Written US Form Nursery rhyme Language English | Published c. 1930 Writer(s) Traditional | |
"Billy Boy" is a traditional folk song and nursery rhyme found in the United States. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 326. It is a variant of the traditional English folk song "My Boy Billy," collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams and published by him in 1912 as number 232 in Novello's School Songs.
Contents
Lyrics
One variant of the lyrics goes:
Origins and interpretations
While the tone of the nursery rhyme is ironic and teasing, both the question and answer form and the narrative of the song have been related to "Lord Randall", a murder ballad from the British Isles, in which the suitor is poisoned by the woman he visits.
By contrast, Robin Fox uses the song to make a point about cooking and courtship, and observes that:
Feeding has always been closely linked with courtship. . . With humans this works two ways since we are the only animals who cook: the bride is usually appraised for her cooking ability. (“Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?”) In some cultures this is far more important than her virginity.