standard passage

[Michael Montgomery]

Cassidy and DARE used a short narrative titled Arthur
the Rat that was a modification of Daniel Jones' Grip
the Rat passage.  Joseph Sargent Hall, a graduate student
in the late 1930s at Columbia, became acquainted with the
original Jones version from his mentor, W. Cabell Greet,
and when embarking on fieldwork in the Smoky Mountains of
Tennessee/North Carolina in 1939, he named the lead
character Arthur because he thought it would be more
familiar to American respondents.  I learned this from
Hall in an interview with him shortly before his death
in 1992.  Interestingly enough, when I recounted Hall's
account to Cassidy in 1997, he said he always wondered
where the name Arthur came from.

Michael Montgomery

--- RonButters at AOL.COM wrote:
> I think this must refer to the rat story that Fred
> Cassidy used at DARE? My
> memory is pretty hazy about this, however.
>
>
> In a message dated 12/19/02 8:12:17 AM,
> gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG writes:
>
>
> > Can someone help this man?
> >
> > DÛbut du message rÛexpÛdiÛ :
> >
> > > De: David Skinner
> <david.skinner at tsd.state.tx.us>
> > > Date: Wed 18 Dec 2002  21:00:10 America/New_York
> > > š: <gbarrett at americandialect.org>
> > > Objet: standard passage
> > > RÛpondre ë: David Skinner
> <david.skinner at tsd.state.tx.us>
> > >
> > > Did the ADS ever use something called the
> standard passage. A ling
> > > professor once referred to it and played some
> examples of various
> > > people reading it.
> > >
> > > If this rings a bell, i'd like to find a copy of
> it. Any help would be
> > > greatly appreciated.
> > >
> > >
> > > Thank you