DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)

Subject: Lyr Add: POLLY VON LUTHER AND JAMIE RANDALL
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 04:48 PM

Hi,

I', posting the other US broadside which doesn't seem so much like a parody as I thought from the title. The end has "four and twenty jurymen" which is different.

"Polly von Luther and Jamie Randall" J. Andrews, Printer, Chatham St., N. Y (Harris Collection, Brown University). 1857:

Come all ye gay sportsman who follow the gun,
Beware of your shooting by the setting of the sun,
For a melancholy accident that happened here of late,
To Polly Von Luther whose fortune was great.

As she was walked out one day at the setting of the sun,
She stepped under a green bush a shower for to shun
Her lover being a sportsman and being in the dark,
He fired off his gun, and he missed not his mark.

Then he ran to the object and found it was she,
His knees were very weak, and for his tears he could not see,
He embraced her in his arms, till he found she was dead
With a fountain of tears all around her he shed.

Then his gun he picked up, and straight home he did run,
Crying, "Father, dear father, I have shot Polly Von,
I have shot that dear creature--the joy of my life,
And thought ten thousand times I would make her my wife.

Then up stepped the old man-- his locks being gray,
Saying, "Jamie, dear Jamie O do not run away,
But stay in your own country till the trial, it comes on,
For you ne'er shall be condemned for the death of Polly Von."

In two or three weeks to her uncle she did appear,
Saying "Uncle, dear uncle Jamie Randall is clear
My apron being about me, when he took me for a fawn,
Bit oh, and alas! it was I, Polly Von."

Now all ye gay ladies of England, look sad,
For Polly Von Luther is numbered with the dead,
With four and twenty jurymen, all standing in a row,
She'll appear in their midst like a fountain of snow.

NOTE- The last 2 lines of every stanza may be repeated in singing.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 04:57 PM

Hi Steve,

(Off the top of my head) John White from York came to Newcastle in 1708 and several years later started printing the newspaper there (around 1711). His father, John Sr. was the king's printer. John Jr. died in 1769 and his partner Saint took over the business then. Google shows a printing of the Garland in 1765. There may have been other printings but that one was in 1765 when John White and Saint were running the business.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 25 May 16 - 06:13 PM

Can you put here a blue clicky please to take me to the White/Saint printing? I have 2 transcriptions but not a copy of the actual sheet/garland. What sometimes happens is some cataloguer puts a rough date on an artefact and then everyone else takes this as gospel. I can usually tell the difference between a 1765 printing and a 1790 one on style markers such as type used.

Subject: Lyr Add: POLLY BAND
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 06:42 PM

Hi,

I'll put a couple of older US versions; this one I've dated c. 1850. It comes to Michigan from Ohio and to the US from New Jersey. I also have several New Jersey versions I can post for comparison.

B. Polly Band- From the Lambertson manuscript. Mr. Charles Lambertson remembers hearing his mother sing this song. from: Ballads and Songs of Southern Michigan by Gardner and Chickering; 1939.

1 Polly walked out at the setting of the sun;
She stepped under a green bush the shower for to shun.

2 Johnny being a-hunting, it was somewhat dark;
He shot at a swan, not missing his mark.

3 Johnny ran to her; when he found it was she,
His joints they grew feeble, and his eyes could not see.

4 He embraced her in his arms till he found she was dead;
Then a fountain of tears all around her Johnny shed.

5 Johnny ran home with his gun in his hand,
Crying, "Daddy, dear Daddy, I've shot Polly Band.

6 "Her apron was about her, I took her for a swan,
But O alas, it was my Polly Band."

7 His father being an old man, his head somewhat gray,
Said, "Stay at home, dear Johnny, and don't run away.

8 "Stay in your own country, let your trial come on,
For you shall not be hanged by the laws of the land."

9 A night or two after, to her uncle she appeared,
Crying, "Uncle, dear uncle, Johnny Randall is clear.

10 "My apron was about me, he took me for a swan,
But O alas, it was I, Polly Band."

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: JIMMY RANDALL
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 06:51 PM

Hi,

My other versions from NJ aren't great. Here's on collected by Hudson in 1936. It has "fawn":

JIMMY RANDALL- Sung by Charles "Dixie" Archer, age 76, Cookstown, New Jersey, July, 1936. Tune not obtained. Learned around Cassville.

1. Jimmy Randall was a-fowling one evening of late,
When he shot Molly Bannon, and her beauty were great.

2. She was under a green tree, a shower for to shun,
With her apron pinned around her and he shot her for a fawn.

3. But it's when he came to her, and found she were dead,
A fountain of tears in her apron he shed.

4. Then Jimmy Randall ran home with his gun in his hand,
Saying, "Father, dear father, I've shot Molly Bann.

5. "She were under a green tree, a shower for to shun,
With her apron pinned around her, and I shot her for a fawn."

6. Then up stepped his uncle with his hair all so grey,
"Stay at home, Jimmy Randall, and do not run away.

7. "Stay at home, Jimmy Randall, till your trial is at hand,
And you shall be cleared by the laws of this land."

(Another verse, not remembered, "tells how he was cleared").

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 06:59 PM

Hi Steve,

It list the songs in the 8 page garland as:

The Bottle and Frien'ds [sic] Garland, Containing Four Excellent New Songs. I. Damon and Phillis. II. The Bottle and Friend. III. A New Song. IV. Molly Bawn. V. The Macaroni

https://books.google.com/books?id=XpI0MwEACAAJ&dq=The+Bottle+and+Frien%27ds+Garland,&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK09XPqPbMAhUKOiYKHfn

Google books has two entries both dated 1765 but not on that page. It's possible it's a mistake but since it gives 1765 date and the selections of the garland- it seems to be right. There's no guesswork involved here.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 07:49 PM

Hi,

After you click on the link -- you can click on the blue search button (google books- top right) both versions are listed first with the date 1765.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 08:29 PM

Regarding Moore's poem/song. I don't think the importance of the melody is clear:

1. The melody "Lough Sheeling" (after the lake, "Lough Sheelin") is used by Moore and is the same melody first identified with "Molly Bawn."
Edward Bunting (1773-1843) the Irish collector used is at least three time in his manuscripts and it was the first melody used by student harpists.

