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Are the Brackens and the Blackwoods GRRM's homage to the Hatfields and Mccoys


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Being from West Virginia and an Appalachian American myself. I was curious if anyone felt like this resembles the Hatfields and Mccoys dispute. I know GRRM is an advocate of history and parallels and maybe he thought this was an interesting one. I might be off here but would love your opinion of their situation and your theories about it. Their story really hasn't been talked about much and I think it is kind of a big part of Jamie settling the Riverlands.


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No idea who the hatfields and mccoys are but it's a pretty classic feud scenario... Both sides have differing stories for how it started, but both don't really care and just continue feuding for feuding's sake.

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The Hatfield–McCoy feud (1863–1891) involved two families of the West VirginiaKentucky area along the Tug Fork of theBig Sandy River. The Hatfields of West Virginia were led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield while the McCoys of Kentucky were under the leadership of Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy. Those involved in the feud were descended from Ephraim Hatfield (born c. 1765) and William McCoy (born c. 1750). The feud has entered the American folklore lexicon as ametonym for any bitterly feuding rival parties. More than a century later, the feud has become synonymous with the perils offamily honor, justice, and revenge.

William McCoy, the patriarch of the McCoys, was born in Ulster[citation needed] in the north of Ireland (Ulster-Scottish) around 1750. The family, led by grandson Randolph "Ole Ran'l" McCoy, lived mostly on the Kentucky side of Tug Fork (a tributary of the Big Sandy River). Of English origin,[1] the Hatfields, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, son of Ephraim and Nancy (Vance) Hatfield, lived mostly on the West Virginia side. The majority of the Hatfields living in Mingo County (then part of Logan County), West Virginia fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War; most McCoys, living in Pike County, Kentucky, also fought for the Confederacy; with the exception of Asa Harmon McCoy, who fought for the Union. The first real violence in the feud was the death of returning Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy, murdered by a group of ex-ConfederateHomeguards called the "Logan Wildcats." Devil Anse Hatfield was a suspect at first, but was later confirmed to have been sick at home at the time of the murder. It was widely believed that his uncle, Jim Vance, a member of the Wildcats, committed the murder.[2]


magnify-clip.pngThe Hatfields were more affluent than the McCoys and were well-connected politically. Devil Anse Hatfield's timberingoperation was a source of wealth for his family, but he employed many non-Hatfields, and even hired McCoy family members Albert McCoy, Lorenzo Dow McCoy, and Selkirk McCoy.
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Its partly the inspiration not all the inspiration, Martin created them and their rivalry for the purpose of being an extension of the Targareyn vs Blackfyre feud because during the Blackfyre Rebellions Bloodraven was a Blackwood bastard who stayed loyal to the Targareyns and Bittersteel was a Bracken bastard who went with the Blackfyres.


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No idea who the hatfields and mccoys are but it's a pretty classic feud scenario... Both sides have differing stories for how it started, but both don't really care and just continue feuding for feuding's sake.

The Hatfield & McCoys are the participants in the most famous blood feud in American History. It lasted generations and almost started a war due to the fact that the families lived on the border between two states.

To the OP, yes I think the Hatfields & McCoys was a big inspiration for the Blackwood-Bracken rivalry.

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I'm pretty sure the Bracken-Blackwood rivalry is a nod to the Hatfields and McCoys. What really seals it for me is that both sets of families have intermarried many times.

IIRC, there was romance and/or marriage between the Hatfields and McCoys, too. I do remember initially wondering if the Blackwoods and Brackens were a nod to this famous American Family Feud (probably where the game show name comes from, too), but I can't remember reading a confirmation on this.

I would guess that the Blackwoods and Brackens do have many more mixings from marriage or romance, but that may mostly be because the history of the ASOIAF families goes back further. Maybe. :dunno:

ETA: One of the History Channels on cable did a miniseries recently on the Hatfields and McCoys, starring Kevin Costner. My husband really enjoyed it, I keep recording it, but haven't been able to watch the whole series yet.

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Being from West Virginia and an Appalachian American myself. I was curious if anyone felt like this resembles the Hatfields and Mccoys dispute. I know GRRM is an advocate of history and parallels and maybe he thought this was an interesting one. I might be off here but would love your opinion of their situation and your theories about it. Their story really hasn't been talked about much and I think it is kind of a big part of Jamie settling the Riverlands.

Im from WV too! Good to see another poster who is.

I think you're right, Martin drew inspiration from the Hatfield-McCoys with the Blackwoods and Brackens.

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It's a pretty common thing in history and fiction, with two families hating each other for generations. GRRM would probably name the Hatfields and McCoys, but he would also name for instance Romeo & Juliets Capulet and Montague as inspiraton.


