"Where Have You Been, Billy Boy?"
Thurman
Is that the title to the song? I can't find it in any songbooks, and I
need to quote it. Also, is there any trivia about the song you could
pass along? (number of versions, origin, etc.)
Thanks in advance--Susan
Joseph C Fineman
thu...@hcc-uky.campus.mci.net (Thurman) writes:
>Is that the title to the song? I can't find it in any songbooks, and I
>need to quote it.
I heard it from my mother when I was a kid. Under the title "Billy
Boy", it is in _The New Song Fest_ (Dick & Beth Best, Eds., Crown,
1955, OOP, like most good things), pp. 35-36, with 14 stanzas.
Oh, where have you been,
Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Oh, where have you been,
Charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife,
She's the idol of my life,
She's a young thing,
And cannot leave her mother.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How old may she be?
Three times six and four times seven,
Twenty-eight and eleven.
--
Joe Fineman j...@world.std.com
495 Pleasant St., #1 (617) 324-6899
Malden, MA 02148
Stewa1
There's an interesting version of this song from the 50's by pop singer
Dorothy Collins, who was on "Your Hit Parade" TV Show with Gisele
MacKenzie. I believe it was on Coral label.
Eric Berge
In Article<4q6qkr$j...@news.campus.mci.net>, <thu...@hcc-uky.campus.mci.net>
write:
> Is that the title to the song? I can't find it in any songbooks, and I
> need to quote it. Also, is there any trivia about the song you could
> pass along? (number of versions, origin, etc.)
>
> Thanks in advance--Susan
Don't know about print sources, but there is a fine recording of this
shanty on "Songs of the Sea", performed by Alan Mills, on Smithsonian
Folkways (FA 2312):
Where have you been all the day, Billy Boy, Billy Boy?
Where have you been all the day, me Billy Boy?
I've been walkin all the day with me charmin' Nancy Grey,
And Me Nancy tickled me fancy,
Oh me charmin' Billy Boy.
Is she fit to be your wife etc...
She's as fit to be me wife as the fork is to the knife,
And me etc...
Can she cook a bit o'steak etc...
She can cook a bit o'steak, aye, an' make a griddle cake,
And me etc...
Can she bake a cherry pie etc...
She can bake a cherry pie, quick's a cat can wink it's eye,
And me etc...
Can she make a feather-bed, etc...
She can make a feather-bed, fit for any sailor's head,
And me etc...
Eric Berge
edb...@ibm.net
Jim Lyons
According to "The Great Song Thesaurus", "Billy Boy" is a traditional
English folksong, dating from 1824.
SLHinton17
The "Great Song Thesaurus". I think, lists dates of copyright, not dates
of origin of folk material. "Billy Boy, in various versions, goes back at
least to ,1776 ina Herd MS. Melody was first printed in THE SCOTS MUSICAL
MUSEUM, 1797. There are a two or three good paragraphs about it in Iona
and Peter Opie: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NURSERY RHYMES, 1952.
A widespread American version is in Randolph; FOLK SONGS OF THE OZARKS
(1946), vol. 1, no. 104. He gives parts of 6 other versions, and has an
excellent listing of where the song has been published in this country.
Sam Hinton
9420 La Jolla Shores Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
(619) 453-0679
Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman
Billy Boy was used as a Capstan Shanty. There are several
versions from around the coast of England, and one version is
printed in Shantys of the Seven Seas by Stan Hugill, the Shanty
singers Bible.
It origins is probably form the North East of England, where it
is sung in dialect;
Where ha'ye been aal the day, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Where ha'ye been aal the day me Billy Boy,
Aa've been waakin aal the day wi me Charmin' Nancy Grey,
An me Nancy kittled me fancy, Oh, me charmin Billy Boy.
Etc. Etc.
This version can be found on 'Strontrace' by Jim Mageean & Johnny
Collins, where it is sung by me.
Best wishes,
Anni Fentiman