A Song, call'd Molly Bawn- (NCL) 1765 J. White
[From: 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; text from the British Library 11621.c.3(4.). The Garland is dated 1765 and was published by J. White in Newcastle. It was in the collection of John Bell who purchased the Garland in 1848.
Since the Garland is dated 1765, the shooting would probably have taken place between 1750-1760.
Notes by Steve Gardham follow.
R. Matteson 2016]
Managed to get into the British Library while down in London, but in the excitement of copying the Buchan Harvard mss at the VWML, and here's what I found:- The Molly Bawn version is in a book of 90-odd garlands bought by John Bell in 1848.
On the back of Garland 5 called 'Bold Kelley's Garland(Not Kelly the Pirate) is the following in John Bell's hand. 'The old garlands in these volumes are printed by J White who died in 1769 and by T Saint who died in 1788. the ballad of The Northern Lord in vol 2 was printed by White. (Letter of J Bell)
White and Saint both printed in Newcastle. Saint worked for White until White died in 1769 at age 80 and Saint took over the business. The garland we are interested in 'The Bottle and Frien'ds Garland' has no imprint. The garland before it in the book is printed by W Scott at Greenock but some of the following garlands, also without imprint, are obviously by one printer by type
style and layout. These I presume are White/Saint garlands. However going by the style and content I would say they are more likely Saint and only date from about 1780.
The cover has a large square woodcut of 2 lovers in a pleasure garden, cupid with aimed bow and arrow in top right corner.
The version is obviously derived from oral tradition and is much further away from the original than the Belfast garland version. 'Wrangle' is interesting being obviously derived from 'Randall' which as far as I know only features on the American broadsides.
I'd say the incident/original was probably 1750 or earlier. Surely someone could ascertain whether there were Lowry and Randall/Reynolds in the Lurgan area during this period. [Steve Gardham]
A SONG, CALL'D MOLLY BAWN
I'll tell you a story
And a story of late
Concerning my jewel
Her fortune was great,
She went out in an evening
And the rain it came on,
She went under the bushes
Herself for to screne.
Her love being out fowling
He shot in the dark
And to his misfortune
he did not miss his mark;
With her apron being about her,
he took her for a swan.
But Oh! and alas!
It was sweet Molly Bawn.
When he came to her
And found she was dead
A well full of tears
On his love he did shed,
Crying oh! my dear jewel
My joy and delight
I durst not presume
For to make her my bride.
He went home to his father
With the gun in his hand,
Crying father, dear father
I've shot Molly bawn
For her apron being about her,
And I took her for a swan
But ah, and alas
It was sweet Molly Bawn.
Oh, woe to the tobby [1]
For the lend of thy arms,
For unfortunate Wrangle
has done this great harm
Shot the glory of the North
And the flower of Kiln-wan,
and what shall we do
For the loss of Molly Bawn.
Then up bespoke his Father
With his head growing grey,
Saying Johnny, dear Johnny
Don't run away.
For here in this country,
Your trial shall go on,
By the laws of our Nation,
You won't be condemn'd.
Two or three nights thereafter
To her uncle she did appear,
saying uncle, dear uncle,
Johnny Wrangle[2] set clear.
For my apron being about me,
And he took me for a swan,
But its ah! and alas
It was me Molly Bawn.
1: [thee Toby]
2: cf 'Randall', the hero's name in some American broadside versions.
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Yorkshire printer John White, who during the 1760s progressively handed the paper over to his partner, Thomas Saint.[4] In the 1760s Newcastle was
printed Newcastle Courant for nraly 60 years
From The Bottle and Frien'ds Garland. printed c.1780.
The Garland was part of the collection of John Bell of Newcastle. It was probably printed by T Saint of Newcastle around 1780. Saint operated from 1769, when he took over his late employer J White's printing business, until his death in 1888.
King William granted to John White, of York, father of the late John White, printer of the Courant in Newcastle upon Tyne, who
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The History and Antiquities of the Town and Country of the Town of Newcastle (John White, Printer and his father)
1789
There was a long interval without a printer in Newcastle. York, however, still had its press at the time of the Revolution. On the eve of that event the manifesto of the Prince of Orange was to be issued; but who was to put himself in peril by the publication? The enterprise might fail—and what then? No printer in London would take it in hand—no printer in England but John White, of York. It would be no difficult task to canvas all the printers of the day, so small was their number. Even a quarter of a century later (in 1714) "there were few printers in England," says Thomas Gent, "except in London. None then, I am sure, at Chester, Liverpool, Whitehaven, Preston, Manchester, Kendol, and Leeds,' But White was at York in 1633, and made the bold venture. James II. fled; and William III. was securely seated on the English throne. The courageous act of the York printer, who had been sent to Hull Castle for treason, was not forgotten in the new reign. On the 26th of May, 1689, he was made sole King's Printer for York and the five Northern Counties of England. His son, John White, junior, came to Newcastle in 1708; and having established himself in successful business as a printer, he issued, on the 1st of August, 1711, the Newcastle Courant.
Until recently it was supposed that from the time of the "news-sheets" of 1639 no other publication of the nature of a newspaper had been printed on the Tyne before 1711. In Brand's History of Newcastle, there is a statement that on the 18th of December, 1710, "on the circulation of a malicious report that the plague raged at that time at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, it was ordered by the Common Council of that town to transmit to the Lord Mayor of London a certificate to the contrary, and to cause the same to be published in the Gazette and other publick papers." Never, till of late years, had we surmised that the Gazette of the historian might be other than the London organ so-called—might possibly be a Newcastle newspaper. But, in the spring of 1866, there appeared in Notes and Queries a communication by "J. M." from which we had to learn that Newcastle had a Gazette in 1710, wherein the resolution of the Common Council was carried out, its correction bearing date the 25th of December in that year. Notes and Queries quotes it from "The Newcastle Gazette, cr the Northern Courant; being an Impartial Account of Remarkable Transactions, Foreign or Domestick. From Saturday, December 23, to Monday, December, 25, 1710. No. 65. Gateside: Printed by J. Saywell, for J. Button, Bookseller on the Bridge." "This single number," the editor states, "is preserved in the Advocates' Library (Edinburgh) with a somewhat curious letter from Button, the publisher, to Daniel Defoe, which has been printed by Mr. Maidment in his Analecta Scotica." This letter, which alludes to Saywell as not over prosperous in business, has a reference to "the Gazette of Thursday, December 21." It would therefore appear, from the dates of Nos. 64 and 65, that the paper was published, as was the Newcastle Courant for some time after its establishment, three times a week; and hence we may assume that the Newcastle Gazette had been but a few months in existence. We may also safely conclude that, as a portion of its second title, the Northern Courant, was taken by White's paper in August, 1711, the older journal was discontinued in the earlier half of that year.
John White, the King's Printer in York, died on the 10th of January, 1715, at the age of 80. At the same age, John White, of Newcastle, departed, on the 26th of January, 1769, at his house in Pilgrim Street; and his widow, living to 87, died in Newcastle on the 19th of January, 1792.