The video readings I’ve been doing from “Common Folks” written by Verna Mae Slone have got me to studying on the way folks used to have to walk everywhere they traveled.
Going by shanks mare is an old mountain way of saying you walked. In other words, shanks mare is none other than your own feet.
I’ve heard the old saying my whole life. I’ve mostly heard the phrase used when someone was making light of having to walk a long way when they didn’t intend to.
shank’s mare noun in phrs go by shank’s mare, ride shank’s mare = to walk
1967 DARE ride shank’s mare = go on foot (Maryille TN). 1992 Bush Dorie 154 Fred and Pa showed no interest in the car and still went by Shank’s Mare (walking) or in the jolt wagon. 1994 Montgomery Coll. go by shank’s mare (Shields).
—”Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English”
Most folks in the US who walk long distances by shank’s mare today do so by choice. Hikers immediately come to mind when I think of people taking a long walk.
But in Verna Mae’s day in the early 1920s and 30s there wasn’t really any other option. If you wanted to go to the store, to the doctor, or to visit family in distant places you went by shank’s mare. Even if you could ride a train you typically had to walk a far piece to get to the train.
It was the same when Pap was young.
He told me lots of stories of walking here or there. One that comes to mind is the time Pap and his buddy Harold walked to Haywood County. They went over Socco mountain. He said coming back they got so cold they went off the road into the woods and built up a big fire to get warm enough to continue on home.
The change from walking everywhere happened gradually. Once a few people got vehicles you could catch a ride. I’m sure Harold and Pap caught a few rides on their cold trip. Pap even hitchhiked back home from where he was working in California before him and Granny were married. I know he caught every ride he could, but he also did a whole lot of riding shank’s mare.
In one of the recent excerpts Verna Mae tells the story of having to walk five miles through the rain to the nearest telephone so that she could check on her husband after a communication mix up that made it seem like he was missing. He was actually snug as bug in a rug sleeping by the time she reached the phone and called. After finding out he was okay she had to walk the five miles back home in the rain. Imagine that—ten miles in rain to use a phone to check on someone you loved.
Even though I’m grateful for the convince of my car and thankful for the quick trips it allows me to take to town and beyond I’m also a little jealous of those days of going by shank’s mare.
I’m envious of the slower pace of life that allowed for one to walk everywhere taking in the nature around them. I’d like the close up view from shank’s mare of the cold snowy days of winter that make you thankful to get back to warm by the fire; spring days when the world is experiencing a glorious rebirth; heavy summer days when the fauna has grown wild and free; and fall days when every step sends up the sound of crunching leaves as the trees shed their colorful garments.
Last night’s video: Do You Know these Words and Phrases?! Appalachian Vocabulary Test.
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Love the comment about “ shoe barus” ; it gave me a good laugh, what a great way to start the day !
That’s a new one for me. You’d think I’d have heard it by now since I do alot of walking…mostly by choice these days thank goodness. My husband always tells me to crank up my “shoe-baru’s”
I remember when I was in the Marine Corps in San Diego I had to hitchhike part of my way back to Indiana for my leave. I didn’t have money for train fare all the way. We used trains back then not airplanes like people do today. People were nicer back in those days and it was easy to get a ride. Also the trucks and cars were not zipping past you as fast as they do today. Many times the man who picked you up could only take you several miles down the road, so you had to start walking and hope that the next person coming along could actually take you into a town. When I was a teenager my brothers and I use to fish almost everyday during the summer. It was about 3 or 4 miles out to the river, so we loaded up our poles and a can of worms and headed out walking to the river. If we were lucky a farmer would happen to come by on the country road and he would let us ride in the back of the truck or wagon for most of the trip.
Tipper,
When I hear or think about walking, I seem to always remember this old gentleman who referred to a rest from walking as “cooling his heels.”
I didn’t learn the phrase “shank’s mare” until I started reading https://blindpigandtheacorn.com/ but I am well acquainted with it’s concept. We didn’t get a car until I was in high school so I “hoofed it” or caught a ride wherever I went. Ours was not the exception as most people in the community had no vehicle and were comfortable with it. The folks who did have automobiles owned pickups or log trucks.
