Butcher Boy- Stanley Robertson (Aber) 1974 Cooke
[From the Collection - School of Scottish Studies; SA1974.223.2; Cf. Jeannie Robertson, his aunt. Transcribed from two recordings: one by Barbara McDermitt in 1979 and the one listed below in 1974.
http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/fullrecord/68933/1
R. Matteson 2016]
Summary - The young apprentice butcher is courting a young woman. He proposes marriage and is accepted. He takes her out for a walk, stabs her, and throws her body in the river. He goes home, but can get no rest, and is haunted by what he has done. He is caught and hanged for the murder of Mary Ann.
The Butcher Boy- sung by Stanley Robertson(1940-2009) of Aberdeenshire at Edinburgh, Midlothian Co. in 1974. Recorded by Peter R. Cooke.
1. My parents they gave me good learnin',
Good learnin' they gave untae me
And they sent me to a butcher's shop,
A butcher's boy to be.
2 Twas there I met a fair young maid,
With a dark and a rolling eye;
And she promised for to marry me
In the month of sweet July.
3. I went to her mother's house,
Between the hours o' eight and nine,
For I asked her for to take a walk
Doon by the foaming brine.
4. Doon by the foaming brine, she said
Doon by the foaming brine,
Oh that would be a pleasant walk
Doon by the foaming brine.
5. We walked east and we walked west
And we walked all along,
Till he took a knife from out his coat,
And he stabbed her to the ground.
6 She fell upon her bended knee,
And for mercy she did cry;
"Oh Billie dear, don't murder me,
As I'm not prepared to die."
7 He taen her by the lily-white hand,
Doon by the foaming brine,
And with one knife he ran her through[1],
And he shoved her body in.
8 Then he went back to his mother's house,
Between the hours of twelve and one,
And little did that mother know,
What her only boy has done.
9. He asked her a candle light,
Tae light up to his bed.
And he asked for a handkerchief,
Tae tie around his head.
10. No sleep, no rest could the young man get,
No rest could he find,
For he thought he saw the flames of hell,
Come visit to his bedside.
11. And soon the murder was found out,
And the gallows be his doom,
For the murder of sweet Mary Ann
While the roses were forever in bloom.
1. unclear