Here are the lyrics as Eliza Carthy sings them (and pretty much as Martin Carthy sings them). It's a bit different from the other versions that have been posted, with one particular difference that I want to ask about, below. Eliza Carthy sings Billy Boy https://mainlynorfolk.info/martin.carthy/songs/billyboy.html “Where have you been all the day, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Where have you been all the day, o my dear darling Billy O?” “I've been out all the day Walking with a lady gay, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” “Is she fit for your wife, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Is she fit for your wife, o my dear darling Billy O?” “She's as fit to be my wife As the heart is to the knife, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” “And did she ask you to sit down, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Did she ask you to sit down, o my dear darling Billy O?” “Well she asked me to sit down Then she curtsied to the ground, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” “Did she light you up to bed, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Did she light you up to bed, o my dear darling Billy O?” “Well she lit me up to bed With a nodding of her head, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” “Did she lie close to you, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Did she lie close to you, o my dear darling Billy O?” “Well she lay so close to me As the bark is to the tree, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” “Do you want to know her age, bonny boy, Billy Boy? Do you want to know her age, o my dear darling Billy O?” “She is twice six seven, She is twice twenty and eleven, Isn't she a young thing lately from her mummy O?” There's also a nice recording by Luke Plumb and Kare Burke on their new album. Now, verse 2, lines 3 and 4: She's as fit to be my wife/As the heart is to the knife. What is going on there? How is a heart fit to a knife? Other versions have fork and knife, or sheath and knife, which make sense to me. Is heart and knife a mondegreen?
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