A few years ago, one of my sisters was doing a lot of reading about the Age of Sail, particularly the life of the common seaman during the golden age of British seafaring in the 17th and 18th centuries, and (as is common in our family) filling me in thoroughly on everything she was learning. There was a time when I felt almost equipped with enough knowledge to put to sea and manage a modest-sized sailing ship myself. But one night when we were talking I realized something interesting: there were a number of remarkable parallels, in both a practical and cultural sense, between the British tar and the American cowboy. For some reason that conversation was called to my mind again recently, and looking back over it, I realized that there were actually even more parallels than I noticed at the time—so as a matter of interest, I decided to tally them up:
- Both were working-class, outdoor professions involving strenuous physical labor and conflict with the elements; both professions became surrounded with an aura of romance even in their own times, with the British sailor and the American cowboy each becoming a figure symbolic of their respective nations.
- Both were freelance laborers who frequently traveled widely, signing on as a crew member of different ships or cattle outfits for varying periods of time.
- Both carried all their worldly possessions with them in a single portable piece of luggage: the sailor’s sea chest, the cowboy’s war sack.
- Both wore clothing specifically adapted to the conditions of their work, which society at large considered “picturesque,” eventually borrowing and adopting elements of their costumes for general wear.
- Both were known for singing at their work, and specifically for inventing their own songs inspired by or fitted to their tasks: sailors’ sea shanties for hauling on ropes, cowboys’ lullabies sung to soothe restless cattle.
- Because of their physcially demanding nature, both professions were primarily the domain of young men: elderly sailors or cowboys were not common.
- Owing to specific aspects of the work, very tall or large men were less common in both professions: sailors had to be agile for climbing and could not be too tall to stand up below decks in ships of the period; and cowboys who spent most of their lives in the saddle tended to be lighter and leaner men as well.
- Both had the reputation of possessing upbeat dispositions and a distinctive sense of humor.
- Both had a reputation for being roisterers, fond of wine, woman, and song.
- Both had a criminal alter-ego who turned the tools of their trade to unlawful use: the pirate and the rustler.
- Despite the hard and often dangerous nature of their work, men from both professions were often known for having a strong emotional attachment to the wide-open, untamed natural setting they belonged to—the open sea, the open range—a sense of restlessness and wanderlust that drew them to it.
- Both the sailor and the cowboy were often considered rough and less than respectable by polite society, but at the same time credited with qualities such as bravery, dependability, tenacity, and loyalty—in other words, perhaps not the kind of person you’d want to mix with socially, but definitely the kind you’d want on your side in a fight.
Am I the only one to have made these connections? Looking at this list laid out in detail I find it hard to believe at least some of it hasn’t struck somebody before. I’ve never come across the analogy myself in any of the reading I’ve done, but I’d be fascinated to hear if anyone else has!
passage on the stagecoach each week, it’s a bit surprising the show didn’t last longer. Perhaps the series leads didn’t have enough star power, or perhaps the pleasantly understated characters they played didn’t have the swagger to compete with other, flashier TV Western headliners.
Steel with Clark Gable on the set of Across the Wide Missouri (1951). I don’t know how many times he appeared onscreen in total—I know Randolph Scott rode him too, but am not sure in which movie(s). If you know of one I’ve overlooked, comment below and tell me!