Th’Good Lord willin’ an’ th’creek don’t rise
By DAN LANGFORD
On this Monday after torrential rains and flooding in much of the country, it seems appropriate to trot out this old gem of presumably Southern origin. I say “presumably” because I’ve no idea where the saying comes from, but can you imagine anyone from New York, New Jersey, or Chicago saying it? I can’t. The phrase is generally used to emphasize an affirmative answer to a pressing question, as in “Can you be here first thing Monday morning?” One might reply, “I’ll be right here, th’Good Lord willin’ an’ th’creek don’t rise.” The phrase has its other uses, too; most of which in my experience have been appended to discussions of fairly grand plans, as in “Inez an’ me are goin’ t’Itly next month, th’Good Lord willin’ an’ th’creek don’t rise.”
It’s possible that “Creek,” not “creek,” was intended when the phrase first originated. Creek Indian uprisings were certainly a factor in my part of Georgia (I actually live on Chief McIntosh’s trail), what with McIntosh’s White Stick Creeks of Georgia at increasing odds with their Red Stick Creek counterparts across the way in Alabama in the 1810s and 1820s. Who really knows?
Uprisings of Creeks are no longer a threat, but as we’ve seen this past week, upswells of creeks are as dangerous as ever. I have an idea the funny old saying will last as long as creeks keep rising, but certainly no longer than the Good Lord is willing. In the mean time, keep your feet dry.