Butcher Boy- Spence Moore (VA) 1925 Davies
[From an MP3 given to me by Gwilym Davies. Notes from Davies article, "Across the Blue Mountains, An Appalachian and Adirondack field trip" follow.
Has an unusual use of "Must I go Bound" in his second stanza.
R. Matteson 2017]
My first excursion was in November 1997 when, armed with my DAT recorder, I set off for the town of Chilhowie in Virginia to meet Spencer Moore, aged 78. Eventually I tracked down Mr Moore in his modest cabin just a few miles outside of the town and he immediately welcomed me in and proceeded to sing me some of the songs that his father had taught him. When I asked whether he had met any English people before, he told me that he had met Shirley Collins in the late 50s, who had visited him in the company of Alan Lomax. Spencer remembered Shirley with great affection - but then, who doesn't. He accompanies all his songs with his vigorous guitar picking in the local style. It has been remarked by other collectors that the influence of the guitar on the local tradition has been to alter the modal character of the old tunes, and this is possibly the case with Spencer's songs. Be that as it may, he is a very lively performer, singing with an energy and glee that belies his age. Apart from Three Little Babes, Spencer also sang a number of old songs including The Devil and the Farmer's Wife, The Butcher Boy and Pretty Polly. Some of his songs are clearly for dancing, such as Cumberland Gap and Jimmy Sutton, well-known play party songs in the area. An added delight for the day I spent with Spencer was that a neighbour of his, a lady, dropped in and proceeded to do some 'flatfooting' as the local step-dancing is called, to his lively guitar picking. I knew most of the dance tunes that he played, including Soldier's Joy, but a new one to me was one that he called Old Jericho. Spencer's father had been a banjo player and Spencer's guitar style sounds very akin to banjo picking.
Butcher Boy- sung by Spencer Moore of Chilhowie, Virginia with guitar; learned in 1925. Recorded by Gwilym Davies in 1997. Transcription R. Matteson, 2017.
[guitar intro]
In London City where I did dwell,
A butcher boy I loved so well,
He courted me, my life away,
And then with me he would not stay.
Must I go bound and you go free,
And love the boy who don't love me;
He takes another girl on his knee,
And he tells her things that he won't tell me.
[instrumental]
Go dig my grave both wide and deep
Place marble at my head and feet,
And on my breast a snow-white dove,
To show the world I died for love.
[instrumental]
Must I go bound and you go free,
And love the boy who don't love me
He takes another girl on his knee
And he tells her things that he won't tell me.
[instrumental]