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NISHY HAD A MATER (CHEROKEE HYMN) Sung by: Almeda Riddle Recorded on 5/10/62 Click here to listen to the original recording Nishy had a mama . . . Nishy had a mater and she cocka-needle-o, Nishy had a mater and she cocka-needle-o, And a nishy mater kay, Nishy mater gay, Gayna meter mater and she cocka-needle-o. (Comment by Mrs. Riddle: "Now, in the old ballad that I found this in, it was . . . I guess it was a translation of that. The next verse was . . .") Nishy had a mother in the promised land. Nishy had a mother in the promised land, And Nishy's mother called, And Nishy had to go. She went to meet her mother in the promised land. Nishy had a pater and she cocka-needle-o, Nishy had a pater and she cocka-needle-o, Nishy pater kay, Nishy madem gay, Gayna meter pater and she cocka-needle-o. Nishy had a father in the promised land. Nishy had a father in the promised land. Nishy's father called, And Nishy had to go, Go to meet her father in the promised land. (Mrs. Riddle: "I've always known that, but I did find an old handwritten ballad in my mother's trunk. Someone had written it out like that, and I don't even know who nor where nor when. But I have an idea it came from this vicinity somewhere. My grandmother came from Tennessee, as my mother did as a child. They were Tennesseeans, and I have an idea this area somewhere is where these were old ballads of my grandmothers. So somebody here might know the beginning of it. I certainly don't." Dr. Wolf: "That sounds a little like a corruption of the Latin song . . .") Also found in Brown, Vol. III, "Cherokee Hymn." |
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All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas Back to the Song Index Back to the Wolf Collection Homepage ©Copyright 2002 Lyon College |