Billy Boy- Hardie (MI) pre1920 JAF Gardner A
[From: Some Play-Party Games in Michigan by Emelyn E. Gardner; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 33, No. 128 (Apr. - Jun., 1920), pp. 91-133. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
Footnote: For other instances of songs borrowed to furnish a singing accompaniment for a dance or game, see Piper, "Some Play-Party Games of the Middle West" (JAFL 28: 265). As a song, see Shearin, A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs, p. 30.
BILLY BOY (Version a.) (Sung by Edna Hardie, Hudson.)
I. Where are you going, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where are you going, charming Billy?
I'm going to see my wife; she's the pride of my life;
She's a young thing and can't leave her mother.
2. Did you knock on the door, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did you knock on the door, charming Billy?
Yes, I knocked on the door till my knuckles were sore;
She's a young thing and can't leave her mother.
3. Did she ask you to come in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she ask you to come in, charming Billy?
Yes, she asked me to come in, with a dimple in her chin;
She's a young thing and can't leave her mother.
4. Did she take your hat, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she take your hat, charming Billy?
Yes, she took my hat, but she fed it to the cat;
She's a young thing and can't leave her mother.
5. Did she offer you a chair, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she offer you a chair, charming Billy?
Yes, she offered me a chair, but the bottom wasn't there;
She's a young thing and can't leave her mother.