Child does not list this ballad. Cazden, in Folksongs of the Catskills, calls it a "rare example of broadside balladry", and proreeds to allot almost all of his exhaustive note on the song to tracing its tune. While there are a number of broadside ballads in which a rich lady lays her love on a poor man, I have not yet found one which has the economy of language and absence of sentimentality that this one has. (From the singing of George Edwards, Catskills singer).
lyrics
Twas of a lady gay
A lady of beauty bright
All for the love of a little cabin boy
She forsake both lord and knight.
Away to Billy she go,
Billy, coo, says she;
I don't want no lord or knight
My mind is bound to thee.
If I your bed may gain, love,
If you my arms would fill:
You must go to the cap'n of the ship
And gain his right good will.
Away to the cap'n she go,
Cap'n, coo, says she;
Pretty little Billy, your little cabin boy,
Can he tarry on shore with me?
What, and you a lady so gay,
And you ask me for a boy?
More fitting you be for a lord or knight
Your sweet body for to enjoy.
No matter for that, says she,
Billy do please me well;
Were his body down deep in the sea,
It's I would love him still.
Away with this talk of love,
Come no more to me.
Poor little Billy, my little cabin boy,
Can't tarry on shore with thee.
It was in yon garden green,
On green and grassy ground,
Early, early when the men arose,
This lady's body they found.
Now Billy is on the sea,
And the waves toss to and fro,
Cryin' like a little sea-bird,
From east to west he go.
Till the winter wind did blow,
And the stormy sea did roar;
Then little Billy, her little cabin boy,
Was heard and seen no more.
This site is maintained by the MacColl family, aiming to make Ewan's catalogue available to download.
Ewan MacColl is
known to most as a songwriter and singer, but he was also of significant influence in the worlds of theatre and radio broadcasting. His art reached huge numbers through the folk clubs, greater numbers through his recordings and untold millions through the radio....more
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