TonyK was after words to 'Polly Von' which is the old (semi-mystical) ballad 'Young Molly Bán'. This version was collected in Australia from one of our lovely old traditional singers, Sally Sloane.

MOLLY BAUN LAVERY
(As sung by Sally Sloane)
Come all you young fellows that follows a gun,
Beware of going a-shooting by the late setting sun.
It might happen to anyone, as it happened to me,
To shoot your own true love in under a tree.

She was going to her uncle, when the shower it came on,
She went under a bush, the rain for to shun.
With her apron all around her, I took her for a swan,
And I levelled my gun and I shot Molly Baun.

I ran to her uncle in haste and great fear,
Saying, "Uncle, dear uncle, I've shot Molly dear.
With her apron all around her, I took her for a swan,
Bur oh, alas, it was my own Molly Baun.

'I shot my own true love, alas, I'm undone,
While she was in the shade by the setting of the sun.
If I thought she was there, I'd caress her tenderly,
And soon I'd get married to my own Molly dear.'

My curse on you Toby, that lent me your gun,
To go out a-shooting by the late setting sun.
I rubbed her fair temples, and found she was dead,
A fountain of tears, for my Molly I shed.

Up came her aged father, and his locks they were grey,
Stay here in your own country, and don't run away.
Stay here in your own country 'til your trial it comes on,
And I'l see that you're set free by the laws of the land.'

All the maids in this country they all will be glad
When they hear of the sad news that my Molly is dead.
Take them all in their hundreds, set them all in a row,
Molly Baun she'll shine like a mountain of snow.

This is the song as sung by Sally Sloane, born Parkes, NSW, Australia, 1894, to collector John Meredith in the 1950s. Meredith notes that it is essentially the same as ballad #29 in Irish Street Ballads; ‘Young Molly Bán’. Why it is called 'Molly Baun Lavery' and not just 'Molly Baun' I do not know. Sally has passed on and I can't ask her, but I shall ask John Meredith when next I see him.

Much of Sally’s repertoire was pased down from her Irish grandmother, Sarah Alexander, who came out from County Kerry, Ireland in 1838, aged 22 years.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

MIDI/ABC of tune.

Note this 8 bar segment is repeated to complete the four lines of each stanza.

MIDI file: mollyban.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Tempo: 128 (468750 microsec/crotchet)
Start
0000 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 64 080 0096 0 64 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 69 080 0384 0 69 064 0096 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 67 080 0192 0 67 064 0048 1 69 080 0384 0 69 064 0096 1 69 080 0096 0 69 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 73 080 0192 0 73 064 0048 1 73 080 0096 0 73 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0192 0 69 064 0048 1 71 080 0384 0 71 064 0096 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 73 080 0096 0 73 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 76 080 0384 0 76 064 0096 1 79 080 0048 0 79 064 0012 1 79 080 0048 0 79 064 0012 1 78 080 0096 0 78 064 0024 1 76 080 0192 0 76 064 0048 1 71 080 0192 0 71 064 0048 1 67 080 0096 0 67 064 0024 1 71 080 0096 0 71 064 0024 1 69 080 0144 0 69 064 0036 1 67 080 0048 0 67 064 0012 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064 0048 1 64 080 0192 0 64 064
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:
M:3/4
Q:1/4=128
K:C
EEA2A2|-A2BAG2|A4AB|^c2^cBA2|B4B^c|e2e4|g/2g/2^fe2B2|
GBA3/2G/2E2|E2E3/2||