Subject: Folklore: Taily Bone From: mrdux Date: 10 May 06 - 12:40 AM I seem to recall hearing John Henry Faulk telling the "Taily Bone" story, about a back country guy who whacks off and eats the tail of a demonic lizard-like critter, who spends the rest of the story stalking our erstwhile hero. I think I first heard it in maybe the early sixties, but that's just a guess. I know David Holt tells the story, but is anyone familiar with Faulk's version (or is this another one of those false memories?) and is there an extant recording around? thanks. michael PS -- I'm pretty new around here and hope that a non-musical thread is not inappropriate. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Joe Offer Date: 10 May 06 - 01:24 AM David Holt did a recording of Taily Bone (click). Holt is probably best-known for the Legacy recording he did with Doc Watson. Can anybody post a version of this story? -Joe offer- |
Subject: ADD: Taily Bone (story) From: mrdux Date: 10 May 06 - 02:14 AM joe -- here's a version i have in my file, although i don't recall where i found it. i know it's not the same as the early version i'm looking for, and i don't know how close it is to david holt's. michael Taily Bone. Now it's said that a long time ago a fellow named Jeb took to the foothills of Texas to live off the land. Now old Jeb loved nothin better that a pot of beans with some meat in it, and he'd eat off that pot of beans for a week or more. Well one winter night old Jeb couldn't find nothin but a scrawny old squrrel to put in his bean pot. He cleaned it, cut it up into pieces and plopped it into his kettle. Leaving his pot and meat and beans there in the fireplace in the red brick chimney, he went out to the firewood pile to gather some wood. He thought about the small bit of meat he shot that day and shook his head. Laughing he grabbed a bundle of logs and went back inside. Setting them by the door old Jeb was startled when he turned to see this horrid thing sitting near his kettle. It was hideously skinny! All sunken in and white like a corpse. Red eyes that never seemed to blink. Scaly like things all over its body. It stuck it's long neck out and down went the head into the pot. Jeb saw it pull out a nice chunk of meat. In a few snaps it was gone. Now old Jeb wasn't about to let some dried up reptile with red eyes steal his supper. "Now you cut that out!" Jeb shouted. "You get going you worthless gila monster!" To this the creature replied by snapping it's mouth all full of needle sharp teeth. Slapped it's tail twice. It's tail seemed to be the only fatty part of it's body. It seemed rather proud of it's quilled tail. "Get out of there yuh filthy beast!" Old Jeb shouted, but the lizard only snapped his jaws and slapped his tail again. "Get out of my vittles and fixins or I'll cut that proud tail of yourn off!" To this the creature snatched up the last piece of meat. Watching Jeb it took a large gulp of beans. His head turned to a side he watched old Jeb. Then it spat all those beans all over Jeb's face. It laughed with a hissing noise. This was more than Jeb could take. Using his ax he hacked that fat tail off. "Taily! Taily! Taily!" The creature howled as it climbed up the chimney. "Taily! Taily!" It shouted as it ran into the night. Now Old Jeb sat next to that pot thinking of those meatless beans. Blood was sparyed everywhere and even inside the beans. Near to his foot the tail was still squirming and worming about the floor. Picking it up Jeb was about to toss it away, but he looked at it, and thought "meat's meat." He shrugged his shoulders and used his hunting knife to hack off the spikes. He plopped the tail into his pot. He had no idea what that critter was, but he sure thought it tasted pretty good. He cleaned those tail bones clean. After he was done with the meat he swallowed those bones whole! He loved the flavor that much! He went right to sleep that night with a belly full of meat. That following day he shot himself two fat squrriels. As he went home he heard a rustling of the bushes behind him. "Taily bone! Taillllly bone! All I want's my taillly bone!" A voice rasped. Jeb grabbed his ax from his belt. "Who's there!" He barked. "Taily bone, taily bone! All I want's my taillly bone!" It hissed again. "Git! Before I cut something else off, yuh lizard!" The noise stopped, and a few seconds later from further away came. "Taily bone, taily bone! All I want's my taily bone!" That night Jeb made a huge fire to make sure the critter wouldn't slither down the chimney again. His sleep was broken that night by a scratching sounds from his front door. As he sat up he heard it. "Taily bone! Taiiily bone! All I want's my taily bone!" "Git, before I have your arm as breakfast tomorrow!" With that the critter vanished. The next day went as the same as the day before. Jeb was returning home and the critter snuck up behind him. From the bushes came: "Taily bone, tailly bone! All I want's my taily bone!" Jeb raised his ax, the creature slunk away. Old Jeb was awakened again that night, 'cept this time he heard a tapping noise from the window above his bed. He saw a pair of red eyes peering at him from outside. "Taily bone! Taily bone! All I want's my taiiilly bone!" It snarled. "Be gone, ya devil!" He brandished his ax. The critter vanished into