Billie Boy- Broyles (WV) pre1925 Cox D
[My title. From Folk-Songs of the South- John Harrington Cox, 1925. No date given. Cox's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
168 BILLY BOY
For American texts see Clifton Johnson, What They Say in New England (Boston, 1897), p. 230; Shoemaker, pp. 102, 131 (Pennsylvania); Wolford, The Play-Party in Indiana, p. 24; Campbell and Sharp, No. 89 (North Carolina);
Pound, No. 113 (Nebraska; cf. Journal, xxvi, 356); Waugh, Journal, xxxi, 78 (Ontario); De Marsan broadside, List 18, No. 4; Beadle's Dime Song Book No. 10 (cop. 1863), p. 62. Cf. Shearin and Combs, p. 30 (Kentucky); F. C. Brown, p. 10 (North Carolina); Jones, p. 3 (Michigan); Wyman MS., No. 25 (Kentucky) ; Minish MS. (North Carolina) ; Belden's Missouri collection.
A parody written in the days of the Civil War ("Bully Boy, Billy") may be read in Child's War-Songs for Freemen (Boston, cop. 1862), p. 41. For British references see Kittredge, Journal, xxvi, 357, note 1. Sharp (One Hundred English Folksongs, p. xxxiv) suggests that "Billy Boy" is "a comic derivative, or burlesque," of "Lord Randal" (Child, No. 12).
Hector Macneht's "My Boy Tammie" or "Tammy's Courting," modeled on the English song (see The Vocal Magazine, Edinburgh, 1797, Song cv), is found in American songbooks: as, The Minstrel (Baltimore, 181 2), p. 106; The Singer's Magazine and Universal Vocalist (Philadelphia, 1835), I, 176; The Bijou Minstrel (Philadelphia, 1840), p. 117; The Bonnie Dundee Songster (cop. 1868), p. 68; Delaney's Scotch Song-Book No. 1, p. 16.
In addition to the texts given below, this song was reported by others as follows: Miss Sallie Evans, Elkins, Randolph County; Mr. N. D. Barber, Charleston, Kanawha County; Miss Emma Boughner, Morgan town, Monongalia County; and a second text by Mrs. Hilary G. Richardson, Clarksburg, Harrison County.
D. [Billie Boy] Communicated by Professor C. E. Haworth, Huntington, Cabell County; obtained from Miss Gladys Broyles, Monroe County, who got it from her mother.
1 "Where are you going, Billie Boy, Billie Boy?
Where are you going, Billie Boy?"
"I am going down the lane for to see Sallie Jane:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
2 "Does she invite you in, Billie Boy?
Does she invite you in, Billie Boy?"
"Yes, she invites me in, with a dimple in her chin:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
3 "Does she sit close to you, Billie Boy, Billie Boy?
Does she sit close to you, Billie Boy?"
"Yes, she sits as close to me as the bark upon a tree:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
4 "Can she make a cherry pie, Billie Boy, Billie Boy?
Can she make a cherry pie, Billie Boy?"
"Yes, she can make a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
5 "Can she make up a bed, Billie Boy, Billie Boy?
Can she make up a bed, Billie Boy?"
"Yes, she can make up a bed, and comb her woolly head:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."
6 "Can she milk a cow, Billie Boy, Billie Boy?
Can she milk a cow, Billie Boy?"
"Yes, she can milk a cow when her mammy shows her how:
She is a young thing and cannot leave her mammy."