Mister Moon (Kindly Come Out and Shine)

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, Mister Moon, Moon, silvery moon, kindly come out and shine, Do Mister Moon, Moon, come out soon. My home I wants to find." In he original, Parson Jones is coming home and is frightened by intruders who set off a gun; camps just have a man with a gun
AUTHOR: Chris Smith & Euday L. Bowman (source: mudcat.org thread "Lyr Req: Mr. Moon")
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (copyright, according to mudcat.org thread "Lyr Req: Mr. Moon")
KEYWORDS: clergy hunting campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Harbin-Parodology, #245, pp. 60-61, "O Mister Moon" (1 text, tune referenced, implying that it is considered a rewrite)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 236, "Oh, Mister Moon" (notes only)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "From Out the Battered Elm Tree" (lyrics)
NOTES [115 words]: The original of this was pretty ugly -- kids, or someone, setting off a shot to scare Parson Jones, and "darkies" making sport of it. Only the chorus appears to have survived as a camp song, and even that has been modified a bit. I've no idea if the tune has wandered also, but I wouldn't be surprised.
It's ironic to note that author Chris Smith (who was a vaudeville performer, so he may well have originated the song as well as co-writing it) was black. I have never heard of any of the other Smith compositions on his Wikipedia page.
The mudcat.org thread "Lyr Req: Mr. Moon" has many interesting variants on this, including one in which part of the game was to "moon" the listeners. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF236M

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