Waccamaw Dreadnoughts by Waccamaw Dreadnoughts

From the liner notes of the CD:

In September 1916, Great Britain sent a secret diplomatic team to the United States aboard a newly commissioned battleship, the 20,370 ton H.M.S. Dreadnought. Fearing espionage, the captain avoided the larger eastern seaports and opted instead to drop anchor in Conway, South Carolina, a small town on the Waccamaw River. The feats of engineering required to navigate the enormous warship up the shallow and twisting river are still classified.

The day after the Dreadnought arrived, four Horry County boys failed to show up at the turpentine distillery where they worked. Instead, they put on their Sunday finery and talked their way onto the vessel, claiming to have been sent from the State Department. The Brits, assuming all Americans spoke in the distinctive Horry County accent, were convinced. For three hours, they negotiated the treaty that would bring America into World War I.

When President Woodrow Wilson arrived in Conway by overnight train the next morning, he ordered the Secret Service to pitch the imposters over the side. They swam ashore at Kingston Lake and disappeared into Tilley Swamp, thinking they had a fine story to tell, but they were never seen again. Hearing Wilson's Columbia, SC, accent, the British assumed they were dealing with a spy and sailed back to Europe that very night carrying news of America's plan to enter the war. Thus, world history was changed and the Waccamaw Dreadnought legend was born.

In the spirit of those four sons of Horry, who risked their lives and lost a day's pay so they could pretend for a while to be something they weren't, we offer these songs. Like them, we may never be heard from again, but then again, we might.