the nohgt. The following day again as he returned the critter snuck up behind him again. Jeb warded it off with his ax. That night his sleep was broken again by a chewing, scraping sound below the house. From under his cabin came. "Taily bone, taily bone! All I want's my Taily Bone!" Jeb shouted and pounded on the floor until the thing became silent. That morning Jeb woke to a scratching sound. It was coming from the leg of his bed! Leaning over Jeb saw a hole in the floor! From under his bed came the familiar voice: "Taily bone! Taily bone!" The reptile's head appeared. Jeb reached for his ax finding it missing. In the creature's grasp was the ax. It flung the weapon across the room. "Taily bone! Taily bone! All I want's my taily bone!" "It's gone! I ate it!" Jeb shouted. "Taily bone! Taily Bone! I'll gets my taily bone!" Jeb's screams where heard clear over to his neighbor's who lived at the foot of Jeb's hill. Now he went rushing up to see what Jeb was screaming about. He found the front door open wide. He carefully walked into the house. He saw the hole in the floor, then he saw a gruesome sight: Jeb laid on his bed with his guts torn wide open. Screaming he fled to his house. It took him several hours to calm himself. Finally he rode his horse into town to get the Sheriff. As they rode back to old Jeb's place, they saw a plume of smoke in the sky as they neared the cabin. When they reached Jeb's cabin they found it burnt to the ground. The only thing remaining was the red brick chimney. Both were confused about this. They paced their horses about the chimney wondering how the fire started. A rattling noise came from that chimney. The horses bucked wildly. And from the chimney they heard something that made them run away as fast as they could, and they swore never to go up to that damned cabin ever again. They say if you find Jeb's Hill, and if you walk through the woods on Jeb's Hill, you might find in those woods a red brick chimney all covered in moss worn by years of weather. And if you find that chimney and if you listen real careful, you might here what those two men heard. "Taily bone! Taily bone! Now I gots my taily bone!" |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Joe Offer Date: 10 May 06 - 02:26 AM Oh, I wish I hadn't read it so late at night, Michael. It's a good, spooky one. Reminds me of the snake I encountered this week while cutting the grass. Thanks for posting it. -Joe- |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Paul Burke Date: 10 May 06 - 03:26 AM One of the kids' favourite story books back then, called the Tailypo... except the illustrations showed something like a huge squirrel with great big eyes. Still available on Amazon. Thrilled them and scared them to jellybones all at once. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: BK Lick Date: 10 May 06 - 05:11 AM Googling "tailypo" turns up 34,100 hits. Wikipedia has a good article (click me) summarizing the story's history, and includes this link (click me) to Jackie Torrence telling the story of Tailypo in RealVideo format. —BK |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: mrdux Date: 11 May 06 - 12:05 AM BK -- thanks. after reading the Wikipedia piece, it seems to me that Faulk may have told the story as "Tailypo" rather than "Taily Bone" -- although my memory can sometimes be an iffy proposition. In any case, I'm still trying to track down a recording. michael |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Peace Date: 11 May 06 - 12:30 AM Available here. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: BK Lick Date: 11 May 06 - 06:31 AM William Mooney tells the story in his "Half-Horse, Half-Alligator" recording which is easy to find at Amazon or on eBay. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST,scardy cat Date: 07 Mar 07 - 06:23 PM i heard it once before and ive been telling it ever since! scare the heck out of everone! |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST,gabby Date: 04 Jul 07 - 08:02 PM i heard it a different way when he hears the voice he sends his dogs out.. three nights he sends out his dogs but on the last night when he called them back they didnt come and then it ends the same way |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: mrdux Date: 05 Jul 07 - 12:06 AM gabby -- do you remember where you heard that version? michael |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Charlie Baum Date: 05 Jul 07 - 12:27 AM After listening to Jackie Torrence's version of "Tailypo," I was reminded of another classic jump tail, "The Golden Arm." No less a storyteller than Mark Twain discusses it in an essay entitled "How to Tell a Story": HOW TO TELL A STORY by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) The Humorous Story an American Development.