 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(October 2022) |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2009) |
| "Polly Vaughn" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Songwriter(s) | unknown |
"Polly Vaughn" is an Irish folk-song (Roud 166, Laws O36).
A man, sometimes called Johnny Randle, goes out hunting for birds. Usually this is described as being in the evening or by moonlight in the rain. He sees something white in the bushes. Thinking this is a swan, he shoots. To his horror he discovers he has killed his true love, Polly Vaughn, sheltering from the rain. Returning home, he reports his mistake to his uncle and is advised not to run away. He should stay and tell the court that it was an honest mistake. The night before Polly's funeral, her ghost appears to confirm his version of the events.
The narrator imagines all the women of the county standing in a line, with Polly shining out among them as a "fountain of snow". Since the fairest girl in the county has died the girls are said to be glad of her death. In some versions there is no scene of guilty confession and no ghost. [1]
We are not told of the outcome of the trial. Is he found guilty of murder or not? Would he be guilty of poaching? The emphasis on Polly's fair skin, and the reaction of all the girls of the county has led most commentators to suggest that there is a supernatural element.
Polly wears a white apron, and has a name which usually sounds like "Mailí Bhán". In Irish Gaelic, this translates as "Fair Mary".
Baring-Gould commented that there is some similarity to Celtic legends about "The Swan Maidens". (see Swan Maiden). Anne Gilchrist in the Journal of the Folksong Society (number 26) points to many tales about women turning into swans. There is a fairy tale called "An Cailin" (The Fair Girl). A version of this story was recorded as "Cailín na Gruaige Báine" on the album Aoife by Moya Brennan. In Ovid's Metamorphoses , the Aeolian prince Cephalus accidentally kills his wife Procris with a javelin while hunting. [2] Roy Palmer compares this story to that of Polly Vaughn. This interpretation might be called the "Romantic Celtic" version, and has been embraced by Shirley Collins and others.
A more mundane interpretation is that the invention of the rifle inevitably led to an increase in accidents while hunting. If this song had really been an echo of ancient mythology we would expect to find versions in Scotland and indeed throughout Europe. With the exception of one version in Scotland, the song has been found only in England, Ireland, USA, Australia and Canada. Moreover, there are no versions known before 1806 [there are number of versions from 1765 to 1806]. We would have expected earlier versions or fragments. This down-to-earth interpretation of the song is rare.
Hugh Shields suggested that the story might be based on a real event in Kilwarlin, co. Down. [1] The song is discussed in "EDS" (English Dance and song) Autumn 2006 edition.
At the end of the eighteenth century and the start of the nineteenth century there was an increase in the use of rifles among hunters, as they became cheaper to manufacture. [1]
The absence of any trial in the song suggests that the sympathies of the hearers were with the hunter. Swan is not a particularly tasty bird, and most hunters would have preferred to shoot deer. There are versions of this song called "This Shooting of his Dear", in which the protagonist similarly mistakes Polly for a swan, but "never shall be hung for the shooting of his dear." [3]
The idea that someone who accidentally killed someone should not run away shows a certain confidence in the judicial system. The song is a domestic tragedy, and has no elements of class conflict.
There is a slight tendency for the name "Molly" to be used more frequently in the Irish versions of the song, and for "Polly" to be used in the English versions.
Most traditional songs involving tragic death are included among the Child ballads. The absence of this song from that list has puzzled several commentators, since Francis Child must surely have known about the song. [1]
It was published in Robert Jamieson's 'Popular Ballads and Songs from tradition, manuscripts and scarce editions', 1806. Jamieson writes about this song, "This is indeed a silly ditty, one of the very lowest description of vulgar English ballads which are sung about the streets in country towns and sold four or five for a halfpenny". Jamieson's opinion might have coloured Child's decision to exclude it.
Jamieson says that it also goes by the name "Lord Kenneth and Fair Ellinour" , but nobody else has used this name for the song. This sounds like a misinterpretation, since there is a Child Ballad (number 73) called "Lord Thomas and Fair Elleanor" which involves a man killing a fair woman, but without any of the motivation of hunting for a swan.
Broadside printings of this song are known from:
The song exists under the titles:
The Irish tune "An Cailín Bán" appears to have evolved separately from the English tune, and appears to be earlier.
And Polly Vaughn arranged by Rodney Dillard and recorded by The Dillards on Elektra Records 1962.
