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The song is not recorded earlier than 1883, when it was published in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It was also published by " Francis Brothers " and " Day in London " in 1884 as a work written and composed by James Yorkston, of Edinburgh, with music arranged by Edmund Forman.
The London edition states that it was reprinted by permission of Kohler and Son of Edinburgh, implying that the first edition was in Scotland, though no copies of it have been located.
According to Siobhán Marie Kilfeather the song is from the music hall style of the period, and while one cannot wholly dismiss the possibility that it is " based on an older folk song ", " neither melody nor words bear any relationship to the Irish tradition of street ballads.
" She describes the story of the historical Molly as " nonsense ".
The song is in a familiar tragi-comic mode popular in this period, probably influenced by earlier songs with a similar theme, such as Percy Montrose's " My Darling Clementine ", which was written circa 1880.

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