The way I learned it in the early 1950s from a fellow who got it off a Frank Warner record:

I went up to me chamber for to take a slumber.
I dreamt of gold and jewels and sure, it is no wonder;
But Molly took my pistols and she filled them full of water
And sent for Colonel Pepper to make ready for the slaughter.
Moosha-ringum-doorum dah, whack fol-the-daddy-o
Whack fol-the-daddy-o, there's whiskey in the jar.

I woke up next mornin', 'twas 'twixt six and seven.
The guards, they stood around me all in numbers odd and even.
I pulled forth my pistols, but, alas, I was mistaken.
I tried to fire them off, but a prisoner I was taken.
(Chorus:   Moosha. . . .)

A single shot muzzle-loader flintlock pistol, loaded with powder and ball, along with wadding and with the aid of a small ramrod stored under the barrel (CLICKY). They often traveled in pairs, along with a powder horn and a bag of shot and wadding. The powder was highly susceptible to losing its potency if wet, so pouring water into the loaded barrel would very effectively sabotage the pistol. Molly wouldn't have had to "pull the charges." Dunking the pistols or pouring water in the pan or barrel would have been a quick and easy way to turn them into paper-weights.

Origin of the admonition, "Keep your powder dry." They weren't talking about face powder and shiny noses here. Any soldier in the field or deer hunter seeking to fill his larder with the aid of his trusty flintlock would be out of commission if his gunpowder got wet.

By the way, if you're ever at a target range and someone comes in with a black powder musket or pistol, try to stand up-wind. Those beasts spew a lot of smoke when they belch forth, and if you're down-wind—

STINK like you wouldn't believe!! PEEYOU!!

Don Firth