Butcher Boy- Amos Abrams (NC) c.1924 Abrams C
[From W. Amos Abrams Folksong Collection; Digital Collections at Appalachian State University. Recording.
R. Matteson 2017]
Butcher Boy- sung by William Amos “Doc” Abrams (1905-1991), originally from Pinetops in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, learned when he was a little boy.
1 In Tarlborough town where I used to dwell,
There lived a boy I loved so well.
He courted me my life away,
And then with me he would not stay.
2 There was another girl in that same town.
And there he'd go and sit her down.
He'd take he up upon his knee
And tel her things that he wouldn't tell me.
3 Well I can tell you the reason why:
She has more gold and silver than I;
Her gold may lose, her silver may fly,
But some of these days she'll be as poor as I.
4 I went upstairs to make my bed,
Not a single word my mother said.
I took a pen and wrote it down,
And on my breast, these words were found:
5 'Go dig my grave both wide and deep;
Place a marble stand at my head and feet
And on my bed place a lonesome dove,
To show this world I died for love.'