DESCRIPTION:
Although I'm opposed to hunting in general, this song has intrigued me since the late 1970s. Polly Von (sometimes spelled Vaughn) is an Irish folk song about a young man (sometimes referred to as Johnny Randle) who is hunting at twilight and mistakes his true love, who is taking shelter from the rain, for a swan. He shoots, and discovers that he's killed Polly. He runs to tell his father (or, sometimes, "uncle") what he's done. In some versions, there is a trial, but I know of no versions that include the outcome. "Polly Von" was probably around at the time that Francis Child was collecting ballads, but is strangely missing from the Child Ballad catalog. It may, however, be connected to Laws No. 036, "Molly Bawn (Shooting of His Dear)".