Billy Boy- Gainer (WV) c1915 Gainer book
[My date. From Patrick Ward Gainer (1904-1981)- Folk Songs from the West Virginia Hills; 1975. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
This is the kind of song our great-grandmother used to sing for us children when she came to spend the night with us. We would gather around her and ask her to tell stortes and sing songs. When we asked her to sing "Billy Boy" she would say, "Allright, children, now you get out your slates and figure out how old the woman was that Billy Boy wanted for his wife. And the first one that gets it will get a prize." She always had a cookie or an apple in her apron pocket to gave the one who first got the answer. But each time she sang the song, she would change the numbers.
O, where have you been Billy boy, Billy boy,
O, where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife, she’s the joy of my life.
But she’s a young thing and cannot leave her mammy.
"O did she ask you in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
O did she ask you in, charming Billy?"
"O yes, she asked me in, she has a dimple in her chin,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
"Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a cherry pie, charming Billy?"
"She can bake a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
"Can she bake a sweetened pone, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a sweetened pone, charming Billy?"
"She can bake a sweetened pone, you can eat it or let it alone,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
"Can she make a feather bed, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she make a feather bed, charming Billy?"
"She can make a feather bed, put the pillers at the head,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
"How tall is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How tall is she, charming Billy?"
"She's as tall as a pine and straight as a punkin vine,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
"How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How old is she, charming Billy?"
"Twice six, twice seven, twice forty and eleven,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."