I traveled by shank’s mare until I was 17 yo and go my first car. I was nothing to walk 5 miles and return the same distance, but I didn’t do that too often. Two to 5 miles round trip was common as dirt.
On Saturday’s I would walk from my home in Oakwood to downtown Raleigh (before there were any shopping centers) and walk for hours in the museums and stores, go to double feature Westerns in the morning and the afternoon then walk home.
I think we were a lot healthier then, and polluted a lot less.
I remember my daddy talking about having to walk to school when he was young and that was about 3 or 4 miles. He and the ones that were school age had to leave really early to get there. It was an old one room schoolhouse. If it was pouring rain, they stayed home and if it was really cold, the younger ones stayed back, and the rest would wrap up as warmly as they could and go on. He also talked about before he and mama were married and he came home on leave from the military, he caught several rides. Now days, it’s way too dangerous to pick up anyone and although it’s sad, you just can’t take that chance. I enjoyed last night’s video. I knew several but learned some new ones also. Have a blessed day everyone!!
I’ve heard that expression many a time, even my father in law used to say it and I know his people weren’t from Appalachia. But he was born and raised in Wyoming, and Wyoming like a lot of the west had a migration of people from all parts of the south after the war between the states. Also later when oil field work and coal mining jobs were plentiful. Southern people influenced a lot of the west’s culture, speech, and food.
We walked everywhere when I was a kid. I spent hours out in the woods during the summer ranging far and wide, most times coming home near dark.
We walked down off the ridge and back up again every day to catch the school bus, and when the snow fell it would take us over an hour to get home because we had to snowball-fight our way every step.
We carried what we needed from the store for the week, or pulled it behind us on a sled in the winter.
When we had enough money saved for a treat us kids on the ridge would get together and walk down to the gas station at the end of the bridge to buy a pop and a candy bar. If someone didn’t have enough money, we shared.
In the military, when I was stuck somewhere I didn’t want to be without a ride, I started walking — at night, in a foreign country. Not too smart, but I made it back to base each time.
I miss my walks with my beloved dogs.
I’ve not heard that expression, but it makes sense. Sometimes I feel like an old mare…lol. I’m behind on listening to your readings of Vera Mae’s story, but I’ll catch up soon. When I was a young teen I walked everywhere around town. One of my best friends lived on the other side of town, so we would walk to a halfway point, which was approximately 3 miles for each of us to our meet point at the town library. Once we met at the Library we then would go to the G.C. Murphy store, which was maybe one mile from library. We would empty our pockets to count our money, then bought want we could at the soda shop in the store and split it, just so we could hang out. Sometimes we would walk back to my house, or we walked to her house. She lived closer to the Hills store, so once we got to her house we had to walk along the railroad tracks, then cross the street to get to the Hills store. Which was about a mile from her house. One could say we were going by shank’s mare a lot! Like you Tipper, I miss those days of going by shank’s mare. Back then people drove like they had sense, wasn’t in such a hurry, watched out for people walking along the roads. Now days they drive like there’s no tomorrow, and just about run you over if they see ya walking. Things sure have changed since I was a young teen. I think it was a kinder world back then, where people watched after each other and kids could go out without fear of being taken.
I’ve never heard of Shank’s Mare, but my folks would say hoof. If you asked someone how they got to your house they would say, “I hoofed it.” When me & my siblings were complaining about something Mom would say, “Y’all don’t know what hard times are. When I was a kid I had to walk 2 miles to school with nothing but a leftover biscuit & a cold sweet potato in a poke for my dinner.” My Dad would say, “If kids now a days worked as hard as we had to & had to walk everywhere, they wouldn’t have time or the means to get into trouble and there wouldn’t be a bunch of fat people.” Dad was so right on all of that! Hope everyone stays warm & has a blessed day!
