Polly Vaughn is een oude Ierse folksong, die waarschijnlijk dateert uit de 16e eeuw. De song staat bekend onder verschillende namen, waaronder Molly Bawn, Molly Bend en Molly Vaughan.
In het lied ziet een jager zijn geliefde aan voor een zwaan – – ze schuilt voor de regen onder een struik gekleed in het wit – waarop hij haar neerschiet. In de meeste versies van de song verschijnt ze als een geest om hem te vertellen dat ze hem vergeeft. In een aantal versies ziet hij haar aan voor een hert in plaats van een zwaan.
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.