According to "The Fiddlers companion" website, the title "Molly Bawn" is an Anglicised corruption of the Gaelic "Mailí Bhán," or Fair Mary (Fairhaired Mary, White Haired Mary). The symbol of a bird to represent a departing spirit from a dead body is common in art, particularly in scenes of the death of Christ.
The idea of the spirit of a dead person returning to speak to the living is quite common in ballads. Examples include "The Unquiet Grave" and "Murder at the Red Barn".
The idea that a woman might transform herself into a swan is widely known from Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake". Again, death at the hands of a hunter is part of the story.
The word "bán" in Irish means "white", "pale", or "fair"; [5] "bawn" is an Anglicized version, a not uncommon practice in the past.
The name Bawn appears to be quite common in Irish literature. The Colleen Bawn is a melodramatic play by Dion Boucicault. "Molly Bawn,: A comedy drama in four acts" (1920) is by Marie Doran. There is also a song by Samuel Lover in the one-act opera "Il Paddy Whack in Italia" (1841) called "Molly Bawm". Margaret Wolfe Hungerford wrote a novel called Molly Bawn (1878). None of these stories concern women being shot in mistake for a swan.
The story is adapted and illustrated by Barry Moser in 1992 as the children's book, Polly Vaughn: A Traditional British Ballad , which is set in the Southern United States, [6] and again as part of the 1998 children's book, Great Ghost Stories , complete with an afterword by Peter Glassman. [7]
Samuel Lover wrote tunes as well as novels and dramas. Ciaran Tourish recorded "Molly Bawn's Reel" but it is not connected with the song. This website: Reel suggests that Samuel Lover composed the tune.
In Canada there is company doing Whale and Puffin tours, called "Molly Bawn". There is a poem called "Polly Vaughn" in Les Barker's book "Alexander Greyhound Bell" It is presumably as parody of the song, as that is the sort of thing Les Barker does.
The earliest known version of the tune for the Irish version of the song, is earlier than the earliest printing of the words. Edward Bunting's "General Collection of the Ancient Music of Ireland" appeared in 1796. He printed the Irish tune three times in his manuscripts, each time noting it was traditionally the first to by learned by beginning harpers. If this in turn really is derived from O’Carolan’s composition “Fairhaired Mary” then it must date back to 1738 or before.
Under the Irish title "An Cailín Bán" it is first mentioned in 1839 (The fair girl) as a tune rather than a song. The tune appears in "The Concertina and How to Play It" (1905) by Paul de Ville (as "Molly Bawn"), again implying it suitable for beginners to the instrument. This would suggest that the words were not married up with the Irish tune until sometime between 1840 and 1905.
The English tune is known from the time of Baring-Gould (c 1890).
In Atlantic Canada, particularly Newfoundland, a variation of the original song, titled "Molly Bawn" has been very popular through the years. This version depicts a man, reminiscing in sad despair, over the loss of his young bride many years ago. However, nowhere in the song is the manner of the girl's death mentioned. [8] [The Leach song, not Molly Bawn, is a version of Boating on Lough Ree by John Keegan Casey (1816-1849), From 'Amatory Poems'. ref Mudcat Discussion Forum]
As there are three distinct ways of performing the song/tune this section has been divided up.
