Here’s another set of terms gleaned from early western
novels. Definitions were discovered in various online dictionaries, as well as
searches in Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang, Dictionary of the American West,
The New Encyclopedia of the American West, The Cowboy Dictionary, The Cowboy
Encyclopedia, and The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.
These are from Cy Warman’s Frontier Stories, about railroad men and Indians on the frontier,
William De Vere’s collection
of “tramp poetry,” Jim Marshall’s New Pianner, and Charles Duff Stuart’s Casa Grande, about a romance on a California ranch. Once again, I struck out on a few. If anyone has a
definition for “Riley’s wabbledy calf” or “equity mill,” leave a comment
below.
Benjamin Franklin King, Jr. |
barb wire =
strong whiskey or brandy. “They’d ask him
why he didn’t send to papa for a check / So he could purchase barb wire booze
to lubricate his neck.” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner.
bard of St. Joe =
Ben King (1857-1894), a humorist and poet
from St. Joseph, Michigan, who billed himself as “The Sweet Singer of St. Joe.”
“‘Nowhere to stand but on, and nowhere to fall but off,’ as the deceased bard
of St. Joe would say.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
Benighted Harry =
the boy in “Harry and the Guidepost,” a
poem in McGuffey’s Third Reader. “Being thoroughly frightened, I
walked right over to their camp to show them that I was not,—making by this
movement the same cold bluff that Benighted Harry made on the friendly
guide-post.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
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Benighted Harry |
Boulanger March =
musical composition by L. C. Desormes
(1841-1898). “He thundered off ‘Boulanger’s March,’ you bet, it was a daisy.” William
De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner. Listen here.
bug juice =
illicitly distilled whiskey. “The jug of
‘bug juice,’ as he called it, Whipsaw had kept constantly just inside the open
door of the cabin.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
bull’s eye lamp =
an oil-burning reading light with a glass
magnifying the light as it fell on the page. “At the flash of a bull’s eye lamp
in the roundhouse the men were to fall down and crawl up to within ten yards of
the stream.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
“By the Sad Sea Waves” =
popular song from the1890s by Lester
Barrett and Lester Thomas. “He played ‘The Sad Sea Waves’ until you’d think you
heard them sobbin.’” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner.
budgy = drunk. “When pestered by some ‘Budgy guy’ / You’d
almost read it in their eye.” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner.
camp robber =
a jay of northern North America with
black-capped head and no crest; noted for boldness in thievery. “A camp robber
was screaming on a cedar bough above the prostrate figures.” Cy Warman, Frontier
Stories.
crack a bottle =
have a drink. “He could play two deuces
pat at bluff, / Could ‘crack a bottle,’ or ‘blow his stuff.’” William De Vere, Jim
Marshall’s New Pianner.
devil = an assistant, apprentice. “He swore he would kill
off the working force, from the editor-in-chief down to ‘Freckled Jimmie,’ the
devil.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
Dog Soldiers =
a militaristic band of Cheyenne Indians
who resisted western expansion into Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming.
“He bade them each mount behind an Indian,—his body guard, or staff, called the
‘Dog soldiers,’ because they worshipped dogs, having crowded about to protect
their chief.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
fakir = a street salesman of cheap goods. “It’s but a little
phrase, ’tis true, / Its meaning well each ‘fakir’ knew.” William De Vere, Jim
Marshall’s New Pianner.
Eugene Field |
Field, Eugene =
popular American poet (1850-1895),
newspaper writer and editor, known for his children’s poetry. “Always carried a
copy of Gene field’s Western verses. Said he knowed Field.” Cy Warman, Frontier
Stories.
hackle = an instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax
or hemp. “Upon either thigh he had countless scars, as though he had been
whipped with a flax hackle.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
jar = dispute, fight. “If the like of me keep out of
family jars, the like of Mrs. Scott wouldn’t live with such men.” Charles Duff
Stuart, Casa Grande.
“Johnny, Get Your Gun” =
popular 1886 song by Monroe H. Rosenfeld
(1861-1918), who coined the term “Tin Pan Alley.” “Then with old ‘Johnny Get
Your Gun’ he sot the rafters ringin.’” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New
Pianner.
jumper = a loose, protective garment worn over other clothes.
“Closing his shirt he examined his jumper, pulled his book of rules out, and
found a deep furrow ploughed across the cover.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
knock a twister = to
send a person into contortions. “He had a sister / That could play the Suannee
River till would knock us all a twister.” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s
New Pianner.
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Sheet music, "Little Annie Rooney |
“Little Annie Rooney” =
music hall song from 1890, by Michael
Nolan; popular also in the US. “He rattled ‘Playmates’ off, and then he switched
to ‘Annie Rooney.’” William De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner.
Little Willie =
a genre of macabre short verse, usually
involving children, originated by English writer Harry Graham (1874-1936).
