I've always wondered why they chose the name "Vandalia Gathering", a name that has absolutely nothing to do with hillbillies playing music. I figured some uppity-up came up with that cutesy name to make it sound "uppity"... but quaint uppity. I was pretty much correct:
The Vandalia Gathering brings together traditional Appalachian musicians for a weekend of picking. Elder statesmen and young upstarts perform on stage, compete in contests and play in impromptu jam sessions all over the Capitol Complex.
It's not known to many people today that long time ago the Vandal warriors, a Germanic tribe, once established a kingdom in North Africa as their base for raiding the Mediterranean Sea, much like the Vikings. Like the Goths and Attila's Huns, the Vandals helped bring about the Roman Empires decline.
Vandalia was the name of a proposed British colony in North America that never materialized. The colony was to be located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what is now the U.S. states of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.
A new colony was planned, initially called "Pittsylvania" but later known as Vandalia, in honor of Queen Charlotte, who was thought to be descended from the Vandals.
Born May 19, 1744 as Princess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charlotte first met her future husband, King George III, on her September wedding day in 1761. Charlotte has been described as dim and formidably ugly. This arranged marriage was, nonetheless, fruitful and Queen Charlotte bore 15 children. That she was strong, prolific, a devoted wife and mother and lived to age 74 is common knowledge, but little else is known about Princess Charlotte.
The woman became namesake to Charlotte, NC and Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Queen's features had also been described as Vandalic, as exemplified by a poem written for the occasion of her marriage:
"Descended from the warlike Vandal race,
She still preserves that title in her face."[2]
Opposition from rival interest groups and the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) prevented Vandalia from coming into existence. During the war, some settlers in the region petitioned the American Continental Congress to recognize a new province to be known as Westsylvania, which had approximately the same borders as the earlier Vandalia proposal. Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the region, however, and blocked recognition of a new state.
OK... got that? Now... what in the HELL does pickin & grinnin have ANYTHING to do with the name "Vandalia?
Personally... I like "Westsylvania" better!