--Its Difference from Comic and Witty Stories. I do not claim that I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told, for I have been almost daily in the company of the most expert story-tellers for many years. There are several kinds of stories, but only one difficult kind--the humorous. I will talk mainly about that one. The humorous story is American, the comic story is English, the witty story is French. The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling; the comic story and the witty story upon the matter. The humorous story may be spun out to great length, and may wander around as much as it pleases, and arrive nowhere in particular; but the comic and witty stories must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently along, the others burst. The humorous story is strictly a work of art--high and delicate art --and only an artist can tell it; but no art is necessary in telling the comic and the witty story; anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story--understand, I mean by word of mouth, not print--was created in America, and has remained at home. The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it; but the teller of the comic story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, then tells it with eager delight, and is the first person to laugh when he gets through. And sometimes, if he has had good success, he is so glad and happy that he will repeat the "nub" of it and glance around from face to face, collecting applause, and then repeat it again. It is a pathetic thing to see. Very often, of course, the rambling and disjointed humorous story finishes with a nub, point, snapper, or whatever you like to call it. Then the listener must be alert, for in many cases the teller will divert attention from that nub by dropping it in a carefully casual and indifferent way, with the pretence that he does not know it is a nub. Artemus Ward used that trick a good deal; then when the belated audience presently caught the joke he would look up with innocent surprise, as if wondering what they had found to laugh at. Dan Setchell used it before him, Nye and Riley and others use it to-day. But the teller of the comic story does not slur the nub; he shouts it at you--every time. And when he prints it, in England, France, Germany, and Italy, he italicizes it, puts some whooping exclamation-points after it, and sometimes explains it in a parenthesis. All of which is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life. Let me set down an instance of the comic method, using an anecdote which has been popular all over the world for twelve or fifteen hundred years. The teller tells it in this way: THE WOUNDED SOLDIER. In the course of a certain battle a soldier whose leg had been shot off appealed to another soldier who was hurrying by to carry him to the rear, informing him at the same time of the loss which he had sustained; whereupon the generous son of Mars, shouldering the unfortunate, proceeded to carry out his desire. The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions, and presently one of the latter took the wounded man's head off--without, however, his deliverer being aware of it. In no-long time he was hailed by an officer, who said: "Where are you going with that carcass?" "To the rear, sir--he's lost his leg!" "His leg, forsooth?" responded the astonished officer; "you mean his head, you booby." Whereupon the soldier dispossessed himself of his burden, and stood looking down upon it in great perplexity. At length he said: "It is true, sir, just as you have said." Then after a pause he added, "But he TOLD me IT WAS HIS LEG! ! ! ! !" Here the narrator bursts into explosion after explosion of thunderous horse-laughter, repeating that nub from time to time through his gaspings and shriekings and suffocatings. It takes only a minute and a half to tell that in its comic-story form; and isn't worth the telling, after all. Put into the humorous-story form it takes ten minutes, and is about the funniest thing I have ever listened to--as James Whitcomb Riley tells it. He tells it in the character of a dull-witted old farmer who has just heard it for the first time, thinks it is unspeakably funny, and is trying to repeat it to a neighbor. But he can't remember it; so he gets all mixed up and wanders helplessly round and round, putting in tedious details that don't belong in the tale and only retard it; taking them out conscientiously and putting in others that are just as useless; making minor mistakes now and then and stopping to correct them and explain how he came to make them; remembering things which he forgot to put in in their proper place and going back to put them in there; stopping his narrative a good while in order to try to recall the name of the soldier that was hurt, and finally remembering that the soldier's name was not mentioned, and remarking placidly that the name is of no real importance, anyway--better, of course, if one knew it, but not essential, after all --and so on, and so on, and so on. The teller is innocent and happy and pleased with himself, and has to stop every little while to hold himself in and keep from laughing outright; and does hold in, but his body quakes in a jelly-like way with interior chuckles; and at the end of the ten minutes the audience have laughed until they are exhausted, and the tears are running down their faces. The simplicity and innocence and sincerity and unconsciousness of the old farmer are perfectly simulated, and the result is a performance which is thoroughly charming and delicious. This is art and fine and beautiful, and only a master can compass it; but a machine could tell the other story. To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is correct. Another feature is the slurring of the point. A third is the