REVIEWS 999 



music, but most of these are parodies, and few have that universal 

 quality which would give them the wide usage of such soulful songs 

 as the "Cowboy's Lament" or the "Dying Cowboy." The one of 

 these which comes closest to filling the bill is "The Little Still," remi- 

 niscent of wet days, the Biltmore Forest School, and the Southern 

 Appalachians. This is undoubtedly the most widely known and most 

 characteristic of the forestry songs ; but it has nothing of the ballad 

 character, and in this book it appears without the music. It seems 

 unfortunate that Love joy's ranger song of the many verses — a ballad 

 of the whole Service and with something of the old cowboy ring — 

 was omitted. This must remain for another edition, which we may 

 hope will contain more of the same, with the music to sing them by. 



This collection is far from exhausting the available material. "The 

 volume here presented," says the editor's note, "includes less than one- 

 half of'^the total number (of verses) collected, and only the ones 

 believed by the writer to reflect most truly the forest ranger's life and 

 work have been included ; many that were received were of too per- 

 sonal a nature or possessed a superabundance of local color to be of 

 general interest to foresters and forest officers." 



The compiler is right in resigning claim to "literary aspirations." 

 Let the songs be forthcoming and merit will, in the end, look out for 

 itself. For the "folk songs" of which we may hope with the com- 

 piler that this book is a "forerunner", however, we would suggest 

 that the place to seek this collection is not in the writings of those 

 who would speak for their fellows, but in the ranger's own camp, 

 where words come naturally, with the smell of wood smoke and frying 

 bacon, to fit the tunes of the times or to suggest new ones. The com- 

 piler must be keen to follow Professor Lomax's example and take 

 down the verses which thus spontaneously arise. 



This book should be hailed by all foresters as an accomplishment 

 and a source of inspiration. As the outcome of a movement thus set 

 on foot, we may look forward to a book of verses that would suit 

 Omar underneath his bough, even though the jug be missing. 



E. H. F. 



