"Billy Boy" is a traditional folk song and nursery rhyme found in the United States, in which "Billy Boy" is asked various questions, and the answers all center on his quest to marry a girl who is said to be too young to leave her mother.
But she's a young thing and cannot leave her mother[2]The narrative of the song has been related by some to "Lord Randall", a murder ballad from the British Isles, in which the suitor is poisoned by the woman he visits.
While his answer is convoluted, it reveals an age that is old and not young, adding to the irony and humor of the song.
[6] The song was heard in the 1943 film, The Iron Major, the story of football coach Frank Cavanaugh.
In the 1948 Walt Disney film So Dear to My Heart, Burl Ives performs snippets of the song throughout the movie.