THE REBEL SOLDIER

Oh, Molly, oh Molly,
It's for your sake alone
That I leave my poor parents,
My house and my home.

That I leave my old parents,
You've caused me to roam,
I'm a Rebel soldier
And Dixie's my home.

My foot's in my stirrup,
My bridle's in my hand,
I'm going to leave Molly,
The fairest in the land.

Her parents don't like me,
They say I'm too poor,
They say I'm unworthy
To enter her door.

They say I drink whisky,
My money's my own,
And them that don't like me
Can leave me alone.

I'll eat when I'm hungry,
I'll drink when I'm dry,
If a limb don't fall on me
I'll live till I die.

I'll build me a castle
On yonder mountain high
Where my true love can see me
When she comes riding by.

Where my true love can see me
And help me to mourn,
I'm a rebel soldier
And Dixie's my home.

I'll get in my saddle,
My quirt in my hand,
I'll think of you, Molly
When in some distant land.

I'll think of you, Molly,
You caused me to roam,
I'm a rebel soldier
And Dixie's my home.

"This song, brought to Texas by my Oklahoma cousins, ...became a favorite of my grandmother..." "The song is not well known in Texas. I have not found versions of it elsewhere." He does not mention its similarity to "Old Paint." William A. Owens, 1950, Texas Folk Songs, pp. 277-279, with music.
@Civil War @Confederate @immigration @cowboy @lost love

Questions raised include the age of this song, its age relative to "(Goodbye,) Old Paint," the provenance, and possible related songs. Certainly many Southerners, including immigrants among them, went west after the War.
"Old Paint" first appeared in Lomax, J. A., Cowboy Songs, 1910, pp. 329-330, with the note "used in many parts of the west as a dance song. Sung to waltz music the song takes the place of "Home, Sweet Home" at the conclusion of a cowboy ball" (This common use suggests that the song is much older than its collection date). "The "fiddle" is silenced and the entire company sing as they dance." Later he said the song was given to him in Cheyenne in 1910 (ABFS 1938). Margaret Larkin (1931) commented that the dance would go on as long as anyone remembered a new verse.

Did "Old Paint" evolve from this song, which resembles several English-Irish songs of love interrupted because of the parent's opposition?

"The Legend of the Rebel Soldier," in the DT, seems to be separate.
Threads on "Old Paint" are 14070, 15514, 7295 and 5036: Help: hoolihan
Old Paint
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