It serves no purpose to pass judgment on these two positions, these different attitudes. One is about uneasy loneliness; the other is about isolated attachment to place.
***
I've thought a great deal about the cultural characteristics of my place of origin and my people of blood, wondered about it, and tried to find resources that offer insight. F.N. Boney's Southerners All (1990) and David Fischer's 1989 Albion's Seed are rich in information and understanding of the place and people that I claim as mine. Any summary of their extensive scholarship is unfair, but some thoughts are necessary to convey a sense of the comfort they provide for my longings.
Fischer studied the borderland folk of the British Isles who migrated to the colonies ca. 1717-75. This group, estimated at 250,000 strong, populated the 'western' borderlands of the colonies: primarily the Allegheny and Appalachian regions from northern Maine to northeast Alabama. They were the spiritual descendants, if not genetic descendants, of Celtic peoples on whom were imposed the power and culture of the Norman conquerors (William the Conqueror (ca 1028-87), a French, Norman, Latin overlord and his ilk in 11th century Britain).
The British natives' life-ways, religion, political structures, values-all that gave them their identity and significance-were outlawed. It is not surprising that Robin Hood, Rob Roy, Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Captain Morgan-bandits and pirates-had their origins in the outlaw culture of the borderers. Andrew Jackson is an archetypical example of a Celtic chieftain from the borders of normal (as in Norman!) civilization. His personal style and ideals of government were informed by those societal ways cherished by the borderland people-the outlaws, the borderers.
The characteristics of independence, self-determination, suspicion of those who assert an attitude of prominence or 'put on airs,', resistance to imposed conformity, resentment of unearned, showy wealth, and recognition of the importance of voluntary association and kinship ties are held as critically important to borderers. Their memories are long and their tempers short. Their harsh, Calvinistic faith was informed by life's meanness and folks' behavior that was mainly a little above animals rather than a little below the angels. Original sin was affirmed every day by the everyday.
Ole' Andy knew how to use fists, sword, and dueling pistol! In his old age, after an embattled life, he was hungry for the grace and serenity manifested in the life and goodness of his beloved and maligned Rachel. He chose the tough Calvinist God as his hope for salvation.
Ornery and defiant, these borderland folk can be led but cannot be pushed. They hold life close, immediate, intimate, harsh, tactical, and verbal. Authenticity is highly valued and straight talk expected.