This post is a bit long, but---

It is interesting that this Old Paint or Hoolihan thread seems to reappear so often.

Hooly-ann (note the spelling) refers to a rope throw, not a rope. This is, as a couple of folks have mentioned, a head catch, used in a corral. "The roper carries the loop in his hand, and when the chance presents itself, he swings one quick whirl around in front of him toward the right and up over his head and releases the loop and rope in the direction of the target. As it comes over, it is turned in a way to flatten out before it reaches the head of the animal. It land straight down and so has a fair-sized opening."

Others refs in this book point out that twirling the rope over the head would excite the horses and be difficult when a whole gang of cowboys are trying to catch horses in the morning.

Hooligan wagon is used on short cattle drives for wood and water. Fay E. Ward, an old cowby who wrote The Cowboy At Work, calls this a hoolum wagon. He seems to be referring to a second two-wheel wagon that was sometimes trailered behind the chuck wagon.

Hoolihan is a cowboy term for foul or dirty play.

Hoolihaning is similar to bull dogging but knocks the steer down rather than wrestling. BUT, it is also used to refer to throwing a big time in town—to paint the town red.

This comes from Ramon Adams, Cowboy Dictionary, Norman Univ Okalahoma Press, 1968.

Seems clear that they are going to Montana and will then have a party at the end of the trail drive.

Facinating that the word seems to come from Ireland via India. I'm finding there are a lot of connections in the horse culture that are like that.

Snuffy is "a cowboy's term for a wild or spirited horse." Ramon Adams, Cowboy dictionary, Norman Univ Okalahoma Press.

My humble opinion is that firey and snuffy are definite referring to the horses, like the ones I was trying to hoof-trim yesterday who kept running around snorting and farting while we worked.

Re: the comments of dallying. The "Texas tie" was to tie the rope hard and fast to the saddle horn. A practioner of this was called a "tie-hard" or tie-hard-and-fast-man." It is not common in the north where dallys are wrapped (sometimes with a thumb in the loop like a thumbless neighbour of mine.)

The above and a slightly different description of the rope toss is found in The Cowboy Encyclopedia by Richard W. Slatta.

Lomax says that a lot of folks sing one line wrong as Woody Guthrie got the words mixed and sang "their backs are all matted and tails are all raw."

He alos points out that some folks sing "two daughters and a son," rather than the correct word "song."

This is on our next CD, "Halters and Hackamores" so the discussion is certainly interesting. If it helps for credibity my son is working wrangler.

Richard Wright