Stewie,

Who knows what came first I guess. Manny said it was her song and was "changed" when it became a hit. Tune is close. The LP I mentioned (which Smithsonian-Folkways can make you a custom cassette of) is FH 5457------THE SONGS AND STORIES OF AUNT MOLLY JACKSON. The stories are done by Molly herself. The songs are done by Prof. John Greenway---the aurhor of AMERICAN FOLKSONGS OF PROTEST (A.S.Barnes Co.--New York--1953 Perpetua edition 1961).

John Greenway says: "Aunt Molly Jackson was the original "pistol-packin' mama," and moreover, one that carried 2 guns. Several spoken introductions to these songs hint how easy it was for even a woman (sic) to use a gun in bloody Kentucky during the years of industrial strife, and Aunt Molly used hers more often than she was willing to tell.

PISTOL PACKIN' MAMA
as sung by Aunt Molly Jackson
The song says that JESSE BAKER wrote this song about Aunt Molly Jackson (his cousin). Does that make things clearer or does it muddy the waters more? "It's good though"---a Bruce Phillips used to say...
Art Thieme

Now, this song I'm a-goin' to sing,
Is about my brother Bill
Late one summer evenming,
He slipped of to a still.

His wife picked up her pistol,
And come to the foot of that hill,
And the very first words we heard her say,
"I'm a-comin' to get you, Bill."

Chorus)
Lay that pistol down, Ma,
Put that pistol down,
You pistol packin' woman
Lay that pistol down.

Then old Bill begin to trmble,
And then he looked around,
And Bill began to holler,
"Ma, put that pistol down."

Then my cousin Molly,
Put her husband on the run,
She chased him home to his children,
And broke up his drinkin' fun.

My cousin Molly carried a pistol,
And so did Cousin Bill,
And did he get drunk and raise old Ned,
When he went to the still.

One Sunday night old Bill got drunk,
And he fell against the wall,
His wife called out, "You drinkin' man,
That moonshine caused it all.

I don't drink strong moonshine, boys,
I'll tell you the reason why,
It caused me to mistreat my woman,
It caused my children to cry.

If anybody ask you,
Who composed this song,
Tell them it was Jesse Baker,
A man that's dead and gone.