Title: Moonshine toast

General Information about Item:

• Verbal folklore, toast
• English
• Place of origin: Upper Valley
• Informant (anonymous) A
• Date Collected: 2/24/18

Informant Data: Informant A was born and raised in the Upper Valley, and has spent most of the last 3 decades living in Vermont and working as a roofer. His family has a rich tradition of making moonshine, and in his spare time he enjoys building things on his property.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: Informant A learned this from his older brother (Informant C), who in turn had learned it from one of their father’s good friends. Obviously, as it is a toast, Informant A learned it when he and his brother and friends were drinking moonshine one time. As usual with moonshine (see: Safety Meetings), the consumption of moonshine and this toast occurs only with good friends, almost always under happy circumstances. It is a toast that sets the tone for revelry and celebration
• Cultural Context: This piece of folklore seems cross cultural, toasts occur in many places and contexts, but always before drinking

Item:

• Informant A and his friends usually say this toast towards the beginning of any consumption, as it requires taking two swigs of moonshine, which is a lot of alcohol

“A man’s gotta do

What a man’s gotta brew,

This clear stuff is strong,

So let’s go drink two!”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

Informant’s Comments: Informant’s favorite toast

Collector’s Comments: I found this toast to be quite unique, most of the toasts common at Dartmouth are recycled or unoriginal

Collector’s Name: Cormac Dugan

Tags/Keywords:

• Toasts
• Verbal folklore
• celebration