I don't know about Carolina, but in New England there's a linguistic connection between middle-sized (loud) work engines and donkeys/jackasses. "Donkey Riding" the sea song is about that kind of engine. "Wildjack's on the mountain and he brays the whole day long" had me imagining someone at a distance pulling logs from woods with this kind of engine. The mention of chains in the song just reinforces that image. |
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20 Sep 09 - 05:03 PM (#2727584) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos The reference was to a mountain jack renowned for his ability to holler. People who live and work in mountains, before the days of wireless comm and nation-wide phone nets, communicated by sheer lungpower, because it would take so long to go all the way down one side of the mountain and up the other. A |
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20 Sep 09 - 06:19 PM (#2727635) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: stallion It's a tall naturally occuring monolith - but how did you know my name was Jack? |
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20 Sep 09 - 06:37 PM (#2727649) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Barry Finn The song continues "If 'n I could hollar like a mountain Jack I'd climb this mountain call my baby back" we're not talking bout mules, donkeys of jackasses here IMHO, Amos is dead right Hollar's are known from being heard at long distances. In the prison fields a field hollar would be song as a call & response usually done by one worker but far across the field it could be answered/responded by another lone worked, cutting cane or picking cotton. Barry |
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20 Sep 09 - 06:51 PM (#2727663) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Peace 'He [Ray Charles] once wished in song he "could holler like a mountain jack," and holler he did. In cries and wails, screams and moans, punctuated by church chords, throbbing from the gutter on Saturday nights, he was everyman.' Was using a google of "mountain jack", holler Doesn't answer the question, though. |
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20 Sep 09 - 07:12 PM (#2727681) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Jeri I've got an older dictionary. Under jack: 3. a sailor; jack-tar. 4. a lumberjack 11. a jackdaw I vote for lumberjack as they're often found on mountains and they've been known to holler. Sailors, not so much and a jackdaw is a European bird. |
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20 Sep 09 - 08:32 PM (#2727718) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Stringsinger Hollering like a mountain jack could possibly be a wild donkey. That may be far-fetched but it's a possibility. Mountain jack could also be some other sort of animal such a mountain lion. I don't think the puzzle has been solved, yet. Frank |
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20 Sep 09 - 09:18 PM (#2727740) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bob the Postman Loaded like a long-eared jack ? Of course it's about donkeys. jack = male donkey jenny = female donkey |
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20 Sep 09 - 11:15 PM (#2727785) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos Frank, I love you like a brother and I honor you and respect you. But that is the most tin-eared thing I have ever heard you say! :D Come on folks. Mountain jacks is possibly a back formation from lumberjack, or it may just be a cousin to it, but there are no donkeys involved, I am sure. A |
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21 Sep 09 - 08:28 AM (#2727945) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Roger the Skiffler I'm with Amos on this: cf Leiber & Stoller's "Evil": My daddy was a mean-eyed Mountain Jack. RtS (middle name: Misery) |
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21 Sep 09 - 09:46 AM (#2727995) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: sharyn I've always assumed this was a lumberjack living in the mountains. |
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21 Sep 09 - 03:07 PM (#2728225) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: VirginiaTam Just to add to the confusion there is this. Gotta haul that timber 'fore the sun go down Get it cross the river 'fore the boss come round Drag it down that dusty road Come on Jerry let's haul this load Timber holler Timber Cuz oh that timber gotta roll. My old Jerry was an Arkansas Mule Been every where and he ain't no fool Weighed nine hundred and ninety two Done everything that mule can do. etc. So we have a mule and we have a man hollering timber and still no explanation of Mountain jack. Mule skinners were the ones driving the mules right? So they would not be lumber jacks. Yet here is one hollering timber. Why is that? Well that enough speculation from me. |
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21 Sep 09 - 03:48 PM (#2728264) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: open mike i like the connection between holler as in shout/yell and holler as in a valley between two hills or mountains. (hollow) |
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21 Sep 09 - 04:35 PM (#2728315) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: VirginiaTam I always thought that is where the word holler came from. Just a holler (or shout) away was same as a hollow away. As in one could give a shout and be heard in the next hollow. Hence just a holler away. Clear as mud? I have just confused myself with my own rambling. |
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21 Sep 09 - 04:44 PM (#2728324) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Fortunato Well, well. I don't know any lumberjacks, but I do know some jackasses, small 'j'. I've not had the pleasure of knowing any Jackasses of the mule persuasion personally, either. But when I sing "Come Back, Baby" from now on I will think of a loud, braying Jackass on the side of a mountain, I think. Lumberjack as a word just isn't very musical. Although Amos' confidence is infectious, even if he made it up... (I'll just get my hat...) chance |
