A Tree Accurst: Bobby McMillon and Stories of Frankie Silver

239 Pages·2000·2.263 MB·English

by  Daniel W. Patterson

A TREE ACCURST

Right down through thewoods yonder, if you could
see it through the trees and brush, is where the cabin
stood that Frankie and Charles Silver lived in. And long
after they were dead and gone the house fell in, and later
another homewas built over the foundations. . . . But
therewas a tree that grew near where the old housewas.
Theyclaimed that if you got up in it, that you couldn’t
get out. And my mother said that she thought that when
I was just a child and wewent up there that I got up in
the tree and they liked to have never got me out. I don’t
know if that was because of the curse or because I didn’t
want to be got out.—Bobby McMillon

A TREE ACCURST
BOBBY M MILLON
C
AND STORIES OF
FRANKIE SILVER
DANIEL W. PATTERSON
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.Tales—NorthCarolina—MitchellCounty—
History. .Murder—NorthCarolina—Mitchell
County—Folklore. .Oraltradition—North
Carolina—MitchellCounty—History. .Silver,
Frankie—Legends. .MitchellCounty(N.C.)—
Folklore. .McMillon,Bobby—Contributionsin
folklore. .Silver,Frankie. I.Title.
. 
.'—dc -
         
For
Bobby McMillon
in respect, appreciation,
and friendship

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 
 BobbyMcMillonandOralTradition 
 FrankieSilverLoreasPerformedbyBobbyMcMillon 
 TheStateversusFrancesSilver 
 AStoryThatHappened:TheLegendof FrankieSilver 
 TheBallad‘‘FrankieSilver’’ 
 ATaleofaGovernor 
Conclusion 
AppendixA.
VariantsoftheFrankieSilverLegendCycle 
AppendixB.

VariantsoftheBallad‘‘FrankieSilver’’(Laws ) 
AppendixC.
ArtisticTreatmentsoftheFrankieSilverStory 
Notes 
WorksCited 
Index 