I find it interesting how and Who was the first to come up with sayings like that and how fast they caught on. Like your Pap, Dad hitched from the MO Ozarks to Colorado to work for a summer and then back when he got his WWII draft notice. I bet they never thought anything about it, just figured it out as they went. Now we have, shoes, clothes and gadgets to tell us how far we Shank’s Mare.
When I was growing up we walked a lot around the neighborhoods and had footpaths through the woods where we played OUTSIDE all the time! When we were blessed to get a bicycle we rode them all over our stomping grounds, but there were still many times even after that that we still would rather walk together to the store or down to the creek because there were places that it was hard to ride our bikes like through sand beds or muddy places so we would chunk our bikes to the side and hit (Pat & Charlie our feet) which is what many referred to as walking here in our neck of the woods back in the day. I feel so sorry for most generations since my childhood that don’t get to experience the journey of Pat & Charlie like we did.
This post brought back so many good memories of my childhood days when life was simpler & a much slower pace.
Just being able to walk is a blessing maybe too often taken for granted. I’m at a stage in my life that because of pain from my back and knees it’s a struggle to walk through the house sometimes. You never know how much being unable to walk much curtails your lifestyle until it creeps up on you. Makes me feel guilty that I ever complained about having to walk anywhere. Take my advice please, take care of yourself and walk every chance you get and be grateful to God for the privilege.
Around Ivy Log we said “I hoofed it over yonder to the mill”
Footpaths could go by shortcuts that wagons or cars couldn’t. In mountain ground over the ridge is often shorter than down the holler, across the creek and up another holler. I’m not much of a traveler and what traveling I do I prefer walking over riding. Riding is to be endured. Walking is to be enjoyed As you say, walking puts you into whatever there is to see, hear, smell and remember. And the time is available to think since you really can’t do much else. No need to fret. It will take whatever time it takes the best you can do.
SORRY: That was Mare’s Leg rifle and not Mares Shank rifle.
When I saw the term Shank’s Mare the first thing I thought of was a rifle named Mare’s Shank.
Could not find anything that connected the two terms and have pretty much decided that the term Mare’s Shank as the name of the rifle was referring to its shape and length.
Maybe some reader will know how term Mare’s Shank came about?
I remember my Dad saying he took “Pat and Charlie “ when he was a boy. It meant walking somewhere instead of going by car. Of course, I thought at first those were his horses in my mind until I learned later what it meant. I don’t hear that phrase today however.
I learned it as taking “Pat and Turnit” as in pat the path and turn the corner.
Robert, I heard the city version of that as Pat & Turner: Patting the sidewalks and turning the corners.
I have heard my daddy and especially my father in law talk about having to walk to go somewhere. My father in law told of walking a round trip of 10 miles to watch a movie. We liked to tease them and tell them to hear y’all tell it you walk 2 miles back and forth to school, uphill both ways. Both said it sure was nice to get to ride the old mule instead of walking.
when living in Marion VA. in the 50s..we always walked down the holler to town 5 miles and stopped along the way to talk to aunt Mon who was making a kettle of apple butter and the Sturgels and all the kin folk along the way. We cared more about family than what was happening in world I
John, I grew up during the 50&60’s. I remember when neighbors and families took time to visit each other. I remember my grandparents, along with mother and me, spending all day and eating dinner with a neighbor that may only live a mile or two away. In the country where I lived, we knew who lived in every home for miles around us. We still know a good many of them. I know times were hard back then, but in a lot of ways also better than they are now. Now so many people don’t even know their next door neighbor, much less visit them.
Interesting. I love hearing about Pap and his history. He sounds like he was a wealth of knowledge and sharing it with us. Thanks and stay warm. It is 38 here in upstate Florida and suppose to get down to 34 tonite. Gotta cover all those plants I was so anxious to plant. God Bless.
Walking was a common mode of transportation when I was growing up in the 60s. Hitchhikers seldom waited long for a ride, people were more trusting then.
I’m thinking it was good mentally as well as physically as one had time to think without interruptions as they travel to their distinction 3 miles from our house to town was nothing then