Molly Vaughan- Colleen Cleveland (NY) 1997 Davies REC
[From recording by Gwilym Davies, 1997. Cf. version by Sarah Cleveland.
R. Matteson 2016]
Molly Vaughan - sung by Colleen Cleveland, Brant Lake, NY in 1997. Recorded by Gwilym Davies. Colleen learnt the song from her grandmother, Sarah Cleveland.
Come all you young hunters who follow the gun
Beware of late shooting by the setting of the sun
Jimmie Randal the squire went a-fowling in the dark
He aimed at his true love and he ne'er missed his mark.
Being late in the evening, when the shower came on
She ran under a green bush, the shower to shun
With her apron all round her, he took her for a swan
But oh and alas, wasn't she Molly Vaughan.
He ran to his home and he threw down his gun
Crying 'Uncle, dear uncle, I have shot Molly Vaughan
I have shot that fair maiden, the pride of my life
It was my intention to make her my wife.
'Oh Jimmy, dear Jimmy, to be sure it is grief
But you will not be punished for the loss of Molly
Pray stay you at home till your trial comes on
You will not be punished till I lose all I own.'
The night before the trial, her ghost did appear
Crying 'Father, dear father, Jimmy Randal shall go clear
With my apron all around me, he took me for a swan
But oh and alas, wasn't I Molly Vaughan.'
Now the girls in old England are all very glad
That the flower of Killarney was shot and killed there
If we gather them together and stand them in a row
Molly Vaughan would shine among them like a mountain of snow.