Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip.
The inflection on the last word is always a rising one. This is
especially true on the last syllable of the last word, "tip." The
counting out is not very different from that of white children. They
all place two fingers of each hand in a circle; the one who repeats
the doggerel, having one hand free, touches each finger in the circle
saying, _Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip_. Each finger
that the _huntip_ falls on is doubled under, and this is repeated
again and again until there are but three fingers left. The persons
corresponding to these start to run, and the one caught has to play as
_Squaw-oc-t'moos_.[32] To the Indian mind "counting out" has a
significance, and even the simple _huntip_ is a magic word, bringing
good luck, as it lessens the chance of being "_squaw-oc-t'moos_."
["Journal of American Folk-Lore," vol. iii. No. 8, pp. 71, 72.]
[Footnote 32: The word "squat" in Passamaquoddy means fire. Mrs. Brown
spells the name of the swamp woman as follows: _Squaw-oc-t'moos_. The
_a_ is very long, and possibly can be best represented by _aw_.]
One of the songs, said to be a salutation, which was sung on the
cylinders, has been written out from the phonograph by the late Mr.
S.P. Cheney. The words, as nearly as I can make them out, are as
follows:--
T'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho [to be way] bla
Tel ey wees ee lu
Hoi kay yu kar, heno yah ha,
Kaye yu kar, hen o yar-hah,
Kay yu kar, hen o yah-hah, kay yu kar, hen o yar-hah.
The first two lines are sung first to the upper staff, then repeated
to the music on the second, which differs somewhat from the first.
Then follows the third and fourth lines, which are sung to the third
staff, and repeated with slight variation from the fourth.
[Music illustration: