Folk Songs from the Southern Highlands - online songbook

Southern Appalachians songs with lyrics, commentary & some sheet music.

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Billy Boy
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BILLY BOY
For many references to this song, see Cox, No. 168. Add Flanders and Brown, p. 162; Fuson, p. 105; Bradley Kincaid, My Favorite Mountain Ballads and Old-Time Songs, 1928, p. 25; Leah Jackson Wolford, The Play-party in'Indiana, p. 24; Brown, p. 10; Jones, p. 8; Shoemaker (3rd ed.), pp. 121, 153.
Recorded by Mrs. Henry from the singing of Mrs. C. L. Franklin, Cross-nore, North Carolina, August, 1931.
1. Oh, where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy ? Oh, where have you been, charming Billy ?
I've been to see my wife; she's the joy of my life; But the young thing can't leave her mammy.
2. How old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? How old is she, charming Billy ? Six, seven, twice forty-five- eleven;
But the young thing can't leave her mammy.
3. Does she bid you come in, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Does she bid you come in, charming Billy ? She bids me come in with a dimple in her chin; But the young thing can't leave her mammy.
4.  Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy ? Can she bake a cherry pie, charming Billy ?
She can bake a cherry pie in the twinkle of her eye; But the young thing can't leave her mammy.
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