Publication Date

7-1976

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Kenneth Clarke, Lynwood Montell, Burt Feintuch

Degree Program

Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Thirty Kentucky weather beliefs--twenty of which were considered to be scientifically valid while ten were not--were annotated, documented and discussed. It was shown that the weather beliefs which had scientific explanations were usually concerned with forecasts associated with rain and that most often they were based on observable atmospheric conditions. It was further shown that those beliefs which were not considered scientifically valid usually had an element of truth but were not considered plausible for one of the following reasons. First, there was evidence that some of these weather beliefs had been garbled during the process of oral transmission. Second, some segments of these beliefs were found to be either reversed or the sequence of events had been mixed in such a way that inconsistencies resulted. Third, some of the beliefs were found to be the object of cultural transference. Thus they had been geographically displaced and were no longer applicable.

Disciplines

Anthropology | Folklore | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Download

Included in

Folklore Commons

Share

COinS