Billy McGee McGaww?
guy byars
Billy McGee McGaww. The question is, was this song made up
by an old timer in the group, or is it a well known song.
Does anyone know it's history?
It goes something like this:
Billy McGee McGaww
(Sung loosely to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
There were three crows sat on a tree, who were as black as crows can be.
CHORUS
Said one old crow unto it's mate, oh Billy McGee McGaww
Said one old crow unto it's mate, oh Billy McGee McGaww
Said one old crow unto it's mate, where shall we find some grub to ate.
CHORUS
There lies a horse on yonder plain...
...
...
There lies a horse on yonder plain, that's by some cruel butcher slain.
CHORUS
We'll eat the meat before it's stale...
...
...
We'll eat the meat before it's stale, till naught remains but bones & tail.
CHORUS: and they all flapped their wings and cried:
CAW! CAW! CAW!, Billy McGee McGaw.
and they all flapped their wings and cried:
<pause>, Billy McGee McGaww.
john allen xd/d
> A group that I occasionally sing with does a song called,
> Billy McGee McGaww. The question is, was this song made up
> by an old timer in the group, or is it a well known song.
> Does anyone know it's history?
>
>
> It goes something like this:
>
>
> Billy McGee McGaww
>
> (Sung loosely to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
>
>
> There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
> There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
> There were three crows sat on a tree, who were as black as crows can be.
>
> CHORUS
>
> Said one old crow unto it's mate, oh Billy McGee McGaww
> Said one old crow unto it's mate, oh Billy McGee McGaww
> Said one old crow unto it's mate, where shall we find some grub to ate.
>
> CHORUS
>
> There lies a horse on yonder plain...
> ....
> There lies a horse on yonder plain, that's by some cruel butcher slain.
>
>
> CHORUS
>
> We'll eat the meat before it's stale...
> ....
> We'll eat the meat before it's stale, till naught remains but bones & tail.
>
>
>
> CHORUS: and they all flapped their wings and cried:
> CAW! CAW! CAW!, Billy McGee McGaw.
>
> and they all flapped their wings and cried:
> <pause>, Billy McGee McGaww.
>
>
You will find this song in "Folk Songs of North America" by Alan Lomax, almost word
for word. I learnt it from that book around 1967, and I've sung it on and off ever
since. The tune is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".
It is related to "The Twa Corbies", and to "The Three Ravens", both with long
pedigrees, but has been referred to (can't remember who by) as a degenerate form of
the ballad. Personally I like it, and the older songs too.
I once sang Billy Magee Magaw at "The Buffs" a folk club in Edinburgh, now defunct,
when Matt McGinn was the guest singer. Afterwards I gave Matt a lift to his hotel and
he commented that he enjoyed the song, but that I should "Get rid of the 'Caw Caw Caw'"
as he felt it spoilt the rhythm. He had to tell me three times before I realised what
he was talking about, because his Glasgow accent was too strong for a Londoner who
aspired to Scottishness! Still, I like the song the way it is, and that's the way I
still sing it.
Cheers, Yogi
J Lani Herrmann
particulars. The "original" ballad is Child 26, and the earliest version
appears in Ravenscroft's Melismata (1611), in an arrangement for four
voices. By the time Cecil Sharp collected it in America, both story and
melody had undergone drastic changes -- to the comic and to a more
commonly known tune, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." The abridged
Bronson (which, by the way, as far as I know is still in print) gives
seven variant tunes: Bertrand Harris Bronson: The Singing Tradition of
Child's Popular Ballads (Princeton Univ. Press, 1976), pp. 90-93. I
myself like to combine several versions, beginning with the Very High
Tragedy of Ravenscroft's and passing through the action-oriented
version of the Three Ravens, and ending with the (doubtless related!)
Three Craws, those who sat upon the wa'. Enjoy. -- Lani
< || > Lani Herrmann * School of Library and Information Studies * South Hall
< || > la...@info.Berkeley.EDU * Univ. of California, Berkeley CA 94720
< || > home: 5621 Sierra Ave., Richmond, CA 94805 * [510] 237-7360
Charlie Capstick
F >Billy McGee McGaww. The question is, was this song made up
F >by an old timer in the group, or is it a well known song.
F >Does anyone know it's history?
F >
F >
F >It goes something like this:
F >
F > Billy McGee McGaww
F >
F >(Sung loosely to the tune of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home")
F >
F >
F >There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
F >There were three crows sat on a tree, oh Billy McGee McGaww
F >There were three crows sat on a tree, who were as black as crows can b
This is a more palatable version of one of the Childe Ballads (I believe
#26) known under the title "The Three Ravens" or "The Twa' Corbies" (a
scot version of "Les Trois Corbeils"(Three Crows). My favorite rendition
of this is by Peter, Paul & Mary on one of their first albums. It's done
in a minor key and the opening words are:
"There were three ravens sat on a tree.. down a down, hey down a down
And they were black as they might be.. with a down, down
The one of them says to his mate
What shall we for our breakfast take?
With a down, derry derry down"
The original talks about a knight slain o'er his shield and a fallow
(pregnant) doe that miraculously puts the knight back upon his horse.
Sorry I don't remember all the verses, but any good library will have the
very large volumes of the Childe Ballads.
Charlie Capstick
Internet: charlie....@cld9.com CompuServe: 73404,2037
---
* WinQwk 2.0 #0 * Unregistered Evaluation Copy
Arthur R. Evans
> [ ... ]
>The original talks about a knight slain o'er his shield and a fallow
>(pregnant) doe that miraculously puts the knight back upon his horse.
I suspect that fallow describes a species, not condition.
Fallow deer refers to a specific species of deer. You may
be thinking of the word farrow, which does have something
to do with being pregnant. According to my dictionary,
the verb "farrow" means "to give birth," said of swine.
Strangely enough, the adjective "farrow," (which comes
from a different root) is used to refer to cows, and
means "not pregnant."
Today's entry in "Webster's Believe it or Not" ...
-arthur
raeshaun
Jerry Lee
> Who created the song?
I just came upon this email string searching about this song. The songs these people are talking about are folk songs, which means that they are old traditional songs that may have changed over the years and centuries, and if any one individual created it, that person's identity is lost to time.