Cracker, An Etymology

 

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 still is.  It is a Southern Anglo-Celt from the backcountry and Uplands. It is a historical term, but still in use today.  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.  An eighteenth-century definition of what a Cracker provides a good description of one from an anglocentric perspective; 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.

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 and shows a complete ignorance of Irish and Scottish culture.  

The real story is more complex and comes from Ireland. The original Crackers are associated with free range cattle and were drovers that lived in the backcountry. The original Crackers were generally from Ireland, and as we have mentions, primarily of Scots-Irish ancestry.  That much is on firm ground, but the etymology of the word Cracker is more difficult to deduce, but I believe it is also linked to Ulster.

two Florida Crackers by Frederic Remington

There are several possible etymology origins, the foremost is the Gaelic word Creachadóir.  It is an Ulster Gaelic and Scots Gaelic (Creachadair) word meaning, “raider and freebooter,” but also associated with the free range cattle drovers in Ulster and the wider Gaelic world. Cracker is the anglicized form of Creachadóir. 

A related word is Creach (Ulster Gaelic) which means a “herd of cattle,” and also a “Cattle raid.”  You will also find the word Greigh in Scots Gaelic meaning a “herd of cattle.”  There is also the Scots-Gaelic word Gréighear meaning a “farm grieve.”  (someone who took care of livestock). With all these Gaelic words, there is a connection, i.e. to cattle and cowboys.    

Having stated my opinion of the etymology, I will also mention another etymology for Cracker.  However, I do not think it is correct. 

Another suggested etymology which appears in media  is Cracaire. This Gaelic  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. And, is also not remotely related to cattle and cattle drovers. 

Arizona Cowboy, Frederic Remington

The salient element is the linking of Crackers to cattle and the drovers, or cowboys. 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. Creachadóir is a related word is specifically the word for the cowboy. So Creach and Creachadóir both relate to Cracker. 

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 a cowboy and raider were the same thing. 

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 then related and mean cowboys and cattle. I think Creachadóir to be the best etymology. Creachadóir in use in Ireland and Scotland, anglicized as Cracker and brought to the Colonies in the 1700s, by the large influx of Ulster origin settlers to the Southern Uplands and Backsettlements. 

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. Crackers are considered independent, self-reliant, to act in honorable ways, to be adept at hunting, fishing, to be proficient with weapons, and will not suffer rude 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