Antedating of "Tarheel" Meaning North Carolinian

[Jonathan Lighter]

*1866 **The Land We Love* I (Aug.) 293*:*Kirkland's N. C. brigade (of as
true metal as men are made of) was passing us to take position on our left,
and greeted us with "Rice-birds," "Sand-lappers!" "Hagood's foot cavalry!"
etc. One of our men cried out,"" Go it, *tar-heels !" *This title the
North-Carolina troops were justly proud of, it having been given them at the
battle of Manassas, where a general remarked, "That regiment of
North-Carolinians must have tar on their heels to make them stick as they
do." To this retort of "Go it *tar-heels!" *one of Kirkland's men replied :
"Yes, we are tar-heels, and tar *sticks;"  *and "Yes," shouted back another
of the South-Carolina rice-birds, "when the fire gets hot, the *tar runs."*

JL




On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 11:45 PM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Tarheel" Meaning North Carolinian
>
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> Shapiro, Fred wrote:
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Antedating of "Tarheel" Meaning North Carolinian
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The OED's first use for _Tarheel_ is dated 1864.
> >
> > Just to make sure Jesse has this for the OED, the earliest known usage of
> _Tarheel_ meaning specifically a North Carolinian is apparently in a Feb. 6,
> 1863 entry in the diary of William B. A. Lowrance:
> >
> >
> http://ncrec.dcr.state.nc.us/Cat/CatServer.asp?WCI=MainEp&WCE=CatV1&WCU=509.16
> >
> > This web page, which also describes other early _Tarheel_ usages, has an
> image of the diary, but I'm not sure where there is an OED-citable printed
> version of the diary entry.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Bonnie Taylor-Blake [taylor-blake at NC.RR.COM]
> > Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 7:56 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Tar heels [1846]
> >
> > Here's an antebellum use of "Tar heels" that seems applied broadly to
> poor
> > Southern whites, though it's possible the term may have had more specific
> > application to those living in tar-producing areas of the South.  (Bayley
> > was writing from Amesbury, Massachusetts, and may not have accurately
> > reflected nuances in usage.)
> >
> > >From what I can tell of others' research, the earliest appearances of
> "Tar
> > heel" noted so far have dated to 1863.  All are linked in some fashion to
> > North Carolina.
> >
> > -- Bonnie
> >
> > ----------------------
> >
> > There are at this moment at least as many poor whites in the slave states
> as
> > there are slaves, who are hardly less miserable than the slaves
> themselves.
> > They have no weight in society, grow up in ignorance, are not permitted
> to
> > vote and are tolerated as an evil, of which the slaveholder would gladly
> be
> > rid.  They are never spoken of without some contemptuous epithet.  "Red
> > shanks," "Tar heels," &c., are the names by which they are commonly
> known.
> > The slaveholders look with infinite contempt upon these poor men -- a
> > feeling which they cherish for poor men every where.
> >
> > (From A.L. Bayley, "To the Workingmen of Essex," *The Emancipator* [New
> > York, NY], 21 October 1846.)
> -
>
> Here is another 1863 instance, from N'archive:
>
> ----------
>
> _North Carolina Standard_ [Raleigh NC], 3 June 1863: p. '2':
>
> [letter from Sgt. G. W. Timberlake, N. C. Troops, dated 9 May 1863]
>
> [description of battle on 3 May 1863]
>
> <<The troops from other States call us "Tar Heels." I am proud of the
> name, as tar is a sticky substance, and the "Tar Heels" stuck up like a
> sick kitten to a hot brick, while many others from a more oily State
> slipped to the rear, and left the "Tar Heels" to stick it out.>>
>
> ----------
>
> I note that the 'usual' antebellum term for "North Carolinians"
> apparently was not "tar heels" but rather "tar boilers", which 'makes
> more sense'.
>
> It looks as though there may have been a little interstate rivalry from
> time to time, and it might could be that the "troops from other States"
> did not use "tar heel" with exactly the same interpretation as that
> offered by Sgt. Timberlake.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
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