On his back he carried a net “to catch fools.” Being attacked by
Sir Artegal and his iron man, he turned himself first into a
fox, then to a bush, then to a bird, then to a hedgehog, then to
a snake; but Talus was a match for all his deceits, and killed
him. (Spenser: Faërie
Queene, v. 9.)
(E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
1898. found at www.bartleby.com)
From Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. The following was in the
story, notice how when he speaks in general terms he uses
Malengine, but the specific person is Malengin (Italics mine):
LIII. And all attonce discovered her desire
With sighes, and
sobs, and plaints, and piteous griefe,
The outward sparkes of
her inburning fire;
Which spent in vaine, at last she told
her briefe,
That but if she did lend her short reliefe
And
doe her comfort, she mote algates dye:
But the chaste
damzell, that had never priefe
Of such
malengine and fine forgerye,
Did easely beleeve her
strong extremitye.
THEN:
V. Thereto both his owne
wylie wit, (she sayd)
And eke the fastnesse of his dwelling
place,
Both unassaylable, gave him great ayde:
For he so
crafty was to forge and face,
So light of hand, and nymble of
his pace,
So smooth of tongue, and subtile in his tale,
That could deceive one looking in his face:
Therefore by name
Malengin they him call,
Well knowen by his feates, and
famous overall.
The 1813 Stoney Creek Baptist Church records:
September the 26, 1813 Church sat in love. Brother Kilgore,
Moderator. Then came forward Sister Kitchen and complained to
the church against Susanna Stallard for saying she harbored them
Melungins (Melungeons). Sister Sook said she was hurt with her
for believing her child and not believing her, and she won't
talk to her to
get satisfaction, and both is "pigedish", one
against the other. Sister Sook lays it down and the church
forgives her. Then came forward Cox and relates to the church
that he went to the Association and took the letter and they
received the letter in fellowship. Dismissed.
Interesting
way they spelled that last part GINS. MELUNGINS-----MALENGINS
(that is VERY close.)
So you say: OK, but what does all this mean regarding
Melungeons?
What it means is that we have a very viable theory for the
origin of the word Melungeon. We don’t need to go back hundreds
of years, or search out words used in other non-English speaking
countries. We have here a word that was in use in the English
language, and appeared in documents, and classic works of
literature. Plus, to my thinking—we have precedent.
It is well known the people of Appalachia, and Melungeons in
particular used words that were becoming archaic, and not much
in use beyond Appalachia. Two old words I often heard while
growing up were SOT meaning a drunkard, or no good. BLACKGUARD
meaning a no good, bad person. SOT shows up in 5 or 6 of
Shakespeare's plays, BLACKGUARD shows up several times in
Cooper's Leatherstocking books, and other classic works of
literature. So when I saw that the classic Faerie Queene used
this strange MALENGIN word, I was immediately interested. It may
have come into use through other works, but since Faerie Queene
has had such a long publishing history, and has been around for
centuries, I am inclined to think that someone familiar with
this long poem may have started the ball rolling.
Someone brought to my attention their concern that this new
theory of where the word Melungeon could have come from throws
Melungeons in an "un-flattering" light. I guess I see things
differently. Melungeons were not generally ever historically
held in a flattering light. They were quite often held in
contempt because of their skin color, and tendency to be
secretive and hold fellowship with one another.
This name Malengin is extremely similar to the first appearance
in the church records where the word appeared in 1813 as:
MELUNGINS. look at MALENGINS. It is no stretch to consider that
these words are quite similar, and more than that—they were used
in the same way: contemptuously.
I guess I am not offended if you want to label my ancestors as
cunning, wily, full of guile. They were to some extent, as
people of color in an ever increasingly prejudice south they had
to be.
When I think of Spenser's Malengin, it strikes me that he was
yet another trickster arch-type like Loki in the Norse stories,
Brother Rabbit of the Cherokees, and famous Coyote of the
western tribes. So I am not offended by a term that, though
meant as an insult, spoke of the ability of a people to survive.
Spenser's Faerie Queene has a long history of being published,
right through the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries to the present. I
am told that it was "required reading" in the US east, and as a
poem would have been familiar to the poetic Appalachian people,
particularly those from Scotland.
