As Promised...

In my last post, I said I would try to make some sense of the Cora Jones legend and the Scott Hollow Cave I found that the cave is located on Bluestone Mountain in West Virginia. I had friends that like to cave when I lived in West Virginia, but I could never get into going into a bottomless black hole in my own custody...or in anyone else's.

The song " Bluestone Mountain" was written by  "Brink" Brinkman, a WV songwriter. I think I have read that the song  is said to have roots in a local legend or folklore.

I have yet to have Mr. Google, or any other search engine, divulge any light on the folklore of the Cora Jones legend. I'm not through yet. I might just have to call Mr. Brinkman and ask him where one might find and account of the Cora Jones tragedy. I do understand that local legends and stories are not necessarily fodder for modern technology.

The narrative of the song are as follows:

A young woman, Cora Jones, recently widowed by the Civil War, has a young son named Jacob. He is her pride and joy. On a day in late October Jacob wanders into Scott Hollow Cave, and Cora enters the cave trying to find him. Neither Cora or Jacob were ever found.

Scott Hollow Cave is now closed, but from the Wikipedia information is a very big and difficult cave. The entrance is privately owned and the owner recently he closed it, probably fearing law suits should someone else "disappear". There does not seem to be another way in or out of the cave...yet. Spelunkers are a determined lot.

Song writing is much easier when you have a story you can get your teeth into. Mr. Brinkman has written himself a great song...too bad mainstream music ain't into folklore. I don't think you could rap this story with much success, and I can't hear Beyooooonce giving it a try.

Too bad.

The best version I can offer is on You Tube. Enter "Bluestone Mountain" and pick your poison. Forgive me that I can't give you my version. I just learned it, after messing with it for a while. Sometimes it take a while to make a story, or song, your own.