Cowboy Lingo?

[Beverly Flanigan]

I have no doubt that this poem characterizes (some?) cowboys, but it says
nothing about the dialect they used beyond some (probable) lexical
items--most of them shared throughout the English-speaking world.  The only
grammatical diagnostic I see (beyond the commonplace "ain't" and "I've
rode") is "plumb," as in "plumb soured" and "gone plumb to seed."  In both
cases it's an intensifying adverb and is commonly used in the South Midland
even today.  And the "surely" in stanza 7 is the mark of the poet, not the
cowboy.

At 09:20 AM 12/5/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>There is a difference between cowboy lingo which I would guess is by and
>large a Hollywood invention and the way cowboys actually speak.
>
>The following is a poem by Curly Fletcher entitled The Open Book.
>
>You will note that cowboys are an inside group and have little use for
>Hollywood.
>
>Having lived with and worked with a cowboy I know of what I say.
>
>Page Stephens
>
>  The Open BookDigital Tradition Mirror
>
>The Open Book
>(Curly Fletcher)
>
>You've been tamped full of shit about cowboys;
>They are known as a romantic band--
>Bold knights of the saddle, who round up wild cattle,
>And roll cigarettes with one hand.
>
>Now according to movie and story,
>He's a sheik in a ten gallon hat.
>All he knows of romance is the crotch of his pants,
>What the hell do you think about that?
>
>So it's high time somebody debunked him;
>He's so plumb full of crap, and, besides,
>A bullshittin' bastard who's always half-plastered
>Is no hero just 'cause he rides.
>
>Now I've harvested wool in Wyoming
>And rawhide in New Mexico.
>I've worn a bandana in Sheepshit, Montana,
>And raped squaws over in Idaho.
>
>So me, I'm plumb soured on cowpunchers;
>In fact, I ride sour long ago.
>The clap ridden slats in their ten gallon hats
>Ain't worth a damn that I know.
>
>But each range breeds its own brand of bastard
>And boozefighter, bugger or bum;
>Every half-assed vaquero who wears a sombrero
>Is marked by the range he is from.
>
>Some come from the Canadian Rockies,
>Some drift from the southwestern plains.
>It surely beats hell, but it's easy to tell
>Where each learned to tighten his reins.
>
>Take for instance the Panhandle hairpin,
>Widely known by the moniker "Tex";
>He's a son-of-a-bitch with a bad trigger itch
>And a big Bowie knife complex.
>
>Why at heart he's an unpaid policeman,
>And he'll brag of tough spots he's been in.
>But his powder is damp, and his gun hand will cramp
>When he draws near a cotton gin.
>
>Take the clip-cock from California,
>He's been christened "The Native Son."
>A half-baked vaquero who has no dinero,
>But no worse than the general run.
>
>He's a cross between a greaser and gringo,
>Produced by the whore from the mine,
>A renegade breed that's gone plumb to seed,
>Since the gold rush of forty-nine.
>
>There's boosters from Oklahoma,
>And bastards from Arkansas,
>But they're just cotton pickers and tinhorn dice lickers
>With not too much in their craw.
>
>There's the pistol prick out in Nebraska,
>He's known as the corn sucker class.
> From the cootie that crawls on his crab ridden balls
>To the piles that blister his ass.
>
>Count the cocksman from Colorado,
>Where Pike's Peak ponders and broods.
>A miner and mucker, the phony cock-sucker,
>And his racket is wranglin' dudes.
>
>He sponsors a double-rigged saddle;
>His gifts are the gifts of the gab;
>With a rope made of grass and teeth in his ass,
>The best he can get is the tab.
>
>Take the "never sweat" from Nevada,
>He's known as the "Son of the Sage."
>A tinhorn card hustler and discard cunt rustler,
>A throw back to some ancient age.
>
>He sponsors a center-fire saddle,
>And his brains have a chronic limp.
>Just a contrary fart and a cow thief at heart,
>And actually just a lunch bucket pimp.
>
>Now we can't overlook Arizona;
>He's a son of the old Sacatone.
>An ornery critter and a famous bullshitter,
>About the sorriest seed ever sown.
>
>He's bothered by Mexican heartburn
>With protruding piles and gut;
>A red hot tamale is right down his alley,