dropping of a studied remark apparently without knowing it, as if one were thinking aloud. The fourth and last is the pause. Artemus Ward dealt in numbers three and four a good deal. He would begin to tell with great animation something which he seemed to think was wonderful; then lose confidence, and after an apparently absent-minded pause add an incongruous remark in a soliloquizing way; and that was the remark intended to explode the mine--and it did. For instance, he would say eagerly, excitedly, "I once knew a man in New Zealand who hadn't a tooth in his head"--here his animation would die out; a silent, reflective pause would follow, then he would say dreamily, and as if to himself, "and yet that man could beat a drum better than any man I ever saw." The pause is an exceedingly important feature in any kind of story, and a frequently recurring feature, too. It is a dainty thing, and delicate, and also uncertain and treacherous; for it must be exactly the right length--no more and no less--or it fails of its purpose and makes trouble. If the pause is too short the impressive point is passed, and [and if too long] the audience have had time to divine that a surprise is intended--and then you can't surprise them, of course. On the platform I used to tell a negro ghost story that had a pause in front of the snapper on the end, and that pause was the most important thing in the whole story. If I got it the right length precisely, I could spring the finishing ejaculation with effect enough to make some impressible girl deliver a startled little yelp and jump out of her seat --and that was what I was after. This story was called "The Golden Arm," and was told in this fashion. You can practise with it yourself--and mind you look out for the pause and get it right. THE GOLDEN ARM. Once 'pon a time dey wuz a monsus mean man, en he live 'way out in de prairie all 'lone by hisself, 'cep'n he had a wife. En bimeby she died, en he tuck en toted her way out dah in de prairie en buried her. Well, she had a golden arm--all solid gold, fum de shoulder down. He wuz pow'ful mean--pow'ful; en dat night he couldn't sleep, Gaze he want dat golden arm so bad. When it come midnight he couldn't stan' it no mo'; so he git up, he did, en tuck his lantern en shoved out thoo de storm en dug her up en got de golden arm; en he bent his head down 'gin de win', en plowed en plowed en plowed thoo de snow. Den all on a sudden he stop (make a considerable pause here, and look startled, and take a listening attitude) en say: "My LAN', what's dat!" En he listen--en listen--en de win' say (set your teeth together and imitate the wailing and wheezing singsong of the wind), "Bzzz-z-zzz" --en den, way back yonder whah de grave is, he hear a voice! he hear a voice all mix' up in de win' can't hardly tell 'em 'part--"Bzzz-zzz --W-h-o--g-o-t--m-y--g-o-l-d-e-n arm?--zzz--zzz--W-h-o g-o-t m-y g-o-l-d-e-n arm!" (You must begin to shiver violently now.) En he begin to shiver en shake, en say, "Oh, my! OH, my lan'!" en de win' blow de lantern out, en de snow en sleet blow in his face en mos' choke him, en he start a-plowin' knee-deep towards home mos' dead, he so sk'yerd--en pooty soon he hear de voice agin, en (pause) it 'us comin' after him! "Bzzz--zzz--zzz--W-h-o--g-o-t m-y--g-o-l-d-e-n--arm?" When he git to de pasture he hear it agin closter now, en a-comin'! --a-comin' back dah in de dark en de storm--(repeat the wind and the voice). When he git to de house he rush up-stairs en jump in de bed en kiver up, head and years, en lay dah shiverin' en shakin'--en den way out dah he hear it agin!--en a-comin'! En bimeby he hear (pause--awed, listening attitude)--pat--pat--pat--hit's acomin' up-stairs! Den he hear de latch, en he know it's in de room! Den pooty soon he know it's a-stannin' by de bed! (Pause.) Den--he know it's a-bendin' down over him--en he cain't skasely git his breath! Den --den--he seem to feel someth' n c-o-l-d, right down 'most agin his head! (Pause.) Den de voice say, right at his year--"W-h-o g-o-t--m-y--g-o-l-d-e-n arm?" (You must wail it out very plaintively and accusingly; then you stare steadily and impressively into the face of the farthest-gone auditor--a girl, preferably--and let that awe-inspiring pause begin to build itself in the deep hush. When it has reached exactly the right length, jump suddenly at that girl and yell, "You've got it!") If you've got the pause right, she'll fetch a dear little yelp and spring right out of her shoes. But you must get the pause right; and you will find it the most troublesome and aggravating and uncertain thing you ever undertook. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST,no one u need to know Date: 03 Sep 07 - 11:56 PM lol i always loved to hear it in ele. school my music teacher played it does any1 know were i can get the sound version i like to tell it to the kids i babysit but i make it sound funny then scary lol but yea can u please tell me were my e-mail is hbbst.fansite@yahoo.com but please dont send me junk mail or like stupid stuff i just whould like the place to get the sound and i dont think ill be commin back on this website becuz its hard to find so thanks no one you need to know |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 04 Sep 07 - 06:41 PM What a truly delightful thread.
