Pretty Molly- Mrs. Lane (AR) 1963 Wolf Collection
[No date given my guestimation. The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection; online. Two versions.
Her father was Benjamin Franklin Abbott. She calls him the 'Obstetrician of the Mountains.'
R. Matteson 2016]
PRETTY MOLLY - Sung by Mrs. Virgil Lane; Wolf Collection
(Dr. Wolf: "Well, you just sing it any way you want to. It doesn't matter."
Mrs. Lane: "These girls, they were awfully . . . Oh, but they were fine girls."
Dr. Wolf: "Well, just start it up."
Mrs. Lane: "You want me to sing it loud or low?"
Dr. Wolf: "Just sing it as you want to."
Mrs. Lane: "Now let me . . . I have no idea . . . Oh, I was up in Gatlinburg one year, and I was sitting on the porch with Louise Mercer and her sister, and she had one or two other guests there, and I just burst out and sang this song. And they just almost fell off of the porch. Let's see . . . Pretty Molly, pretty Molly . . . Now, let me get a good tone; I just don't know . . .")
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
Come go with me.
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
Come go with me.
Petty Molly, Pretty Molly,
Come go with me,
Before we get married,
Some friends to see.
They traveled o'er hills
And hollers so deep.
They traveled o'er hills
And hollers . . .
(Mrs. Lane: "It'll come to me in a day or two. Really, it will."
Dr. Wolf: "All right. Let's put down this much and . . .")
Pretty Molly (version 2)
"Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
Come go with me.
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
Come go with me.
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
Come go with me,
Before we get married,
Some friends to see."
They traveled o'er hills
And hollers so deep.
They traveled o'er hills
And hollers so deep.
They traveled o'er hills
And hollers so deep,
Until the poor girl
Began to weep.
"Sweet William, sweet William,
You're a-leading me astray.
Sweet William, sweet William,
You're leading me astray.
Sweet William, sweet William,
You're a-leading me astray,
For my poor heart
To betray."
"Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
You're a-guessing just right.
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
You're a-guessing just right.
Pretty Molly, pretty Molly,
You're guessing just right:
I was a-digging your grave
The biggest part of last night."
He stabbed her to the heart,
And the blood, it did flow.
He stabbed her to the heart,
And the blood, it did flow.
He stabbed her to the heart,
And the blood, it did flow,
And into the grave
Her body did go.
Step up, gentlemen and ladies,
I'll bid you goodnight.
Step up, gentlemen and ladies,
I'll bid you goodnight.
Step up, gentlemen and ladies,
I'll bid you goodnight.
He went raving distracted
And died that night.