Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore

Francis Edward Abernethy, Kenneth L. Untiedt

University of North Texas Press, 2004 - Fiction - 304 pages

Texas has a large population who has lived on both sides of the border and created a folkloric mix that makes Texas unique. Both Sides of the Border gets its name from its emphasis on recently researched Tex-Mex folklore. But we recognize that Texas has other borders besides the Rio Grande. We use that title with the folklorist's knowledge that all of this state's songs, tales, and traditions have lived and prospered on the other sides of Texas borders at one time or another before they crossed the rivers and became "ours."

Chapters are organized thematically, and include favorite storytellers like James Ward Lee, Thad Sitton, and Jerry Lincecum. Lee's beloved "Hell is for He-Men" appears here, along with Sitton's informative essay on Texas freedman's settlements. Both Sides of the Border contains something to delight everyone interested in Texas folklore.

Contents

• Chapter 1 Letters from J Frank Dobie to John Robert Craddock: 2
• Chapter 2 Doc Sonnichsen Holds His Own: 30
• PART II TEXASMEXICAN FOLKLORE: 41
• Chapter 3 Growing Up on Both Sides of the Border: 42
• A MexicanAmerican Family in Southwest Texas: 56
• Chapter 5 Folklore of a San Antonio Midwife: 66
• Chapter 6 Religion Superstitions and Remedios: 72
• Bread Folklore: 82
• Chapter 8 A Tortilla Is Never Just a Tortilla: 92
• PART III MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABILIA: 101
• The Headless Horseman: 102
• Chapter 10 Who is Buried in Jesse James Grave?: 118
• Chapter 11 A Note on the Pacing White Mustang Legend: 130
• Chapter 12 Hell is for HeMen: 138
• Folk Artist: 150
• The Texas Folklife Festival: 162
• Chapter 15 Same Song Second Verse: 175
• Chapter 16 Texas Kitsch and Other Collectibles: 206
• Chapter 17 Texas Freedmans Settlements in the New South: 216
• Chapter 18 Tobys Hound: 232
• PART IV THE FAMILY SAGA Continued: 237
• How Family Stories Shape Our Lives: 238
• Two Tales of Who I Am: 252
• Chapter 21 Red Kellys Grandmother: 260
• Chapter 22 A Family Full of Scars: 264
• Chapter 23 The Day Grandpa Blew Up the Tractor: 273
• Chapter 24 Greater Love: 276
• Hezekiah Lincecum and the Church: 281
• List of Contributors: 293
• Index: 297

About the author

FRANCIS EDWARD ABERNETHY was Regents Professor Emeritus of English at Stephen F. Austin State University, the executive secretary and editor of the Texas Folklore Society, the curator of exhibits for the East Texas Historical Association, and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. In addition to editing twenty-one Texas Folklore Society publications, he wrote Singin' Texas, Legends of Texas' Heroic Age, and all three volumes of the Texas Folklore Society history, published by the University of North Texas Press.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore; Both Sides of the Border: A Scattering of Texas Folklore, Francis Edward Abernethy; Issue 61 of Publications of the Texas Folklore Society, Texas Folklore Society; Volume 61 of Publications of the Texas Folklore Society: Texas Folklore Society
• Editors: Francis Edward Abernethy, Kenneth L. Untiedt
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press, 2004
• ISBN: 1574411845, 9781574411843
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; History / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV); History / United States / State & Local / Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX); Social Science / Folklore & Mythology