I have my BBB configured to use a static IP address using the following in the file /etc/network/interfaces:

allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet static
    address 192.168.0.1
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    network 192.168.0.0

This seems to work ok on boot, but when the ethernet cable is unplugged and then plugged back in, I lose the IP address. Any ideas what's going on here?

Another weird symptom: If I boot the BBB with the network cable unplugged, but the switch it's plugged into off, I'll get my static IP. But, when I turn the switch on, I'll get a DHCP-assigned address. This is even though I have it configured with a static IP address.

One last thing. If I ifdown etho, the interface will be gone when I do an ifconfig. If I wait a few seconds, though, and then re-run ifconfig, it will reappear, without an IP address. (Before I disabled IPv6, I used to get a IPv4 DHCP address in this case... weird). When that happens, I get a message like this in /var/log/messages:

Apr 23 20:32:06 beaglebone kernel: [  737.170172] libphy: 4a101000.mdio:00 - Link is Up - 100/Full
Apr 23 20:32:06 beaglebone kernel: [  737.170304] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready

Here's my uname -a:

root@beaglebone:/etc# uname -a
Linux beaglebone 3.8.13-bone47 #1 SMP Fri Apr 11 01:36:09 UTC 2014 armv7l GNU/Linux

Any ideas what's going on here?