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21 Sep 09 - 05:07 PM (#2728349) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Peace Two days dickin' around and nothing. The problem here is not the mountain part, it's the jack part. I can't see the mountain jack as being a lumberjack. They scan equally well, so call it what it is. I favour the jack as being some sort of mule or donkey (and please don't tell me the differences. I've had them explained to me by ranchers, peasants, dictionaries and folks who know. I still don't--no offense.) I think holler is a verb (not a noun referring to a 'hollar' or a song). If anyone really nails it, someone please let me know if you'd be so kind. Thank you. |
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21 Sep 09 - 05:35 PM (#2728368) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Jeri I'm still going with lumberjack (per my post yesterday), a lumberjack who works on a mountain. If the dictionary gives 'jack' as an shortened version of 'lumberjack', the whole word isn't necessary in the song and somebody can stick 'mountain' in there. Donkeys are nice, but they don't holler so much as bray, and mountain lumberjacks would have to holler 'timber' pretty loud. |
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21 Sep 09 - 06:14 PM (#2728401) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos The hollering of "Timber" is almost the trademark of the lumberjack, or mountain jack. In the late 20th century, however, a new meaning crept into this honorable term "mountain jack", with the introduction of a new fangled device which borrowed the name: a hysroulic machine designed for making mountains out of molehills. Lumberjacks and other mountain people holler across hollows, which are also called hollers in the vernacular. However the etymology of the two is quite different, one stemming from the ancient verb "halloo" (as in fox hunting) and the other from the word "hollow", IM not-so-HO. "1699, Amer.Eng., var. of hollo (1542) "to shout," especially "to call to the hounds in hunting," related to hello. As a style of singing (originally Southern U.S.), first recorded 1936." (online Etymological Dictionary) |
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21 Sep 09 - 07:23 PM (#2728438) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bob the Postman Just as a side note, around here whenever you see a logging truck parked beside the road someone is sure to remark that the driver must have stopped to let the forestry worker off. |
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21 Sep 09 - 07:34 PM (#2728447) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Stringsinger Lieber and Stoller wrote a lot of rewrites of old blues songs. their "Houndog" for instance. They might not have known what a mountain jack was but picked it up from the How Long Blues. |
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21 Sep 09 - 07:45 PM (#2728456) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Peace But, then again, maybe it's a lumberjack. |
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21 Sep 09 - 09:45 PM (#2728526) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Barry Finn Chance, next time you sing this just think of a mule saying "let's talk it over one more time". I'll be laughing while your singing it too. We'll have o dig this one up at the getaway Amos you can listen to the two if us singing it & grin & pick Barry |
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21 Sep 09 - 11:14 PM (#2728560) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos My daddy was a donkey, And my momma was a mare, I triedto holler to my jenny mule But there weren't no jenny there Oh come back baby! Let's talk it over, One more time. |
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22 Sep 09 - 05:01 AM (#2728633) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: catspaw49 Of course all of you are aware that when a logging train stops in the deep woods, it let's the lumber jack off................ Spaw |
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22 Sep 09 - 06:52 AM (#2728676) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: dwditty He's baaaaaaack! : ) |
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22 Sep 09 - 08:12 AM (#2728710) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bob the Postman Beat you to it, Spaw, AND showed a little class. |
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22 Sep 09 - 08:35 AM (#2728725) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: catspaw49 Sorry Bob ....thought I read all the posts but.......besides, we all need a no-class jerk like me to put forth the obvious (;<)) Spaw |
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22 Sep 09 - 09:35 AM (#2728764) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos Bob: I needed SPaw's version to clarify what the fuck you were on about! A |
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22 Sep 09 - 09:38 AM (#2728771) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bob the Postman Then it's a good thing I didn't allude to "effecting the disembarkation of the silvicultural technician". |
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22 Sep 09 - 11:43 AM (#2728877) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: catspaw49 Yeah Bob.....that's the idea. That's why you are in an important position. See, a lot of 'Catters, especially types such as Amos and me, are too gawd dumb damn to dispel urine from high-topped footwear even when assisted by a comprehensive tech manual conveniently located. Spaw |
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22 Sep 09 - 02:20 PM (#2728997) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: VirginiaTam Bless him... Spaw's back... Now git back to bed or I'll tell Sinsull. |
