The diet of the mountaineers was enough to kill them even after they’ve survived the rough handling of the midwives, the “stretchin’ hives” and the gamut of diseases. Of course it varies somewhat with the seasons and economic circumstances, but cornbread and pork are mainstays in the highlander diet. Green vegetables and fruit were all too rare and even when vegetables were served they were very greasy as to be well-nigh indigestible. The highlanders put great store by grease. There is a story of a mountaineer who went down to the Piedmont to visit a relative who had prospered in the comparatively level land. Upon his return his report was this: “You know, Maw, I don’t think Tom and them is so well off as we thought they was. They got a nice house and a lot o’ nice stock, but they didn’t have hardly no grease on the table a-tall.”
