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Billy Boy

[ Roud 326 ; Ballad Index R104 ; trad.]

Bod Davenport sang Billy Boy in 1964 on the Topic anthology Farewell Nancy which was reissued with bonus tracks in 1993 as the CD Blow the Man Down. A.L. Lloyd commented in the album's liner notes:

Sailors were likely to adapt any sort of song for their own purpose—“nigger minstrel” songs, hymns, even nursery rhymes. Billy Boy first appeared in print as a sentimental song, My Boy Tammy, in 1791, and we're told that an Edinburgh actress of the time, Miss Duncan, made a big hit with it. Various nursery parodies, all more or less daft, quickly appeared. Some of these drifted aboard ship and got back into adult currency as work songs. On account of its opening line, some learned men have associated Billy Boy with Lord Randall. The evidence is slender.

Martin Carthy sang Billy Boy on his 1974 album Sweet Wivelsfield and reissued on Rigs of the Time. He sang it also on the Wood—Wilson—Carthy CD. Martin Carthy commented in the original album's sleeve notes:

The words of Billy Boy come from James Reeves' The Everlasting Circle and the tune from the magnificent Mrs Marina Russell of Upwey, Dorset whose predilection for tunes in the Dorian mode, whilst being a delight to people like me, is probably a source of some annoyance to those academics who like to say the English, as a race, like this or that kind of a tune (and make charts to prove it). She was one of Sharp's more extraordinary 'finds' in his hunt for traditional song, music and dance, being by all accounts an incredibly gifted and inventive singer (and person). From her also, comes Mary Neal of which she had three verses, so I took the liberty of filling it out from other printed sources.

and in the Wood—Wilson—Carthy sleeve notes:

When the Dorset singer Mrs Marina Russell sang Billy Boy to the Hammond brothers in the early years of the century, (she actually sang Bonny Lad Highland Lad), she gave them just the last verse with its little numbers game at the end. You too can add up the numbers to find that they make three score and ten, or one complete life span. Sometimes even the apparently lightweight songs reveal an intriguing depth, but then she had an intriguing repertoire.

Eliza Carthy sang and played a very similar version of Billy Boy on her 1998 album Red, followed by the tune The Widow's Wedding. This track was reissued in 2003 on Eliza's anthology The Definitive Collection.

The Witches of Elswick sang Billy Boy in 2005 on their second and last album, Hell's Belles. They commented in their liner notes:

The prequel to Lord Randall? This popular song can be traced back to a Northumbrian sea shanty. Bry found this version in a selection of songs collected by Vaughan Williams but no detail was given about its origins. Gillian thinks that the verse about the plate of fish is a bit mucky.

Lyrics

Martin Carthy sings Billy Boy

“Where have you been all the day, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been all the day, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Oh I have been all the day walking with a lady gay,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Is she fitting for your wife, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Is she fitting for your wife, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“She's as fit to be me wife as the heart is to the knife,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“And did she ask you to sit down, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she ask you to sit down, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Well she asked me to sit down then she curtsied to the ground,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Did she light you up to bed, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she light you up to bed, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Yes she lit me up to bed with a nodding of her head,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Did she lie so close to you, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she lie so close to you, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Yes she lay so close to me as the bark is to the tree,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Do you want to know her age, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Do you want to know her age, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“She is twice six seven, she is twice twenty and eleven,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

Eliza Carthy sings Billy Boy

“Where have you been all the day, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been all the day, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“I've been out all the day walking with a lady gay,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Is she fit for your wife, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Is she fit for your wife, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“She's as fit to be my wife as the heart is to the knife,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“And did she ask you to sit down, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she ask you to sit down, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Well she asked me to sit down then she curtsied to the ground,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Did she light you up to bed, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she light you up to bed, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Well she lit me up to bed with a nodding of her head,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Did she lie close to you, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Did she lie close to you, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“Well she lay so close to me as the bark is to the tree,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

“Do you want to know her age, bonny boy, Billy Boy?
Do you want to know her age, O my dear darling Billy O?”
“She is twice six seven, she is twice twenty and eleven,
Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?”

The Witches of Elswick sing Billy Boy

“Oh, where have you been all the day, my boy Billy?
Oh, here have you been all the day? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“I have tell you where I've been all day,
I've been courting with a lady gay,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“Oh, can she bake and can she brew, my boy Billy?
Oh, can she bake and can she brew? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“Yes, she can brew and she can bake,
Why, she can make fine wedding cake,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“Oh, can she cook a plate of fish, my boy Billy?
Oh, can she cook a plate of fish? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“Yes, she can cook a plate of fish
And wipe her fingers round the dish,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“Oh, can she sow and can she spin, my boy Billy?
Oh, can she sow and can she spin? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“Yes, she can sow and she can spin,
Why, she can make most anything,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“Then she can make a feather bed, my boy Billy?
Then she can make a feather bed? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“Yes, she can make a feather bed
As fit for anyone man's head,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“But is she fit to be your wife, my boy Billy?
But is she fit to be your wife? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“Yes, she's as fit to be my wife
As my pocket's fit to hold my knife,
𝄆 But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

“But how old, tell me, might she be, my boy Billy?
Then how old, tell me, might she be ? Bonny Billy, tell me.”
“She is one, she is two, twice eleven, twenty-two,
𝄆 But she's still too young to be taken from her mummy,
But she is too young to be taken from her mummy.” 𝄇

Links

See also the Mudcat Café thread Origins: Billy Boy.