12C. The Pretty Mohee- Sutherland (KY) 1925

12C. The Pretty Mohee- Sutherland (KY) 1925

12C - THE PRETTY MOHEE
(The Pretty Mohea)

Communicated by Miss Catharine E. Sutherland, Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky, Decomber 2O, 1925. Reported also by Miss Margaret Nestor, Elkins, Randolph County and Mr. Mellinger E. Henry, Ridgefield, New Jersey, with unimportant variations.

[music]

Ionian. a b

1 As I went out walking, down by the seashore;
The wind it did whistle, the water did roar.

2 As I sat amusing myself on the grass,
Whom did I spy near me, but a fair Indian lass.

3. She sat down beside me, took hold of my hand,
Saying, "You are a stranger and in a strange land."

4. "But if you will follow, you are welcome to come,
And dwell in the cottage which I call it home."

5. The sun was past shinking, far over the sea,
So I wandered along with my pretty Mohee.

6. Together they wandered, together they roamed,
Till they came to the cottage where she called it her home.

7. "My father's a chieftain, and ruler can be,
I'm his only daughter, my name is Mohee.

8. "And if you'll consider, and stay here with me,
I'll teach you the language of the pretty Mohee."

9. "Oh no, pretty maiden, that never can be,
I have a true lover in my own countree.

10. "And I'll not forsake her, for I know she loves me,
Her heart is as true as any Mohee."

11. The last time I saw her, she was sitting on the sand,
And as my boat passed by her, she waved me her hand.

12. Saying, "When you have landed on your own native shore,
Think of the Mohee, where the soonanuta grow."

13. And when I was landed on my own native shore,
My friends and relations gathered round me once more.

14. The girl that I trusted proved untrue to me,
I'll spend all my days with the pretty Mohee.

15. I'll turn my course backward, to the land I will see,
I'll spend all my days with the pretty Mohee.


In 12C, the ms. version of 'past shinking' in line 9, is probably an error for 'fast sinking' or more doubtfully, for 'past shining.' As it stands' it makes an amusing compression of both ideas, one not impossible for a folk-song (Hatpert).

Laws 118. See NC II 540.