Billy Boy- Shellenbarger (NE) 1911 Pound
[From American Ballads and Songs- Louise Pound 1922, p. 231. Pound's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
DIALOGUE, NURSERY AND GAME SONGS
113. Billy Boy. From the singing of Mrs. Ava Shellenbarger of Pawnee City, Nebraska, 1911. This favorite song is an Old World importation. See The Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. 26. p. 357.
113. BILLY BOY
"O where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
O where have you been, charming Billy?"
"I have been for a wife, she's the treasure of my life,
She's a young thing but can't leave her mammie."
"Can she make a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?"
"She can make a cherry pie quick as cat can wink her eye,
She's a young thing but can't leave her mammie."
"Can she make a feather bed, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she make a feather bed, charming Billy?"
"She can make it very neat from the head unto the feet,
She's a young thing but can't leave her mammie."
"Can she make a loaf of bread, Billy Boy, Billy Boy
Can she make a loaf of bread, charming Billy?"
"She can make a loaf of bread with a night cap on her head,
She's a young thing but can't leave her mammie."
"Can she milk a mulie cow, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she milk a mulie cow, charming Billy?"
"She can milk a mulie cow if her mammie shows her how.
She's a young thing but can't leave her mammie."