Saturday, August 30, 2008

Re: Rednecks

J Dub, you may have already researched this. (all wikied here)

In any case, for future reference, The Battle of Blair Mountain seems a likely contributor to the term redneck.

See also The Solemn League of the Convenant, a Scottish pro Presbyterian group who

"... rejected episcopacy — rule by bishops — the preferred form of church government in England. Many of the Covenanters signed these documents using their own blood, and many in the movement began wearing red pieces of cloth around their neck to signify their position to the public. They were referred to as rednecks."

furthermore..

"Large numbers of these Scottish Presbyterians ... soon settled in considerable numbers in North America throughout the 18th century. Some emigrated directly from Scotland to the American colonies in the late 18th and early 19th-centuries as a result of the Lowland Clearances. This etymological theory holds that since many Scots-Irish Americans and Scottish Americans who settled in Appalachia and the South were Presbyterian, the term was bestowed upon them and their descendants."

So, the next time you run into Ms. Merica you can hit with this shizznit.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have been throwing "Saffie redneck" around the white south African office. It won't stick. Oddly my white-power co-worker believes, my child of mixed blood really should have blue eyes. I remember Mendel from the 7th grade. Guess he never made it to S.A.