Anonymous, recorder, n.d.
File — Box: 4, CD: 357 A
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
- n.d.
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 I of III. Edwin Berry, Tome, Valencia County, New Mexico. Begins at 00:03 and ends 40:41. 1. Cuento del hombre sin ojos (fair recording, story about a man born without eyes, blind, the man was from Northern New Mexico and he would pass by town once a year asking for help, to eat he had to mash his food, he could not speak, refers to Don Quijote, Comanche, Native American Indian blood, the boy died and his mother died of grief, buried in Tome, New Mexico, death, muerte); 2. Cuento del gato pardo (fair recording, story about a cat who killed a man in Tome, New Mexico, Ignacio Campos, the cat killed the nephew of the Obispo de Chihuahua, Sobrino del Opisbo del Chihuahua, Mexico); 3. More cuentos (fair recording, Don George Lucero, Roswell, New Mexico, Juanito Martinez had his legs cut off at the knee, Belen, New Mexico, novena, prayer, injury, accident, Celedon Chavez, grandson of George Lucero, Cazadores de Cibola. Great Plains, buffalo, hunting); 4. Cuento de Ignacio Campos de Albuquerque (fair recording, story about Ignacio Campos, a chiropractor with nice hands, he survived in snow, storm, blizzard, weather, lived a full life until age 105, he is buried in Tome, New Mexico); 5. El Cuento de la zorra y el conejito (fair recording, animal story, zorro, conejo, the zorra wanted to eat the conejo, rabbit, fox drowned); 6. Cancion de los Roaring Twenties (fair recording, song, about 1920s, Spanish language, English, codeswitch, Bilingual, singing, about a woman whose husband died, marido murio, women, marriage, Alfredo Martinez usually sang this song with a banjo, death, muerte); 7. Alabado (fair recording, song for the wake, velorio de los muertos, velorio de San Isidro, temblor de San Francisco, singing, death, muerte, funeral); 8. Indita de San Luis (fair recording, se cantaba en prendorios, wedding, marriage, music is played by violin, Jose Lovato was the best violinist around Tome, New Mexico); 9. Corrido de Valentino Manzanares? del ano 1884 (fair recording, song, singing, about Valentine Manzaras? and his death, muerte, mourning, born and died in San Juan, he was a Robin Hood figure, he stole horses and cows to help the poor, in order to capture him they paid his lover $300 and she set a trap for him to be killed, he was a neighbor and friend of Domingo Vallez? - Domingo Valles? - from San Juan, in Spanish language, speaker is Bilingual, codeswitch into English, Spanglish, betrayal, women, crime); 10. Indita del Rio Grande (fair recording, song about Tome and flood, singing, composed by Manuel Vigil in 1884, Vigil was the father of the speaker's grandmother, mentions Santa Fe Trail, Bilingual, Spanish language, and English, Spanglish, song from Valencia, Berry explains verses, in 1884, big flood on the Rio Grande, river flooded the valley, eleven men tried to save the santo or statue of the town but could not move it, the church in Tome did not fall in the water, religion, faith); 11. Penitentes (fair recording, local history, Captain Tome Dominguez de Mendoza left a cross on his way to North, hence the name of town of Tome, talks about colonial New Mexico, says that the traditional Penitentes are no longer in Tome even though some people consider themselves to be); 12. Personal experience (fair recording, local history, Bilingual, codeswitch into English, Spanglish, Spanish language, tells about a woman in Tome who never married named Loretta Campos, she had very long hair and was a very good story teller, there was no television in that time, the viejitas would tell cuentos, story telling, to pass time, leisure, children, ghost stories, tells of a woman who would come out late at night with a cigarette in her mouth, smoking, she would scare people into shock, a boy was convinced that he acquired epilepsy as a result of seeing her, women); 13. Song (fair recording, singing, one that speaker used to hear as a child, local traditions, pass time, leisure, children); 14. Cuento de Juan Chilili (fair recording, story, riddle, joke, verses); 15. El verso que no tiene fin (fair recording, verse, sin fin, a verse that never ends); 16. Folk song (fair recording, one that his grandfather used to sing to him, local traditions); 17. Song (fair recording, that his grandfather used to sing, local traditions, sad song, very long song, singing, speaker does not remember all of the verses, the speaker's grandfather learn English songs from the soldiers that stayed in Tome during the Civil War, local history); 18. Silva family (fair recording, history of the Silva family from Valencia, Valencia County, painter, Adolfo Silva, the father of Gabriel Silva, Emma Silva, Fidel Silva, Lalo Silva, Miguel Silva, the speaker's grandfather, Gabriel was kidnapped by Native American Indians when he was a young child, captive, cautivo, Manuel Sanchez de Valencia); 19. El cuento del gato (fair recording, story, riddle, cat with pies de trapo and backward eyes, story that does not end); 20. Cantaditas (fair recording, short little songs, humor, comedy, codeswitch into English, Spanish language, English, Pasagallos, Pallasadas, Ignacio Sanchez Romero, singing).
