Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote

The Droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, . . .

So priketh hem nature in hir corage:

Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages -

IN THE PROLOGUE to Chaucer’s Tales of Canterbury, the 14th century poet struck a chord that has echoed down the ages: the earth’s springtime renewal gives humans the urge to travel.

Chaucer was speaking of the English, of course. But it was that same urge that brought 225 of the folk to Nacogdoches last weekend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Texas Folklore Society.

Like Chaucer’s group of 30 who told tales while wending their way to Canterbury, the pilgrims who came to Nacogdoches represented all layers of society. Their ages ranged from 2 to around 90, and their homes were widely dispersed. Some may have told tales on the way — Lee Haille indicated that his family did — but most came to listen to those who were on the program.

A HIGHLIGHT was the 100th anniversary reminiscence of Dr. Francis E. (Ab) Abernethy, who has stepped down as secretary-editor of the Society after a run of more than 30 years.

When Ab joined the society 50 years ago, folklore was just coming in as an academic discipline, he recalled. As a new Ph.D. whose field was Renaissance drama, he was taken aback when the head of the English department at Stephen F. Austin State asked him to teach a folklore class.

BY 1965, he was serving as president of the Texas Folklore Society and his course was set. The meeting that year was held at the Driskill Hotel in Austin and Janis Joplin was on the program. Ab said he was “scared to death” of how radical her ’60s singing might seem to the gathered folk, but she came across as more folk-tunish than shocking. Janis signed up for Ab’s folklore class, but never showed up, he said.

Because of a few interruptions, the 100th anniversary was celebrated at the 93rd of the annual meetings. The Thursday and Friday night hootenannies have been an important feature for decades. Ab recalled the 1960 gathering at San Antonio’s Menger Hotel, when the “hoot” was held at Casa Rio on the San Antonio River.

IT WAS THERE he first met the late Hermes Nye of Dallas, whom he described as a fashionably dressed, would-be hippie lawyer who had his own radio show and was a great interlocutor. That night, Hermes would sing two songs and then pass his guitar to Ab for his two songs. Long since equipped with his own guitar, Ab said he felt a sense of belonging that night that he’s never gotten over. And since then, the only annual meeting he has missed was the 2008 meeting at Lubbock.

The personalities he met through the Folklore Society, including the iconic early leader J. Frank Dobie as well as Mody Boatright, Martha Emmons, Wilson Hudson, Martin Shockley, John Lomax Jr. and others were the greatest part of his education, Ab said.

THE SOCIETY has “made you and me rich with a side of life we would not have known otherwise,” he commented, adding that he has complete faith that the members will carry on into the next century. He said he believes the society is a success because members have loved and preserved folklore wihout involvng it in academic pressures. Indeed, he observed, folklore is declining in the academy. But never mind.

“We are a solid bunch of folks,” Ab summed up. “We come together as loving kinfolks, loving the old songs and stories and learning new ones — always growing.”

The Old English quote that led off here is an homage to my Gilmer High School teacher of English and Latin, the late Eunice Hart.

AT A TIME during World War II when nearly all the men teachers went into the armed forces and qualified replacements were hard to find, she was special.

For those who were interested in learning about Chaucer, she taught an informal non-credit course before school started each day.

At one time I had almost 50 lines of the Canterbury Tales prologue memorized. Each spring I think of them when I, too, long to go on a pilgrimage.

And they made my own visit to Canterbury Cathedral a few years ago more memorable.

sgreene@tatertv.com

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