Daddy was a soft-spoken man so it was startling when he tilted his head back, opened his mouth, formed his hands into a megaphone and released a high-pitched, piercing “ssoooOOOOOOOOOK,” followed by a pause listening any cattle to return his call. Across the pasture, several cows would look up and turn their heads toward us.

Daddy does another call, softish at the start, but rising until the sound is echoing from the hills, “SUK, SUK, SUK-COW, SUK-COW, SSSOOOOOKow.” One cow, probably the boss, lifts her muzzle toward the sky and answers Daddy with a resounding “mmmMMMMOOOOOOO oo,” even louder than Daddy. Another cow bellows. Then more.

Daddy calls again and the cattle start moving toward us. A few at first, then more, then all. Cattle start streaming toward us from the woods and from across the creek. Some of the big calves and heifers start running, but the cows mostly amble. After a certain age, cows rarely run … they can’t be bothered (or nothing is that important). It looks like a slow rolling freight train, only it’s a cow train. Instead of box cars it is beef cattle. I took this spectacle for granted when I was a kid, but, in retrospect, it was danged impressive.

Daddy’s daddy cattle call was like Daddy’s. I bet Daddy’s daddy’s daddy’s cattle call was the same; point being that cattle calls get passed down for generations. There’s no telling how far back it goes. Is it possible that our Scot-Irish ancestors called their cattle the same as Daddy? In the first paragraph of this article, I described the sound of his cattle call. It’s the word “sook” shouted loud and long often followed by a repeated “suk” at a lower decibel level.

A book “From Ulster to America: The Scotch-Irish Heritage of American English” addresses this issue. In the book it says “sook” is a version of “suck” that Ulster (Ireland) stockmen used to call calves, lambs and pigs. In the U.S. it has evolved into the following (pick your favorite): “soo calfy, soo cow, sook boss, sook bossie, sook buck, sook cow, sookee, sook heifer, sook sookee and swoo cow.” Clearly, Daddy was not the first to call cattle with a sooky cow call.

Brother Alan’s cattle call is just like Daddy’s. My call isn’t as powerful. The hills don’t ring when I call, but the cattle come if they’re in my limited voice range. Mama’s daddy, Papa Jepp, had a different call, more like, “WHOOOOOCOW.” His call worked as well as Daddy’s but his voice wasn’t as resonant.

If you’ve ever heard the song “Cattle Call” sung by Eddy Arnold you already know that nobody in my family is in his league. I just listened to it again. It sent shivers up my spine.

Is this a man thing? I never heard my mother or my sister call cattle. I’ve never ever heard a female call even one cow, but in my humble opinion, women would probably be better at calling cattle than men. I proved it by listening to Emmy Lou Harris sing “Cattle Call.” It sent shivers down my spine.

I stepped outside just now and made my cattle call. I’ve still got it! But I only stayed on the porch for a few seconds because it’s cold out there. It sent shivers up my and down my spine.

— Gill, an Elk Valley Times columnist, is also an author. His books can be found on Amazon and other online book websites as well as in stores in Fayetteville and Petersburg.