Willie Boy- Lucy Quigley (AR) 1958 Hunter A
[Missouri State; Max Hunter Folk Song Collection, version A; Cat. #0107 (MFH #682). Minor corrections for spelling and punctuation plus stanza reorganization made. See B broadsides for a similar opening.
R. Matteson 2017]
Willie Boy- As sung by Mrs. Lucy Quigley, Eureka Springs, Arkansas on June 3, 1958.
VERSE 1
As I walked down by the river side
Where the water there so gently glide
I heard a fair young lady mourn
Saying, what shall I do, my true loves gone?
VERSE 2
She built herself a little boat
And on the ocean, she did float
An' ever ship that she'd draw nigh
Would inquire for her Sweet Willie boy.
VERSE 3
She had not sailed upon the deep
Till another boat she chanced to meet
Captain, captain, tell me true
Does my sweet Willie sail with you?
VERSE 4
O, no kind miss, he isn't here
He sleeps in yonder deep, I fear.
On yon green's isles as we passed by
We chanced to lose one sailor boy.
VERSE 5
She wrang her hands and tore her hair
Just like a lady in despair
These words she stormed as the boat sailed on
If I don't get Willie I won't have none.
VERSE 6
Upon her knees, she wrote this song
She wrote it neat, she wrote it long
At the end of every line, she'd shed a tear
At the end of every verse cried, "Willie my dear."
VERSE 7
Go dig my grave and dig it deep
Upon it place some roses sweet
Upon my breast place the bird of blue
To test[ify] to the world my love was true.