Stephenson, R. Rex. "Jack and Ol' Greasy Beard." The Jack Tales. Schulenburg, TX: I. E. Clark, 1991. Story theatre dramatization, as performed by The Ferrum Jack Tale Players. Ol' Greasy Beard steals food from Jack and his brothers. In a chase scene, the brothers rescue Sally, who has been kept captive in Mr. Greasy Beard's cave. Sally calls Jack "brave and clever"; later they marry and have seven clever sons. Stephenson, R. Rex. "The Jack Tales." Eight Plays for Youth: Varied Theatrical Experiences for Stage and Study, edited by Christian H. Moe and R. Eugene Jackson. American University Studies Series XXVI: Theatre Arts. Vol. 8. New York: Peter Lang, 1991. Includes three tales by Stephenson with background on Jack Tales and story theatre: "Jack and the Robbers," "Jack and the Three Giants," and "Greasy-Beard." Roberts, Leonard. Old Greasybeard: Tales from the Cumberland Gap. Collected and annotated by Leonard Roberts. Illus. Leonard Epstein. Detroit: Folklore Associates, 1969. Rpt. Pikeville, KY: Pikeville College Press, 1980, pp. 53-58. "Old Greasybeard," collected in Leslie County, KY in 1955, is included in the section Hero and Giant Tales. Jack, Tom, and Merrywise are brothers whose parents send them out to seek their fortune. Merrywise is "a spunky little fellow" who insists on going with the others. After an old man with a greasy beard steals food from his brothers, Merrywise stops him by catching his beard in a log. They follow blood and hair to the man's underground home, where they rescue three beautiful girls from their mean father. Merrywise gets an eagle to pull them out of the hole. He attempts to leave his brothers down there but they also get the eagle's help and bury the old man in his hole. Leonard discusses many ancient sources and parallels for tale type 301A, Quest for a Vanished Princess, including Hercules and Beowulf. "Dirtybeard." In Roberts, Leonard. South From Hell-fer-Sartin': Kentucky Mountain Folk Tales. U of KY Press, 1955. Rpt. Berea, KY: The Council of the Southern Mountains, 1964., pp. 17-18. This is a shorter version of the same tale, with brothers Tom, Bill, and Jack. Threatened with a beheading, Jack takes the old man's razor and cuts his head off. The brothers take food and three pretty girls and leave Jack in the hole, but he gets an eagle to fly him out. "Old Greasybeard." Told by Jane Muncy Fugate (from KY). Recorded by Carl Lindahl in 2001. American Folktales: From the Collections of the Library of Congress. Ed. Carl Lindahl. Vol. 1. Armonk NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2004, pp. 300-308. Fugate is a psychotherapist who called Merrywise an overcomer or coping person, one who doesn't always do everything right or easily, but does know how to use his tools to cope with obstacles (even though he's small and the youngest brother). Fugate's grandmother told her stories to keep her occupied, share family memories, and "to help us learn something." An Eagle helps Merrywise rescue his bride from Mr. Greasybeard, a tall man with a long greasy beard. Fugate added references to current events while telling this tale to a folk narrative class after Sept. 11, 2001, linking Greasybeard with the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. The other Merrywise tales from Fugate in this section are "Merrywise" and "The King's Well." See also "Old Fire Dragaman," with a similar plot in which Jack rescues girls from a dragon man underground. Last update: 03/08/06 |
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