Billy Boy- Greenough (NS) 1950 Creighton A; Bronson 20
[From Traditional Songs From Nova Scotia by Creighton and Senior, 1950, pp. 246-47. Four versions.
R. Matteson 2014]
A. "Billy Boy" Sung by Mrs. Dennis Greenough, West Petpeswick, Nova Scotia.
Where have you been all the day Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Where are you going charming Billy?
I've been gone to seek a wife, she's the joy of my life,
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 her eye,
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, with good pillows at the head,
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy.
Is she fit to be your wife, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Is she fit to be your wife, charming Billy?
She's as fit to be my wife, as the fork is to the knife,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy.
Can she knit, can she spin, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she knit and can she spin, charming Billy?
She can knit and she can spin, she can spin most anything,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy.
How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
How old is she, charming Billy?
She is one, she is two, twice eleven and twenty-two,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy.