RE: this thread's song:

"This means the song already had a melody to it and all A.G Wathall would do was write a piece to fit the melody that already existed."

A melody familiar in the Bahamas since 1903 according to Le Gallienne, in a travelogue piece paid for by the Bay Street Boys.

Which dovetails with the Prouty copyright on sheet music dedicated to the People of Nassau as a senior executive of the mainland's Flager System (in Nassau, The Colonial and The Royal Vic.)

No earlier references have been found. Prouty himself is a very recent addition to the discussion.

I say again, there isn't anything currently in the historical record, Lomax liner notes inclusive, that originates from anywhere but the Bay Street Boys tourist industry narrative.