Mollie- Mrs. Oda Dealing (IN) 1935 Bewster A
[From: Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana ; Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series; 1940. His notes follow,
R. Matteson 2016]
28 THE DROWSY SLEEPER
Six variants of this song have been recovered in Indiana, under the following titles: "The Drowsy Sleeper," "Mollie," and "Serenade."
For American texts, see Belden, Herrig's Archiv, CXIX, 430; Campbell and Sharp, No. 47; Cox, p. 348; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 151; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 161; Journal, XX, 260; XXIX, 200; XXX, 338 (contains an Indiana text); XXXV, 356; XLV, 55 (one stanza); Pound, p. 51; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 139; Sharp, Folk-Songs of English Origin . . ., 2d series, p. 48; Sturgis and Hughes, p. 30; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 190 (fragment). British: JFSS, I, 269; II, 56. See also Baskerville's study, "English Songs on the Night Visit," in PMLA, XXXVI, 565-614.
A. "Mollie." Contributed by Mrs. Oda Dealing, of Oakland City, Indiana. Gibson County. June 6, 1935.
1. "Who comes here to my bedroom window?
Who comes here disturbing me?"
" 'T is I, 't is I, your own true lover;
'T is the last time I'll bother thee.
2. "O Mollie, dear, go ask your mother;
Go ask her if you my bride shall be.
If she says 'no' come back and tell me;
T is the last time I'll bother thee."
3. "I say I won't go ask my mother,
For she's on her bed of rest,
And in her hands she holds her Bible,
Proving that she is in distress."
4. "O Mollie, dear, go ask your father;
Ask him if you my bride shall be.
If he says 'no' come back and tell me;
'T is the last time I'll bother thee."
5. "I say I won't go ask my father,
For he's on his chair for rest,
And in his hands he holds a weapon
To slay the one that I love best."
6. "I'll go way down in the green weeping willows;
There I will stay for months and years ;
I'll eat nothing but the green weeping willows;
I'll drink nothing else but tears."
7. "Come back, come back, my own true lover;
Come back, and I your bride will be;
I'll forsake both Father and Mother
Just for the love I have for thee."