Digital Tradition Mirror

Billy Boy 3

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Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Billy Boy 3

Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been, charming Billy?
I've been down the lane to see Miss Betsy Jane,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy!

Where does she live, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where does she live, charming Billy?
She lives on the hill, forty miles from the mill,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy!

Did she ask you in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Did she ask you in, charming Billy?
Yes, she asked me in with a dimple in her chin,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mammy!

Did she take your hat,
Yes, she took my hat and she threw it at the cat,
Did she set you a chair,
Yes she set me a chair, but the bottom wasn't there,

How old is she,
Twice six, twice seven, three times twenty and eleven,

How tall is she,
She's tall as a pine and straight as a vine,

Can she fry a dish of meat,
Yes, she can fry a dish of meat as fast as you can eat,

Can she make a loaf of bread,
She can make a loaf of bread with her nightcap on her head,

Can she bake a cherry pie,
She can bake a cherry pie, in the twinkling of an eye,

Can she bake a punkin well,
She can bake a punkin well, you can tell it by its smell,
Can she sew and can she fell,
She can sew and she can fell, she can use her needle well

Can she make a pair of breeches,
She can make a pair of breeches fast as you can count the stitches

Can she make a feather bed,
She can make a feather bed that will rise above your head

Can she milk a muley cow,
She can milk a muley cow if her mammy shows her how

Is she fitted for your wife,
She's fitted for my wife as my pocket for my knife,

Did she sit close to you,
Yes, she sat as close to me as the bark upon a tree,

Did you ask her to wed,
Yes, I asked her to wed, and this is what she said,
Can she milk a heifer calf,
Yes, and not miss the bucket more than half,

Can she feed a sucking pig,
Yes, as fast as you can jig,

Can she pull the sheet away,
No, that's a game my wife can't play,

Are her eyes dark brown,
Yes, she was raised out of town,

Is she very, very fair,
Oh yes, she's fair, just touch her if you dare,

From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax
Note: Francis Child considered this a version of Lord Randal.
     Sounds odd to me, but who am I to argue with Dr. Child? RG
Child #12
RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!