{"id":5733,"date":"2021-11-17T19:50:07","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T23:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=5733"},"modified":"2022-01-02T17:32:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T21:32:46","slug":"old-moke-pickin-on-a-banjo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=5733","title":{"rendered":"Old Moke Pickin’ On A Banjo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cliff has sung this for as long as we all have known him, and it is often associated as a “Cliff Haslam song” in the general sea music crowd.\u00a0 On Cliff’s website, he writes, “This was a capstain chantey used for raising the anchor. The mention of \u201crailway\u201d is influenced by men working on the railway then making their way on board ship. \u201cMoke\u201d was a term for a black person at that time. I got this song from Wickford Express.<\/span><\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, as a folk music festival, another singer had told Cliff and me she had done the research and that “old moke” was actually a term for an old man and not exclusively a racial reference.\u00a0 Some time later, in conversation with David Littlefield, I related that tidbit.\u00a0 David decided to do a little research himself, and a week later informed me that he had discovered that the word comes from Old English and references a donkey, or more to the point, a slow and seemingly dull donkey.\u00a0 However, it became a slang term in the form of “moke” or “jamoke” for a slow, dim-witted person, and fairly quickly became applied to black people certainly in the early 19th century, commonly used in this fashion before the 1850s.\u00a0 Joshua Slocum<\/a>, in his 1890 book\u00a0The Liberdade<\/em><\/a>, notes that he found people using the word “moke” to refer to people who were native to the Bahamas, although it isn’t clear if it was derogatory or a casual colloquialism.\u00a0 The reference found is in chapter 15 and the passage is : “Photographers at Mayaguez desiring a picture of the canoe with the crew on deck at a time when we felt inclined to rest in the shade on shore, put a negro on board to take the place of captain. The photographs taken then found their way to Paris and Madrid journals where, along with some flattering accounts, they were published, upon which it was remarked that the captain was a fine-looking fellow, but “awfully tanned!” The moke<\/strong> was rigged all ataunto for the occasion, and made a picture indicative of great physical strength, one not to be ashamed of, but he would have looked more like me, I must say, if they had turned him back to.<\/em>”\u00a0 Now, in Hawaii, the word refers to anyone perceived as what we might call a “redneck”, irrespective of their skin tone, and in today’s street slang in the cities, it’s a casual term for one’s penis!\u00a0 Thank you, David!<\/p>\n

Jos. Morneault<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"banjo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He-bang, she-bang, daddy shot a bear
\nShot \u2018im in the stern, me boys, and never turned a hair.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re from the railroad, too-ra-loo<\/em><\/strong>
\nOh, the old moke pickin\u2019 on the banjo.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

cho:\u00a0Hooraw! What the hell\u2019s a row?<\/em><\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re all from the railroad, too-ra-loo<\/em><\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re all from the railroad, too-ra-loo<\/em><\/strong>
\nAnd the old moke pickin\u2019 on the banjo!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pat, get back, take in yer slack. Heave away, me boys;
\nHeave away, me bully boys, why don\u2019t ye make some noise?
\nWe\u2019re from the railroad, too-ra-loo &c.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rock-a-block, chock-a-block, heave the caps\u2019n round,
\nFish the flamin\u2019 anchor up, for we are outward bound.
\nWe\u2019re from the railroad, too-ra-loo &c.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Roll her, boys, bowl her, boys, give \u2018er flamin\u2019 gip,
\nDrag the anchor off the mud, an\u2019 let the barstard rip!) [we forgot this verse]<\/p>\n

Out chocks, two blocks, heave away or bust,
\nBend yer backs, me bully boys, kick up some flamin\u2019 dust.<\/p>\n

Whisky-O, johnny-O, the mudhook is in sight,
\n\u2018Tis a hell-of-a-way to the gals that wait, an\u2019 the ol\u2019 Nantucket
\nLight;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the video interview below, Jackie Gleason uses the word “moke” not in a racial sense but such as “an ordinary guy, however troubled”.\u00a0 It comes about the 7:28 mark, but you should listen for a minute or so before to get the context.<\/p>\n