Anonymous woman. CD I of III. Begins at 40:54 and ends at 49:33. 1. Cuento (fair recording, an elderly couple was discussing death, the two argued about who should die first, they insisted they could not live without one another, a man plays a joke on them by dressing as death and telling them one of them needs to go with him first, neither wanted to die first, muerte, women); 2. Cuento de los tres consejos (fair recording, a man and a woman lived in a lonely town, they were very poor and had lived there alone for some time, the husband tells his wife that he is going to leave and search for work, va a buscar a la vida, the wife makes him a lunch and he leaves, he finds a ranch and begins working there, many years passed and the man finally returned to his wife, the man did not pay him anything for the many years of work, he gave him only three pieces of advice).
Anonymous man. Begins at 49:38 and ends at 55:32. Cuento (fair recording, medieval story, about a couple who had three children and they sent them off to be educated, when the children returned home they sought work from the king, the father told the king what each of his children had studied and one of them learned to be a good thief, buen ladron, the thief sets a trap with a nice boot in the road, deceit, folk story, family, children, education).
Anonymous. Begins at 55:36 and ends at 57:43. 1. Cuento (fair recording, story, there was a drunkard whose wife had died, women, marriage, the man went to the cantina - bar and cried for her, no one to take care of him, some men saw him crying and they called him la baba senor, joke, humor, drinking, liquor, death, muerte); 2. Chiste (fair recording, a wife had a surprise for her husband when he got home, eggs); 3. Chiste (fair recording, a man killed a priest, the man told his wife and asked her to keep the secret, the wife told everyone and the husband was arrested, crime, murder, marrriage, betrayal).
Anonymous woman. Begins at 57:44 and ends at 64:44. 1. Cuento (fair recording, speed wrong, but still can hear, story, there was a poor woman who lived in the campo - countryside far from the church, the woman did not have clothes to dress her son for mass, finally the woman gathered enough clothing for him to go to church, on the way to mass the boy asked his mom what do I pray? the mother told the boy to watch the others and pray for the same things, chiste, humor, the Virgin Mary smiled); 2. Cuento (fair recording, story about a prince who went hunting in the forest and got lost, he saw a light and heard strange music, he followed them and found a small home where a group of dogs lived, they were playing music, having a very good time, the dogs removed their tails to dance, etc.); 3. Verso (fair recording, short verse); 4. Chiste (fair recording, about a man who was going to a party, he stopped to eat his lunch by a lake, there met an elderly man who asked him where he was going, the horse fell into the lake and remained stuck for three days, the man missed the party and so the next year he returned and stopped at the same lake, the man makes fun of him, humor, joke).
Anonymous woman. CD I of III. Begins at 40:54 and ends at 49:33. 1. Cuento (fair recording, an elderly couple was discussing death, the two argued about who should die first, they insisted they could not live without one another, a man plays a joke on them by dressing as death and telling them one of them needs to go with him first, neither wanted to die first, muerte, women); 2. Cuento de los tres consejos (fair recording, a man and a woman lived in a lonely town, they were very poor and had lived there alone for some time, the husband tells his wife that he is going to leave and search for work, va a buscar a la vida, the wife makes him a lunch and he leaves, he finds a ranch and begins working there, many years passed and the man finally returned to his wife, the man did not pay him anything for the many years of work, he gave him only three pieces of advice).
Anonymous man. Begins at 49:38 and ends at 55:32. Cuento (fair recording, medieval story, about a couple who had three children and they sent them off to be educated, when the children returned home they sought work from the king, the father told the king what each of his children had studied and one of them learned to be a good thief, buen ladron, the thief sets a trap with a nice boot in the road, deceit, folk story, family, children, education).
Anonymous. Begins at 55:36 and ends at 57:43. 1. Cuento (fair recording, story, there was a drunkard whose wife had died, women, marriage, the man went to the cantina - bar and cried for her, no one to take care of him, some men saw him crying and they called him la baba senor, joke, humor, drinking, liquor, death, muerte); 2. Chiste (fair recording, a wife had a surprise for her husband when he got home, eggs); 3. Chiste (fair recording, a man killed a priest, the man told his wife and asked her to keep the secret, the wife told everyone and the husband was arrested, crime, murder, marrriage, betrayal).
Anonymous woman. Begins at 57:44 and ends at 64:44. 1. Cuento (fair recording, speed wrong, but still can hear, story, there was a poor woman who lived in the campo - countryside far from the church, the woman did not have clothes to dress her son for mass, finally the woman gathered enough clothing for him to go to church, on the way to mass the boy asked his mom what do I pray? the mother told the boy to watch the others and pray for the same things, chiste, humor, the Virgin Mary smiled); 2. Cuento (fair recording, story about a prince who went hunting in the forest and got lost, he saw a light and heard strange music, he followed them and found a small home where a group of dogs lived, they were playing music, having a very good time, the dogs removed their tails to dance, etc.); 3. Verso (fair recording, short verse); 4. Chiste (fair recording, about a man who was going to a party, he stopped to eat his lunch by a lake, there met an elderly man who asked him where he was going, the horse fell into the lake and remained stuck for three days, the man missed the party and so the next year he returned and stopped at the same lake, the man makes fun of him, humor, joke).
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
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