745. Hump-back Mule
'Hump-back Mule.' Sung by Bonnie Wiseman, Upper Hinson's Creek, Avery county, August 26, 1939. For the beginning of the first stanza cf. Ill 500-1, No. 415D and E. For the last line, ibid. 353-4. No. 298. The tune of the stanza is almost identical with the melodic line of F-386. For another text cf.
NWS 179-
F-644
If I had a pret - ty lit - tie wife,
Tell you what I'd tr-
do, I'd send her off to the bar - room house And pad -die
is:Rid - ing on a hump - back
hump-back mule, And the on - ly
For melodic relationship cf. *TNFS i86, endings of both stanzas and choruses.
Scale: Irrational (2,3), plagal. Tonal Center: c. Structure: aba^b^ (4,4,4,4). The tonal center is the highest tone.