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22 Sep 09 - 02:26 PM (#2729002) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos If I could emanate vocal signals of great amplitude Like an altitudinous silvicultural technician, I would ascend the most precipitous promontory, And entreat my significant other to re-establish our relationship. Yeah, man, that really swings, ya know woddeye mean? LOL!!! A |
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22 Sep 09 - 09:33 PM (#2729288) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bob the Postman How many times do ya gotta be told, it ain't altitudinous silvicultural technician, it's altitudinous male individual of the species Equus africanus asinus (or hybrid thereof). |
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22 Sep 09 - 11:22 PM (#2729334) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Dave the Gnome Is it like a car jack but LOTS bigger? :D (eG) |
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23 Sep 09 - 12:06 PM (#2729686) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Barry Finn I don't care what size they come in, I don't want to be car-jacked! Barry |
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23 Sep 09 - 12:27 PM (#2729713) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos Bob: You need to spend more time with your JEnny--studying etymology. It may be folk music, but ain't no mule hollering in it. A |
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23 Sep 09 - 01:16 PM (#2729756) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Bettynh "So we have a mule and we have a man hollering timber and still no explanation of Mountain jack. Mule skinners were the ones driving the mules right? So they would not be lumber jacks. Yet here is one hollering timber. Why is that?" Traditional logging, at least around here, is more than just cutting down a tree. You have to get the logs out of the woods. Think crosscut saws and teams of mules or oxen pulling whole trees attached by heavy chains. (If you're in New England, this weekend is the Common Ground Fair , run by the Organic Farmers of Maine. They'll be demonstrating the mule and oxen teams all weekend.) Loggers worked in gangs, all male, for long stretches in the woods, doing dangerous things. Sorta like landlocked sailors, with in-town reputations to match. Loggers were muleskinners when they had to be. According the to the Wiktionary, "jack" can be anything male, both loggers and mules. English has a wonderful trick of turning a blended image into a single word. |
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23 Sep 09 - 01:31 PM (#2729770) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos There ya go. And the ones who hollered from the mountains weren't the mules. A |
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23 Sep 09 - 03:29 PM (#2729847) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Stringsinger Got another idea. It could be a mountain lion. They scream in the mountains. I see nothing about lumberjacks being called mountain jacks. It seems unreasonable that they would be cutting down trees in the mountains where trees are sparse. LeRoy Carr wrote "How Long Blues" and he lived in Indiana most of his life. Frank |
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23 Sep 09 - 06:45 PM (#2729998) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos Frank: There are tree-lines in all mountains above a certain height, above which conditions are not good for trees and they are sparse; but below that line, they can grow thickly. Bear in mind that any "mountains" east of the Mississippi are likely to be foothills. And they are often rich with trees, often used for lumbering. A "jack: is a man skilled in work, regardless of the trade-sailing, lumbering, wheelwrighting or whathave you. "If I could holler like a mountain jack, I'd climb a mountain and call my baby back" is a sentiment that does not (to me) bring the yowl of painters to mind. Maybe your woman would respond to such a call, but none of mine would!!! A |
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24 Sep 09 - 12:11 AM (#2730186) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Barry Finn Your woman??? Sorry for laughing so hard but if'n you hollered Amos I won't be able to hear you if I'd been sleeping in the next bunk but I know you snore like a goddam ape & that's why I have to keep the windows open Barry |
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24 Sep 09 - 11:58 AM (#2730469) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos OH, Barry, woe betide. Do you recall there is a list of berthing assignments at the check-in desk? If you EVER get to bed during the Getaway you can look forward to a harsh reality check as to whether you would be able to detect my "SOOOOOOO_WEEEEEEE!" call from three feet away. (I'd get closer, but your halitosis...). A |
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20 Mar 14 - 02:26 PM (#3611239) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Muskwatch I'm pretty sure that a Mountain Jack is some kind of a mountain goat, perhaps the leader of a herd. I found the term in a dictionary of a native language, and am in the process of figuring out what it means. |
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21 Mar 14 - 04:54 AM (#3611401) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Iain very vaguely related to this thread. The origin of holler or hullabaloo. Hulla builin, outcry, noise of hunt (from west cork history blog-Irish words in use in the thirties) |
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21 Mar 14 - 07:25 AM (#3611452) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Jack Campin Nope. "Holler" = "hollo" which the OED traces back to the 1520s, from a French origin. "Hullaballoo" maybe (no reason to believe it's related in origin to "holler"), but its earliest sources are from Scotland and Northumberland in the 18th century, and anybody asserting an Irish origin had better show how it might have got there. |
