Billy Boy- (PA) 1919 Shoemaker- Print version
[From North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy by Henry Wharton Shoemaker, John Churchill French, John Hall Chatham - 1919. Not traditional. Shoemaker says it was, "Copied from an old song book." There is no reference to which book.
R. Matteson 2014]
53—BILLY BOY Potter County.
Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Oh, where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife, she's the joy of my life;
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.
Did she bid you to come in, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Did she bid you to come in, charming Billy?
Yes, she bade me to come in, there's a dimple in her chin.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.
Did she set for you a chair, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Did she set for you a chair, charming Billy?
Yes, she sat for me a chair, she has ringlets in her hair.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.
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 a cat can wink her eye.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.
How old is she, Billy boy, Billy boy?
How old is she, charming Billy?
She's three times six, four times seven, twenty-eight and eleven.
She's a young thing, and cannot leave her mother.