2. The Gaelic "Mairi Bhan" which means "Fairhaired Mary," (see the O'Carolan composition around 1734) is an English corruption of "Molly Bawn."

3. What does this line by Moore mean: "Come, rest in this bosom, my own stricken deer," (stricken fawn)

4. Or the line, "I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art." Implying that he knows not what she is, a fawn, and animal spirit?

5. Or "And thy Angel I'll be, 'mid the horrors of this," what horrors? Being shot by your lover?

Moore takes the melody of "Molly Bhan"- he knows the story. Poets are not obvious- at least good ones- however it seemed obvious to me,

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 09:22 PM

Hi,

I've started writing the headnotes here: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/4-molly-bawn-polly-vaughn-.aspx Footnotes to be added. Since it's not long I'll post it:

Narrative: 4. Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn/The Shooting of his Dear)

This earliest record of this ballad has been mistakenly attributed to Robert Jamieson in 1799, which was the date Jamieson sent a circular letter to his friends. In the letter was a copy of Jamieson's composed ballad, "Lord Kenneth and Fair Ellinoir" based on the ballad story he heard when a child[1]. Seven years later he published[2] a fragment of the ballad, entitled, "Peggy Baun" obtained "from his much-valued friend, professor Scott, of King's College, Aberdeen" who had taken it "from the recitation of one of his maidservants." This fragment was acquired around 1803[3]. Here is the traditional fragment Jameison published in Popular Ballads and Songs, 1806:

Out spak the old father
(His head it was grey)
'O, keep your ain country,
My son,' he did say.

'O, keep your ain country;
Let your trial it come on, &c.

*    *    *    *    *

She appeared to her uncle,
And to him said she,
'O uncle, dear uncle,
Jamie Warick is free.

'Ye'll neither hang him nor head him,
Nor do him any wrong;
Be kind to my darling,
Now since I am gone.

'For once as I was walking,
It fell a shower of rain;
I went under the hedging,
The rain for to shun.

'As he was a-hunting,
With his dog and his gun,
By my white apron,
He took me for a swan.'

This fragment is taken from the end of the ballad after a hunter, in this case named Jamie Warick, goes home and tells his father that he accidentally killed his true love, Molly Baun, thinking he was shooting a swan. The father tells his son not to flee but to stay in his "ain country" and face trial. Molly's ghost appears to her uncle, tells him "Jamie Warick will go free," and explains how she was accidentally killed.

Robert Jamieson was born in 1772 and heard the ballad around 1777[4] when he was a child. The importance of his memory of the ballad is that it establishes an early traditional date of circa 1777. The fragment above, being acquired from a maidservant around 1803, is also important since it was the first extant traditional version published (1806). The 1799 date only pertains to Jamieson's composition. At least four print versions were published before 1800:

1. "A Song, call'd Molly Bawn" was published in The Bottle and Frien'ds Garland; Containing Four Excellent New Songs. I. Damon and Phillis. II. The Bottle and Friend. III. A New Song. IV. Molly Bawn. V. The Macaroni; transcribed by Steve Gardham from the British Library 11621.c.3(4.), printed 1765[5].

2. "Mally Bann" was published in a Scottish chapbook in 1793[6] the contents of ballads are: Logie O' Buchan, Mally Bann, Grigel Maccree, The Young Man's Love to the Farmer's Daughter, and The Braes of Ballanden.

3. "The Youth's Grievance, or the Downfall of Molly Bawn" of 10 stanzas appeared in a Belfast garland 1797[7].

4. A twelve stanza version titled "Mally Bann" was published in a chapbook "The British volunteers. To which are added, God save the king. Mally Bann. Tippling John. Johny Faa, the gypsie laddie[8]" which was printed by J. & M. Robertson, Saltmarket, Glasgow, 1799. BL 11606. aa. 23. 24.2.

Two broadside print versions were made in the US:

1. "Polly Wand, together with the Beggar girl, and Tom Starboard," Isaiah Thomas Broadside Ballads Project, BIB ID: 284426.
Boston, MA; c. 1810[9].

2. "Polly von Luther and Jamie Randall" J. Andrews, Printer, 38 Chatham St., NY; c. 1857.

As indicated by the different titles of the print versions, the ballad has appeared under a variety of names from which I've chosen the main title as "Molly Bawn." The "B" is pronounced as a 'V" and the name sounds like, "Vaughn" and is also spelled "Vaughan." According to Andrew Kuntz[10], "The title 'Molly Bawn' is an Englished corruption of the Gaelic 'Mailí Bhán,' or Fair Mary (Fairhaired Mary, White Haired Mary)." Other popular titles or spellings include "Molly Bann/Baun" and "Polly Vaughn/Vaughan."

The question remains, is the ballad based on fact? Did the accidental shooting take place, and if so, when and where? According to Bob Askew[11]:

"It seems to be based on a true event. Joyce said that it was very popular in mid and southern Ireland in the 19th century. He noted the earliest version in Ireland and felt that it was based on a true event: 'it obviously commemorates a tragedy in real life'. An article in Ulster Folklife (1972) quoted an 1845 manuscript from Kilwarlin, Co Down, which named James Reynolds and Molly Bann Lavery, born in Lisburn, and educated in Lurgan. The surnames were local, the Laverys were Catholics and the Reynolds Protestants. No archival evidence has yet been found to prove this, but it is likely that it could turn up."

Steve Gardham who has made transcription of the print versions of this ballad at the British Library says, "I'd say the incident/original was probably 1750 or earlier[12]."

In the book, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland: Together with Varieties and Synonymes by Robert E. Matheson[13], he explains that the Moira District has these prefixes, Baun or Bawn before the last name. The "Baun" means white (Ban) and Molly Baun/Bawn would be "fair-haired Molly." The name Baun/Bawn attached to the last name would be Baun-Lavery or Bawn-Lavery with Baun being the most common. Several people are known by their prefixes, for example, "Dan Baun-Lavery" was known by the name, "Dan Baun." Both the Lowry and the Lavery names descend from O Labhradha, an ancient name from province of Ulster. The Baun-Lavery and Baun-Lowery names are known in other districts.

