Book Title:  Rhyming Wranglers:  Cowboy Poets of the Canadian West

Author:  Ken Mitchell

Publishing Company: Frontenac House (www.frontenachouse.com)

Year:  2007

# of Pages: 107

ISBN #:  978-1-897181-13-3

$18.95 

4 stars 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner 

Canadian playwright, actor and novelist Ken Mitchell has compiled a fine collection of cowboy poetry of then and now. 

For those who still believe “poetry” should rhyme and have a definite meter, cowboy poetry fits the bill.  Cowboy poetry is performance poetry, born of long nights in the wild west, the cattle drive ended for the night or the scouting mission complete.  Gathered around a campfire, cowboys amused themselves with recitations of poetry, usually rhyming narrative tales often of the tall variety.  In recent years, cowboy poetry recitations have become a staple of wild west and cowboy festivals and gatherings throughout the United States and Canada. 

Mitchell's collection includes representative poems of the 19^th century and early 20^th century.  It is a special delight to see the inclusion of Robert W. Service's “The Quitter” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”  The anthology also features the works of “new” cowboy poets, those currently making the festival circuits and keeping the art alive.