The dominant folk culture strains in Kentucky are of English, Scots-Irish and African ancestry. Every portion of the state exudes characteristics that bear the imprint of ideas which were inherited from early immigrants to the New World. The character of folksong, folktale, and legend repertories attest to this, and language survivals are readily discernible in most parts of the state.

The Anglo-Saxon blanket by no means covers every bed in the state. There are large clusters of Afro-Americans in urban areas. Black people comprise a sizeable percentage of the population in Louisville and Lexington and are also dispersed across Kentucky in ...