Molly Bond- Betsy Rutherford (VA) 1974 REC
[From a 1974 recording at a concert of the New Ruby Tonic Entertainers in Baltimore, Md on Youtube. Her source of this version is unknown. Several versions including Sara Cleveland's have "under a beech tree the shower to shun" lyrics --this is a standard version but not an obvious cover song.
Her bio from Wiki follows,
R. Matteson 2016]
Betsy Rutherford- Wiki bio
Betsy Rutherford (February 11, 1944 in Galax, Virginia – March 12, 1991 in Galax) was a performer of traditional music from the Appalachian Mountains who was known for her powerful, authentic singing style. In 1970, she recorded an album, “Traditional Country Music,” which was released by Biograph Records in 1971. For the album, she selected songs that she had collected, mostly from friends and relatives.
Betsy Rutherford was raised in a musical family. She was related to acclaimed Galax-area musicians and early recording artists, Fields, Crockett and Wade Ward, and Henry Whitter. Her father, Clarence Wroten, was a singer and string band musician who performed with the Ruby Tonic Entertainers and had radio shows in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina, in the 1930s. Her mother, Lola Montgomery Wroten, was a shape-note singer. According to Betsy Rutherford, “Mom sang hymns; Daddy sang traditional string band music and played either his guitar, autoharp, or mouth-harp. Somebody was singing just about all the time.”
Although she was born in Galax, Betsy Rutherford grew up in the Baltimore area. She recorded her album, “Traditional Country Music,” with string band musicians who were associated with Old Joe Clark’s, a music cooperative in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On December 17, 1971, she married John Coffey, a certified nurse anesthetist and string band musician, who accompanied her on the album and wrote the liner notes.
On November 20, 1971, the album received a favorable mention in Billboard Magazine, which said that the record “showed a definite non-Nashville approach and would appeal to folk enthusiasts as well.” She continued to perform during the next two decades, including a stint with the New Ruby Tonic Entertainers, named after her father’s band. She performed frequently at colleges and music festivals, including the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. She concluded every performance with a rendition of “Amazing Grace,” which she lined out in the Primitive Baptist tradition.
She can be heard singing harmony vocals on “Rising Sun Melodies,” a compilation of Ola Belle Reed songs released in 2010 by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Betsy Rutherford died at Galax Community Hospital on March 12, 1991. She was 47 years old. Survivors included her husband and three daughters. She is buried at Felts Memorial Cemetery in Galax.
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Molly Bond- sung by Betsy Rutherford of Galax, Virginia, who recorded this a cappella version in 1974 at a concert of the New Ruby Tonic Entertainers in Baltimore, Md. Carl Conn recorded the concert and preserved the tapes. YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwhNN4CF7jM
Come all ye young who follow the gun
He wandered out shooting after the setting sun.
I've a story to tell you, it happened of late,
Concerning Molly Bond whose beauty was great.
Molly Bond was out walking when a shower came on,
She ran under a beech tree the shower to shun.
Jim Randle was hunting, a-hunting in the dark,
He shot at his true love and he missed not his mark
With her white apron pinned 'round her, he took her for a swan,
He shot and he killed her, his own Molly Bond.
He ran down to her, these words he said
And a thousand of tears on her bosom shed.
"Oh Molly dear Molly you're the joy of my life,
I've always intended to make you my wife."
With your white apron pinned 'round you, I took you for a swan,
I shot and he killed you, my own Molly Bond.
He ran to his uncle, his gun in his hand,
Saying "Uncle, oh uncle I've killed Molly Bond."
Up stepped his dear uncle with his lock all so gray,
Saying, "Stay at home Jimmy and do not run away."
"Stay in your own country till your trial comes on,
You won't be molested, if it cost me my farm."
The day of Jim's trial Molly's ghost did appear
And to this jury Jim Randle is clear.
With my white apron pinned 'round me he took me for a swan
He shot and killed me and now I am gone.