It was kind of a shock to go to the file of my mother's "Random Recollections" last week and realize that they were all used. I had thought that there was at least one more. That is why I did not post anything; I had nothing composed in my head ready. So, I guess it is time to tell about my grandfather and his animals.
Most people know the "tune" to "Here, kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty!" It is a sustained "here" on a relatively high pitch, followed by, usually, four quick "kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty" on a lower pitch. The similar whistle for a dog of four quick lower-pitch tones followed by a two-pitch rising longer tone is known the world over. (I even heard it on a TV program about the dogs of the primitive New Guinea bush people. One of the aboriginal men used it to call his dog.) Those are the only animal calls most people know nowadays. But my grandfather knew others and, I suspect, most other farmers of his day did, also.
Whenever most people appeared in the fields and pastures, any livestock there would run away from them. But my Grampa Thompson could just stand at the gate to the pasture and call, "Shee-eep! Shee-eep! Shee-eep!" on a rising inflection and his sheep would come running to him as fast as they could. (That could be scary to a small child standing next to him.) The hogs would come to "Soo-ey! Pig-pig-pig-pig!" The "soo" syllable was on a middle pitch with the "-ey" much higher and the "pig-pig-pig-pig" the lowest. And the cattle came to "Hey, boss! Hey, boss! Hey, boss!" with the "hey" very high and the "boss" much lower pitched. I suspect that he also had a call for his horses, but they were gone before I could learn it. Perhaps he just called them by their names, but there might have been a traditional horse call, too.
The hog and cow calls are related to their Latin names (suis and bos) and I believe they have been in use at least since Roman times. It is amazing to think of the generations of shepherds and cowherds using the same "tunes" to communicate with their flocks and herds for thousands of years. Probably there were animal calls even before there was Roman language, too.
By the way, my grandfather's sheep were often pastured right next to the fence dividing his farm from the Peterson farm to the south. When the Peterson sheep were near that fence, they did not try to come to my grandfather's call; they knew their own shepherd's voice. He might use the same "tune" but it was not the right voice, so they stayed where they were.
