Change the name of Arkansas? (1910); See a pin... (1870)

[Jonathan Lighter]

The University of Virginia reproduces online a poem by Emory Pottle about the death in combat of his friend James R. McConnell of the Lafayette Escadrille in 1917.  The poem, entitled "Mac," was apparently written shortly after McConnell was killed.  It includes the following lines:

Good old Mac at a party!
A party to us was something
to drink,
A fire, and no work;
Mac reciting:
"Change the name of Arkansaw?
By God, sir--"

JL


Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

To quote Michael Simmons's article online:
"According to Fred W. Allsop, in Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, (1931, The Grolier Society), Vol. 1, pp 35-36, a Concurrent Resolution of the Arkansas State Legislature in 1881 declared that the only correct pronunciation was (resolution, as quoted by Allsop):
"that received by the French from the Native Indians, and committed in writing by the French word representing the sound; and in accordance with same it should be pronounced in three syllables, with the final 's' silent, the 'a' in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables." "

There never was a "Sen. Cassius M. Johnson," the legislator sometimes credited with the speech.

Simmons makes the interesting suggestion that the original "speech" may have been written anonymously by Mark Twain.  Undoubtedly the topic would have appealed to him, and the style is certainly reminiscent of Twain's.

Gershon Legman discussed the speech about 30 years ago, but my copy of the article is packed up somewhere. ISTR his conclusions were the same as Simmons's.

JL



Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Change the name of Arkansas? (1910); See a pin... (1870)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHANGE THE NAME OF ARKANSAS?

What is the date for the speech? 1881? What date does Fred have?

I've looked at:

American Periodical Series
Making of America
American Memory (but re-check this; it gives bad hits)
Newspaperarchive
Proquest Historical Newspapers
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Colorado newspapers
Missouri newspapers
Utah newspapers

Where is this famous Arkansas/Arkansaw speech? Surely, it was widely reprinted within 20 years of its performance?

(GOOGLE)
http://comp.uark.edu/~sboss/hellno.htm
A legendary piece of American folklore, recounted in the book "Folklore of Romantic Arkansas" (Allsopp, 1931), relates the story of a proposal to change the name of the state of Arkansas by legislative enactment during the latter 1800’s. It is said that this question was actually introduced at a session of the Legislature, and that a member delivered a fiery speech on the subject to the assembly. "Change the name of Arkansas? Hell, No!" he is supposed to have declared. Apparently, however, investigations of state archives have failed to find any official record of such a deliverance, though it is frequently referred to at banquets and other convivial occasions where it is usually recited in wickedly lurid terms. Botkin (1944) provides two reprinted versions of the supposed famous oratory which are combined below to let the reader know how we feel about Arkansas!

(GOOGLE)
http://snafu.freedom.org/pub/arkansaw-history.html


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
HUMAN HEADS ARE EVIDENCE IN CASE; ADVENTURERS' CLUB MEMBER ACCUSED OF SEEKING FALSE REPUTATION
Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: May 29, 1924. p. 10 (1 page):
It may have been impossible to change the name of Arkansas but it is expected that the name of South Pasadena can be changed to San Pasqual without such an outburst or oratory as attended the proposal to alter the cognomen of the Apple Blossom State.


(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
Lima Daily News Sunday, December 04, 1910 Lima, Ohio
...might as wen try to CHANGE THE NAME OF ARKANSAS as to send John R. to.....race in an as nay it will decidedly CHANGE THE pect OF and are thowj who..


The Mexia Daily News Monday, April 02, 1923 Mexia, Texas
...opposing the changing OF the NAME OF ARKANSAS has descendants living.....use the same sort OF language that the ARKANSAS solon used we will have to..


--------------------------------------------------------------
"SEE A PIN AND PICK IT UP..."

It appears that "pin" is earlier than "penny."


(AMERICAN PERIODICAL SERIES ONLINE)
DREAM OF THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WOULD NOT PICK UP A PIN.
Mrs A M Diaz. Our Young Folks. An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls (1865-1873). Boston: Mar 1870. Vol. 6, Iss. 3; p. 178 (8 pages)
First page:
"See a pin and pick it up,
All the day you'll have good luck;
See a pin and let it lie,
Come to sorrow by and by."



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