Not an old reference, but I'll throw this in as chum: in Roger Abraham's "Deep the Water, Shallow the Shore" he gives one verse of the shanty "Johnny Come Down With a Hilo" --

Solo
The poor old man he sick in bed
He want somebody to 'noint his head.

Chorus
Oh, Johnny come down with a hilo,
A poor old man.

A variant of the familiar chantey, but with "a" replacing "to" in the title.

Jerry