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From the mid-1700s through the late 1800s many Scots-Irish migrated south from the ports of Baltimore and Philadelphia into Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas. The music of their homelands was a part of their lives and gradually started to influence - and be influenced by - the mountain music of Appalachia. As Manifest Destiny called, these first- and second-generation Scots and Irishmen moved through Arkansas and Mississippi until they reached "The West" and became part of what was known as "cow punching" - they became cowboys! During this 140-year period they left their distinct mark on the cowboy lore that exists today. In fact, a consortium of businessmen in Dundee, Scotland owned the Matador Ranch, precursor to the fabled King Ranch in Texas, and most of its original ranch managers were native Scots. On the frontier, on cattle drives, on the open range, and in the bunkhouses, the differences between Scot and Irish were blurred. Cowboys whiled away the hours singing their songs and telling stories from home. Gradually new words were written. Today scholars of cowboy lore are resurrecting the original Scottish and Irish songs that became America's cowboy favorites. Jamie Raeborn became Buffalo Skinners, The Nightingale became Wild Rippling Waters, Home, Boys, Home became The Button Willow Tree, and Streets of Laredo uses an ancient Irish tune, and on and on. Early cowboys were also poets, along a great deal and swept away by the beauty of the West and the sense of freedom they felt on horseback. These were strong, independent men and from the beginning some of them wrote poetry about their experiences. Cowboy poems tell of life in the outdoors. Some of it is beautiful but much of it is riotously funny - exaggerating events and spinning a yarn in rollicking rhythmic rhyme - exactly like their forebears I Scotland and Ireland. Much of this early poetry is preserved, but more importantly, cowboy poetry is enjoying an active revival coast to coast. |
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The Scottish Influence on Cowboy Music
San Diego Scottish Highland Games & Gathering of Clans