The Cracker

From Lonesome Dove, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, both men carry Gaelic origin surnames, and are archetypal 'Cracker' cowboys.
 

What is the etymology of the term Cracker?  

We all know what a Cracker was (and is).  A Southern Anglo-Celt who lived in the backcountry and Uplands.  Many were of Scots-Irish origin, but there were also a lot of Crackers who were Irish or Scots in origin.  The term appears in use by the mid-1700s in Colonial America.  One eighteenth-century definition of what a Cracker provides a good description of one; in 1776 a Colonial official wrote to the earl of Dartmouth:

I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers, a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascals on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their place of abode.

They were basically a semi nomadic group who were excellent hunters, kept free range cattle and pigs, and lived in the backcountry.  They were normally of Ulster ancestry, but not exclusively so.

Cracker is still a much used term.  Dubious sources, such as Wikipedia, tell us it is a “usually derogatory term for white people.” Wikipedia also offers a proposed etymology of the term coming from the sound of the “whips” used by Southern whites on their livestock. Obviously, this is total nonsense.  

The real story is more complex.  It is term with links to Ulster and associated with the people we know as the Scots-Irish and their life style.  The original Crackers are associated with free range cattle and lived in the backcountry.  That much is on firm ground, but the etymology is more difficult to deduce, but I believe it is also linked to Ulster.

two Florida Crackers by Frederic Remington

There are several possible origins:

Creachadóir:  This is the word I believe is the actual origin of Cracker. It is Ulster Gaelic and Scots Gaelic (Creachadair) word meaning, “raider and freebooter,” but also associated with the free range cattle drovers in Ulster.  

I think Cracker is the anglicized form of Creachadóir. Creach (Ulster Gaelic) means a “herd of cattle,” and also a “Cattle raid.”  You will also find the word Greigh in Scot Gaelic meaning a “herd of cattle.”  There is also the Scots-Gaelic word Gréighear meaning a “farm grieve.”  (someone who took care of livestock).  

Having stated my opinion of the etymology, I will also mention a few other ethymologies of Cracker.  However, I do not think these are correct for several factual reasons. 

Cracaire: This word means “talker” or a person that chats a lot and is related to the modern Irish word “Craic” meaning “a gathering where people talk, have refreshments, and have a good time.”  As far as I can tell, the use of Cracaire and Craic are more recent in their use in the Gaelic language and so this is not the etymology of Cracker.

Arizona Cowboy, Frederic Remington

The salient element is the linking of Crackers to cattle. Creach was anglicized as Creacht and was used by the Elizabethan English to describe both a herd of cattle and the drovers (cowboys) of the herd.  These men were also used for raiding parties.  So in actual use a Creacht was both a free range cowboy and raider. 

In modern Gaelic usage the older meaning of free range cowboy has been dropped and now the definition is “raider and freebooter, ” but in the historical context it was the same thing. So, in Ulster, we have the word Creach and Creacht in use in both English and Gaelic and meaning exactly what the Southern Crackers, who were primarily from Ulster, were.

We are left with Cracker being an anglicized form of a Gaelic origin word. It could be Creachadóir or it could be from Creach with an English 'er' suffix added.  The two words and concepts are related, i.e. cowboys and cattle. I think Creachadóir to be the best etymology. It is Creachadóir in use in Ulster, anglicized, brought to the Colonies in the 1700s, and popularized by the many Scots-Irish settlers. 

Cowboy, Frederic Remington

  

Despite Wikipedia and the other pop media, Cracker is not considered derogatory among the Crackers living in the South today.  The opposite is true, it is an often used term of ethnic self-description and one of pride.  It means you are indigenous to the South, ancestors from Ireland and or Scotland and or northwest Britain, have roots in the Uplands or Backcountry. Crackers are considered independent, self-reliant, to act in an honorable way, to have good weapons, to be adept at hunting, fishing, and are to be a man who knows how to do things and will not suffer crap behaviour from people.  As the Southern Crackers settled Texas and the Southwest they became the Cowboy, which was just a cultural continuum of their unique lifestyle. 

© 2021 Barry R McCain 

Link:  Finding the McCains