It's a vivid phrase, and it's an accurate one too. Maya Rodale is a best-selling romance author. From the present day of the story in 1970 to flashbacks of the past and dreams, these various points of view give us a vivid picture of this place and the people who live there. There's two or three creeks," he said. It's a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. In his experience, it doesnt take much for local creeks and streams to cause trouble. This phrase enjoyed national exposure in 1988 after Texas Governor Ann Richards remarked: When we pay billions for planes that wont fly, billions for tanks that wont fire, and billions for systems that wont workthat old dog wont hunt.. "Like all great southern writers, Leah Weiss's magic turns the local into the universal." Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author, on All The Little Hopes. The saying "God willing and the Creek don't rise." Came from those traveling west in the OLD DAYS. HARDY, Ark. I am feeling culture shock from reading this book. God willing and the creek don't rise If all goes as it should; if everything goes well. Grahams American Monthly Magazine, Jun. Apparently Carter had a great many pills, because the phrase found its way into the Southern vocabulary. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. Statements of the form "God/Lord willing and (some other condition being met)" are ancient extensions of simple acceptance of God's will in phrases like God willing and Lord willing. It is a breathtaking and gritty portrayal of hillbilly life from the year 1970 which is set in the Appalachian Mountains. With a colorful cast of characters and a flair for the Southern Gothic, If the Creek Don't Rise is a debut novel bursting with heart, honesty, and homegrown grit. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. Take a look at some of our favorite Southern sayings that we just couldn't live without. If you've just had a big Southern lunch, complete with cornbread, collard greens, and pecan pie, you're definitely full as a tick. The "creek don't rise" phrase is now sometimes credited to this time of unrest and displacement. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled, origin of phrase - "if the creek don't rise". Page created 25 Feb. 2012, Problems viewing this page? It mentions . Over yonder toward the water tower. Your email address will not be published. I first heard of the notion of creek meaning Creek on a camping trip a couple of years ago at Barkcamp State Park in the area of Wheeling, WV. 25 Southern Grandparents' Sayings That Deserve a Comeback, Forgotten Etiquette Every Child Should Learn, Kimberly Schlapman and Her Family's Tea Cakes, Lauren Alaina Talks 'American Idol', Southern Manners, and Her Grandmother's Famous Recipe, 30 Quotes That Remind Us Why Southern Manners Are So Important. But if the supposed letter was ever written, it doesnt now exist in any archive that any researcher has so far found (his letters have been published, if anybody would like to check). The thing isI read one that I have never stopped thinking about. Youll thank us later! Copyright Michael Quinion, 1996. Charles Wilson said the flood waters are something he has to live with to enjoy residing on the river. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The Creek so-called civil war of 1812 involving the Red Stick faction, and their combat North and South, appears to have been an impetus for that forts creation. Sign up for writing inspiration in your email, , Scarlett OHara says: I do declare, Frank Kennedy, if you dont look dashing with that new set of whiskers!, The distinct English dialect of the American South, which has a close relationship with Black English (African American Vernacular English), is fascinatingand plenty lively. The Lafayette gazette (Louisiana), 3 Nov. 1894. 24 of 30. Your first citation is much stronger than your second. Variants substitute "God" or "Good Lord" (with or without "the") for "Lord", and substitute "crick" or "river" for "creek", or capitalize it as "Creek" or "Creeks" based on confusion with the Creek Indian tribe. The underscore of that sentiment would be that he married his common-law wife on his deathbed and she was of the Creek Indians. Youre still going to the grocery store. If you've ever been caught in a summer storm, you know that you can feel, smell, and see a storm blowin' up across the wide Southern skies. According to http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Benjamin_Hawkins: Generally recognized as the Creek Indian agent, Benjamin Hawkins also held the title of General Superintendent of all tribes south of the Ohio River. In the 1900s, the word evolved, taking on a Southern spin as well as new meanings such as "courage" and "get-up-and-go.". If the Creek Don't Rise. All rights reserved. Hawkins served under George Washington as General Superintendent for Indian Affairs (17961818) and had responsibility for the Native American tribes south of the Ohio River, and was principal Indian agent to the Creek Indians. Eli is the backbone of the community; all he wants is a better life for the people of Baines Creek evidenced by the succession of teachers he has procured.and been scared off, and his scheming troublemaking spinster of a sister Prudence who "don't like nobody" doesn't help matters any, but when the giant 6' 2" Kate Shaw arrives, wellthat's another story. The proper phrase is Lord willing and the Creek don't rise. From the start there's been a film of dingy on my days.. The 1800s and 1900s were much simpler times, as people didn't have the luxuries afforded in modern times. If we relied on written sources it would be hard to believe in such continued use. A young woman goes missing and has the town both fearful and wondering. The approximately 20,000 Creek Indians that still exist reside in Oklahoma. But I know of just four instances from that century. The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. By extension, maybe the Southern US expression was the way for an affronted or shocked listener to say none of that crazy untoward talk or behavior shall have power over me.. Be it Gods will, or, we go to war, my plans will go according to one of those two choices. Do You Know These Sizzlin Southern Sayings. A multipurpose Southernism. He told us about a young man who had been in the museum some weeks previous. You'll also find a longer version of my official bio: It's bold, powerful, dark and hard to believe that this is a debut novel. The states involved sent Hawkins,Andrew Pickens(South Carolina), Joseph Martin (Georgia) andLachlan McIntosh(Continental representative, Georgia) to negotiate a treaty to end the fighting. If the creek rises, travel will be impossible and Ill never get to Grannys. What is the origin of the phrase the good Lord willing and the creek dont rise? If you think you can't, you won't be able to accomplish something, but if you think you can, you'll succeed. Gumption is spirit, courage, spunk, boldness, and initiative. The swear-word equivalent would be something along the lines of No sh*t!I declare