Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)

Subject: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Santa
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 05:52 PM

This song was sung by Firebrand at the club last week. They claim the source is unknown but was learned from Alan Burke.

The eponymous heroine is a tinker who is getting old and ready to settle down.

Does anyone know it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 07:10 PM

You might get a wee bit further if you were to give just a tiny clue as to who "Firebrand" (or Alan Burke) might be, and where "the club" is.

"Malone", unfortunately, is about as helpful a name to search for as "Smith". There is a song, apparently modern, called Dan Malone which is about an elderly tinker; it's in the DT, and referred to in threads. No tune is mentioned, but the metre suggests Paddy's Lamentation or some such. You may as well check it, if only to confirm that it isn't what you're looking for.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 07:43 PM

Dan Malone in the DT is credited to Gemma Hasson, but she sang it and may not have composed it. This was in the 1980s.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 07:54 PM

I hope we can get the lyrics, too - not just origins information.
It sounds like an interesting song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Dec 03 - 08:39 PM

Gemma Hasson has dropped from sight. I found that Dan Malone is in two Irish cds, "The Best of Celtic Music," ARION ARN 55383, and "Best of Irish Folk," OU 2180 (UK). I hope one of our correspondents has one of them.
Gemma Hasson made an LP titled "Looking For The Morning," but I found no track listing. Nothing current in the North American market.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: GUEST,Santa
Date: 18 Dec 03 - 04:42 AM

Thank you all. I did check the DT for Moll Malone but didn't try Malone alone. Ah well, live and learn.

Folk process at work - Dan Malone looks as though it could be (almost certainly is) the original to Moll Malone though it seems to have changed a little en-route. Tonight I'll play it again with the Dan Malone words to hand, and post the CD details.

As for the additional information - I honestly didn't think it would help - but the club is the Clarence at Blackpool and Firebrand are a fivesome I hadn't heard of, or seen, before their performance. They mainly come from the Wales/Gloucester area and have several CDs to their credit - Moll Malone is in their latest, Lost Lady Found. They are worth hearing, a mix of traditional song, contemporary song and diddley-diddley tunes. Harp, cittern, flute, fiddle. Alan Burke I know nothing of, other than the credited source for Firebrand's version.

Re posting lyrics: if this turns out to be a modern song, as it almost certainly is, I'm queasy about posting the words without the writer's permission.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: Santa
Date: 18 Dec 03 - 04:09 PM

O, My name is Moll Malone
And I've no place to call my own
Some people call me sly and call me canny
I've known joy and I've known pain
I've faced sun and wind and rain
A Tinker's life is not the life of many.

And the road is long and wide
And misfortune haunts my side
My legs are getting old from constant roving
But my pride is nearly gone
And money have I none
And I hate to face the sunrise in the morning

And I could tell you of the day
When I was young and I was gay
A girl could roam the country in her own van
But now the people say
Come on tinker on your way
We do not like you messing with our homeland

Chorus

In those days so long ago,
When I met Johnny from Mayo,
Fair of face his eyes forever charmed me
But he couldn't bear the load
Of the long and dusty road
Now his grave lies on the hill outside Killarny

And I've met wise men in my time
And I've drunk the golden wine
I've rambled for the joy of just being moving
I've met good men I've met fools
But I always knew the rules
A tinker girl must always be a-moving

Chorus

And I know that one day soon
When the roadside is in bloom
I'll lay me down beneath the scented clover
For a girl can't always fight
On some lonely summer's night
I'll take a rest me rambling will be over

Chorus

From Lost Lady Found, by Firebrand, Kite's Nest Records, CDF 095
Firebrand are:
Miranda Sykes, vocals, Double bass
Imogen O'Rourke, Flute
Peter Miln, Fiddle, vocals
Daniel James, Cittern, vocals
John Harris, Electric and acoustic celtic harps, vocals
"This is a song that John learned from Alan Burke."

So it is a fair rewrite from Dan Malone (assuming it was that way round), but you can sing either to Moll's tune.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 09 - 12:32 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnSzg7o7gjQ&feature=channel
All here including the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Origins: Moll Malone (not Molly M)
From: GEST
Date: 19 May 11 - 05:11 PM

Here is a variant of Dan Malone which appears to be closer to Sean McCarthy's [1923-1990] male original than Gemma Hasson's:
Dan Malone arranged and recorded by Harry Hibbs in 1982.