COWBOY POETRY
& MUSIC … AN AMERICAN HERITAGE
FROM THE CAMPFIRE TO THE CD
PLAYER
by Larry Maurice & Bob
Sigman
Cowboys, the west and poetry... Not a combination
that most would put together. But this popular form of entertainment
has been with us since the eighteenth century and perhaps before
that. In the early 19th Century, Rhyming poetry was the
style of the day and poets like Longfellow, Wordsworth and Walt
Whitman were read, memorized and passed on. In the cow camps,
along the trail and at the campfire, it was not unusual to hear
in a rough breed of young fifteen and sixteen-year-old "COWBOYS,"
reciting from the bible, the singing of hymns and gospel songs
or Paul Revere's Ride.
The Cowboy life was rough and a dangerous job, men working
with livestock and battling against the forces of nature. Moved
to put their individual feelings and experiences into words
- they shared their stories in the quiet of a smoky campfire
or across the fence of a branding corral. It became known as
"WESTERN VERSE." Sometimes auto-biographical, sometimes
fact, many times fiction - ribald stories, often put to rhyme
as it made it easier to remember and gave a song-like quality
to the recitation. In many cases, they became songs and the
telling of these stories became as prevalent in the cow camps
and bunkhouses of the old west as Chaps and Spurs.
In the early 1980's a blurb in the newspaper
about a little "gathering" of Cowboy Poets in Elko,
Nevada caught the eye of TV host, Johnny Carson's staff. Thinking
it "folksy" and a little odd they invited Cowboy Poets,
Waddie Mitchell and Nyle Hendersen on the show. Upon hearing
Waddie Mitchell's recitation of Wallace McCrea's now famous
"Reincarnation." Carson quickly realized that what
he was hearing was some great "original Americana"
sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but from the heart. It's
verse and rhythms a direct documentation of the spirit, courage
and character of the American Cowboy. He publicly apologized,
and invited the Cowboy's back. A commitment he kept for many
years.
The gathering at Elko and Johnny Carson's national
exposure to such poets as Mitchell, Hendersen, McCrea and Baxter
Black gave an almost immediate transition of the poetry from
mere "Western verse" to a recognized art form now
commonly know and accepted as "COWBOY POETRY"; celebrating
the life and lifestyle of the American Cowboy. Since then it
has grown into a popular entertainment media for people from
all walks of life.
And Music Too...
Tales of cooks and crooks and good rides and bad horses dominated
the Western Verse and song of the early days and continue to
be exemplified in today's modern Cowboy poetry and music. The
more things change the more they stay the same in the Cowboy
life. Horses are still horses, good and bad. Cattle still need
to be attended too, and nature still shows and Challenges the
Cowboy. The Cowboy of today is still moved to express his feeling
for all these things. But the modern world has intruded somewhat
into the Cowboys life. Along with saddle and rope the Cowboy
of today is likely to have laptop computer in his saddlebags
and the merits of a 450 horsepower diesel "dually"
truck and stock trailer are written about, along with Wrecks
and Rodeos.
Through all the changes good Cowboys on good horses are still
going to work cattle everyday all around the world. And it still
moves them to poetry and music. While a few of these storytellers
became noteworthy, the author of many a Cowboy poem or song
has become anonymous today, lost to the dusty trail of long
ago. Their heritage still celebrated and read and recited today,
they left an indelible mark in history no different than the
aborigines who left their petrography in the dark caves of Europe
and Asia
From the pilgrims of Plymouth Rock to the Vaqueros
of old California, Mexico to the grass beyond the mountains
of British Columbia: the story of the Cowboy is still being
written… No, not in the hard dust of yesterday, but in
the west of today. And it is through the telling of his story,
in the bunkhouse, at the campfire, and in the classroom that
the Spirit, Lore, and the Legacy of this amazing thing called
"COWBOY" will never-ever fade away
Check out
CowboyPoetry.Com's Great article on...Cowboy
Poets on the Tonight Show
We hope you enjoy our selection of poems and
songs and share them with your friends. To refresh your memory,
click below to read Wallace McCrae's poem - Reincarnation.
Reincarnation
by Wallace McCrae
Poem of the
Month
Frugal Cowboy Meal
by Kent Rollins
This ain't no doggone
"hardee's"
And it ain't no "Mick-eDee's"
There ain't no drive-up window
And a menu you want see
This is just an ole
Chuckwagon
That's been through hell and back
There want be any happy meals
Cause my food want fit in a sack
We don't give no little
toy
With the meal that you receive
But we'll pass out the Rolaids
There the only thing that's free
We ain't got no purdy
waitress
To bring out your gourmet meal
Just an ole wore out camp cook
Who's nasty, mean and
ill
'Cause he's been up early, a fixin
Your meal it didn't come pre-cooked
And there ain't no telling what fell in
When you weren't there to look
But my coffee's always
hot
And you wont find no preservatives here
And the meat is s always 100% pure
Mostly coyote, beef or deer
Now don't go getting squeamish
Cause we ain't killed nobody yet
And you'll get a free coupon
For a free visit to the vet
So, get up here in line, folks
For a Frugal Cowboy Meal
Before ole cookie starts tenderizing
With them big ole wagon wheels!
Note: I have
to be honest here. I selected Kent Rollin's poem, the Frugal Cowboy
Meal, for my first selection because - He "made me."
Kent and I partnered up a few months ago with my Chuckwagon's
Best business. Most recently we participated in Heritage Harbor
Days, in Foley Alabama. Kent did a bunch of Dutch Oven clinics
cooking up biscuits and stews and cobblers for three days. I sold
Cowboy Coffee and ate his cookin'. We talked about the Western
Music Network. Its format and this newsletter. He said, "I
guess you'll be including one of my poems first seein' I am your
partner." So..there you are! and here it is...
Newsletter
Outposts
Links to Cowboy & Western news and views from the other
“Outposts”
B.C.
COWBOY Heritage Society
Cowboy
Poetry at the Bar-D Ranch
Larry
Maurice