This term Malengine was in the Magna Carta, and in Webster's
Dictionary 1828, by then it was already falling out of use. But
since the first appearance of Melungins was in 1813, and since
Appalachia had a habit of keeping alive old words that were out
of use in other places—this just ads to the likelihood of the
theory.
This is not an exotic theory, nor is it terribly mysterious. I
personally like the "Melun Jinn" Mediterranean theory better,
but we have a word here that was in Classic Works of Literature,
in Dictionaries, and had the same meaning as was used against
the early Melungeons. Consider the first time Dromgoole heard
the word described by a Senator:
"tricky as a Melungeon".
In her book on Melungeons Jean Patterson Bible said:
"Wherever the name came from, up until recent years, Melungeons
were justified in resenting it as it was always used as an
expression of contempt or a disparaging implication,..."
It is just another theory, but there are a few of us who have
taken a hard look at it, and are growing in our belief that this
could have been the origin of the word Melungeon. See the
paragraphs following for an historic example of Melungeons who
acted as a Malengin.
It is a widely held belief that the Arthurian imprint is found
throughout the Appalachians in early America. Jack Tales and
other like stories were brought to America by our European
ancestors who came to the area in the late 1700s.
Other than stories from the Bible, the legends of King Arthur
have been told and retold in many ways throughout the centuries,
more than any other. One can only imagine the settlers at old
Fort Blackmore sitting around a campfire telling stories that
were told to them by their parents and grandparents.
The word Malengin [or mal engine] is a favorite word used by Sir
Thomas Malory in his tales of King Arthur meaning "mischievous
intent." Anyone who has read or heard the stories of Vardy
Collins and Buck Gibson should be able to easily see why they
would be dubbed "Malengins" by their neighbors.
This is
the story as told by Will Allen Dromgoole in the article THE
MELUNGEON TREE AND THEIR FOUR BRANCHES written in 1890;
"They claimed to have come from Virginia and many years after
emigrating,themselves told the story of their past. These two,
Vardy Collins and Buck Gibson, were the head and source of the
Melungeons in Tennessee. With the cunning of their Cherokee
ancestors, they planned and executed a scheme by which they were
enabled to "set up for themselves" in the almost unbroken
Territory of North Carolina. Old Buck, as he was called, was
disguised by a
wash of some dark description, and taken to
Virginia by Vardy where he was sold as a slave.
He was a magnificent specimen of physical strength, and brought
a fine price, a wagon and mules, a lot of goods, and three
hundred dollars in money being paid to old Vardy for his "likely
nigger". Once out of Richmond, Vardy turned his mules shoes and
stuck out for the wilderness of North Carolina, as previously
planned. Buck lost little time ridding himself of his Negro
disguise, swore he was not the man bought of Collins , and
followed in the wake of his fellow thief to the Territory. The
proceeds of the sale were divided and each chose his habitation;
old Vardy choosing Newman's Ridge, where he was soon joined by
others of his race, and so the Melungeons became a part of the
inhabitants of Tennessee."
She goes on to say the MULLINS were the first to introduce white
blood into these "Melungeons," the GOINS the first to introduce
the African, and the DENHAM introduced the Portuguese.
Many researchers believe Vardy Collins and Buck Gibson were the
original Melungeons of Newman's Ridge, and perhaps the first
people actually called Melungeons. There are also many first
hand accounts that describes them as "Indians," with long
straight hair, coppery skin, etc., yet there is no evidence
there was a tribe known as Melungeons.
The word itself has not been found prior to the church records
in Scott County, Virginia in 1813, this is a question that begs
to be answered, why? The very logical conclusion is there were
no Melungeons prior to Vardy Collins and Buck Gibson locating in
the area.
If all of this sounds a bit far fetched one only has to remember
Maynard G. Krebs and how the "beatnik" was born. In 1960 anyone
who wore rumpled clothes, sandals, a long beard and hated work
became a beatnik. A whole generation was born with the airing of
one show, and had television been around in 1800 might there not
have been an entire nation of Malengins rather than just a
ridge? How many of the new generation even know what a beatnik
is yet their grandfather was probably one.
This theory pretty much makes just about everyone who ever wrote
anything about Melungeons fairly correct. They could be anyone
from any ancestry, born in any country or from any tribe with
any name. The fact is they were tricksters, bent on mischievous
intent, using the cunning of their ancestors to make a buck
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