Since a number of traditional versions[14] are titled, "Molly Baun/Ban Lavery" or "Molly Bawn Lowry" it seems that Askew's information warrants closer examination. We know from the print versions that the accidental killing took place before 1780 but not so far before that date that it would have been forgotten. Hugh Shields has reported an Irish poet named Pat Reynolds, who claimed that he was related to "Jamie Reynolds," the fowler[15].

The following partial synopsis of the ballad story was given by Jennifer J O'Connor[16]:

As the sun is setting, Molly Ban Lavery makes her way home from her uncle's when a sudden shower of rain comes on. A green bush is her only shelter, and huddling beneath it, Molly covers herself with her white apron. Meanwhile her lover, the squire James Reynolds, has been hunting all day with his dog. Upon returning home with his gun in hand, he is attracted to a patch of whiteness showing among the green leaves of a bush. In the falling darkness he supposes this must be the whiteness of a swan's feathers, or the light colour of a fawn's breast. Jimmy raises his gun and shoots; despite the dimness his aim is true. He runs to claim his quarry when to his horror and great grief he finds only his sweetheart lying dead under the bush.

Missing from O'Connor's synopsis is revenant ending which is common in most versions of the ballad[17]:

James Reynolds takes his gun, returns home and describes the accident to his father, who advises his son not to run but stay and go to trial. At the trial Molly's ghost appears and testifies to her uncle, explaining what happened and assures him that James will go free. Molly is compared to the pretty girls (or sometimes the lawyers/judges) lined up in a row and she shines in the middle of them like a mountain of snow.

In some versions Molly just appears to her uncle, which makes little sense unless her uncle is at the trial or involved with the trial. His role at the trial is unknown but it's possible he's representing her (or James) in some legal capacity.

The ballad is well-known in Ireland and according to Gardham it is "undoubtedly a northern Irish ballad[18]." It is associated with the ancient Irish melody, "Lough Sheeling" (named after the lake, Lough Sheelin) which was used by Edward Bunting (1773-1843) the Irish collector at least three time in his manuscripts and it was the first melody given to student harpists[19].

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 25 May 16 - 09:49 PM

Hi Richie- I have been interested in a Maine version printed in the recent British Ballads from Maine (Second Series) Barry , Eckstorm, Smyth edited by Pauleena MacDougall

There are 5 versions noted here, the last being a fragment Sent in March 1928 by Mrs Nellie Fogg, Dover Foxcroft, Maine who heard it as a child but could remember only one stanza.

Young Jimmie being a-fowling with his dog and his gun
He shot lovely Mollie at the setting of the sun
her apron being around her, he shot her for a fawn
But alas! unto his grief, it was his own Molly Bawn

The other version are all swans.I thought it was odd that someone "fowling" would be hunting deer, but put the "mistake" up to the fact that
a) We have no swans in Maine and
b)People are often admonished not to wear white during hunting season as the flash of the white-tailed deer's "flag" has caused many hunters to shoot. In fact several years ago there was a terrible tragedy where a woman wearing white mittens was shot by mistake.

Upon seeing your contribution of the broadside from Belfast, however,I'm thinking it this may be the vestige of an Ulster tradition in Maine. We did have a substantial influx of Scots Irish immigrants here

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 25 May 16 - 10:26 PM

Hi Julia,

TY for your post. The fawn/swan choice as of now has "a rhyme but no reason." Maybe we'll figure it out after going through the versions.

There are two versions published by Barry in BFSSNE I think the date is 1935 and its volume 10. I'd appreciate it if you could post a version or two (I don't have the second book and should have gotten it but haven't). You could also scan the pages and email -- [e-mail] I have British Ballads From Maine, 1929, which is fairly rare.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 26 May 16 - 09:04 AM

Richie,
How do you know that any of the tunes in Bunting relate to our ballad here? I can find nothing in Bunting itself that relates to our ballad or any of the tunes I know to it.

Bunting itself is quite difficult to navigate and it appears to be several volumes in one. On p46 in the main section there is a tune called 'Molly my Treasure' which would fit the metre of our ballad.

Also there is an awful lot of sophisticated art music in Bunting.

Then on p30 of a later section confusingly called Volume 1, there is 'Malli ban (Fair Molly) a very simple tune that doubled up could fit.

In the early 19th century Samuel Lover also wrote a very well-known song called 'Molly Bawn' 'Oh Molly Bawn, why leave me pining'.

In other words the title 'Molly Bawn' is practically useless unless you have other factors to go by in relating it to our ballad.

I still think your connections with Moore's poem are stretching things somewhat and there is a danger of wishful thinking. I'd need to see more evidence. Who actually connects the tune 'Lough Sheelin' with our 'Molly Bawn'?

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 09:04 AM

Hi,

I was wondering about the line:

Curse light upon Toby who lent me his gun,

or,

My curses on you Toby that lent me your gun,
or,

Oh, woe to the tobby [thee Toby]
For the lend of thy arms,

Who is Toby? Is "Toby," "Tobby" a slang word for a gunsmith?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 10:04 AM

Steve,

There's an Irish broadside by Haly, printer, Hanover Street, Cork. Is c. 1834 a reasonable date? It begins:

Molly Bawn

A story, a story to you I will relate,
Of a young female, whose fortune was great,
She walked out one evening, she walked out alone,
And she stopped under a bower a shower to shun.

Young jemmy being coming with a gun in his hand . . .

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Brian Peters
Date: 26 May 16 - 11:36 AM

I may have missed something here, but could someone remind me why the ballad is assumed to be of Irish origin? The earliest broadside copy (whether we accept the 1765 date or Steve's 1780) was printed in Newcastle. Is it the Bawn name, or the garbled 'Kiln-wan' in Bottle & Friend, that locates it to Northern Ireland? Is it possible that it could be an English composition based on an event in Ireland?

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 01:49 PM

Hi Steve,

The name means nothing since the Samuel Lover and also the Newfoundland songs both have "Molly Bawn.' I did look at Bunting, the source of my comment however is Andrew Kuntz, not corroborated by me, although I know Andrew and he's pretty accurate. I'm talking about the melody, Lough Sheeling about which Patrick Joyce said, "My version is just as I learned it from the intelligent singers of my early days. The air is the same as "Lough Sheeling" of Moore's song, "Come, rest on this bosom!" Joyce's version is nearly Identical to the 1797 Irish broadside- at least for two stanzas!!! I'll post later.