Thank you ALL.
Sincerely, |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Rowan Date: 04 Sep 07 - 07:10 PM I think I first heard The Golden Arm in 1956, at Shoreham (OZ) on the Mornington Peninsula. At this remove I can't pick any substantive differences but the accent and dialect were both broad Australian rather than American. Thanks for the memory! And I really like the Tailly Bone. Cheers, Rowan |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Ruth Archer Date: 05 Sep 07 - 01:15 PM I saw David Holt for the first time this year at Towersey. Fascinating man. Great entertainer. I can just imagine him telling that story... *shivers* |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: HouseCat Date: 05 Sep 07 - 02:54 PM Oh I LOVED "Golden Arm" as a child. Anyone remember "Sop Doll" about the giant black cat that sticks his paw in the poor man's gravy? I'll rack my brain and post it if I can recall the whole thing. Ends sort of like Taily-Po. We called them "Boogerman stories". |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST Date: 19 Dec 07 - 02:23 PM how do i find the cd or tape of all the folk stories along with the story o taily bone? if you have any info, please e-mail me at tim@arcadiadairyfarms.com. i want my children to enjoy these stories like i enjoyed tem growing up. |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: Lonesome EJ Date: 19 Dec 07 - 08:53 PM Tailypo is very similar to a story my grandmother told me that had the very graphic title "Raw Head and Bloody Bones". |
Subject: RE: Folklore: Taily Bone From: GUEST Date: 04 Jul 08 - 02:51 AM i remember this story from musi class bak in elementry school. seems like yesterday. its funny how these stories just keep you going when you here them agian. teill this day i lose my eyes and just picture this story and remember me being in class withmy eys lose. dam this is a good story only if i ould get it downloaded. if so let me know on email semionek@yahoo.com |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,LaTaya Date: 02 Dec 08 - 01:01 AM how do i find the cd or tape of all the folk stories along with the story o taily bone? if you have any info, please e-mail me at taya_carter@yahoo.com. i want my children to enjoy these stories like i enjoyed tem growing up. |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,pams Date: 22 Dec 08 - 01:47 AM I cant believe there are so many people that have memories of this story,I've been looking for info. on this for some time and have all but given up.The story sounds the same but the names were changed a little,i remember the version with the dogs in it,named ono & uno,only the two and his name was cocalico.This story was on a cassette tape i rented from the library in my home town,it also had some other dicey stories on it,The Hairy Woman, Spear Finger,Rattle Snake Ridge,and probley a few more i cant remember.Does anyone out there remember the other stories ?? |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 22 Dec 08 - 01:38 PM I imagine now there's a generation who when they hear the story would take "taily bone" as being another way of saying Taliban. Still scary. |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,jamie Date: 19 Jan 09 - 01:47 AM I think I listened to the same casette from the library with Taily Bone and Rattlesnake Ridge. That's where the snakes come up through the rock into the home, right? I am so excited about this thread! |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: Charley Noble Date: 19 Jan 09 - 11:49 AM Anyone seen my "hairy thumb"? Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,Guest - Cari Date: 18 Oct 10 - 06:33 PM I remember listening to the stories in my music class in elementary school too! That's crazy! Taily bone scared me so much when I was younger that I remember it to this day. I'm pretty sure it was the same cassette everyone else is talking about I remember Rattlesnake Ridge, Spearfinger and I thought the one about the Wendigo was on it too? Maybe not, but iTunes has a few mp3s of the stories if anyone was only interested in certain ones. |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,Brigid Date: 26 Jan 11 - 10:38 PM I heard this story as a child and it haunted me. I'm so glad I found it! |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST Date: 07 Feb 11 - 02:11 PM I have got to say thank you for this thread!! I heard Taily Bone only once about 25 years ago in elementary school. That story and a few others I could not put a name on (until reading this thread) have stuck with me. I could only remember half woman, half beast and snakes coming out of a rock! =) I have been wanting to hear them again and let my kids listen to them. Thank you! Tanya |
Subject: RE: Storytelling: Taily Bone From: GUEST,andrewsandlin Date: 26 Oct 11 - 05:29 PM hello i am andrew sandlin i listen to the tailybone story by david holt and i want to listen to it again so if any of you can send it to me andrew sandlin please do send it to me. your sincerely Andrew Sandlin |
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