Butcher's Boy- Kate Mitchell (Aber) c1910 Greig A
[My date, location, no info provided except name of informant. From: The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection - Volume 2, p. 45; No. 200 by Gavin Greig, James Bruce Duncan, Patrick N. Shuldham-Shaw Emily B Lyle; Peter A Hall; Aberdeen U.P., 1983
Informant also sang "Put my Ship in Order" var. of Drowsy Sleeper.
R. Matteson 2016]
A. The Butcher's Boy- As sung by Miss Kate Mitchell, collected by Gavin Grieg, c. 1910.
1 My parents raised me tenderly,
Good learning they gave unto me,
For they sent me to a butcher's house,
A butcher's boy to be.
2. I fell in love wi' a nice young girl,
She'd a dark and the rovin' eye,
And I promised I would marry me,
or for her sake I would die.
3. I went unto to her mother's house,
Between the hours of eight and nine,
And he asked her for to walk,
Down by yon river side.
4. Down by yon river side she said,
Down by yon river side,
To have a chat while we walk,
Down by yon river side.
5. They walked east and they walked west,
And they walked it all along,
Till he took a knife from his breast,
And he stabbed her to the ground.
6. She fell upon one bended knee
And for mercy she did cry
"Oh! Willie dear, don't murder me,
And leave me here to die."
7. He took her by the lily-white hand,
And he dragged her on and on,
Until he came to yon rushing stream,
And there he plunged her body in.
8. He went unto to his mother's house
Between the hours of twelve and one
Oh little did that poor woman think
What her only son had done.
9. The question she did put to him,
Why blood stained his hand and clothes
But the only answer he gave her
Twas a bleedin' at the nose.
10. He asked her for a candle,
To light him up to bed,
And likewise for a handkerchief,
To roll around his head.
11. No peace, no rest could that young man get,
No peace, no rest could he find,
For he thought he saw the flames o' hell,
Approachin' in his mind.
12 This man he bein' taen and tried,
And the gallows was his doom,
For the murdering o' sweet Mary Ann
The flower that was in bloom.