Molly Bond- Thomas Ghaney (NS) 1929 Karpeles
[From Karpeles; Folk Songs from Newfoundland; 1934. Notes from the 1970 edition follow.
R. Matteson 2016]
26 SHOOTING OF HIS DEAR
References: Brown N. Carolina ii and iv, 76; Bulletin of North East X, p. I2; Creighton Maritime Nova Scotia, p. 111; Gardner Michigan, 14; Hudson Mississippi, 32; J.E.F.D.S.S. vii, p. 241 (collected in Ireland); J.F.S.S. ii, p. 59 vii, p. 17; Joyce Irish, 409; Morris Florida, 214; O'Locnlarnn Irish Street Ballads, 29; Petrie Irish, 724 and 1171; Sharp Appalachian i, 50. (Laws, P. 243, O 36).
This ballad, which is popular both on the North American continent and in the British Isles, is believed to be Gaelic- probably Irish-in origin. Sharp writes (J.F.S.S. ii, p. 6o): '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. . are the work of a more modern and less imaginative generation of singers. Still, the fact remains that Molly (or Polly) still appears at the trial or, in our version, to her lover's uncle) in the form of a swan. In some versions she appears as a 'mountain of snow'.
The reader is referred to important notes by Barry (Bulletin) and Gilchrist (J.F.S.S. vii, p. 17) on the mythological aspects of the ballad.
The present tune, which it not the usual one, commonly accompanies 'The Duke of Bedford' (see Sharp English F.S. ii, 5).
[Molly Bond] Sung by Mr. Thomas Ghaney at Colliers, Conception Bay, 22nd October
1929
Come all you young gallants, take delight in a gun,
Beware of your shooting at the setting of the sun.
As it happened one evening in a large shower of hail
In under a bower my love was concealed.
Her apron flew around her, I took her as a swan,
And I shot my own darling at the setting of the sun.
As I walked up to her I found it was she,
My limbs they grew weary and my eyes could not see
The rings on her fingers, most bitterly I cried.
O Molly, if you were living, you'd be my fond bride.
Home to my dada like lightning did run,
O father, dear father, do you know what I've done.
Her apron flew around her, I took her as a swan
And I shot my own darling at the setting of the sun.
Her apron flew around her, I took her as a swan,
And I shot my own darling, and where shall I run.
His old father in the corner with his locks turning grey:
O Jimmy, dear Jimmy don't you run away.
Only tarry in this country until your trial goes on,
You never shall be hung by the laws of the land.
O after three spaces to his uncle appears,
O Jimmy, dear Jimmy, young Jimmy is clear.
My apron flew around me, he took me as a swan,
And his heart lies a-bleeding for his own Molly Bond.