Georgia Ayala, Sylvia Ortiz, Linda Witt, Bert de Lara, Frank Snell, Elizardo Romero, recorders
File — Box: 4, CD: 326B
Scope and Content
From the Collection:
The collection consists of 591 recordings of folk songs, folklore and local histories collected by Ruben Cobos from 1944-1974 in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Also included in the collection are about 270 additional recordings of selected music - a few from New Mexico, many from Mexico and Latin America, and others from Spain, Europe and the U.S. The recordings vary in quality between good, fair, and poor. They contain both musical and spoken content. Most recordings are in Spanish, however, a few are in English. Others are Bilingual or represent the use of Spanglish.
The informants are mainly from New Mexico and Colorado, with a few from California, Texas and Mexico. The collections focuses heavily on spoken Spanish, with examples of poetry, riddles, proverbs, legends, anecdotes, folk tales, mysteries, prayers, nursery rhymes, games, jokes, language use, tricky words, tongue twisters, memories, local history and family history. The Spanish songs include alabados, entriegas for weddings and baptisms, inditas, corridos and ballads, pastores, posadas, love songs, folk dance music, etc. Traditions of Los Juanes and Los Manueles, Penitente morada practices, including women Penitentes, Holy Week songs and activities and the role of the church, santos and fiestas in the lives of the people are also included. There are also several lectures on folklore, music and culture by Cobos and other scholars, including Fray Angelico Chavez, Charles Briggs, Alfonso Ortiz, Arthur Leon Campa, Marta Weigle, Guadalupe Baca Vaughn, Anita Thomas and others. Included also are autobiographical accounts by Ruben Cobos and his wife Elvira.
Songs and stories about and for children, their health and education are included. Although the majority of the information is about Spanish and Hispanic traditions, the collection also provides some materials by and about non-Hispanics and the relationship between the races. A small amount of stories and songs relate to Apaches, Navajos, Pueblos, Mexicanos, African Americans, and Anglos (gringos).
Songs and stories by or about males show them in every walk of life, as rich and poor, old and young, as husbands, widowers, fathers, sons, relatives, compadres, friends, orphans, opponents, collaborators, kings, princes, commoners, giants, ranchers, cowboys, shepherds, farmers, woodcutters, shoemakers, vendors, railroaders, hunters, priests, doctors, teachers, politicians, attorneys, meteorologists, soldiers, witches, simpletons, gamblers, murderers, drunks, adulturers and thieves.
Recordings by and about women add value and perspective to the collection. Females are rich and poor, old and young, girl friends, lovers, adulteresses, wives, widows, mothers, comadres, church attendees, housekeepers for priests, nuns, princesses, queens, teachers, curanderas, cooks and witches. Some of the characters found in the collection are Cinderella, Genoveva de Brabanate, Goldilocks, Delgadina, La Llorona, Doña Cebolla, Dona Fortuna and the Virgin Mary, as well as San Antonio, San Pedro, Bartoldo, Don Cacahuate, Juan Charrasqueado, Pedro and Juan de Urdemalas, Ali Baba, Don Dinero, Tio Botitas and others.
The collection contains descriptions, traditions, local history and songs for New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Mexico. There are references to the Civil War in New Mexico, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II. Stories tell of superstitions, supernatural, unexplained phenomenon, balls of fire and light, lightening, a comet, the sun, moon, finding treasure, ghosts, devils and magic. Additional topics include traditional food and cooking, health and home remedies. Included also are stories and references to insects, animals, birds, fish and snakes, as well as floods and storms, and automobiles and airplanes.
The informants are mainly from New Mexico and Colorado, with a few from California, Texas and Mexico. The collections focuses heavily on spoken Spanish, with examples of poetry, riddles, proverbs, legends, anecdotes, folk tales, mysteries, prayers, nursery rhymes, games, jokes, language use, tricky words, tongue twisters, memories, local history and family history. The Spanish songs include alabados, entriegas for weddings and baptisms, inditas, corridos and ballads, pastores, posadas, love songs, folk dance music, etc. Traditions of Los Juanes and Los Manueles, Penitente morada practices, including women Penitentes, Holy Week songs and activities and the role of the church, santos and fiestas in the lives of the people are also included. There are also several lectures on folklore, music and culture by Cobos and other scholars, including Fray Angelico Chavez, Charles Briggs, Alfonso Ortiz, Arthur Leon Campa, Marta Weigle, Guadalupe Baca Vaughn, Anita Thomas and others. Included also are autobiographical accounts by Ruben Cobos and his wife Elvira.
Songs and stories about and for children, their health and education are included. Although the majority of the information is about Spanish and Hispanic traditions, the collection also provides some materials by and about non-Hispanics and the relationship between the races. A small amount of stories and songs relate to Apaches, Navajos, Pueblos, Mexicanos, African Americans, and Anglos (gringos).
