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Kentucky Bluegrass Country by R. Gerald Alvey Horse breeding, the cultures of tobacco and bourbon, the forms of architecture, the codes of the hunt, the traditions of gambling and dueling, convivial celebrations, regional foodways-all of these are ingredients in the folklife of the Inner Bluegrass Region that is the focus of this fascinating book. R. Gerald Alvey (retired) was a professor of folklore and English at the University of Kentucky.
In Kentucky: Historic Houses and Horse Farms, pre-eminent architectural and interiors photographer Pieter Estersohn guides us through Bluegrass Country, the legendary landscape around Lexington, Kentucky. The wealthiest town west of the Alleghenies prior to the Civil War, Lexington has a rich architectural and cultural history that is manifest in the elegant houses within and around the center. Equally compelling is the equestrian heritage that has made Lexington the “Horse Capital of the World.” Among the properties presented are Ashland, an Italian-inspired villa built for distinguished statesman and orator Henry Clay; Pope Villa, one of only two extant residences by Benjamin Latrobe, the architect of the U.S. Capitol; Waveland, a completely intact Greek Revival estate from the 1830s; and Pleasant Hill, the largest restored Shaker community in the country. Dramatic aerial photographs celebrate the rolling landscape and expansive horse farms, including Gainesway Farm, a 1,500 acre site that has produced an impressive roster of legendary Throughbreds. Kentucky is a multifaceted and compelling portrait of a unique part of our country that combines a reverence for history and Southern traditions of hospitality and generosity with a vital present.
On any given day, more than forty thousand horses roam the fields of the Bluegrass, and there are more than five hundred horse farms in the region known for its rich soil and rolling hills. Kentucky Horse Country: Images of the Bluegrass is renowned photographer James Archambeault's pictorial portrait of the natural beauty of Kentucky's Bluegrass region and the thriving thoroughbred industry for which it is famous. The book contains more than 150 full-color images ranging from tender scenes of mares and foals grazing, to the excitement of race day at Keeneland, to gorgeous landscapes of pristine white fences enclosing lush pastures. The region has long been associated with the best achievements of the equine world. In 1871, a horse named Lexington was foaled in Scott County, and many famous thoroughbreds can trace their lineage back to this great sire. Having photographed the bluegrass for decades, Archambeault is intimately familiar with the backstretch and the barns, the fields and the foals, that are known around the world. In the course of his career, he has been able to see many of the legendary horses that have made horse racing so exciting and popular: Affirmed, Alydar, Spectacular Bid, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Cigar. Rare photographs of these and other racing royalty are included in the book. The handsome barns and well-tended pastures found throughout central Kentucky have been the home to international racing champions, and now individuals from all over the world, including England, Ireland, Japan, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia, have a stake in the region's flourishing horse industry. As preeminent racing historian Edward L. Bowen notes in his introduction, "It is a special place where the ruler of Dubai and a stable groom have something in common; the queen of England can admire a leathery old jockey; a philanthropist and a veterinary professor have the same goals; and a $2 bettor celebrates at the same moment that a corporate CEO grits his teeth in disappointment." The vibrant photographs in Kentucky Horse Country are accompanied by Archambeault's captions and narrative descriptions, as well by a lively introduction to the history of thoroughbreds in the Bluegrass by Bowen. The book also includes a foreword by Kentucky native Steve Cauthen, the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown, who once again calls the Bluegrass his home. James Archambeault's latest work is a Kentucky triple crown for those who love horses and horse racing, for those who revel in the magical beauty of the Bluegrass, and for those who are looking for a grand introduction to what makes this region so unique.
Kentucky Country is a lively tour of the state's indigenous music, from the days of string bands through hillbilly, western swing, gospel, bluegrass, and honkey-tonk to through the Nashville Sound and beyond. Through personal interviews with many of the living legends of Kentucky music, Charles K. Wolfe illuminates a fascinating and important area of American culture. The list of country music stars who hail from Kentucky is a long and glittering one. Red Foley, Bill Monroe, Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, the Judds, Dwight Yaokum, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ricky Skaggs, John Michael Montgomery, and Keith Whitely—all these and many others have called Kentucky home. Kentucky Country is the story of these stars and dozens more. It is also the story of many Kentucky musicians whose contributions have been little known or appreciated, and of those collectors, promoters, and entrepreneurs who have worked behind the scenes to bring Kentucky music to national attention.
Milton's poems invariably depict the decisive instant in a story, a moment of crisis that takes place just before the action undergoes a dramatic change of course. Such instants look backward to a past that is about to be superseded or repudiated and forward, at the same time, to a future that will immediately begin to unfold. Martin Evans identifies this moment of transition as "the Miltonic Moment." This provocative new study focuses primarily on three of Milton's best known early poems: "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," "A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle (Comus)," and "Lycidas." These texts share a distinctive perceptual and cognitive structure, which Evans defines as characteristically Miltonic, embracing a single moment that is both ending and beginning. The poems communicate a profound sense of intermediacy because they seem to take place between the boundaries that separate events. The works illuniated here, which also include Samson Agonistes and Paradise Regained, are all about transition from one form to another: from paganism to Christianity, from youthful inexperience to moral maturity, and from pastoral retirement to heroic engagement. This transformation is often ideological as well as historical or biographical. Evans shows that the moment of transition is characteristic of all Milton's poetry, and he proposes a new way of reading one of the seminal writers of the seventeenth century. Evans concludes that the narrative reversals in Milton's poetry suggest his constant attempts to bring about an intellectual revolution that, at a time of religious and political change in England, would transform an age.
