Spirit Of Mountains

Tennesseana Editions

by Emma Bell Miles, Roger D. Abrahams (Foreword), David E. Whisnant (Introduction)

A classic account of mountain life, accurately portraying the people and lore of the Cumberland Mountains.  Miles' familiarity with the mountain people--and her perception of the importance of women, especially older women--allows her to illustrate their way of life in a personal and realistic manner

". . . gives us an extraordinary insight into the personal relationships of the mountain lore, signs, rhymes, omens, tales, even the development of the mountain music.  She presents the strength of religious beliefs along with the emotionalism and simplistic tradition of 'the old-time religion.'"
—The Southern Quarterly

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Emma Bell Miles (1879-1919) also wrote numerous poems and short stories that appeared in such publications of the period as Harpers Monthly, Century, and Lippincott’s.

Genres: Nonfiction

205 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1975

Reviews

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful read about the past of my home. Beautifully written at times. Other times, the social conventions are quite dated and grating. I have a sort of aching nostalgia reading the last chapter: Mrs Miles, despite your pleas, the mountain people are truly no more.

[Alandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it a testimony to the unique independence of the mountain people that the first extensive work about the region and its culture was written by a woman?

I think so, yet this came as a surprise to me, especially since the publication of The Spirit of the Mountains took place in 1905 by a then twenty-six-year-old girl of the middle-class.

Her subject matter, the breadth of subjects she covers, the way in which she covers them, her writing style, and her thorough understanding of all she addresses are superb. We can have faith in her writing, though it sometimes seems contradictory; on one page she praises the mountaineer for his kindness and intelligence. On another she exposes his hypocrisy and superstitious ignorance. But the case is that all is truth with these people!

While Ms. Miles does not delve into anything in extreme depth, I feel she opens the way and scratches the surface so that others, such as Horace Kephart and James Gay Jones, could give more perspectives and more extensiveness in their later writings and collections. Thus her work is an excellent place to start if looking for an overview of the Appalachian ways of life and a springboard for further study.

Ms. Miles cunningly crafted this into not just a work of non-fiction, but creative non-fiction; she sketches and shades characters for us, paints pictures of landscapes, colors sounds and scents for our senses. One passage I find that is written extraordinarily well is in Chapter II; most of this section is devoted entirely to description, most strikingly that of the aural senses and the call of the wood thrush. Through this chapter, Ms. Miles distinctively uses visual description, aural description, olfactory description, tasting description, and kinesthetic description in the way which modern authors are taught. What excellent writing instincts Ms. Miles possessed due to being an immense reader! We should never underestimate the fact that to be a great writer, you must first be a great reader.

Many of Ms. Miles assessments are profound, especially the ones toward the end of the book. “In the mountains,” she says, “The need is for development not foreign to our natures, cultivation of talents in blossom. Let us be given work that will make us better mountaineers, instead of turning us into poor imitation city people.” I wonder what she would think of our current system today. Of the attempted modernization of our mountain towns and hollers. Of the old ways and craftsmanship almost completely set aside in lieu of the quick money-making jobs. I suppose this would come soon after her day in the sort of thing we see in James Still’s River of Earth and Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies; farming forsaken for quick-cash coal-mining.

It brings one to wonder, how would Appalachia be different today if we hadn’t succumbed to the temptation of outside forces, and instead truly cultivated the talents we already had?

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting prose.

[D Franklin Pack · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is tempting to start this review by praising the author, Emma Bell Miles (1879-1919), for her extraordinary gift of putting into words her love for the mountains and those who called the mountains their home – the mountain people. But while much in good things could be said about the writing style and artistic talent of this mountaineer author and artist, an appropriate tribute could be in her own words: “Let no one who would welcome an expression truly national despise the quaint lore of the Southern mountaineers. We have had no Robert Burns as yet; but I expect him.” This quote from "The Spirit of the Mountains" was a “statement more as a hope than as a prophecy” and speaks much to Miles’ respect for the Scotch-Irish descendants who settled in the mountains of Appalachia, her education and love of literature, and her humility in knowing that she was certainly no Robert Burns.

