Billy Boy- Neely (IL) 1938 Neely B
[From: Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois; By Charles Neely, John Webster Spargo; 1938; p. 192-193;
R. Matteson 2014]
B. Billy Boy. Sung by Mrs. Charles Neely, Carbondale, Illinois.
"Oh where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Oh where have you been, charming William?"
"I have been to see my wife; she's the dear thing of my life,
Oh, she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother."
"Did she set for you a chair, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she set for you a chair, charming William?"
"Yes, she set for me a chair with a look up in the air;
Oh, she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother."
"Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Can she bake a cherry pie, charming William?"
"She can bake a cherry pie quick as a cat can wink its eye;
Oh, she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother."
"How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
How old is she, charming William?"
"Twice six, twice seven, twice twenty, twice eleven;
Oh, she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.