Mammy Moon

DESCRIPTION: "De day is past and gone en what is done is done, Ef you ain' done you' bes' you'll be de suffrin' one. Ole Time jes goes along en never kin turn back." "Mammy Moon, Mammy Moon, Time jes never kin turn back."
AUTHOR: W. H. Neidlinger (1863-1924) (source: Niedlinger, Songs of the Camp Fire Girls of America)
EARLIEST DATE: 1915 (Niedlinger, Songs of the Camp Fire Girls of America)
KEYWORDS: nonballad campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 343, "Mammy Moon" (notes only)
NOTES [114 words]: Yes, this really was written in minstrel dialect in 1915! Little wonder that recent scouting books have dropped it. I'd be tempted to drop Neidlinger's other compositions, too, it's so disgusting.
W. H. Niedlinger's 1915 booklet was one of the first, if not the first, attempts to create song for a scouting group (the Camp Fire Girls). More than half of the songs Niedlinger published are cited by Averill -- but they consistently just *barely* met my threshold for inclusion. Which should not surprise anyone, because they are stilted, insipid, and -- in this case -- written in fake-minstrel dialect. I strongly doubt any of them went into actual tradition; they are too lousy. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF343Y

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