Gray rock fences built of ancient limestone are hallmarks of Kentucky's Bluegrass landscape. Why did Kentucky farmers turn to rock as fence-building material when most had earlier used hardwood rails? Who were the masons responsible for Kentucky's lovely rock fences and what are the different rock forms used in this region? In this generously illustrated book, Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Raitz address those questions and explore the background of Kentucky's rock fences, the talent and skill of the fence masons, and the Irish and Scottish models they followed in their work. They also correct inaccurate popular perceptions about the fences and use census data and archival documents to identify the fence masons and where they worked. As the book reveals, the earliest settlers in Kentucky built dry-laid fences around eighteenth-century farmsteads, cemeteries, and mills. Fence building increased dramatically during the nineteenth century so that by the 1880s rock fences lined most roads, bounded pastures and farmyards throughout the Bluegrass. Farmers also built or commissioned rock fences in New England, the Nashville Basin, and the Texas hill country, but the Bluegrass may have had the most extensive collection of quarried rock fences in North America. This is the first book-length study on any American fence type. Filled with detailed fence descriptions, an extensive list of masons' names, drawings, photographs, and a helpful glossary, it will appeal to folklorists, historians, geographers, architects, landscape architects, and masons, as well as general readers intrigued by Kentucky's rock fences.
Originally established in 1775 the town of Lexington, Kentucky grew quickly into a national cultural center amongst the rolling green hills of the Bluegrass Region. Nicknamed the "Athens of the West," Lexington and the surrounding area became a leader in higher education, visual arts, architecture, and music, and the center of the horse breeding and racing industries. The national impact of the Bluegrass was further confirmed by prominent Kentucky figures such as Henry Clay and John C. Breckinridge. Bluegrass Renaissance: The History and Culture of Central Kentucky, 1792-1852, chronicles Lexington's development as one of the most important educational and cultural centers in America during the first half of the nineteenth century. Editors Daniel Rowland and James C. Klotter gather leading scholars to examine the successes and failures of Central Kentuckians from statehood to the death of Henry Clay, in an investigation of the area's cultural and economic development and national influence. Bluegrass Renaissance is an interdisciplinary study of the evolution of Lexington's status as antebellum Kentucky's cultural metropolis.
Like wine lovers who dream of traveling to Bordeaux or beer enthusiasts with visions of the breweries of Belgium, bourbon lovers plan their pilgrimages to Kentucky. Some of the most famous distilleries are tucked away in the scenic Bluegrass region, which is home to nearly seventy distilleries and responsible for 95 percent of all of America's bourbon production. Locals and tourists alike continue to seek out the world's finest whiskeys in Kentucky as interest in America's only native spirit continues to grow. In Kentucky Bourbon Country, now in its third edition, Susan Reigler offers updated, essential information and practical advice to anyone considering a trip to the state's distilleries (including the state's booming craft distillery sector) or the restaurants and bars on the Urban Bourbon Trail. Featuring more than two hundred full-color photographs and a bourbon glossary, the book is organized by region and provides valuable details about the Bluegrass—including attractions near each distillery and notes on restaurants, lodging, shopping, and seasonal events in Kentucky's beautiful historic towns. In addition to providing knowledge about each point of interest, Kentucky Bourbon Country weaves in little-known facts about the region's best-kept secrets, such as the historic distillery used as a set in the movie Stripes and the fates of used bourbon barrels. Whether you're interested in visiting the place where your favorite bourbon is made or hoping to discover exciting new varieties, this handy and practical guide is the key to enjoying the best of bourbon.
When Kentucky Blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985—carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine—the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the U.S. government. The story of Thornton and “The Company” he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.
In Kentucky Traveler, Ricky Skaggs, the music legend who revived modern bluegrass music, gives a warm, honest, one-of-a-kind memoir of forty years in music—along with the Ten Commandments of Bluegrass, as handed down by Ricky’s mentor Bill Monroe; the Essential Guide to Bedrock Country Songs, a lovingly compiled walk through the songs that have moved Skaggs the most throughout his life; Songs the Lord Taught Us, a primer on Skaggs’s most essential gospel songs; and a bevy of personal snapshots of his musical heroes. For readers of Johnny Cash’s autobiography, lovers of O Brother Where Art Thou, and fans of country music and bluegrass, Kentucky Traveler is a priceless look at America’s most cherished and vibrant musical tradition through the eyes of someone who has lived it.