The Butcher Boy ♥ ♫♪ ♥

Performed by the Ludlow's Ballad Group. Clip from July '65. The Ludlow's were made up of (in this case) Paddy Roche, Margaret O'Brien & Seán Loughran.

This tragic and beautiful ballad is a variant of the widely known "Gosport Tragedy". It has become very popular throughout Ireland, where everyone seems to have a soft spot for a nice sad love song. ♥ ♫♪

"In Moore street where I did dwell
A butcher boy I loved right well
He courted me my life away
But now with me he will not stay

I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
I wish I was a maid again
A maid again I ne'er will be
'Til cherries grow on an ivy tree

I wish my baby it was born
And smiling on it's daddy's knee
And me, poor girl, to be dead and gone
With the long green grass growing over me

She went upstairs to go to bed
And calling to her mother, said:
"Give me a chair till I sit down
And a pen and ink till I write down"

At every word she dropped a tear
At every line cried: "Willie dear
Oh, what a foolish girl was I
To be led astray by a butcher boy"

He went upstairs and the door he broke
He found her hanging from a rope
He took his knife and he cut her down
And in her pocket these words he found:

"Oh, make my grave large, wide and deep
Put a marble stone at my head and feet
And in the middle, a turtledove
That the world may know that I died for love."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ludlows
• ballad
• irish
• song
• singing
• group

[pastore0506]

This song would bring tears to a glass eye; but I love it! The Ludlows did a beautiful job of it.

George

[dickmilesmusic]

very good,good singing, simple accompaniment,how some of the english folk revival could learn from this,Dick Miles

[JoshuaH688]

This is a beautiful song. I was driving down the road listening to this song for the first time, and it was sung by a guy. When I heard "a butcher boy I loved right well" I thought... huh? Then he starts singing "I wish I was a maid again..." and at that point I was really spooked... and then there was the part about the rope and suicide. It sounded a lot like a song about a homo who became a tranny and left his woman to kill herself alone. Never let a dude sing this song by himself. Ever.

[cuntzillamcgonigle]

as a kid my mom used to sing this to me...great memories

[emmagrace1993]

Beautiful song, it's a pity a lot of people I know hate Irish songs. They don't appreciate the beauty of this simple song

[CelticManoeuvre]

My favorite version of this song is by the Clancy Brothers.

[CelticManoeuvre]

This is an old english song. Everyone seems to think it's Irish. It's not.

[SophieGrimesX]

@squirell1952 no sadly they broke up because margaret o brien decided to get amrried and settle down to have kids, and im proud to say now that she is my grandmother :) she still sings in the dublin county choir but thats about it :)

[squirell1952]

WHERE ARE THE LUDLOWS TODAY? ARE THEY STILL IN SHOWBIZ?

[madfortrad5958]

brilliant 

[Teddyb1939]

no gimmicks,just lovely harmonies,beautiful.

[redoler]

Subdued and harmonic performance.Thanks to previous poster for the melodramatic lyrics! I'll teach my grand-daughter them.