Brian, whether it's of Irish origin is not known, probably just assumed since it was popular in Ireland (according to Joyce born there in 1827) and the names and places point to Ireland. What makes you think it could be English?

According to Andrew Kuntz: "The title 'Molly Bawn' is an Englished corruption of the Gaelic 'Mailí Bhán,' or Fair Mary (Fairhaired Mary, White Haired Mary)."

That might lend some credence to an English origin.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Brian Peters
Date: 26 May 16 - 03:40 PM

"What makes you think it could be English?"

I don't have a strong view that way - just checking, since the first known printing seemed to be in Newcastle - though that needn't have been the original of course.

Subject: Lyr Add: MOLLY BAWN
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 04:55 PM

Hi,

Here is the Irish version from Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914)
taken from Old Irish folk music and songs: a collection of 842 Irish airs and songs; published in 1909. The text begins similarly to the 1797 Irish print version "The Youth's Grievance; or, The Downfall of Molly Bawn."

He has "asthoreen" in italics, which I presumed was Gaelic for "my treasure" (see footnote 1.) The line would be "To Molly, my treasure, whose beauty was great." Anyone know what "asthoreen" means?

Joyce also gives the melody as "Lough Sheelin" and I presume this dates back to around 1850. The difference in the story line is "he" goes to his uncle rather than Molly going to her uncle

409. MOLLY BAWN.

In the last century this song was very popular in the midland and southern counties. I once heard it sung in fine style in the streets of Dublin by a poor woman with a child on her arm. Like several other ballads in this book, it obviously commemorates a tragedy in real life. It has been published by Patrick Kennedy in "The Banks of the Boro," but his copy is somewhat different from mine; and by "Dun-Cathail" in "Popular Poetry of Ireland"; but this last shows evident marks of literary alterations and additions not tending to improvement. My version is just as I learned it from the intelligent singers of my early days. The air is the same as " Lough Sheeling" of Moore's song, "Come, rest on this bosom!" but a different version.

[music]

Come all you young gallants that follow the gun
Beware of late shooting at the setting of the sun,
For it's little you know what has happened of late,
To young Molly asthoreen[1] whose beauty was great.

It happened one evening in a shower of hail.
This maid in a bower herself did conceal;
Her love being a-shooting, he took her for a fawn;
He levelled his gun and he shot Molly Bawn.

And when he came to her and found it was she,
His limbs they grew feeble and his eyes could not see;
His heart it was broken with sorrow and grief;
And with eyes up to heaven, he implored for relief.

He ran to his uncle with the gun in his hand,
Saying, "Uncle, dear uncle, I'm not able to stand;
I have shot my true lover, alas! I'm undone,
As she sat in a bower at the setting of the sun.

"I rubbed her fair temples and found she was dead,
And a fountain of tears for my darling I shed;
And now, I'll be forced by the laws of the land
For the killing of my darling my trial to stand."

1. Gaelic for "my treasure"?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 26 May 16 - 05:40 PM

Hi Richie
I don't have precise dates for Irish printers. John Moulden is the man on this. I thought I sent you an email explaining Toby. Toby is a common Christian name, or was. It is short for Tobias as in Tobias Smollett. Toby used to be a popular name for a dog also, then there's a Toby Jug. You can Google all of these. We had a local politician called Toby.

Subject: Lyr Add: SHOOTING OF HIS DEAR
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:33 PM

Hi,

Here's Sharp's version from Somerset. His notes are at the bottom of this post. There are several questions: One is what "swiffling round" means. The other is the obvious: Polly turning into the swan at the trial- which certainly is verified by the "mountain of snow" references - if in fact the snow is the swan returning instead of a ghost. Anyone? Swiffling? Supernatural?

Sharp says this in the JFSS a year later:

The supernatural element enters so rarely into the English Ballad that one is inclined to see in its occurrence an indication of Celtic origin. In the present case, this suspicion is perhaps strengthened by the presence of certain Irish characteristics in the tune.

The incidents related in the song are a strange admixture of fancy with matter of fact. I would hazard the suggestion that the ballad is the survival of a genuine piece of Celtic or, still more probably, of Norse imagination, and that the efforts made to account for the tragedy without resorting to the supernatural (e.g. the white apron, shower of rain, etc.) and of course the mention of the Assizes, are the work of a more modern and less imaginative generation of singers—C. J. S.


From: Folk Songs from Somerset: Gathered and Edited with Pianoforte Accompaniment edited by Cecil James Sharp, Charles Latimer Marson; 1905

SHOOTING OF HIS DEAR. -Sung by Lucy White and Louie Hooper 1903

1 Young Jim he went hunting with his dog and gun,
On purpose to shoot at some lily-white swan:
With his love peering round him he took her to be a swan,
So he shot his dear darling with a ratteling gun.

2 And when he came to her and found it was she,
His heart bled with sorrow till his eyes could not see,
Crying: Polly, dear Polly, my own heart's delight,
If you were but living you should be my bride.

3 He took up his gun and straightway went home,
Crying: Uncle, dear Uncle, do you know what I've done?
With my love swiffling round me I took her to be a swan,
So I shot my dear darling with a ratteling gun.

4 Then up spoke his Uncle with his hair growing gray:
You're sure to be hung if you do run away:
Stay at home in your country till the 'Sizes come on,
You never shall be hang-ed for the shooting of one.

5 In six weeks' time when the 'Sizes came on
Young Polly appeared in the form of a swan,
Crying: Jimmy, young Jimmy, young Jimmy is clear,
He never shall be hang-ed for the shooting of his dear.

Notes: No. 16. SHOOTING OF HIS DEAR.

Tune and words from Mrs. Lucy White of Hambridge.

The Rev. S. Baring Gould has published a version of this ballad under the title of "The Setting of the Sun," (Weekes & Co.). Both the words and melody of that sons; are, however, different from Mrs. White's, although the theme is the same.

Another version was given me by Mr. Clarence Rook, who heard it sung, twenty years ago, by a very old man at a harvest supper at Homestall, Doddington, Kent; (see the Folk Song Society's Journal, vol. II, p. 60) and I have noted down yet another version from Mrs. Glover of Huish Episcopi.

