The Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky, and Other Kentucky ArticlesAllen, James Lane
General
The Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky, and Other Kentucky Articles
Allen, James Lane
Kentucky -- Description and travel; Kentucky -- Social life and customs
The typical Kentuckian regards himself an American of the Americans, and
thinks as little of being like the English as he would of imitating the
Jutes. In nothing is he more like his transatlantic ancestry than in
strong self-content. He sits on his farm as though it were the pole of
the heavens--a manly man with a heart in him. Usually of the blond type,
robust, well formed, with clear, fair complexion, that grows ruddier
with age and stomachic development, full neck, and an open, kind,
untroubled countenance. He is frank, but not familiar; talkative, but
not garrulous; full of the genial humor of local hits and allusions, but
without a subtle nimbleness of wit; indulgent towards purely masculine
vices, but intolerant of petty crimes; no reader of books nor master in
religious debate, faith coming to him as naturally as his appetite, and
growing with what it feeds upon; loving roast pig, but not caring
particularly for Lamb's eulogy; loving his grass like a Greek, not
because it is beautiful, but because it is fresh and green; a peaceful
man with strong passions, and so to be heartily loved and respected or
heartily hated and respected, but never despised or trifled with. An
occasional barbecue in the woods, where the saddles of South Down mutton
are roasted on spits over the coals of the mighty trench, and the
steaming kettles of burgoo lend their savor to the nose of the hungry
political orator, so that he becomes all the more impetuous in his
invectives; the great agricultural fairs; the race-courses; the monthly
county court day, when he meets his neighbors on the public square of
the nearest town; the quiet Sunday mornings, when he meets them again
for rather more clandestine talks at the front door of the neighborhood
church--these and his own fireside are his characteristic and ample
pleasures. You will never be under his roof without being touched by the
mellowest of all the virtues of his race--simple, unsparing human
kindness and hospitality.
The women of Kentucky have long had reputation for beauty. An average
type is a refinement on the English blonde--greater delicacy of form,
feature, and color. A beautiful Kentucky woman is apt to be exceedingly
beautiful. Her voice is low and soft; her hands and feet delicately
formed; her skin pure and beautiful in tint and shading; her eyes blue
or brown, and hair nut brown or golden brown; to all which is added a
certain unapproachable refinement. It must not for a moment be supposed,
however, that there are not many genuinely ugly women in Kentucky.
UNCLE TOM AT HOME
I
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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