Songs and stories by or about males show them in every walk of life, as rich and poor, old and young, as husbands, widowers, fathers, sons, relatives, compadres, friends, orphans, opponents, collaborators, kings, princes, commoners, giants, ranchers, cowboys, shepherds, farmers, woodcutters, shoemakers, vendors, railroaders, hunters, priests, doctors, teachers, politicians, attorneys, meteorologists, soldiers, witches, simpletons, gamblers, murderers, drunks, adulturers and thieves.
Recordings by and about women add value and perspective to the collection. Females are rich and poor, old and young, girl friends, lovers, adulteresses, wives, widows, mothers, comadres, church attendees, housekeepers for priests, nuns, princesses, queens, teachers, curanderas, cooks and witches. Some of the characters found in the collection are Cinderella, Genoveva de Brabanate, Goldilocks, Delgadina, La Llorona, Doña Cebolla, Dona Fortuna and the Virgin Mary, as well as San Antonio, San Pedro, Bartoldo, Don Cacahuate, Juan Charrasqueado, Pedro and Juan de Urdemalas, Ali Baba, Don Dinero, Tio Botitas and others.
The collection contains descriptions, traditions, local history and songs for New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Missouri, Kansas and Mexico. There are references to the Civil War in New Mexico, the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II. Stories tell of superstitions, supernatural, unexplained phenomenon, balls of fire and light, lightening, a comet, the sun, moon, finding treasure, ghosts, devils and magic. Additional topics include traditional food and cooking, health and home remedies. Included also are stories and references to insects, animals, birds, fish and snakes, as well as floods and storms, and automobiles and airplanes.
Dates
- 1944-1974
Language of Materials
From the Collection:
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.25 cu. ft.)
General
CD II of II. Witt, 1971: Miss Marcella Larragoite, b. 1950, Albuquerque, NM. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 00:20 and ends at 3:10. 1. El solterito (good recording, verses, speaks from a husband's perspective, marriage, woman, love); 2. Verses (good recording, versos, adivinanzas, Marcelino pan y vino); 3. Tres Adivinanzas (good recordings, riddles, boca dientes, La Semana Santa, un piojo); 4. La Llorona (fair recording, story, legend, traditional, variation, women who killed her children and walked around crying for them).
General
Lara, 1971: Bert de Lara. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 3:17 and ends at 4:32. Versos, refranes (good recording, verses, blue bird, rhymes, romance, love).
General
Snell, 1971: Arnoldo Xavier Fernandez, b. 1949, McAllen, Texas. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 4:35 and ends at 6:21. Personal experience, local history (good recording, cuento about his grandparents, speaker's grandfather had some money hidden and the banditos wanted it and tried to kill his grandparents for the money but the American soldiers came to their aid, the bandidos cut the head off of one of the American soldiers, un senor escondio dinero durante la Revolucion, un tio se lo robo el dinero, Mexican Revolution, Mexico).
General
Snell, 1971: ? This is either Victor Sandoval or Mike Sandoval, b. 1949, Santa Fe, NM. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 6:27 and ends at 8:47. Cuento, personal experience (good recording, story, the speaker's grandmother told him this story, there once was a man who lived in Santa Fe and he would travel to and from work on his horse, one night he heard the scream of a boy and he tried to find the boy by the edge of the river, the man found the boy and picked him up and intended to take him home but he became scared of the boy's grin and threw him in the water and ran away from him, vampire story, ghost story, children).
General
Snell, 1971: Arnoldo Xavier Fernandez, b. 1949, McAllen, Texas. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 8:54 and ends at 15:38. 1. Personal experience, story (good recording, about a man who died of fright, told to the speaker by his uncle, the man saw a light and went to go investigate it, he got into a Box, prisoner, mystery light, devil); 2. Story (good recording, Una presumida no ayuda a una viejita, a girl who thought she was the prettiest girl in town and she was very conceited, she refused to walk an old lady home because the lady was ugly, the lady cursed her and made her ugly and old, the girl would pray everyday that she would return to her young and beautiful self, children, women); 3. Story, Una bruja que se volvio gato (good recording, some men caught and tortured a cat, one day a man found the body of the cat and reported it to the police, one day the townsfolk saw the old lady in the church and she was hurt in the same places as the cat was, the townspeople realized that she was a witch and tried to capture her but she disappeared, witches).
General
Snell, 1971: Victor Sandoval, b. 1941, Albuquerque, NM. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 16:01 and ends at 17:17. 1. Story (good recording, un hombre que iba a comulgar sin ganas, moraleja, moral, everyday the man did the same thing and collected rocks, one day when he died they covered him with all of the rocks that he had collected, the rocks turned to dust and blew away, the moral of the story is that the man had a dirty conscious and the wrong intention).
