Billy Boy- Bohanan (TN) 1932 Henry C
[From Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands by Mellinger Henry 1938; version C, p. 386.
R. Matteson 2014]
C. Billy Boy. Obtained from Ray Bohanan, Indian Gap, Route 15, Sevierville, Sevier County, Tennessee, June 21, 1932.
1. Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to see my wife; She is the joy of my life;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
2. Did she bid you come in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she bid you come in, charming Billy?
She bid me come in, with a dimple in her chin;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
3. How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How old is she, charming Billy?
She is twice six, twice seven, twice twenty and eleven;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
4. Can she make a feather bed, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she make a feather bed, charming Billy?
She can make a feather bed, ten feet above her head;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
5. Can she go to the spring, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she go to the spring, charming Billy?
She can go to the spring, like a bird on a wing;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
6. Can she make a chicken pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she make a chicken pie, charming Billy?
She can make a chicken pie, quick as a cat can wink its eye;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.
7. How tall is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How tall is she, charming Billy ?
She is tall as a pine and slim as a line;
She is a little too young to leave her mother.