Butcher Boy

Cat. #0834 (MFH #37) - As sung by Roy Winkler (Wrinkle)*, Mountain View, Arkansas on August 26, 1969

VERSE 1
In London city, where I once did dwell
A butcher boy, I loved so well
He courted me, my life away
An' then with me, he would not stay

VERSE 2
I went upstairs to go to bed
An' nothing to my Mother said
But Mother said, you're act'n queer
What is th trou-bles, daughter dear

VERSE 3
O Mother dear, you need not know
Of pain an' sorow, th grief I know
Give me a chair an' set me down
With pen an' ink to write words down

VERSE 4
Go dig my grave, both wide an' deep
An' place a mar-ble at my feet
And on my brea-st a snow white dove
To show th world I died for love

VERSE 5
An' when her Fa-ther first come home
Where is my girl, where has she gone
He went upstairs, th door he broke
An' found her han'in from a rope

VERSE 6
Then he took his knife an' cut her down
And in her bossom, these words he found
A foolish girl, I know I am
To hang your-self for th butcher boy

VARIANTS:
0145 Butcher Boy
0203 Butcher Boy
0245 Butcher Boy
0397 Butchers Boy
0797 Butcher Boy
1326 I Died For Love
1473 Butcher Boy

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

*Editor's note: According to family member R.F. Wrinkle, the name is spelled Wrinkle, not Winkler.
February 8, 2004


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