Butcher Boy

VERSE 1
O, daughter dear, what's the matter now
Your not so happy, on the account of these tears

VERSE 2
O, mother dear, I do not know
But my heart is filled with grief and woe

VERSE 3
Go get a chair and set me down
Both pen and ink and I'll write it down

VERSE 4
She wrote a line and dried a tear
And then she cried, O Willie, my dear.

VERSE 5
She went upstairs to make her bed
Not another word to her mother said

VERSE 6
Her father came in, that afternoon
And he cried, O where, is my daughter dear

VERSE 7
He went upstairs, th latch he broke
And found her hanging, by a rope

VERSE 8
He took his knife and cut her down
And on her bossom these words were found

VERSE 9
O, what a fool, says a fool am I
To hang myself for a blue-eyed guy

VERSE 10
Go dig my grave both wide and deep
Place a marble stone at my head and feet

VERSE 11
And on my breast place a turtle dove
To prove to the world that I died for love

OTHER COLLECTIONS:
Randolph: I-45 The Butcher Boy
Belden: p. 201 The Butcher Boy
Brown: II-81 The Butcher Boy