The title and the idea for this book began in 1958, when Mody 
Boatright first published his essay, “The Family Saga as a Form of 
Folklore.” What Mody identified was a long established form of 
folklore that was firmly entrenched among people everywhere.

    The family saga—as Mody and this collection defines it—is made 
up of an accumulation of separate family legends. These are the 
stories of the old folks and the old times that are told among the 
family when they gather for funerals or Thanksgiving dinner. These 
are the “remember-when” stories the family tells about the time 
when the grownups were children.

    Families with strong identities and strong bonds eventually have 
a library of legends, treasures passed along in the oral tradition. 
Because of shared humanity and common family experiences, the 
legends of these old families follow a recognizable pattern of topics, 
some of which are contained herein. A large and chronologically 
extended collection of family legends brought together under one 
cover—or one roof—is a family saga.

    Included here are stories grouped by common topics, such as 
Ghosts and the Supernatural, Feuding and Fighting, and Death and 
Burial. They include tales from favorite storytellers Elmer Kelton, 
James Ward Lee, Robert Flynn, Archie McDonald, and John 
Graves. Lavishly illustrated, this volume is a fitting tribute to F. E. 
Abernethy’s dedication to the Texas Folklore Society.

_________________________________________________________

FRANCIS EDWARD ABERNETHY is Regents Professor Emeritus 
of English at Stephen F. Austin State University, the executive 
secretary and editor of the Texas Folklore Society since 1971, and 
a member of the Texas Institute of Letters. In addition to having 
edited twenty Texas Folklore Society publications, he has written 
Singin’ Texas, Legends of Texas’ Heroic Age, and all three 
volumes of the Texas Folklore Society history, published by the 
University of North Texas Press. JERRY BRYAN LINCECUM is Shoap 
Professor of English at Austin College and the author of Gideon 
Lincecum's Sword, published by UNT Press. FRANCES B. VICK is a 
longtime member of the Texas Folklore Society and publisher of the 
TFS publications.


Texas Folklore Society Publications LX


What people are saying about this book

“One of Papa’s maternal aunts, long before he was born, had 
married a thoroughly disreputable, shotgun-assassin, mean-poor-
white type known as ‘Mule’ McGill. Her family and its connections 
were so disgruntled by the match that they stopped even talking 
about her, and my father as a child never heard her name and 
knew nothing of her existence.”—John Graves

“I used to enjoy watching my father dicker with an old Midland 
horse trader named Big Boy Whatley. Dad enjoyed the challenge of 
trading with Big Boy. If you washed out even with Big Boy, you 
were in the big leagues.”—Elmer Kelton