Section 1 – Performed as a folk song
| Album/Single | Performer | Year | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Acoustic Recordings (1910–1911)" | John McCormack | 1911 | "Molly Bawn" | classic tenor |
| "Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: Ireland" | Seamus Ennis | 1955 (rec 1949/51) | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "The Shooting of His Dear" (single on HMV) | A.L. Lloyd | 1951 | "The Shooting of His Dear" | . |
| "The Voice of the People: Good People Take Warning" | Bess Cronin | 2012 (rec 1952) | "Molly Bawn" | |
| "Folk Songs of Britain, Vol 7" | Harry Cox | 1962 (rec 1953) | "Polly" | . |
| "Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: England" | A.L. Lloyd | 1955 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "The Maid From Ballingarry & Other songs From the Muscrai Tradition" | John O'Connell | 1999 (rec c1960) | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "Marine Folk songs" | Louis Boutilier | 1962 | "As Jimmie Went A-Hunting" | Not really a marine song |
| "Back Porch Bluegrass" | The Dillards | 1963 | "Polly Vaughn" | 1st USA version |
| "In The Wind" | Peter Paul and Mary | 1963 | "Polly Von" | Unusual spelling |
| "Hazards of Love" | Anne Briggs | 1964 | "Polly Vaughan" | Same as A.L. Lloyd version |
| "Sings at the Toronto Horseshoe Club" | Mac Wiseman | 1965/2001 | "Molly Bawn" | Newfoundland Version. |
| "Byker Hill" | Martin Carthy | 1967 | "Fowler Jack" | with Dave Swarbrick (fiddle) listed as "The Fowler" |
| "Ballads and Songs of the Upper Hudson Valley" | Sarah Cleveland | 1968 (rec 1966) | "Molly Bawn" | USa version |
| "Power of the True Love Knot" | Shirley Collins | 1968 | "Polly Vaughan" | Tune composed by Collins |
| "Mainly Norfolk" | Peter Bellamy | 1968 | "The Shooting of His Dear" | from Walter Pardon |
| "At It Again" | The Dubliners | 1968 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "The Voice of the People vol 3" | Phoebe Smith | 1998 (rec 1969) | "Molly Vaughan" | . |
| "The Voice of the People vol 6" | Packie Manus Byrne | 1998 (rec 1974) | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "Folk Songs from Hampshire" | Cheryl Jordan | 1974 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "Songs of a Donegal Man" | Packie Byrne | 1975 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "On Banks of Green willow" | Tony Rose | 1976 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "Dark Ships in the Forest" | John Roberts and Tony Barrand | 1977 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "You Can't Fool the Fat Man" | Dave Burland | 1979 | "The Shooting of His Dear" | . |
| "Step Outside" | Oysterband | 1986 | "Molly Bond" | . |
| "Them Stars" | Margaret MacArthur | 1996 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "Voices – English Traditional Songs" | Patti Reid | 1997 | "Fowler" | . |
| "Racing Hearts" | Al Petteway and Amy White | 1999 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "Black Mountains Revisited" | Julie Murphy | 1999 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "Put a Bit of Powder on it, Father" | Walter Pardon | 2000 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "Far in the Mountains" | Dan Tate | 2000 | "Molly Van" | Unusual spelling |
| "Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions" | The Chieftains with Alison Krauss | 2002 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "Over the Edge" | Moher | 2003 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "Red colour Sun" | Pauline Scanlon | 2004 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "The Hardy Sons of Dan" | Maggie Murphy | 2004 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "Song Links 2" | Dave Fletcher and Bill Whaley | 2005 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "A Promise of Light" | Jamie Anderson | 2005 | "Polly Vaughn" | . |
| "No Earthly Man" | Alasdair Roberts | 2005 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "Day Is Dawning" | Sussie Nielsen | 2005 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "Of Milkmaids and Architects" | Martha Tilston | 2006 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "Stranded" | Craig; Morgan; Robson | 2006 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "Freedom Fields" | Seth Lakeman | 2006 | "The Setting of the Sun" | Unusual title |
| "The Weeping Well" | The Great Park | 2007 | "Polly Vaughan" | . |
| "A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection" | Alison Krauss | 2007 | "Molly Bán" | . |
| "Night Visiting" | Bella Hardy | 2007 | "Molly Vaughan" | . |
| "Bring Me Home" | Peggy Seeger | 2008 | "Molly Bond" | . |
| "Footsteps" | Chris de Burgh | 2008 | "Polly Von" | Same version as Peter, Paul and Mary |
| "Is It the Sea?" | Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Harem Scarem and Alex Neilson | 2008 | "Molly Bawn" | Live album recording of a 2006 performance at Queens Hall, Edinburgh. Released in 2008. |
| "Daughters" | The Lasses | 2015 | "Polly Vaughn" | |
| "Wild Hog" | The Furrow Collective | 2016 | "Polly Vaughn" | |
| "Mama's Apron Strings" | Blackberry Blossom Farm | 2018 | "Polly Vaughn" |
Section 2 – Performed as a classical music arrangement
Benjamin Britten wrote many arrangements of folksongs. "Folksong Arrangements – volume 6" contains "The Shooting of His Dear". Ernest John Moeran composed "Six Folk Songs from Norfolk" in 1923. The 5th song is "The Shooting of his Dear". According to Barry Marsh, the song became as basis for Moeran's Symphony in G minor.
