[lit-ideas] Re: Alala!, or the Battle Cry of the Confederacy
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2007 11:01:58 -0800
On Dec 8, 2007, at 5:42 AM, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx wrote:
If one compares the sound production with other species -- it's
surely the war cry that relates to a dog's barking, or a robin
tweeting.
It cannot be the love-song, because when males are in the love mood
they go:
M M M H H H M M H H M M ...
i.e. a whisper, not a cry.
Odd that you should mention dogs.
One measure of how short our auditory memory is: Did you know that
among the known unknowns of Civil War history is what sound the
Confederates made that so scared Union forces? Reenactors worry they
don't know how to "do" the rebel yell, what sound to make once
they've got their butternut on.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_yell) tells me that the
yell is "sometimes called the pibroch of the Confederacy," and
repeats tales that it has Scottish or even Celtic origins. One
written account quoted in that piece reproduces what could be
considered bagpipe noises:
Woh-who-ey! who-ey! who-ey! Woh-who-ey! who-ee
But the only recording of a veteran that I know to be available on
the web--a marvel, really-- is to my ear much more dog-like:
http://26nc.org/History/Rebel-Yell/Sound-Files/RebelYell_l.wav
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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