In each of these three versions an attempt is made to account for the mistake upon which the plot turns, by adducing reasons other than supernatural: e.g. it took place in the dusk,—during a shower of rain,—a white apron was tied over her head, —etc. I would hazard the suggestion that the ballad is the survival of a genuine piece of Celtic or, still more probably, of Norse imagination, and that the attempts to account for the tragedy without resort to the supernatural are the interpolations of a later and less imaginative generation.

It is certainly now rather unusual to meet with anything of the supernatural order in an English ballad; and some may see, in its occurrence in this song, an indication of Celtic origin. This suspicion is strengthened by the presence of' certain Irish characteristics in the tune. At the same time, the idea of changed shape is more Norse than Celtic, and such ballads as "Cold blows the wind," and "The cruel ship's carpenter," shew that the supernatural element is not necessarily un-English.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Lighter
Date: 26 May 16 - 06:56 PM

"Baughn" is an English surname, as is "Vaughan."

So, other than the variable spelling, the name alone doesn't tell us much about the ballad's origin.

The OED gives no hint that "Toby" ever meant "gunsmith."

"Toby" was once a nickname for "Tobias." Now it's become a given name, as in the case of the actor Toby Maguire.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 07:25 PM

Hi,

Gilchrist comments in the 1906 JFSS:

(The 'swiffling' described in Mr. Sharp's earliest noted version suggests that Polly swan was either swimming or bathing in a pool in the dusk when shot, before her white apron was offered as an explanation of the blunder.)

Agree?

She later adds:

The 'fountain of snow' which takes the place of the swan-apparition in court in one of the Appalachian versions of "The Shooting of his Dear" is more likely to be a late corruption of "the form of a swan," or possibly a "fawn white as snow" than any wraith of snow or white mist.-A. G. G.

Agree?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 08:01 PM

Hi,

Ty Lighter and Steve for "Toby" info. I was wondering if it was a mishearing, like "mountain of snow" could be- (it is according to Gilchrist).

Walter Gales for example sang, "Cursed be that old gun-smith that made my old gun!"

He also sang "in the room of a swan." which is baffling but not swiffling. What does this mean? Here's "room of a swan" in context:

For young Jimmy was a fowler and a-fowling alone
When he shot his own true love in the room of a swan. [Gales 1921]

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 08:58 PM

Hi,

I know "in the room of a swan" means "instead of a swan" not sure of the (English)slang or other usages.

In 1884 Clarence Rook sang this at a Harvest Supper at Homestall, Doddington, near Faversham, Kent:

O cursed be my uncle
For a-lending me a gun"

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Lighter
Date: 26 May 16 - 09:14 PM

I can't imagine any meaning of "in the room of" other than "in the place of; instead of."

The OED has it from the 16th century. It is still in use in Great Britain.

I disagree with Gilchrist about "fountain of snow." What makes her think that a striking and perfectly understandable simile must have been the result of mishearing something far less good, rather than pure inspiration? If mishearing was involved, an earlier "mountain of snow" would undoubtedly be more plausible. But "fountain," IMO, is better still.

Without earlier texts from the identical lineage, no proof seems possible in any direction.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 26 May 16 - 10:45 PM

Hi,

TY Lighter!!!

From: A BOOK OF FOLK-LORE by Sabine Baring-Gould [1913] comes this excerpt:

There is a ballad sung by the English peasantry that has been picked up by collectors in Kent, Somerset and Devon. It is entitled At the Setting of the Sun, and begins thus:--

    Come all you young fellows that carry a gun,
    Beware of late shooting when daylight is done;
    For 'tis little you reckon what hazards you run,
    I shot my true love at the setting of the sun.

    In a shower of rain, as my darling did hie
    All under the bushes to keep herself dry,
    With her head in her apron, I thought her a swan,
    And I shot my true love at the setting of the sun.

    In the Devonshire version of the story:--

    In the night the fair maid as a white swan appears;
    She says, O my true love, quick, dry up your tears,
    I freely forgive you, I have Paradise won;
    I was shot by my true love at the setting of the sun.

    But in the Somerset version the young man is had up before the magistrates and tried for his life.

    In six weeks' time, when the 'sizes came on,
    Young Polly appeared in the form of a swan,
    Crying, Jimmy, young Jimmy, young Jimmy is clear;
    He never shall be hung for the shooting of his dear.

    And he is, of course, acquitted.

    The transformation of the damsel into a swan stalking into the Court and proclaiming the innocence of her lover is unquestionably the earlier form of the ballad; the Devonshire version is a later rationalising of the incident. Now, in neither form is the ballad very ancient; and in the passage of the girl's soul into a swan we can see how that among our peasantry to a late period the notion of trans-migration has survived.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 26 May 16 - 11:37 PM

But there are any number of tales regarding women who transform to Deer- Isn't Oisin's mother a doe? And what about the "Fallow doe" in the 3 Ravens?
just sayin' - Julia

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 27 May 16 - 08:25 AM

Hi Julia

Gilchrist commented:

Ossian was the son of an enchanted doe, and his mysterious counsel to his mother:

Mas tu mo mhathair's gur fiadh thu
Sirich mu'n oirich a' ghrian ort.
(Mother mine, if deer thou be,
Arise ere sun arise on thee)

She added later: Dr. G. Henderson in his Survivals in Belief among Ike Celts says (p. 70) that "Ossian's advice to his mother, in her animal-form, that she should get up before sunrise, implies that otherwise she was liable to be shot by hunters; to be up ere sunrise was a sort of taboo comparable to some of the restrictions of the Early Irish kings in the Book of Rights."

Beside the Fallow Doe in the Three Ravens there's also this stanza in Leesome Brand:

"Ye'll take your arrow and your bow,
And ye will hunt the deer and roe;
Be sure ye touch not the white hynde,
For she is o' the woman kind."

See also The White Hind by Sir James Fergusson about the search for the White Hind in Argyll in 1621.

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: POLLY WAND
From: Richie
Date: 27 May 16 - 11:30 AM

Hi,

In "The Diary of the American Revolution, 1775-1781" page 239 is a version, obviously old which they say, Polly Wand was a "particular favorite during the revolution." I'm sure this is a generalized statement. Since I don't have the book I'm not sure of the source. Here are some stanzas:

As Polly was walking by the setting of the sun,
She stepped under a green branch the shower to shun;
Her true love was a-hunting, and he shot in the dark,
Alas, and alas! Polly Wand was his mark.