| Album/Single | Performer | Year | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Music For voice and guitar" | Peter Pears and Julian Bream | (1993,recorded 1964) | "The Shooting of His Dear" | The Britten version |
| "Britten: The Complete Folksong arrangements" | Jamie MacDougall and Craig Lewis | 1994 | "The Shooting of His Dear" | . |
| "Down by the Salley Gardens" | Benjamin Luxon and David Willison | 2001 | "The Shooting of His Dear" | . |
| "Scarborough Fair" | James Griffett | 2002 | "The shooting of his dear" | arr Britten |
| "The Fowler"(single) | Christine Smallman + choir | unknown | The Fowler" | (arranged by Moeran) |
Section 3 – Performed as an instrumental
| Album/Single | Performer | Year | Variant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Traditional Music of Ireland" | Joe Burke with Charlie Lennon | c 1973 | "Molly Bán" | . |
| "All Around The Circle: 12 Instrumental Selections" | The Stringbusters | c. 1973 | "Molly Von" | Unusual Spelling. Instrumental rendition of the Newfoundland variant. Performed on a Traditional Irish-Style button accordion, accompanied by typical Country-Western instrumentation of that era (Electric Guitar, Drums, Steel Guitar, Electric Bass). |
| "Old Hag You Have Killed Me" | The Bothy Band | 1976 | "Molly Ban" | In the set called "Michael Gorman's" |
| "Traditional Music of Ireland" | James Kelly, Paddy O'Brien & Daithi Sproule | 1981 | "Molly Bawn (White-Haired Molly)" | . |
| "Carousel" | Seamus McGuire, Manus McGuire and Daithi Sproule | 1984 | "An Cailin Bán" | . |
| "A Whistle on the Wind" | Joanie Madden | 1994 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "Under the Moon" | Martin Hayes | 1994 | "Fair Haired Molly" | Unusual title |
| "Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler" | Paddy Canny | 1997 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "The Wide World Over" | The Chieftains | 2002 | "Little Molly" | Unusual title |
| "Ragairne" | Seamus Begley & Jim Murray | 2002 | "Cailin Ban" | . |
| "Down the Line" | Ciaran Tourish | 2005 | "Molly Bán" | . |
| "Bakerswell" | Bakerswell | 2005 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "Duck Soup" | Duck Soup | 2005 | "Molly Bawn" | . |
| "In Session" | Eoin O'Neill | 2006 | "Molly Ban" | . |
| "The House I Was Reared In" | Christy McNamara | 2007 | "Molly Bán" | . |
Edward Madden wrote the words, and M. J. Fred Helf wrote the music to a song called "Colleen Bawn" in 1906. The second verse is as follows:
The business about dropping his gun almost suggests the earlier ballad, but is otherwise unrelated. The song is about a soldier who longs to return to his Irish sweetheart.
In Canada a song called "Molly Bawn" has been captured by song-collector MacEdward Leach. MacEdward Leach. It has the line:
but makes no mention of any shooting. It is probably unrelated.
The air "Molly ban so Fair" (1905, Stanford/Petrie collection), is probably unrelated.
According to "The Fiddlers companion" website, there is a variant similar to O’Carolan’s composition “Fairhaired Mary.” (See Fiddlers companion)
The Boys of the Lough is a Scottish-Irish Celtic music band active since the 1970s.
"Follow Me Up to Carlow" is an Irish folk song celebrating the defeat of an army of 3,000 English soldiers by Fiach Mac Aodh Ó Broin at the Battle of Glenmalure, during the Second Desmond Rebellion in 1580.
"The Three Ravens" is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that. Newer versions were recorded right up through the 19th century. Francis James Child recorded several versions in his Child Ballads.
"Silver Dagger", with variants such as "Katy Dear", "Molly Dear", "The Green Fields and Meadows", "Awake, Awake, Ye Drowsy Sleepers" and others, is an American folk ballad, whose origins lie possibly in Britain. These songs of different titles are closely related, and two strands in particular became popular in commercial Country music and Folk music recordings of the twentieth century: the "Silver Dagger" version popularised by Joan Baez, and the "Katy Dear" versions popularised by close harmony brother duets such as The Callahan Brothers, The Blue Sky Boys and The Louvin Brothers.
"Fare Thee Well" is an 18th-century English folk ballad, listed as number 422 in the Roud Folk Song Index. In the song, a lover bids farewell before setting off on a journey, and the lyrics include a dialogue between the lovers.
"Give Me Your Hand" is a tune from early 17th century Ireland by Rory Dall O'Cahan. It is one of the most widely recorded pieces of Irish traditional music.
