[.ca] Log Cabin Pioneers: Stories, Songs & Sayings (ISBN 1883206367)

Sounds and lives of Pioneers:
As one would expect from a Mel Bay book, Log Cabin Pioneers includes easy playing music for the amateur guitarist or pianist, or for not difficult playing on any treble clef instrument. Captured in less than a dozen measures, the accessible melodies have simple keys and no chord more difficult than a 7th. Several verse of lyrics accompany these songs. However, such music is just the songs of "Stories, Songs & Sayings." The text is strewn with colorful aphorisms from the pioneer period. Examples are "Better a lame donkey than no horse" from 1854 and the undated bit of meteorological advice, "don't stand in the sun if you have butter on your head." The stories come in two varieties. We get homesteaders' tales, like "The Shrinking Britches" and a swindle worthy of Huckleberry Finn, "What has 4 Eyes, 3 Heads, and 2 Tails?" But, we also get the stories of the songs and pioneers themselves. The stories of the people cover their fashion, building techniques and more - including methods to hide a still. Stories of the songs give the reader insight into the history and meaning behind "Darling Cory", "Mary of the Wild Moor" and more. All this material is arranged topically by section: Cabin History, Pioneer Construction, Log Cabin Music, Whiskey Making, Cabin Kids, Home & Cooking, Pioneer Beauty Secrets and Log Cabin Ghosts and Lore. More entertainment and information can be had in the pioneer slang glossary that defines such obscure archaisms as explatterate (to crush or mash) and "light and hitch" (come and visit).

Really great stuff:
I bought the book to help my 4th grader with a school project. I "censored" it a bit, as it does contain stories of moonshine, guns, and other such adult topics. But both my kids loved the funny stories and my daughter used a song from the book as a pioneer project. Everyone loved it, and the project was a snap. A really interesting and funny book.

Enhanced with 143 vintage photos:
In Log Cabin Pioneers: Stories, Songs & Sayings, author Wayne Erbsen takes the reading along on his personal journey of finding and restoring an historic log cabin. There the reader is treated to authentic pioneers yarns of such log cabine pioneer notables as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, as well as tales of bear hunting, moonshine, even advice on how to buy a mule! Then there are the songs sung by our pioneer forebears, and such pioneer staples as house raising, log hewing, husking bees, frontier remedies for ailments, superstitions, romantic advice, and an old-fashion barn dance. The entertaining and informative text is enhanced with 143 vintage photos, along with the words and music to nineteen pioneer era songs. Log Cabin Pioneers is a unique and wonderful addition to any personal, school, or community library American history collection.