The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 38, July 1934 - April, 1935 Page: 231

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Book Reviews and Notices

Under the active sponsorship of the Texas Folk-Lore Society
there has been published, during the last ten years, a vast store
of Texas lore dealing with almost every phase of our life. Quest-
ing folk-lorists have delved into everything from remedies for
the blind-staggers to buried cities of gold, but I know of none
who has presented as much characteristic range folk-lore, and
presented it better, than Mody Boatright, West Texan and Ph. D.
graduate of the English Department, University of Texas. "A
preface on Authentic Liars," by J. Frank Dobie, generally recog-
nized specialist in the field, is for the orientation of the green-
horn who is making his exploratory excursion into the "Windy"
West.
The inclination of the Texas Cowboy to talk in reverse Eng-
lish is one of the most distinctive features of his speech, and also
characteristic of his wit. Exaggerated tales are less frequently
designed to "string the tenderfoot" than to amuse the seasoned
Westerner, though this literary design, upon which Mr. Boat-
right hangs these tales, is not untrue to the life. The author has
gathered these vagrant "windies" with a "wide loop," for in all
my wandering over his own field I have heard mighty few that
he has not included. His cowboys talk as cowboys do, and his
wit and humor belong to the cow range. The wind and weather,-
the everlasting weather, wild animals never classified by zoologists,
strange birds, the speed of men and horses, narrow escapes, and
the fantastic biography of Pecos Bill-Paul Bunyan of the cow
camp-are the subjects around which these Tall Tales have grown.
I think they will be read and enjoyed until the traditions of the
individualistic West are buried beneath the superficialities of a
softer race.
J. EVETTS HALEY.
The Life and Diary of Reading W. Black: A History of Early
Uvalde. Arranged by Ike Moore. (El Progreso Club,
Uvalde, Texas, 1934.) Pp. vi, 93.
Ike Moore, graduate student of history at the University of
Texas, has resurrected the life and diary of the founder of his
home town, Uvalde. More than that, he has traced the historical
backgrounds of his country between Bexar and the Rio Grande
and of the Black family in New Jersey, where it sojourned many
generations before one member broke away to pioneer in Texas.

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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 38, July 1934 - April, 1935, periodical, 1935; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117143/m1/250/ocr/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

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