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles, the African music and blues of early African Americans, and to a lesser extent the music of Continental Europe.
"Pretty Polly", "The Gosport Tragedy" or "The Cruel Ship's Carpenter" is a traditional English-language folk song found in the British Isles, Canada, and the Appalachian region of North America, among other places.
"The Twa Sisters" is a traditional murder ballad, dating at least as far back as the mid seventeenth century. The song recounts the tale of a girl drowned by her jealous sister. At least 21 English variants exist under several names, including "Minnorie" or "Binnorie", "The Cruel Sister", "The Wind and Rain", "Dreadful Wind and Rain", "Two Sisters", "The Bonny Swans" and the "Bonnie Bows of London". The ballad was collected by renowned folklorist Francis J. Child as Child Ballad 10 and is also listed in the Roud Folk Song Index. Whilst the song is thought to originate somewhere around England or Scotland, extremely similar songs have been found throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia.
"The Maid and the Palmer" is an English language murder ballad with supernatural/religious overtones. Because of its dark and sinister lyrics, the song was often avoided by folk singers. Child's main text in English comes from the seventeenth century ballad collection compiled by Thomas Percy, supplemented by a nineteenth century fragment recalled by Sir Walter Scott, although both Child and later scholars agree that the English language version(s) of the ballad derive from an earlier Continental original or "Magdalene ballad" that is based upon a medieval legend associated with Mary Magdalene, in which her story has become conflated with that of the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John. The ballad was present in oral tradition in Scotland in the early years of the nineteenth century but was subsequently lost there, however versions have since been recovered in Ireland, in particular among the Irish Traveller community, with an intervening gap of some 150 years. A small fragment of the ballad has also been claimed to have been recovered in the U.S.A., but the veracity of this record is disputed. The "palmer" of Child's title, as included the Percy MS version, refers to a pilgrim, normally from Western Europe, who had visited the holy places in Palestine and who, as a token of his visits to the Holy Land, brought back a palm leaf or a palm leaf folded into a cross. In the ballad the palmer, as a holy man, has the ability to see the Magdalene character/protagonist's past in which she has borne and buried numerous children and to prescribe what fate awaits her in the hereafter, in the form of a set of seven year penances following which she will be absolved from her sins; in Continental versions, and in one variant collected in Ireland, the palmer is in fact Jesus.
In the Wind is the third album by the American folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, released in October 1963, a few months before the arrival of the Beatles heralded the British Invasion. It was reissued on audio CD in 1990.
George Malcolm Laws was a scholar of traditional British and American folk song.
15 Years On is the eleventh studio album by the Irish folk band The Dubliners. This album was created to celebrate the band's 15th anniversary from the day they started music together. The album was released on the Chyme label in 1977. The album features 24 tracks on two records. In spite of having only nine previously unreleased tracks, it is still regarded as an original album.
Alive Alive-O is a double album by the Irish Folk Group The Dubliners which was recorded live throughout several Evenings in December 1996 in Germany at the end of their European tour. After the departure of Ronnie Drew, The Dubliners were joined by the famous Irish singer Paddy Reilly who lends his voice to several ballads on the album. John Sheahan's daughter Ceoladh guests with her father, duetting on fiddle with him on his composition, "Among Friends". The album is notable for some mixed German-English song introductions by Sean Cannon, causing widespread laughter among the audience.
Margaret Barry (1917–1989) was an Irish Traveller, traditional singer and banjo player.
"Foggy Dew" is the name of several Irish ballads, and of an Irish lament. The song chronicles the Easter Rising of 1916, and encourages Irishmen to fight for the cause of Ireland, rather than for the British Empire, as so many young men were doing in World War I.
The Coolin, or The Coolun, is an Irish air often characterised as one of the most beautiful in the traditional repertoire.
Molly Bawn may refer to:
Sí Beag, Sí Mór, "Small Fairy Mound, Big Fairy Mound", is an Irish folk tune. The title uses the word 'Sí', the Irish Gaelic for 'fairy mound'.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Broadsheet sources are given here:
The ballad is discussed here:
The Irish tune is discussed here:
The lyrics are given here:
There is an mp3 version sung by Eula Maxfield Garrott, recorded in 1952 here:
Bob Dylan's version:
Paul de Ville's "The Concertina and How to Play It" containing Molly Bawn:
&id=07520.gif&seq=1&size=0){kind=link}