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10 Nov 15 - 12:44 PM (#3749849) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,SKIP RIDER IN WEST VIRGINIA WHERE I COME FROM MOUNTAIN JACK IS A SMALL RED SQUIRREL ALSO CALLED A FAIRYDITTLE. |
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10 Nov 15 - 04:07 PM (#3749898) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Thompson A mountain jack is a tool used by lumberjacks to lift mountains out of the way when they need to move the wood. |
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10 Nov 15 - 05:00 PM (#3749910) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Lighter Nobody can doubt that a "mountain jack" is a lumberjack's tool used for the purpose indicated. But beyond that, a "mountain jack" is an old term - still in use evidently - in parts of West Virginia for a fox squirrel and in parts of Pennsylvania for a snowshoe hare. Since I've never heard a squirrel or a rabbit "holler," I'm inclined to think the MJ in the song is a narrow-gauge locomotive of the kind sometimes used in Appalachian lumbering operations. That term has also been around for a long time. |
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10 Nov 15 - 10:14 PM (#3749951) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Amos Come ON you guys. Hollering "like a mountain jack" does NOT apply to squirrels or locomotives. Get real, here! I miss Barry Finn. |
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15 Jan 17 - 04:05 PM (#3832833) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Joseph Scott "A jack" meant a worker. As in "jack-of-all-trades." "Now there was Billy Anderson, A jack from Puget Sound, A fella who could lift a ton Like some men lift a pound." -- _Tote-Road And Trail, Ballads of The Lumberjack_, D. Malloch, 1917. Some workers in the mountains hollered loud, e.g., "Timber." Sid Harris (1885-1927), a pianist on the T.O.B.A. circuit in Alabama, wrote the song "Mountain Jack Blues," 1926, which was recorded by Ma Rainey, who was well-known and widely copied. |
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02 Sep 17 - 01:07 AM (#3874772) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST I think "stallion" nailed. |
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02 Sep 17 - 02:45 PM (#3874879) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Ebor Fiddler He would! |
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11 Apr 18 - 05:39 PM (#3916652) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Randy And don't forget it's also used in the classic Elvis song "Trouble" from the movie King Creole. If you're looking for trouble You came to the right place If you're looking for trouble Just look right in my face I was born standing up And talking back My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack Because I'm evil, my middle name is misery Well I'm evil, so don't you mess around with me So it's implied here that a Mountain Jack was tough son-of-a-gun. |
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12 Apr 18 - 03:51 AM (#3916730) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch “Mountain Jack” is how Harry Belafonte &co. sing it. Heehaw - The mating call of the American Mammoth Jack is... very loud. |
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13 Apr 18 - 06:30 AM (#3917006) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,JTT Side note: Jack of all trades, master of none. A 'jack' was someone who had completed part (I think two years) of his seven-year apprenticeship, so was semi-skilled. He had not become a 'master' by completing a 'masterpiece' in his final year that would be judged by the other masters of the trade as proving that he was now fully competent in that trade. |
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14 Apr 18 - 03:17 AM (#3917177) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Mr Red Reading all this I can't get the phallic motif out of the imagery because, quite specifically, of the word "jack". If it's Blues and looks like innuendo, then it is innuendo. IMNSHO If there are several meaning to be gleaned and it's a lyric, then those meanings support the wider appeal of the song. And often they are all there because they were put there. But not always, as I found with some of my songs, but mostly. |
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16 Jan 22 - 11:23 AM (#4132577) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,muskwatch The one example of a mountain Jack that I was searching to understand - the reference to one in a dictionary - has been confirmed by tracking down the original author, and in that case it was referring to a bird, the rey jay or whiskyjack |
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17 Jan 22 - 10:03 AM (#4132674) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: Thompson Lots of YouTube videos about whiskey jacks, which are apparently Canada's national bird, but while mentioning their earsplitting alarm call, they lean on the birds' cuteness and high intelligence. |
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14 Jan 24 - 07:32 AM (#4195416) Subject: RE: What is a mountain jack? From: GUEST,jamoomoo I had the same question, but then came to my own conclusion after reading as much as I could from a variety of venues, as well as other people's comments, thoughts, etc. - and a little common sense while taking the old time way of life & other things that existed a century ago (or so), amongst the 'mountain people' of the 'South'. So my own interpretation boils down to a good ol', hardcore, more or less isolated (almost to the degree of a hermit), totally self-sufficient, super rugged, grizzly wrestling "Mountain Man". Also way back when, a JACK was typically used as a term referring to a hardy 'manly man' of sorts - just as in the WWII Era, a man in general was referred to as 'Joe'... (Hey Joe, gotta a light?) BUT in the case of 'Jack', we're going back even further to a time when people were pioneers homesteading, trying to cut out a life for themselves, in this case - high up, deep in the mountains (Appalachian/ Smokey/ Blue Ridge/ Rocky/ etc.) |