As sung by Christy's Minstrels.
Air - "Limerick Races"One of the boys am I,
That always am in clover;
With spirits light and high,
'Tis well I'm known all over.
I am always to be found,
A singing in my glory;
With your smiling faces round,
'Tis then I'm hunkey dorey.
via phrases.org.uk
The page goes on to explain the plight of etymologists.
Not long afterward, in October 1866, the US magazine The Galaxy, seemed unclear why the phrase was used, which also indicates that it wasn't very long in the tooth at that date:
"I cannot conceive on any theory of etymology that I ever studied why anything that is 'hunkee doree', or 'hefty' or 'kindy dusty' should be so admirable."
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