Annotation:Molly Durkin

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MOLLY DURKIN. AKA – "Mursheen Durkin." Irish-American, Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song, with its Gold Rush references, was recorded in 1929 by Murty Rabbett, a tin-whistle and piccolo player and singer with Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band of Boston (backed by Sullivan on piano). Words to the song go:

I'm a daycent, honest workin' man, as you might understand,
And I'll tell you the reason why I left old Ireland.
'Twas Molly Durkin did it when she married Jim O'Shea,
And to keep my heart from breakin' I sailed to Amer-i-kay.

Cho:
Arrah, goodbye Molly Durkin, I'm sick and tired of workin'
And me heart is nearly broken and no longer I'll be fooled.
And sure as my name is Cooney, I'm bound for Cal-i-fooney
And instead of diggin' mortar, I'll be diggin' lumps of gold.

Well, I landed in Castle Garden, sure I met a man named Burke
And he told me to remain in New York until he get me work.
But he hasn't got it for me, as in the nights I'll tell them plain,
For San Francisco in the morn I'm goin' to take a train.

Well, I'm out in Cal-i-forn-i and my fortune it is made.
I'm loaded down with gold and I throw away my pick and spade,
Sail home to dear old Ireland with the Castle out of sight,
And I'll marry Miss O'Kelly, Molly Durkin for to spite.

The tune for the song is an adaptation of the reel "Cailíní deasa Mhuigheo" (Pretty Girls of Mayo (The)).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Rounder CD1087, Murty Rabbett – "From Galway to Dublin" (reissue recordings, various artists).

See also listing at:
Hear Rabbett's 1929 recording at the Comhaltas Archive [1]

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