THE LITTLE BEGGAR BOY

I am a little beggar boy,
My mother she is gone, (dead?)
My father is a drunkard,
He won't buy me no bread;

I goes up to the pantry
To get a slice of bread,
My daddy come behind me
And whip me up to bed.

I set beside the window,
To hear the organ play,
God bless my dear old mommy
Who is dead and far a way.

Ding dong my castle bell,
Farewell my mommy,
You bury me in the same churchyard,
Along the side of my mommy,

My coffin shall be black,
Six white angels at the back,
Two to pray (watch?) and two to watch (pray?)
And two to carry my soul a way.

From Travellers' Songs, MacColl & Seeger
Collected from Emily Baker

note: a curious hodge-podge. The tune drifts in and out of Home Sweet
Home, with strong suggestions of Gypsy Girl. RG
@drink @child @death @tearjerker
filename[ BEGGRBOY
TUNE FILE: BEGGRBOY
CLICK TO PLAY
RG
apr96
mudcat.org

---

PLEASE NOTE: Because of the volunteer nature of The Digital Tradition, it is difficult to ensure proper attribution and copyright information for every song included. Please assume that any song which lists a composer is copyrighted ©. You MUST aquire proper license before using these songs for ANY commercial purpose. If you have any additional information or corrections to the credit or copyright information included, please e-mail those additions or corrections to us (along with the song title as indexed) so that we can update the database as soon as possible. Thank You.