ABSTRACT
Context, Style, and Language: (For context see notes to No. 50). The two versions of this cante fable recorded from Mrs. Martha Hutchings in 1966 and
1970 differ considerably in context and performance. This, the earlier of the two, was elicited along with other songs during the collectors’ first visit to the northwest coast of the province. We are told in the preamble that it was learned from Mrs. Charlotte Decker, a singer renowned for her extensive repertoire, whom we also interviewed at her home in nearby Parsons Pond. The same source is again mentioned in the preamble to No. 91, with some interesting comments on the age of the song, but omitting Mrs. Decker's name. However, the comments at the end of No. 90 contradict this and give the source as Mrs. Hutchings' uncle.
