Gordonʻs Song
During one of our many visits to Kāpapla Ranch in Kaʻu, Lani Cran Petrie told us a story of how some time back they were having trouble bringing in a herd of cows from a more remote part of the ranch. She described how they had decided in frustration to just go out and shoot as many of the wayward cows as they could find. Her father Gordon Cran said he would like to go out and try to bring them in one more time. So off he went. By the end of the day when they went to check on him they were amazed to find the wayward cattle locked up in a coral and Gordon and his dogs looking over them. This is a song describing this actual event. One day ,a year or so later, I sang this song to Gorden Cran in front of a bunch of other cowboys who had come to help in a branding the next day. After singing the song, Gordon smiled and said ʻ"now that you have embarrassed me Iʻll go to bed." He then stood up, tipped his hat to all that were gathered and walked off into the night up to the big house.
It was early in the morning
When the foreman called us round
We were headed out to ʻAinapō
To bring some wayward cows
They had toyed and played round with us
Some two weeks running now
It was time they paid the piper
Time we brought them down
The foreman looked us squarely
Said put your ropes away
And handed out some bullets
Saying don’t come home today
Till the last aihiu captured
Till the final devils down
No more will we be playing
With this herd of wayward cows
Then softly came a whisper
From the corner of the pen
Let me go out and get em
Let me try it once again
We turned and look straight at him
The man who said these words
Thought that he’d on crazy
Lost touch with the real world
We had all long revered him
For his skill and knowing ways
But his prime had long slipped past him
Gone were his better days
But he stood right there amidst us
Saying let me go today
Let me my dog and pony
Do it our own way
The foreman paused and smiled at him
Then nodded toward his way
Said you got till sundown
To finish what you say
He got up on his pony
Rode off into the dawn
His dog along side him
Disappearing in the fog
We shook our heads and chuckled
Then went our different ways
Looking forward to the sun set
Waiting for the end of day
But before the sun was overhead
The foreman called us in
Said ride out to ʻAinapō
And help em bring them in
We all stood there confounded
By what the foreman said
Had the old man really done it
Did he do just what he said
We rode out there to ʻAinapō
And stopped upon the hill
And what we saw below us
Amazed us even still
For the herd of wayward cattle
Was huddled in the pen
And slowly riding toward us
Was that old wiry man
He pause for just a moment
As he rode past our way
Tipped his hat and winked at us
Then slowly rode away
For all the new fan dangle things
Used on a ranch today
Canʻt beat a dog and pony
With a man who knows his way
We had all long revered him
For his skills and knowing ways
He still had what it took
And he showed us that today
We had all long revered him
For his skills and knowing ways
He still had more than what it took
And he showed us that today
Aihiu simply means wild
"ainapō ia a land section and corral in Kāpapala It means dark land. The clouds usually come in early in the day blocking out the sun and making things look darker