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Page 13 · column 1 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
By HELEN KILBY
Rappahannock News
Contributing Writer
The poet who said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” was implying that nothing is in a name. But what if you had to go through life answering to “Pig-Nose” or “Frog-Legs” or “Pecker-Wood”? There is a big psychological question raised here. But oh, the color! The imagery conjured up by the hundreds of amusing or bemusing, descriptive or satirical names bestowed upon Rappahannock citizens, present and past, could very well rival the colors of October in these hills.
Lucikly for me, the names mentioned here are not the real, Mama-andPama-bestowed, or baptismally confirmed names; nor are they the names written down on school records (even though a kid on the first day of first grade may not even know what his real name is). Anyway, there is no way of identifying the real from the fictional, and no way, as I see it, for anybody’s being offended. One name, whether real or “nick” or purely imaginary, is as good as any other name, and so are the personalities.
Consider these: Baldy, Butch, Slick, Slim, Shorty and Teeny; Sandy, Cotton, Red, Blue, Pinky, Whitey and Blacky; Hog-Eye, White-Eye, Grey-Eye, Dead-Eye and Bright-Eye; Hoss, Mule, Goat, Kitty, Goose, Weezil, Tom-Cat and Rooster; Twizzie, Skippy, Skee, Tooty, Toots and Hots; Brew, Stew, and Soup; or Dike, Oak, Boot, Baby-Doll, Pee-Wee, Preacher-Man and It. These are just some of the Rappahannock names I’ve heard about, or dreamed up, in my little corner of the county. I’m sure there are hundreds more in other villages, or hollows, or in warehouses of imaginary materials stored in various minds, like cartons of unsorted junk one sends to the attic. Undoubtedly, there is a good story (true or imaginary) attached to each. , I can tell you about one eventful day in the life of Ha-Ha_, told with respect and genuine sympathy.
Ha-Ha was a man of intelligence and gallantry who had a way of saying. “Howdy-do” and bowing politely (if he was sober.) He was experienced, with a capital E, for he had been places and seen things few of us had seen. He had served his country well as an officer overseas in WW-2. But HaHa had a weakness, like so many others, for “the grape”.
When Ha-Ha got back to Rappahannock from the war, he had plenty to remember, but §ven more to forget. And there was access to the “magic elixir”, either covertly hidden up the hollows or only a thumbride’s distance away at the legal package stores at Front Royal or Culpeper.
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