Seems we’re in the midst of a lot of holidays — we’ve celebrated several birthdays in the past week or so, including Claire’s yesterday. Today is Flag Day and one of the more important holidays is coming up on Saturday — National Hollerin’ Contest Day.
Unfortunately, hollerin has just about become a lost art. That’s too bad because hollerin’ is really the earliest form of communication between humans. Before the days of telecommunications, it was the traditional form of communication used in rural areas to convey long-distance messages.
Fortunately, hollerin’ still exists among some peoples of the world and is still practiced in certain societies. In the US, the art is practiced mostly in the south.
Hollerin’ usually falls into one of these groups:
Distress hollers — these hollers were essential in rural communities. They notified others within hearing range of imminent danger…
Functional hollers — these hollers were/are used in day-to-day life on the farm or in the field. Each farmer had his own distinctive hollers to bring in his hogs, cattle, sheep, dogs, etc.
Communicative hollers — the main purpose of these cries were to express the greeting, “howdy neighbor.” Women frequently used this form of holler.
Expressive hollers — some hollers are voiced purely for pleasure’s sake; often this is a hollered version of a popular tune of melody and serves no purpose other than of entertainment.
So there you have it, in case you were wondering. Next time you hear a holler, see if you can categorize it – expressive, functional, distress, communicative. Why would you want to do that? The answer to that question is beyond the scope of this blog. I suggest we just all be quite and listen for the hollerin’ on Saturday.
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