OK, scratch the Scottish stuff about Capt. Mark Page ;-)

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re: "Hoosen Johnny". I am seeing that there is there are extant forms that have "Hoosen Johnny, Hoosen Johnny" for both short refrains and some that have "Long Time Ago" for the second of the two short refrain. Anybody have any thoughts as to whether one or the other is more "authentic" to the 19th century, or if one came, significantly, before the other?

Christy's minstrel song (or *one* of them) called "Long Time Ago," seems to be a relative. It is posted elsewhere on Mudcat, having been harvested from a ca. 1850 songbook. The first short refrain in that version is, "Cousin John, hussa."

Yet while one might think it likely that a popular song such as Christy's was the original (or ground zero for its spread), it looks like Christy may have been borrowing from oral tradition. The minstrel troupe formed in 1843, so unless Fremont was mistaken, she was hearing a corn-shucking song before Christy could have popularized something. In this light, Christy's "Cousin John," rather than suggesting that Hoojun/Hooker is a mishearing, looks like it might have been a mishearing or rationalization itself.

Need to know more.