"The Spirit of the Mountains", first published in 1905, is a wonderful book that explores the culture of the Tennessee mountain people and what it was like to live and die in the mountains. While we have all said things like, “I don’t know how they did it back then,” they saw themselves as modern, not deprived, and to get by from day-to-day was not to be dreaded as a challenge but accepted as a way of life.

So, for those readers who refuse to laugh aloud during the funerals of the old mountain people when condescending preachers tell their corny hillbilly jokes and funny moonshine stories, relax, and allow yourselves to be pulled into these pages. Here, you will attend a typical day of school at the Log School Church on Walden’s Ridge above Chattanooga; enjoy the pure air and the clean, cold spring water; work up a sweat as the men hunt, raise their crops, build their cabins, and fabricate their furniture while the women of the households “pick and dry wild fruits; wash the wool, card, spin and weave it; make soap, hominy, butter, lard and molasses; and take care of the meat when the men have killed and cut it up.” If you appreciate their music and literature, you will enjoy singing some old-time hymns and folk songs or reading some native rhymes and tales. And, speaking of tales, if you fear that old Nance the witch could still be lurking about, you might find comfort by attending church on the third Sunday of the month as the circuit preacher makes his rounds.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written in 1905 by a young woman with one foot in the arts world and another in the mountains, is a great resource for those interested in the mountain people of Appalachia at the turn of the 20th century. The book I just finished is a "Facsimile Edition With A Forward . . . And Introduction . . . ." Both add to the telling of the story of a people who set themselves apart.

[Ray Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma Bell Miles was a child of the mountains. As an adult, she was a writer, poet, and teacher at a log schoolhouse on Walden's Ridge, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. She addresses the joy and despair of mountain life. She quoted one mountaineer saying, "My land is so poor it couldn't raise a fight."

She also chronicled music and verse of the mountain people, with a few digs at the "summer people," who had second homes on the ridge. These people may have thought of the camp meetings and baptisms with their emotional and vocal responses as "entertainment."

She ends with a hope that mountain culture will come into its own and a lament for all that is lost as Appalachia succumbs to progress that impoverishes rather than enriches.

[Drew Considine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep insight on a forgotten culture

Emma Bell Miles portrays a snapshot of a cultural heritage of a people before industrialization in the South. Shone through the eyes of a whimsical yet clairvoyant southern schoolteacher, the life of Chattanooga mountain folk in the late 19th century is historically accounts by Miles. Forgotten songs and tall tales, ways of life are remembered and expanded upon in a way that makes modern man yearn for something more. Worth a read of you have any fascination of American culture.

[Gregory Ashe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderfully written book. Ms. Miles writes with respect of an often belittled ethnic group--the mountain people of Appalachia (who city folk love to call hillbillies). Amazingly modern read for a book published in 1905. Probably should be required reading for all who look down on the mountains.

[groovygab · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting semi-outsiders portrayal of Southern Appalachian people and their histories. The writing is a bit choppy and altogether not incredibly cohesive in flow, but as parts of a whole, there is a valuable illustration of the isolated societies in early Appalachia, from family dynamics to religion, to interactions and interdependence on nature and Native American (Cherokee) knowledge.

[Cathy Wacksman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written narrative of life in the Tennessee mountains. The more I read, the more I realized I had discovered a talented writer.

[Ethan McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the greatest portrait of southern, turn-of-the-century Appalachia yet painted.

[Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one I had to read for class. Really cool insight and analysis of appalachian culture. Proud to be apart of the wolf race.

[Judie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book has touching remembrances of life in the mountains of Tennessee and the struggle of being married to a mountain man, while also being a part of life in the near-by arts world. There are insights into the mentality of mountain life and how it affects its women.

[Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offered a reasonable non-bias view of the turn of the century mountain families of the Appalachians. Very simply written with a likable down to earth style. Emma Bell Miles, as a Chattanooga native, captured the culture and the misconceptions alike of the mountain people.

[Bliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating discovery. Casts a harsh but illuminating light on the grinding despair of a woman's daily life in early 20th-century Appalachia, as well as the richness of the surrounding culture.