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?