“The Pot Wrassler”

Description

The camp cook tells cowboys he spent years riding the range but "now I'm a-wrassling the pots for a change." He can make sourdough and sort the big rocks out of the beans, and doesn't wipe the frying-pan on his jeans. He's old now and prefers this life

Long description

Singer, a camp cook, tells cowboys he has put in a lot of years riding the range but "now I'm a-wrassling the pots for a change." He doesn't claim to be Delmonico, but he can make sourdough and sort the big rocks out of the beans, and doesn't wipe the frying-pan on his jeans. He's old and stiff now and prefers staying by the fire to riding and getting thrown

Notes

The cook on a cattle run was usually an old cowboy who could no longer do the work. It's hardly surprising that he looked on the cowboys as "kids" -- nor that he used his control over the chuck to keep the cowboys in line.

"Delmonico" is Lorenzo Delmonico (1813-1881), a Swiss immigrant who came to the United States in 1832 and largely established the upscale restaurant as a business form in America. - RBW

Cross references

• cf. "Punchin' the Dough" (theme)

Recordings

• Harry Jackson, "The Pot Wrassler" (on HJackson1)