Songcatcher Page #4

So how's 50 a week,

young man?

I don't know.

I'll have to think on it.

While you're thinking, you can

help pack the phonograph machine.

We're going

to Bear Creek tomorrow.

She's going to Viney Butler's.

You can't lug that machine

all the way up a mountain.

We made it this far,

didn't we?

That was nothing compared

to getting up to Bear Creek.

So what am I paying you for?

- Whoa, whoa.

- Whew.

I don't know no ballads.

Why, Mrs. Butler,

they are the most

beautiful songs

there have ever been,

songs like

"Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor,"

"Two Sisters,"

"Matthy Groves."

Can't say I know them.

Deladis calls them

love songs.

No, did you ever hear

any such songs, Fate?

Del knew,

but I can't say as I do.

Deladis can't be the only keeper

of the songs in the mountains.

I can't be

of any help to you, ma'am.

I would be happy

to compensate you...

to pay you, Mrs. Butler.

Good day to you.

Hello, Viney.

Well, look who's here!

- You must be Elna's sister.

- Yes, I am.

I'm so happy to meet you.

I'm Alice Kincaid.

Well, how do you do?

I'm Lily Penleric.

What are you trudging

all the way up here for, child?

I wanted to meet Dr. Penleric.

I have something for you.

Oh. Fate.

Thank you.

My family spent summers

in Asheville.

I loved hiking up

into the mountains

and reading poetry.

That's how I met Reese,

my husband.

He wooed me with ballads

and fiddle music.

I've been writing them down

since I came to live here.

You can have them

if you like.

Thank you, thank you.

they are indeed exactly

what I'm looking for, but...

I'm afraid these haven't been

scientifically collected.

Oh.

Well I can't be sure

of your notation, you see,

because of the irregular times

and unusual modes of the tunes.

Of course,

I understand perfectly.

Oh...

that is beautiful.

Come here, child.

Viney:
You are weak as water.

Oh, that baby is sucking

the life out of you.

U h-uh.

You got to eat more.

I can barely

feed the children.

Reese gone again?

- Mrs. Kincaid, thank you.

- Thank you.

Here now, you...

make a potion out of this.

Drink it twice a day,

and do not go dragging

all over the place.

Viney, the ballads

are a precious musical legacy.

Why, they're just songs.

Oh, no, Mrs. Butler,

they're not.

They're ancient ballads

from England and Scotland

and they've been sung

for hundreds of years.

they say that my great-granddaddy

come from there.

He came over that mountain

in 1743.

Really?

No one knows that these songs

are being sung

right here in the mountains

of America, no one.

What of it?

Music experts

will want to know.

So I am going to write them down

and publish them in a songbook.

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