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IIRC, there was romance and/or marriage between the Hatfields and McCoys, too. I do remember initially wondering if the Blackwoods and Brackens were a nod to this famous American Family Feud (probably where the game show name comes from, too), but I can't remember reading a confirmation on this.

I would guess that the Blackwoods and Brackens do have many more mixings from marriage or romance, but that may mostly be because the history of the ASOIAF families goes back further. Maybe. :dunno:

ETA: One of the History Channels on cable did a miniseries recently on the Hatfields and McCoys, starring Kevin Costner. My husband really enjoyed it, I keep recording it, but haven't been able to watch the whole series yet.

Devil's Anse Hatfield's son Johnse impregnated Roseanna McCoy and married her cousin Nancy and had several children with her. Even before the feud, they had some mixing. Bill Staton, a witness in the infamous pig trial, had relatives on both sides and Devil Anse employed some McCoys in his timber business. Mainly due to the close proximity between them (there are only so many people living in rural Kentucky/WV).

We've had a hundred peaces with the Brackens, many sealed with marriages. There's Blackwood blood in every Bracken, and Bracken blood in every Blackwood. The Old King'sPeace lasted half a century. But then some fresh quarrel broke out, and the old wounds opened and began to bleed again. That's how it always happens, my father says. So long as men remember the wrongs done to their forebears, no peace will ever last. So we go on century after century, with us hating the Brackens and them hating us. My father says there will never be an end to it.[4]

- Hoster Blackwood to Jaime Lannister

I saw that series! It's great and very accurate (though it misses a few finer points and is somewhat bias in favor of the Hatfields).

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Devil's Anse Hatfield's son Johnse impregnated Roseanna McCoy and married her cousin Nancy and had several children with her. Even before the feud, they had some mixing. Bill Staton, a witness in the infamous pig trial, had relatives on both sides and Devil Anse employed some McCoys in his timber business. Mainly due to the close proximity between them (there are only so many people living in rural Kentucky/WV).

I saw that series! It's great and very accurate (though it misses a few finer points and is somewhat bias in favor of the Hatfields).

The parts of the miniseries that I've seen were great, and yes, from what I did see, there appeared to be a bit of Hatfield bias. I'm going to get that whole series under my belt one of these days. I first learned about the Hatfields and McCoys from Bugs Bunny cartoons, LOL. Damn, I miss Bugs Bunny but that's another subject. :blushing:

I think I feel a bit of bias towards the Blackwoods, maybe for the Stark/Tully or Tully/Stark loyalty (although I'm a reader who has favorites in most all the families and factions), maybe because ole Lord Bracken didn't make a great impression, maybe because it's hard not to like a reader like Hos the Hostage. It seems we've been given more insight into the actual Blackwoods on the canvas now, too, that could be why. I wonder if my opinion would change if we actually met more Brackens.

Anyway, thanks for the answer and I'm looking forward to finishing that History Channel special one of these days. A procrastinator I am, it may take another series rerun on a rainy weekend to finally finish it off, but I will.

ETA: Had to switch out my bias for the Blackwoods, I said the Brackens by mistake.

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It's a pretty common thing in history and fiction, with two families hating each other for generations. GRRM would probably name the Hatfields and McCoys, but he would also name for instance Romeo & Juliets Capulet and Montague as inspiraton.

Usually they don't have marriages between the two, it's not like Blackwoods/Brackens would marry for love, it would be for stability and peace.

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The Hatfield & McCoys are the participants in the most famous blood feud in American History. It lasted generations and almost started a war due to the fact that the families lived on the border between two states.

To the OP, yes I think the Hatfields & McCoys was a big inspiration for the Blackwood-BrackenI

I agree totally. I believe it could be multiple family rivalries but that being so bloody and a river between them seems legit.

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Its partly the inspiration not all the inspiration, Martin created them and their rivalry for the purpose of being an extension of the Targareyn vs Blackfyre feud because during the Blackfyre Rebellions Bloodraven was a Blackwood bastard who stayed loyal to the Targareyns and Bittersteel was a Bracken bastard who went with the Blackfyres.

I understand the correlation with BR and BS and the back drop. I was just thinking were the inspiration came from and he grew up near WV so I just sort of figured it was an homage. Thanks for the input.

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It's a pretty common thing in history and fiction, with two families hating each other for generations. GRRM would probably name the Hatfields and McCoys, but he would also name for instance Romeo & Juliets Capulet and Montague as inspiraton.

R&J in Westeros were Night's King and his Queen. A pair of star-crossed lovers.

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