Having written for almost forty years on the cultural heritage that Henderson County holds so dear, Louise Bailey has progressed elegantly from being a valued preservationist of mountain history and lore to becoming something of a local treasure herself.   This special selection of essays offers the best of Bailey's work along with some new stories that together offer readers, whether old-timers or newcomers to the area, a warm and informative perspective on the history and folklore of the county.  We meet a delightful cast of characters whose stories—many of them told in a unique dialect and some dating back as far as the Civil War—tell of a truly independent way of life and of a fierce pride in their traditions. Silas Stepp's letters home from Confederate battlegrounds; Gran'dad Owenby's stories of logging and life in his log cabin; anecdotes from blind, old Elzie Floyd and from Clem the moonshiner; tales of granny-women and the old-time yarb doctors: these are just some of the stories that bring the history of this unique county to life.