He ran straight home with his gun in his hand,
Saying father, dearest father, I have shot Polly Wand;
I've shot that fair lady in the bloom of her life,
And I always intended to make her my wife.

But she had her apron wrapped around her,
And I took her for a swan,
But woe and alas! it was she, Polly Wand.

At the height of his trial Polly Wand did appear.
Crying "Father, dearest father, Jemmy Rander must be clear,
For I had my apron all about me, and he took me for a swan,
Woe and alas! it was I, Polly Wand."

Yes, I had my apron all about me,
And he took me for a swan,
Woe and alas, it was I, Polly Wand.

Anyone have a copy? It was reprinted in Sing Out - Volume 17 - Page 20

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 27 May 16 - 11:33 AM

I find it fascinating that the two creatures (fawn or swan) for which Molly Bawn (the white) are mistaken both have mythological connections, as well as "white" being symbolic of connection with the "otherworld".

Whether intended or not, it seems to have contributed to the popularity and longevity of this song. There are other songs with historic basis that have not enjoyed such celebrity.

best- Julia

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Lighter
Date: 27 May 16 - 12:51 PM

> Whether intended or not, it seems to have contributed to the popularity and longevity of this song.

At least among scholars and their fans.

Not exactly comparable, but I'm reminded of the ado about Reynardine's shiny teeth.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 27 May 16 - 09:27 PM

Seems to me that if the "supernatural" details were not appealing, they would have fallen away from the song and left the story of "tragedy as a result of carelessness". If the tragedy is the appeal of the song, then why have other similar stories gone by the boards? It retained these qualities even in migration which is unusual. And several modern singers have chosen to sing it. A bit like the popularity of "Outlander"- throw in some "mystical" spice to a semi-historical story and you've got a hit.

best- Julia

Subject: Lyr Add: MOLLY BAWN (3 versions)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 May 16 - 10:54 PM

This from 1865

Street Ballads, Popular Poetry and Household Songs of Ireland
https://books.google.com/books?id=k59fAAAAcAAJ
1865 - ‎Ballads, Irish

A TRUE STORY_CALLED MOLLY BAWN.
STREET BALLAD."
1 Highly popular in several of the midland counties of Ireland.

A STORY, a sad story, to you I will relate,
Of a beautiful young maiden, who met a woful fate;
As she walked out one evening, at the setting of the Sun,
And rested in a bower, a passing shower to shun.

Young Jemmy with his gun had been fowling all the day
And down beside the lake he came at close of twilight grey;
Her apron being about her, he took her for a fawn;
But, alas, to his grief, 'twas his own Molly Bawn.'

Now all ye brave young men, who go sporting with the gun,
Beware of shooting late, and grey mists about the Sun :
Her apron being about her, he took her for a fawn;
But, alas, to his grief, 'twas his own Molly Bawn !

When he came to the bower, and found that it was she
His limbs they grew feeble, his eyes they could not see;
He took her in his arms, across her uncle's lawn,
And his tears flowed like fountains on his own Molly Bawn.

Young Jemmy he went home, with his gun beneath his hand,
Sick and broken-hearted, like a felon in the land;
Crying- "Father, O my Father- by the lake - a fair white fawn
I leveled and I shot her dead- my own Molly Bawn!"

That night to her uncle her spirit did appear,
Saying—"Uncle, dearest uncle, my truelove he is clear:
My apron being about me, he took me for a fawn;
But, alas, to his grief, 'twas his own Molly Bawn!"

Oh, Molly was his jewel, his sweetheart and his pride!
If she had lived another year, she would have been his , bride;
The flower of all the valley, the pride of hut and hall,
Oh, Jemmy soon will follow his own Molly Bawn.

Compare with this from 1896

From The New Review.
W. E. Henley Editor
Volume 14 Jan -June 1896
Harrison & Sons London
page 535

An Irish Peasant Woman
Katherine Tynan Hinkson

The crowd likes its sentiment of a tearful kind. I took down from Mrs. Quinn's lips many famous old ballads now forgotten. or superseded by the broad-sheets issued by Nugent, of High Street, Dublin. to meet every political and social contingency. Who is the anonymous poet that thus makes contemporary history? I have never been able to discover. Here is one of the old ones, which might have come out of Autolycus his pack—a very pitiful ballad:—

Molly Bawn

A story, a story to you I will relate
Concerning a fair maid whose fortunes were great
She roved out one evening, she roved all alone
She sat below a green bower, a shower for to shun

Young Jimmy being fowling with his gun in his hand
Fowling all the day the evening' it came on
Her apron bein' about her he took her for a Swan,
But alas to his grief it was fair Molly Bawn.

Jimmy he came home with his gun in his hand.
Sick and broken-hearted, as you understand,
Cryin' "Father, dearest father, if you knew what I have done,
I have shot Molly Bawn at the settin' of the Sun!

Up spoke his father whose locks they were grey,
Saying, "Son, dearest son, O don't go away,
Stay in the country till your trial comes On,
And you never shall die for the loss of a swan."

"Twas two or three nights after to her uncle appeared she,
Saying, "Uncle, dearest uncle, let my true
love go free, My apron being about me he took me for a Swan,
But alas to his grief I was fair Molly Bawn."

He cried, "Molly, you're my jewel, my joy and heart's pride,
And if you had but lived I'd have made you my bride,
You were pride of the country an' flower o' them all,
An' I shortly will follow my own Molly Bawn."

Hereupon the unhappy lover shot himself. When I asked Mrs. Quinn why the ballad didn't state this definitely she was a little indignant. "Sure, you wouldn't want to be tould everything?" she asked.

----------

And this from British Ballads from Maine (Second Series), Barry, Eckstorm, Smyth

Sent in, March, 1928, by Miss Doris Condon, Presque Isle, Maine, who wrote it down at the dictation of her father.

• A story, a story to you I will relate,
Concerning a fair maid whose fortunes they were great;
As she walked out one evening she walked all alone,
She sat underneath a green tree the rain all for to shun.

• Young Jimmie being a-fowling with his dog and his gun,
Young Jimmie being a-fowling, till evening did come on,
And he shot his lovely Molly and he took her for a swan,
Then home to his father he quickly did run.