may have come from an English oath (the sworn proclamation kind) declaring that no foreign parties have power to subvert the Crown. The tale is widely reproduced and believed nevertheless. According to World Wide Words, when asked if it meant Creek Indians, their expert responded with: " Quite certainly not. (Recall, also, that the Creek who did go to war against the whites were a smaller group within the Creek nation and that the larger group remained neutral or actively assisted the whites in the warat which point they were betrayed by having the U.S. sieze all their land.). Depending on where you are, youre likely to hear words combined together (gonna for going to) and different vowel sounds than youre used to, including mah for my and git for get.Git has been in use since the 16th century all over the country, but is particularly common in the South, where it appears in everything from classic literature (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird) to personal correspondence (I want you to write me as soon as you git this letter, from a letter dating back to the Civil War). Learn how your comment data is processed. Where did this contraction, popular in both African American English and Southern American English, come from? The exact tranlation might be, 'If God is willing, and there isn't a flood that would prevent us from meeting again next week'. (KAIT) - Its been a busy 24 hours for first responders in Sharp County. Its especially difficult for people that live south of River Road and some of them that live in Woodland Hills. It can be summarised as if all goes well. Those who live on Valley Drive along the Spring River in Hardy awoke around 3 Friday morning to first responders urging them to leave their homes due to rising water. Used in a sentence - If the creek don't rise and God's willing, you should be able to see this video. The nabbit, gonnit, gummit, blasted, and burnit match the rhythm of damn it, but they can easily be modified for use as an adjective or adverb: That dagnab idiot didnt look to the dadgum left and, dadburnit, he crossed over in my dadblasted lane and dadburn near hit me. When used as a stand-alone oath, hold out on the first syllable and accentuate the second: DaaadGUMMit! !, Reckon has ancestry tracing all the way back to the 1000s (and maybe older still), and originally means to count, calculate.. 4.5 stars! Select your currency from the list and click Donate. This was the phrase that he always used, at the end of each performance. Some newspaper clippings are harder to determine which meaning they meant. These skies can darken at a moment's notice, and summer afternoons often see winds churning and heavy rain clouds blowing in to cool that Southern summer heat. Whatscatawampus? Firsts, Mines, Asks. To cover your bases you might say, "I'll see you then if the creek don't rise." I see said the blind man to his deaf wife. I've been in a slump of just ok books and was craving one that was special. 132 Copy quote. Does a bear shit in the woods? A: "Do you reckon we'll have enough from this harvest to make ends meet?" B: "God willing and the creek don't rise." She captures the whole Appalachian scene - the vocabulary, the falling down houses, the likker, the poverty. Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review. All of my life there have been local mountain sayings that I've heard and of course repeated, complete with a North Carolina southern drawl as literal fact. Its worth looking into because of the way in which it has been elaborated in the version you quote.. Dont worry, if youre helping a friend make groceries, youre not expected to create food from scratch. If you hear this one, it's best to slow down. The request was to a general that had troops near Horseshoe Bend Alabama, protecting settlers against a Creek Indian uprising. We like to read this as one of the greatest Southern encouragements, but, like most of these phrases, you can use it however you'd like. She's not looking for sweets; she wants a hug and a kiss. In a letter to the Commander in Chief, Hawkins stated that he would return to the nations capital, God willing and the Creek dont rise., Hawkins, college-educated and a well-written man would never have made a grammatical error, so the capitalization of Creek is the only way the phrase could make sense and the reference is not to a creek, but The Creek Indian Nation. Its a more conditional statement of intent than come hell or high water. As they returned home, some of them also killed some settlers in the Ohio valley. January 2021: Hat tip to Maria whonotes that the collection of Benjamin Hawkinss letters has now been digitized and can be read at this link. If you use this phrase, you could be declaring any number of things: surprise, dissent, happiness. Marty Stuart places the words "If the Good Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise, we'll see you in the mornin'." The clipping below from 1892 is a reference to flooding waterways not allowing the postmaster to get to his office. Origin debaters point to Col. Benjamin Hawkins of North Carolina, a Continental Congress senator. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Wheres my blasted phone?. Or, depending on where you live, it could be Sewanee, the small college town in Tennessee. The phrase may be accompanied by a gesture indicating north, south, east, or west. Only 15 days into her marriage to Roy Tupkin and Sadie Blue is already . Well, whether its Creek or creek, it would still have much of the same effectyou wont be going where you thought you would or could. They had a conversation in which the phrase was discussed and noted as being about the Creek Indians. A handful of rivers and streams will be out of their banks by Friday evening and Saturday morning. I grew up with that saying and Ive said it more times than I can count. To understand Hawkins, I read a little further into his history. You might say cocola. Now, she admits to saying this to her children. However, this is clearly one of those evolving language cases. Its not a recent change. The resulting warfare and predictable civilian losses in the South reportedly gave rise (using the Southern frontier penchant for willin as opposed to the educated willing) to the phrase which was then likely mistakenly attributed to Hawkins due to his Native American connections. I absolutely loved the southern voice of these characters throughout this book. It has been noted that the phrase should be correctly written as God willing and the Creek dont rise. Anytime it rains as hard as it did last night, it always brings back fears of having to face something like we did in 1984, he said. Oh, how I loved this story - I simply didnt want it to end! You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. If The Creek Don't Rise. (LogOut/ Runnin around like a chicken with it's head . The lyrics play on the expression Lord willing and the creek don't rise, which is thought to originate from Alabama. Thats a mouthful, but we lumped these all together because they are allsubstitutes for (God) d*mn it.