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"The Butcher’s Boy", also known as "The Butcher Boy", "The Railroad Boy" or "Snow
Dove" is an American folk song derived from traditional English ballads.
Folklorists consider it to be a conglomeration
of several English broadside ballads, tracing its stanzas to
"Sheffield Park", "The Squire's Daughter", "A Brisk Young Soldier",
"A Brisk Young Sailor" and "Sweet William (The Sailor Boy)".
It is in the Roud Folk Song Index as #409.
Steve Roud describes it as: "One of the most widely-known 'forsaken girl' songs in the American tradition, which is often particularly moving in its stark telling of an age-old story."It was recorded by: Kelly Harrell (1925), Henry Whitter (1925), Vernon Dalhart (1927), Buell Kazee ("The Butcher's Boy" and "The Railroad Boy") (1928), The Blue Sky Boys (1940), Peggy Seeger ("The Butcher Boy") (1955), Joan Baez ("The Railroad Boy") on Joan Baez Volume 2 (1961), Tommy Makem ("The Butcher Boy")( 1961), Tommy Makem with The Clancy Brothers ("The Butcher Boy") (1965) and Dave Van Ronk ("The Butcher Boy") (2005). I first learned this from the Joan Baez recording. I next learned the "Snow Dove" version from the New Lost City Ramblers Song Book. The New Dimension String Band sang "Snow Dove" with two guitars, one played low in A minor and the other capoed up 5 frets and fingered in E minor. |