Molly Bawn- Packie Byrne (Donegal) pre1958 Palmer
[My date. From: Songs Of a Donegal Man (Topic 12TS257 1975); Found in Everyman's Book Of British Ballads, ed. Roy Palmer. His notes follow. Yates notes found at bottom of this page.
R. Matteson 2016]
Palmer notes: "Instead of punishment, a ghost here brings pardon. The mysterious death of a woman in the guise of a swan has profound reverberations. It recalls the death of Procris in classical antiquity and the swan maidens of northern mythology."
Molly Bawn- Sung by Packie Byrne (b 1917) of Donegal
Come all you young fowlers that handle a gun,
Beware of night rambling by the setting of sun;
And beware of an accident that happened of late
To young Molly Bawn and sad was her fate.
She was going to her uncle's when a shower came on:
She went under a green bush the shower to shun.
With her white apron round her, he took her for a swan,
But a-hush and a-sigh, it was his own Molly Bawn.
He ran home to his father with his gun in his hand,
Saying, 'Father dear father, I have shot Molly Bawn.
I have shot that fair damsel; I have taken the life
Of the one I intended to take as my wife.
She was going to her uncle's when a shower came on:
She went under a green bush the shower to shun.
With her white apron round her, I took her for a swan.
Oh, father, will I be forgiven for the loss of that swan?'
'Oh, Johnny, my Johnny, do not run away,
Do not leave your own country till your trial day;
Don't leave your own country till your trial comes on,
For you'll never be convicted for the loss of a swan.'
The night before Molly's funeral her ghost did appear,
Saying, 'Mother, dear mother, young Johnny is clear.
I was going to my uncle's when a shower came on:
I went under a green bush the shower to shun.
With my white apron round me, he took me for a swan.
Won't you tell him he's forgiven by his own Molly Bawn?'
All the girls of this country are all very glad
Since the pride of Glen Alla, Molly Bawn, is now dead;
And the girls in this country, put them all in a row,
Molly Bawn would shine above them like a mountain of snow.
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Packie Manus Byrne sang Molly Bawn in a recording made by Tony Engle and Mike Yates, London, in 1974 on his 1975 Topic album Songs of a Donegal Man and in 1998 on the Topic anthology Tonight I'll Make You My Bride (The Voice of the People Series Volume 6). Mike Yates commented in the sleeve notes:
Packie learnt Molly Bawn from Charlie Waters of Meentinadea near Ardara, Donegal, many years ago when they were both trapped in a deserted farm house at Glendown during a snow storm. The farm belonged to Packie’s sister who was away in hospital expecting a baby, and Packie and Charlie had gone there to look after the farm animals, expecting to only stay for an hour or two. A storm blew up and it was not until four days later that they were able to leave the house where they had been trapped without food or turf. In order to keep warm and cheerful Packie and Charlie had huddled together and spent the time teaching one another songs. According to A.L. Lloyd the ballad is but a remake of the Greek myth of Cephalus and Procris in which Procris, suspecting that her husband Cephalus is about to visit a mistress, hides in a thicket to watch his progress. In fact Cephalus was out hunting and, mistaking Procris for a deer, he killed her with a magic dart. Others, including P.W. Joyce and Professor Hugh Shields, have sought to identify the ballad with an actual event, albeit one which has incorporated the swan-maiden theme. Packie’s tune, in common with most that are associated with this ballad, is especially fine.