Good! Let's share our ideas and assumptions....and then test them!

I remember reading a field holler reference, too, Charlie. Let's see the scope of "hi-lo", i.e. if it's in songs, hollers, work songs, dance songs, etc.

Let's see what geographic regions. Coastal or inland? Northern or Southern?
What time range?-- Does it seem to emerge at a certain time? Was it a style or fad only for a number of years?

I am skeptical of Hugill's fascination with "Hilo" the port, and I suspect that he has biased our casual perceptions in one direction. But need to get in the nitty-gritties to show just how that may have happened.

It looks like the "Oh hollow" reference above is the earliest *by date of publication* that I have in my current bibliography. As I work through, there may be later publications referencing earlier times. Granted, the bibliography is focused mainly on sea music, so in focusing on "hi-lo" specifically, some more evidence might come out.