Old Paint - lyrics
Ken Miner
In the version of Old Paint that Bruce Molsky does on his Big Hoedown CD,
the words go:
Farewell, dear ladies, I'm leaving Cheyenne
Farewell, dear ladies, I'm leaving Cheyenne
Goodbye, my little ?, my pony won't stand.
Can't get the word where the "?" is above. Anybody have this? The notes
say the words are from the Deseret String Band version.
Ken
JDStiteler
>
>Can't get the word where the "?" is above.
Goodbye, my little doney, my pony won't stand.
"Doney" is a term of endearment, similar to "honey". Spelled like "honey" (I
think), but rhymes with "pony".
John
Ken Miner
"JDStiteler" <jdsti...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020124164328...@mb-de.aol.com...
Yes, very good. Ola Belle Reed recorded a song with the line (or maybe the
title) "My Doney, where you been so long."
Just checked the Oxford English Dictionary but it's not there, oddly enough;
and I think your spelling is right. That suggests to me that it started out
as a personal name--just a possibility. Any brits on here who recognize it?
Ken
Paul
Ken Miner <mi...@lark.cc.ukans.edu> wrote in message
news:a2q85f$d1a$1...@news.cc.ukans.edu...
Louise Henson of San Antonio in 1936/37. She said she heard her uncle sing
the song many years earlier in Oklahoma and that he called his horse, 'Doney
Gal, his sweetheart'. There is an excellent recording of it by Joe
Hickerson and friends on Folk Legacy FSI-39.
--paulS.
Darwin, Australia.
Carl Baron
Ken Miner wrote:
> > "Doney" is a term of endearment, similar to "honey". Spelled like "honey"
> Just checked the Oxford English Dictionary but it's not there, oddly enough;
> and I think your spelling is right. That suggests to me that it started out
> as a personal name--just a possibility. Any brits on here who recognize it?
3doney
n -S
[prob. alter. of donah] chiefly Midland
: GIRL FRIEND, SWEETHEART
from Webster's Unabridged
Carl
Ken Miner
"Carl Baron" <cba...@mail.med.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:3C515F44...@mail.med.upenn.edu...
> 3doney
>
> n -S
>
> [prob. alter. of donah] chiefly Midland
>
> : GIRL FRIEND, SWEETHEART
>
> from Webster's Unabridged
>
> Carl
Aha! Webster's Second Edition Unabridged, which I keep around for old
stuff, strangely doesn't have this (nor 'donah'); but it has 'doney' with
the meaning 'hedge sparrow' (English).
I do like 'hedge sparrow' as an origin for a term of endearment.
Ken
Paul Mitchell
> Just checked the Oxford English Dictionary but it's not there, oddly enough;
> and I think your spelling is right. That suggests to me that it started out
> as a personal name--just a possibility. Any brits on here who recognize it?
Um, this re-occurring thread went through here years ago, and also through
fiddle-L (where I was able to search the archives). I believe it was
Peter Frasinet (sp?) who tracked this down, and I summarize:
"I love my Dony but it ain't no use"
spelling may be incorrrect on "dony". This thread ran through RMCOT and
the "doney/dony" is a spanish word for mature love object.
Paul
Lyle Lofgren
The Spanish origin idea makes sense: the anglicization of "Dona"
(tilde over the n), from "DOUGH-nya" to "DOUGH-nee" is a shorter jump
than from "caballero" to "cowboy." And the term seems to be mainly
from the American Southwest.
So the English souce really confuses me. The term doesn't seem to be
very common in Appalachian songs, but I've been misled before.
Carl Baron
Ken Miner wrote:
> "Carl Baron" <cba...@mail.med.upenn.edu> wrote in message
> news:3C515F44...@mail.med.upenn.edu...
> > 3doney
> Aha! Webster's Second Edition Unabridged, which I keep around for old
> stuff, strangely doesn't have this (nor 'donah'); but it has 'doney' with
> the meaning 'hedge sparrow' (English).
Notice the "3" before doney. "1doney"=hedge sparrow in Webster's online
edition
Carl
LukeHiNite
>The Spanish origin idea makes sense: the anglicization of "Dona"
>(tilde over the n), from "DOUGH-nya" to "DOUGH-nee" is a shorter jump
>than from "caballero" to "cowboy." And the term seems to be mainly
>from the American Southwest.
>
>So the English souce really confuses me. The term doesn't seem to be
>very common in Appalachian songs, but I've been misled before.
PERFECT explanation..."donya" into southern drawl "donee"...ala-
Darling Cora, etc
Doney is very common in Texas and
deep south blues.
pvc
>
>
>
>
>
John Heine
LukeHiNite wrote
It's also been suggested (Holloway and Vass, African Heritage of American
English) that the Bantu 'ndoni' is the root for the American 'doney'.
John Heine
Lyle Lofgren
<plon...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>It's also been suggested (Holloway and Vass, African Heritage of American
>English) that the Bantu 'ndoni' is the root for the American 'doney'.
>
>John Heine
That's interesting. I'm not familiar with the book. Does the Bantu
word have approximately the same meaning as the American word?
Lyle
Joseph Scott
"A queer term used by Carolina mountaineers, without the faintest
notion of its origin, is doney (long o) or doney-gal, meaning a
sweetheart. Its history is unique. British sailors of the olden time
brought it to England from Spanish or Italian ports. Doney is simply
dona or donna a trifle anglicized in pronunciation."
Joseph Scott
Kerry Blech
Excellent citation, thanks. But let's not forget that the more
southerly portion of the US had much interaction with Spanish
speakers, especially since the Spanish were the original
colonizers of Florida and Texas, among other areas that would
one day be states. Louisiana has a Spanish history, as well.
So maybe in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states-to-be the
Brit sailors could have introduced the term there, and quite likely
into the Carolinas. But my logic would lean more towards the
old Spanish colonists anywhere further south along the Coast.
As far as pronunciation, guess they lost the tilde wherever
it was found. And let us not forget the end-syllable pronunciations
of Phoeba as Fee-bee, Virginia as Virginny, etc.
Kerry (no, it never was spelled "Kerra")
Gillespie Gail
wrote on 1/29/02 7:03 AM:
Hey there Kerra,
This dona/doney business reminds me of a favorite Tommy Jarrell anecdote. We
used to drive up from Fla. to visit him and after he'd get over being amazed
we'd come so far he'd laugh and say, "My Daddy always pronounced Florida
'Fler-dy." Except Tommy actually said "Fler-dy" both times.
Gail