“Used to follow him down to the midnight train at St. Joe, gist to hear him
speak ‘Little Willie’ to the ticket agent.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
madroño = a small tree or shrub with red flaking bark and
edible red berries. “The ranchero was mounted on a lithe bay mare, which
swiftly climbed the lazy rises of intervening hills dotted thick with oak,
buckeye and madroño.” Charles Duff Stuart, Casa Grande.
mosquito bar =
a net or curtain for excluding mosquitoes,
used for beds and windows. “Doc said he was afraid the ‘queen o’ the ballet,’
as he called her, would get tangled in her miskeeter-bar dress and kick herself
to death.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
pay streak =
a stratum of mineral deposit capable of yielding
profitable amounts of ore. “In spite of the pay-streak of pathos which
the reader will doubtless detect in the word-work, there were moments when I
could hardly help laughing.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
poultice =
a soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or
other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm,
moisten, or stimulate an aching or inflamed part of the body; thus a soothing
remedy. “We put away one poultice, and then paralyzed another.” William De
Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner.
shell man =
operator of a shell game. “The great
daily, I am proud to say, endureth still, a menace to road agents and shell
men.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
Simmons, Joe =
friend and colleague of Soapy Smith; died
of pneumonia in 1892 in Creede, Colorado. “Joe Simmons had done very little to
win the applause of the newspaper fraternity, but, dying as he did on the eve
of the first issue of a great daily he made the hit of his life.” Cy Warman, Frontier
Stories.
Slanting Annie =
well-remembered prostitute who lived and
died in Creede, Colorado. “All about were new-made graves, where Joe Simmons
and ‘Slanting Annie’ slept side by side.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
snap a cap =
to fire a shot. “The watch officer had
caught him in the act, followed him into his lodge, leveled his pistol, and
snapped a cap in the Crow’s face.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
special = a train used for a particular purpose or occasion.
“While he was asleep in Colonel Ricker’s special, a standard-gauge engine had
crashed into the car and Wilson had had his right leg broken above the knee.” Cy
Warman, Frontier Stories.
spike maul =
a hand tool used to drive railroad spikes.
“At a flag station they robbed a section house, secured a red light and a spike
maul, and determined to take one more fall out of the midnight express.” Cy
Warman, Frontier Stories.
split trick =
a worker’s shift divided into two
discontinuous segments. “He is the ‘split-trick’ in the prosperous law firm of
Gleed, Ware and Gleed, of Topeka.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
“Song That Reached My Heart, The” = popular
1887 ballad by US composer, Julian Jordan (1850-1927). “He played ‘The Song
that Reached My Heart,’ till Burrill Wade went loony.” William De Vere, Jim
Marshall’s New Pianner. Listen here.
“Stick to Your Mother, Tom” = a popular sentimental
song, c1885, by Harry Birch. “And then he run the gamut up to ‘Comin’ Thro’ the
Rye,’ / And played ‘Stick to Your Mother, Tom,’ until he made us cry.” William
De Vere, Jim Marshall’s New Pianner. Listen here.
switch target =
a railway indicator that identifies to a
train operator which track a train is intended to take when it reaches a switch.
“There was not a house at that station; only a solitary switch target at either
end of a long and lonely side-track.” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
token = a physical object that a locomotive driver is
required to have or see before entering onto a particular section of single
track. “The amateur flagman allowed the light to bob about in an awkward,
unseemly manner that caused the man on the leading locomotive to mistrust the
‘token.’” Cy Warman, Frontier Stories.
tollon = ornamental evergreen treelike shrub of the Pacific
coast having large white flowers and red berrylike fruits. “When Miller
returned he bore a mass of freshly cut tollones, the ripening berries turning
red.” Charles Duff Stuart, Casa Grande.
water haul =
a fruitless effort. “Another such water
haul would bring about the leader’s impeachment.” Cy Warman, Frontier
Stories.
Image credits:
Wikimedia Commons
Coming up: William "Bill" De Vere, Jim Marshall's New Pianner
(1897)
I heard "bug juice" a lot up through the 1950's. Thanks for the glossary.
ReplyDeleteJust heard it?
DeleteI've read a lot about the Dog Soldiers. Since I'm working on a couple of western stories again I'm gonna have to pay really close attention to these posts. Don't be surprised if some words don't show up in those stories.
ReplyDeleteThe term was new to me when I came across it.
DeleteCan't find any Scottish resonances in this batch! But 'fakir' must be from Anglo-Indian, from when the British Empire included India.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have puzzled over that one, too.
DeleteWonder if everyone's brain is something of an attic. Your glossary brought up things I'd forgotten--or that I didn't know I knew! This time, I discovered I knew the words AND melody to "Little Annie Rooney!"
ReplyDeleteMy memory comes up with these surprises, too. Ha.
Delete