284. The Brushy Mountains Freshet


284
The Brushy Mountains Freshet

"A fragment of a song sung in the Brushy Mountains in the
summers of 1917 and 1918, commemorating the freshet of 1916,
when several lives were lost in that section of the country and
much property was destroyed. It probably refers to a mountain
cabin which was totally destroyed by a landslide. Three days later,
the father and mother were found with three of the children. The

 

NORTH CAROLINA BALLADS 659

other two were not found, and it is supposed that they were killed."
— Note accompanying the MS. See also Mrs. Steely 1 17-18 (1935).
'The Cloudburst' — ten full stanzas, with circumstantial account of
factual basis.

No title. Contributed by Homer M. Keever, of Union Grove, Iredell
county; undated. (Mr. Keever graduated from Trinity College in 1923
and received degrees from Duke University in 1930 and 1931-)

1 In the month of July, in the year 'sixteen,
Came the awfullest storm that's ever been seen.
It made its way from the ocean w^ide

And struck full force on the mountain side.

2 At the head of Jack's Branch were children five,
A father and a mother, and all were alive.

They stood in the door and watched the rain come down ;
They saw how fast it covered the ground.

3 The words of the boy had scarcely been spoken
When the windows of heaven were thrown wide open.