>'Tis a diet his ass hole can't cut.
>
>There's that whistle-prick out there in Utah;
>He was sired by old Brigham Young,
>The sap sucking swizzler and cunt cheating chiseler,
>Of the barrel he's only the bung.
>
>Often called the crying Jack Mormon,
>His penchant is guzzling booze.
>He's got a round ass and can't ride nor lass',
>And he'd give a sad jackass the blues.
>
>There's a flute blower out in Dakota,
>Just a liar, and, what's more,
>A psalm singing sooner, a guitar picking crooner
>And as worthless as tits on a boar.
>
>His tongue is diseased with diarrhea,
>The half-breed gut eating tramp.
>He knows more of plows than he savies of cows,
>And was born with his ass in a cramp.
>
>That greaser from down in Chihuahua,
>He claims he's a cowpuncher, too.
>He curses the gringo in that Mexican lingo,
>But that's about all he can do.
>
>He sponsors a rawhide riata,
>And he straddles a silver trimmed rig;
>Just a counterfeit chump, the result of a hump,
>Twixt a Spaniard, a Yaqui, and a Jig.
>
>There's a herd in the Hollywood movies;
>You can find them at Sunset and Gower.
>And brother to brother they bullshit each other,
>And just bellyache by the hour.
>
>'Course they're just a mixed bunch of bastards
>Of that there is damn little doubt.
>And each sorry hand wears the mark of the brand
>Of the country that had him run out.
>
>All in all, they're considered half-witted
>And the curse of the wide open west.
>Whether Canada twister or Oregon mister,
>They're just sons of bitches at best.
>
>No, there isn't much difference in cowboys,
>Whether hemorrhoid, stool or hard turd;
>Spring, summer, and fall, I've rode with them all
>And maintain they're a plumb sorry herd.
>
>Now I might be a gullible gunsel,
>But at that, why, I ain't too damn dumb;
>If a she-sheep don't cross with her herder or boss,
>Where in hell are them cowpunchers from?
>
>So now that I've opened the ledger
>On cowpunchers as they be,
>Some frijole chomper or half-assed bronc stomper
>Will kick all the shit out of me.
>
>Now, just so you won't die of wonder,
>Why a "Native Son" is what I am,
>And what I've tried hard to say in an indirect way
>Is that cowpunchers ain't worth a damn.
>
>As for those I've neglected to mention,
>Why, it's not that I can't find the rhyme;
>But between you and me, I've got work to do
>And those bastards just ain't worth my time.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Chris Dacolias" <hepkel10 at YAHOO.COM>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 3:54 AM
>Subject: Cowboy Lingo?
>
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
>header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Chris Dacolias <hepkel10 at YAHOO.COM>
> > Subject:      Cowboy Lingo?
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-----
> >
> > My question regards a dialect spoken in the west after
> > the civil war and before the turn of the century in
> > the American west.  Some might call this a version of
> > "cowboy language".  This dialect was consistently used
> > during the recent film "Open Range" a western set in
> > 1888 starring Kevin Costner.  In an interview, Costner
> > referred to the dialect as "Victorian language".  I
> > didn't know quite what he meant.
> >
> > An example of the dialect follows:
> > "We got a warrant sworn for attempted murder for them
> > that tried to kill the boy who's laying over there at
> > the Doc's, trying to stay alive. Swore out another one
> > for them that murdered the big fella you had in your
> > cell. Only ours ain't writ by no tin star, bought and
> > paid for, Marshall. It's writ by us, and we aim to
> > enforce it."
> >
> > "for them that tried to kill the boy" really stands
> > out as a great example of the grammar of this dialect.
> >  It's not merely poor grammar, there's a style and
> > consistency to it.
> >
> > Can anyone help me identify what characteristics unite
> > this dialect, or where I can find out more information
> > about it?
> >
> > Thank you very much.
> > Konrad O"Milor
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
> > http://companion.yahoo.com/