• Saying, "Father, dearest father, if you knew what I had done,
I being out a-fowling, till evening did come on;
.................
And I shot lovely Molly, and I took her for a swan.

• Then up speaks his aged father, with his locks all being of gray
Saying, "Son, oh dearest son, oh, it's do not run away;
Stay here in this country till your trial it comes on,
And it's then I will free you of shooting Molly Bawn."

• The day of Mollie's funeral it was a dreadful sight,
Four and twenty maids all dressed out in white;
They carried her to St. Mary's Church, and there they laid her down,
She was shot by lovely Jimmie at the setting of the sun.

• In two or three weeks after, to her uncle she appeared,
Saying, "Uncle, dearest Uncle, do not hang my dear;
My apron being around me, he mistook me for a swan,
But alas! to his grief, it was his own dear Molly Bawn.

and as quoted before

E
Sent in, March, 1928, by Mrs. Nellie Fogg, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine who heard it as a child, but could remember only one stanza.

• Young Jimmie being a fowling with his dog and his gun,
He shot lovely Mollie at the setting of the sun;
Her apron being around her, he shot her for a fawn,
But alas! unto his grief, it was his own Molly Bawn.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 27 May 16 - 11:37 PM

Thanks Julia,

I have the first two. The Quinn version from 1896 has an unusual ending. I think the first one is from Kennedy, he has two published versions if I remember correctly. TY very much for the Maine versions. I'll get the book soon.

Right now I'm a bit overloaded with versions but I'm starting to put hem on my site which should clear up the overload- I have easily over 100 versions. There are a number of covers and I don't include them.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Jim Brown
Date: 28 May 16 - 04:22 AM

> Who is professor Scott, of King's College?

Most likely Robert Eden Scott (1769-1811), Professor of Moral Philosophy at King's College Aberdeen from 1800, better known in ballad history as the nephew of Anna Gordon and, in or before 1783, the scribe of the first two manuscripts of her ballads. He lent the original of "Jamieson's Brown MS" to Robert Jamieson in 1799.

For his academic career, see:
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100448709

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 09:11 AM

Hi,

TY Jim.

I finally figured out what "room of the swan" means it's "ruse of the swan" :)

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FOWLER
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 10:36 AM

Hi,

Does any one know about the Harry Cox version recorded in 1947 for the BBC?

The Fowler

o come all you young sportsman, that carry a gun
I will have you go home by the light of the sun,
For young Jimmy was a-fowling, was a-fowling alone.
When he shot his own true love in the room[1] of a swan.

So the first he went to her and found it was she,
He was shaking and trembling, his eyes scarce could see,
"So now you are dead, love, and your sorrows are o'er;
Fare thee well my dear Polly, I shall see you no more."

Then home went young Jimmy with his dog and his gun,
Saying: "Uncle, dear uncle, have you heard what I've done
Cursed be this old gunsmith that made me this gun
For I've shot my own true-love in the room[1] of a swan."

Then out come bold uncle with his locks hanging grey,
Saying "Jimmy, dear Jimmy, don't you run away.
Don't you leave your own counterie till the trial comes on,
For you ne'er shall be hanged for the crime you has done."

Now the trial came on and pretty Polly appear,
Saying: "Uncle, dear uncle let Jimmy go clear,
For my apron was wrapped round me when he took me for a swan,
And his poor heart lay bleeding for Polly his own."

[There are girls in this country who no-wise are sad,
To see pretty Polly all laid in her grave;
You may take them by the hundred; put them all in a row,
My dear Polly outshone them like a fountain of snow.] [2]

1. ruse of a swan
2. from Jim Carroll

Where did Jim Carroll get the extra stanza? It's posted online after a version he collected. The version I have doesn't have that stanza.

So is this from Walter Gales? from Bob Cox?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 11:31 AM

Hi,

Julia--

A TRUE STORY- CALLED MOLLY BAWN. was also published in The Universal Irish Song Book: A Complete Collection of the Songs; Patrick John Kenedy 1998 (book finished in 1894), New York.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 12:07 PM

Hi,

A TRUE STORY- CALLED MOLLY BAWN was collected and arranged by "Duncathail" (suggested by Dunkettle), whcih was the pseudonym of Ralph Varian, of Cork, author of some poems, and of a Life of "John and Henry Sheares, and editor of "The Harp of Erin," and "Popular Poetry of Ireland."

This version seems like a broadside or chapbook copy that's been rewritten by Varian- not traditional.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 02:45 PM

Hi,

The following is a stanza from "The Western Cottage Maid." The only version I've found (Bodleian) is a different song. Anyone know where a complete version of this might be found or is Barry just confused?

Macmillan's Magazine, Volume 25
edited by David Masson, Sir George Grove, John Morley, Mowbray Walter Morris

THE CURRENT STREET BALLADS OF IRE LAND
BY WILLIAM BARRY.

The minstrel seldom very much despairs or threatens to die when deceived, or when the object of his affection is inaccessible. Here is a stanza from "The Western Cottage Maid," a. popular Munster lyric, in which the reader will perceive how completely naturalized the celebrities of heatheness are in the productions to which I am referring and kills her on the spot. The moral of the tragic story is contained in the opening verse:—

" Come, all ye wild fowlers that follow the gun,
Beware of late shooting at the setting of the sun.
It is on a misfortune that happened of late,
On Molly Bawn Gowrie, an her fortune was great."

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Reinhard
Date: 28 May 16 - 03:09 PM

Where did Jim Carroll get the extra stanza? It's posted online after a version he collected. The version I have doesn't have that stanza.

My three Harry Cox versions don't have it either. But a very similar verse is in versions sung by A.L. Lloyd, Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs and Martin Carthy. Carthy noted that it "is another song from the Norfolk collection of E.J. Moeran with an additional verse" but didn't say where this verse came from.

Subject: Lyr Add: MOLLY BAWN
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 03:52 PM

Hi,

This the last unique broadside at Bodleian -Slip 2806 c.18(209) with Miss Patty Puff and her two Sweethearts (no date given). As I remember Steve probably knows Haly the printer in Cork was old and I'd date this circa 1834 if my memory serves me right. The issue is that this is probably the ballad A TRUE STORY- CALLED MOLLY BAWN posted above used this broadside as a basis for elaboration- which clearly Ralph Varian also of Cork did.