General
Snell, 1971: Armando Ortega, b. 1949, El Paso, Texas. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 17:25 and ends at 31:08. 1. Story, Carpentero y el hombre de palo (good recording, a stick man and a carpenter, hombre de madera, example of deaffrication of voiceless affricate in Spanish, llanguage, the carpenter's dog hated the stick man and always tried to bite him so he ran away but was almost hit by a car being driven by a doll, the doll gave him a ride and they arrived at the city of the horses but they could not stay because they were not horses or ranchers, then they arrived at a carnival but he could not stay because he was not a clown, they then arrived in a big city but were unable to stay because no one would rent them an apartment or house, they decided to build a house and stay but the police came and asked the stick man for his papers but he didn't have any papers so they took him to jail. the moral of the story is that it doesn't matter how different a man looks but what he does with his life, El hombe de madera, lo llevan a la casa de juguetes); 2. Story, personal experience (good recording, speaker's mother told him this story, diablo, women, there was a girl who wanted to celebrate and so she went to find someone on the street to give her a ride, the girl got into a stranger's black car and they went to Juarez, Mexico, to a club, dance, at midnight they were dancing and drunk, the man turned into a devil, the girl was attacked by the demon and the room smelled of sulfur when the police arrived, women, crime); 3. Story, El campesino y su hijo, y su burro, criticism from everyone about riding or not riding their donkey, repeated story from CD 322. A. S. Torres, born 1911, Tome, NM); 4. Story, Un cazador caza un pajarito (good recording, the bird tells the man if he let's him free he will give him three pieces of advice, so he does, when you make a decision stick with it and dont feel bad about it, do not try to do impossible things, the hunter was dissapointed with adivce, the bird makes fun of the man).
General
Romero, 1971: Eloy Chavez, b. 1915, Albuquerque, NM, before from Torreon. Similr to CD 70. Begins at 31:18 and ends at 37:10. 1. Story, Los tres astronomos, the donkey and predicting the weather (good recording,chiste, joke, humor, funny); 2. Chiste, El perico que compro lena (good recoding, joke, talking parrot orders wood and woman of the house gets mad at him because she has to pay for it); 3. El marido celosa (good recoding, story, a married couple living in Spain, the devil came and told the husband that his wife was cheating on him with the priest at church, the man became very jealous and hid in the confessional and waited for his wife to come and she confessed that she had slept with many men, he was very upset and called her names, women).
General
Romero, 1971: Estella Chavez, b. 1913, Albuquerque, NM. Similr to CD 70. Begins at 37:14 and ends at 38:07. 1. Chiste, La mujer perversa (good recording, women, they nicknamed her Palo Blanco, everyone made fun of her because she was very perverted, white thread, sewing).
General
Romero, 1971: Eloy Chavez. CD II of II. Begins at 38:11 and ends at 48:39. Similar to CD 70. 1. La zorrita (good recording, short story, she died of hunger) 2. Los fashicos, (good recording, story, three boys stole and were being chased by the police and decided to hide, the police found all three of them and took them to jail); 3. Story, La Posada (good recording, a young man wants to stay the night but the woman's husband is very sensitive and so the woman warns him not to fill his bowl too much or else her husband would kick him out, during the middle of the night the woman gives him a lot more food, women); 4. El zapatero y el rico (good recording, story, there was a poor shoemaker and his wife, a rich man came to stay the night with them, the man sleeps with the shoemaker's wife and returns home, his wife asks him why he is so happy, women); 5. El anima, el penco (good recording, story, a woman who was cheating on her husband and told her lover that she would leave a signal for when her husband was not home, one night her husband comes home unexpectantly but she forgot to take down the signal, her lover comes over and she is caught, humor, women); 6. San Antonio (good recording, story, San Antonio was a poor holy man, one day he goes to mass and tells the teacher that the birds were all locked up and he sets them free).
General
Romero, 1971: Leo Lucero, b. 1934, Albuquerque, NM. Similar to CD 70. Begins at 48:40 and ends at 54:54. 1. Los Faschicos, en un arbol de moras (three men were on top of a raspberry tree, they were attacked and killed for being loud); 2. Los fashicos y el burro (good recording, there was a wizard who could tell the future, a fashico went to him to ask when he would die and was sad to find out it would be soon); 3. El fashico guango, la mula lo arrastra (good recording, story, the mule got scarred and took off pulling one of the fashicos, unfortunately they only found his leg and arm); 4. Story, Pedro de Urdemalas (good recording, Pedro wrote a letter to the king's daughter and the king became very angry and called him to the castle to tell Pedro that he would have to marry his daughter or else he would kill him, Pedro said the king could do as he wished but that he would not marry his daughter, the king threw him in jail for the night and in the morning he put him in a bag and was going to through him in the ocean but Pedro traded places with a sheephearder who wanted to marry the princess).
Creator
- From the Collection: Cobos, Rubén (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu