Billy Boy

(Left her mammy-O / My Bonnie Hieland Lassie / Willie Can She Cook?)

Northumbrian version

Where hev ye been all the day, Billy Boy, Billy boy Ch: Where hev ye been all the day, me Billy Boy? I've been walkin' all the day With me chamin' Nancy Grey Ch: And me Nancy kittl'd me fancy Oh me charmin' Billy Boy. Is she fit to be yor wife, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Is she fit to be yor wife, me Billy Boy? She's as fit to be me wife As the fork is to the knife Ch: And me Nancy, etc. Can she cook a bit o' steak, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Can she cook a bit o' steak, me Billy Boy? She can cook a bit o' steak, Aye, and make a gairdle cake Ch: And me Nancy, etc. Can she make an Irish Stew, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Can she make an Irish Stew, me Billy Boy? She can make an Irish Stew, Aye and "Singin' Hinnies" too. Ch: And me Nancy, etc.

Additional verses

Does she sleep right close to thee, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Aye, she sleeps quite close to me, like the bark is to the tree. Can she make a feather bed, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? She can make a feather bed firm for any sailor's head. Will she ever let yer go, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? No she'll never let me go, for she's mine from truck to toe.

Richard Runciman Terry traces this capstan shanty to folksongs of the Northumbrian coast (Northeast England and Southeast Scotland). He explains:

kittled = tickled gairdle cake = griddle cake Singin’ Hinnies - a species of teacake, usually plentifully besprinkled with currants

Stan Hugill adds that there were variants from other parts of Britain. The timber-droghers had a related version known as “My Bonnie Hieland Lassie”, and the Appalachian-American variant is called “Willie Can She Cook?”.

This is one of the very few shanties which can be lead by two shantymen — one asking the questions and the other responding.

The song is part of the general folk song tradition; see, for example, Ed McCurdy’s recording on The Folk Song Tradition.