Molly Bawn

A story, a story, to you I will relate,
Of a young female, whose fortune is great;
She walked out one evening, she walked all alone,
And she stopped under a bower a shower to shun.

Young Jemmy being coming with a gun in his hand,
He was fowling all day, untill teh evening came on
Her apron being about her, he took her for a swan,
But alas, to his grief, it was his own Molly Bawn.

Come all young heroes, that handle the gun,
Beware of late shooting, when evening comes on 

Her apron was about her, he took her for a swan;
But, alas, for my grief, it was fair Molly Bawn!

When he came near her, and found it was she
His limbs they grew feeble, his eyes could not see;
He took her in his arms, and found she was dead,
And a fountain of tears from his eyes down he shed.

Young Jemmy went home, with his gun in his hand,
Sick and broken-hearted, as you may understand;
Saying, father, dear Father, if you knew what I've done
Oh I shot Molly Bawn by setting of the sun.

Then bespoke his father tho his locks they were grey,
Saying, son, dearest son do not go away,
Stop in this country, till your trial comes on,
And you never will die by the law of the land.

Two or three nights after to her ucle she did appear,
Saying uncle, dearest uncl[e], my truelove come clear
My apron being about me, he took me for a swan;
But alas, for my grief, it was fair Molly Bawn.

Molly my jewel, my joy and delight,
If you had but lived , I would make you my bride;
You were my flower of this country, the pride of them all,
And I shortly will follow my own Molly Bawn.

Haly, Printer, Hanover Street, Cork.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 28 May 16 - 05:31 PM

Hi,

In the Seamus Ennis version appear these notes:

Known in England as "Polly Vaughn" and in the United States as "The Shooting of his Dear," this come-all-ye reworks an ancient folk theme. In the Hebridean version, it is the cruel mother who advises her son to shoot a swan, even though she knows that the swan is his true love.

I was wondering if there is a version like this? Perhaps it ties into the Irish story "Aislinge Oengusso" or "The vision of Aonghus" also Aengus. Anyone?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 16 - 12:35 PM

Hi,

Does anyone have the text to a version (Young Molly Ban) in "Irish Street Ballads," by Colm O Lochlainn Dublin 1939 (or reprints)?

Richie

Subject: Lyr Add: YOUNG MOLLY BAN
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 16 - 01:19 PM

Hi,

Found it!!!

"Irish Street Ballads," by Colm O'Lochlainn Dublin 1939; Clogher (from Irish: Clochar, meaning "stony place") is a village and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.


Young Molly Ban- from P. Walsh, Clogher Valley c. 1938

Come all you young fellows follow the gun
Beware of goin' a-shootin' by the late setting sun.
It might happen to anyone, it happened to me
To your own love in under a tree.

She was going to her uncle's when the shower it came on
She went under a bush, the rain for to shun.
With her apron all around her I took her for a swan
But oh and alas! it was my Molly Ban.

I ran to her Uncle's in haste and great fear,
Saying, Uncle, dear Uncle I've shot Molly dear,
With her apron all around her I took her for a swan
But Oh and alas! it was my Molly Ban.

I shot my own true love-- alas I'm undone,
While she was in the shade by the setting of the sun
If I thought she was there I'd caress her tenderly,
And soon I'd get married to my own dear Molly.

My curse on you, Toby, that lent me your gun,
To go out a shooting by the late setting sun
I rubbed her fair temples and found she was dead,
A fountain of tears for my Molly I shed.

Up come my father and his locks they were grey,
Stay in your own country and don't run away
Stay in your own country till your trial comes on
And I'll see you set free by the laws of the land

Oh, the maids of this country they will all be very glad,
When they hear the sad news that my Molly is dead.
Take them all in their hundred, set them in a row,
Molly Ban she shone above them like a mountain of snow.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 30 May 16 - 01:55 PM

In addition to the fawn / swan difference, there seem to be some other floating verses and details- the happy rival maidens; the remorse and blame re: the gun; Jimmy's visceral reaction. I'm wondering if these travel with each other from version to version... has anyone taken the time to correlate?
It's high garden time here in Maine-waiting for a rainy day

Julia

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 16 - 05:18 PM

Hi Julia,

The maidens in row, (sometimes lawyers or judges) is a bit perplexing. Molly/Polly stands among them like a mountain/fountain of snow. The snow is believed to be 1) her ghost 2) her swan image or 3) shining amongst them because of her great beauty- with no supernatural meaning.

I'm putting the versions on my site and will compare them looking especially at the unusual or irregular stanzas or lines.

For example, there are several Norfolk versions with "room of a swan." I found one that had "ru' of a swan" and also "ruse of a swan." This could mean that she was shot because she had changed into a swan or simply that she appeared as a swan but that line is more interesting than the standard lines because it's different. Clearly "room" is not the original meaning.

Then there's the father/uncle conundrum. Sometimes it's father sometimes it's the uncle, but I believe it's meant to be the uncle. Who then is the uncle? Does he represent her at the trial? Or is he someone that can clear Jimmy?

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Lighter
Date: 30 May 16 - 07:09 PM

> Clearly "room" is not the original meaning.

Gee, Richie, how do you figure that? Her white apron fooled him, he thought she was swan, and tragically he shot her.

Of course, if by "room" you mean a part of a building enclosed by walls, etc., inhabited by a swan, I heartily agree.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: GUEST,Julia
Date: 30 May 16 - 09:04 PM

"In the room of" = "in the space of", in place of...Can't remember where specifically, but I have seen this use in other archaic stories / lyrics. Also, to "take" someone for something else as in "what do you take me for?" I took you for a swan. Again, it's archaic but not uncommon.   
Julia

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Molly Bawn (Polly Vaughn)
From: Richie
Date: 30 May 16 - 09:08 PM

Hi Lighter,

You're very bright and always helpful so maybe I still don't get it. I'm not sure- does "ru' " work. I guess I don't think of a swan outside under a bush or tree being in a "room." So that bothered me because I didn't understand it- and I thought maybe it was a slang. Then I found a Norfolk version where MacColl and Lloyd changed it to "ru' ". So I figured they probably knew.

That doesn't really change the interpretation tho.

Richie