ranz des vaches

Ranz des vaches

Ranz" des` vaches"\ [F., the ranks or rows of cows, the name being given from the fact that the cattle, when answering the musical call of their keeper, move towards him in a row, preceded by those wearing bells.] The name for numerous simple, but very irregular, melodies of the Swiss mountaineers, blown on a long tube called the Alpine horn, and sometimes sung.