Down from the innkeeper's quarters he crept, Past the room where the boys were up late The dearest boy you ever did see, with his hair in pigtails and stains on his knee. Past the bar-room he crept, Down to the room where his supper was kept As he passed by, his father did shout "Molly me boy, come over to me!" Molly did pause, his fair hair aglow and enter the bar-room as his father said so. The firelight flickered and danced as he came, again his father called out his name. "Molly me boy, you pig-headed child. Never a dull day do you see. The men in the town, they bluster and bluff But one day soon, I know they'll get rough. "Today they came here, venom and spite, I turned them around and set them right. No man is welcome who'll tease my boy Long braided locks or starched frocks. "I said to them 'Boys, don't you see. I like my boy, now you let her be. She may be a little girl to you but she's my boy to me.'" Soon he's the tender age of thirteen Looking more like his mother than ever before Even with his dirty trousers and rakish grin The likeness was growing ever more. "Molly my boy, come over to me. Everyone knows you, plain as the day No use in hiding who you really are, You're a handsome beauty and fancy free." She took out her scissors and cut off his locks Found his father's old suit and [unfinished]