Billy Boy- (North Carolina) 1911 (Two Versions)
[From John Lomax's: The North Carolina booklet: great events in North Carolina history, Volume 11 By General Society of the Daughters of the Revolution. North Carolina Society, North Carolina Society of the Daughters of the Revolution 1911.
R. Matteson 2011, 2014]
BILLY BOY
Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife for the comfort of my life;
She's a young thing and can not leave her mother.
Did she ask you in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Yes, she asked me in with a dimple in her chin.
Did she take your hat, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Yes, she took my hat and she threw it at the cat.
Did she set you a chair, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Yes, she set me a chair, with a ribbon in her hair.
Can she make a cherry pie, Billy Boy? etc.
Yes, she can make a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink his eye
How old is she, Billy Boy! etc.
Three times seven, twice twenty, and eleven.
Can she make a pudding well, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she make a pudding well, charming Billy?
She can make a pudding well, I can tell it by the smell,
She's a young thing and can not leave her mother.
Can she make up a bed neat? etc.
She can make a bed up neat from the head to the feet, etc.
Another version:
Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been, charming Billy?
Oh, I've been down the lane for to see my Betsey Jane,
She's a young thing and wants to leave her mammy.
Hold old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? etc.
Three times six, four times seven, twenty-eight and eleven, etc.
How tall is she? etc.
She's as tall as a pine and as straight as a pumpkin vine.