Polly von Luther & Jamie Randall- (NY) 1857 J. Andrews
[Broadside from: J. Andrews, Printer, 38 Chatham St., NY LOC dated circa 1857. Also found in Harris Collection, Brown University.
The end has "four and twenty jurymen" which is different.
R. Matteson 2016]
"Polly von Luther and Jamie Randall."
Come[1] all ye gay sportsman who follow the gun,
Beware of your shooting by the setting of the sun,
For a melancholy accident that happened here of late,
To Polly Von Luther whose fortune was great.
As she was walked out one day at the setting of the sun,
She stepped under a green bush a shower for to shun
Her lover being a sportsman and being in the dark,
He fired off his gun, and he missed not his mark.
Then he ran to the object and found it was she,
His knees were very weak, and for his tears he could not see,
He embraced her in his arms, till he found she was dead
With a fountain of tears all around her he shed.
Then his gun he picked up, and straight home he did run,
Crying, "Father, dear father, I have shot Polly Von,
I have shot that dear creature--the joy of my life,
And thought ten thousand times I would make her my wife.
Then up stepped the old man-- his locks being gray,
Saying, "Jamie, dear Jamie O do not run away,
But stay in your own country till the trial, it comes on,
For you ne'er shall be condemned for the death of Polly Von."
In two or three weeks to her uncle she did appear,
Saying "Uncle, dear uncle Jamie Randall is clear
My apron being about me, when he took me for a fawn,
Bit oh, and alas! it was I, Polly Von."
Now all ye gay ladies of England, look sad,
For Polly Von Luther is numbered with the dead,
With four and twenty jurymen, all standing in a row,
She'll appear in their midst like a fountain of snow.
NOTE- The last 2 lines of every stanza may be repeated in singing.
1. What should appear as "Come!" appears as "me!" in the print.