Molly Bondos- Lucy Quigley (AR) 1958 Max Hunter
[From Ozark Folksongs Reel 249, Item 14. Collected by Max Hunter (H-6 ) for Mary C. Parler Transcribed by Frances Majors.
R. Matteson 2016]
Molly Bondos -sung by Mrs. Lucy Quigley Huntsville road, south of Eureka Springs, Arkansas June 3, 1958
Come all you bold hunters
That's hunting with gun,
Beware of all danger
And of the damsel. [1]
Jimmy Randalls was a hunting
And a-hunting in the dark,
When he shot his own true love
And did not miss a mark.
Then Jimmy run to her
With his gun in his hand,
Saying, "Molly, dearest Molly,
I've taken your life,
And I always intended
To make you my wife."
Then Jimmy went home
With his gun in his hand,
Saying, "Father, dearest Father,
I killed Molly Von;
With her apron round her shoulders,
I took her for a fawn,
But a-lissy , oh lassy [2]
It is for Molly Von."
Then "Jimmy, my son,"
His father did say,
"Stay in your own country,
And don't run away.
Stay in your own country
Till the trial's at hand;
You never will suffer
By the laws of the land."
At the first of Jimmy's trial,
Molly's ghost did appear,
Saying, "Uncle, dearest Uncle,
Jimmy Randalls is clear.
With my apron around my shoulders,
He took me for a fawn,
But a-lissy, oh lassie,
It is for Holly Von."
The girls of Liberry [3]
Were all mighty glad
To hear the true tidings,
Molly Bondos, her death.
There were thousands upon thousands
Placed him all in a row;,
Molly Bondos stood amid them
Like a mountain of snow.
1. See Sharp B
2. Usually, "But alas, oh alas"
3. Lisburn