The Cruel Mother

There was a lady lived in York,
All alone and alone-nee
She was courted by her father's clerk.
Down by a greenwood side-ee

She leant her back against an oak,
And, first it bent and then it broke.

She pricked her side against a thorn,
And, there she had two pretty babes born.

She took a knife both long and sharp,
And, pressed it into their tender hearts.

She dug a grave wide and long,
And, buried them under the cold marble stones.

As, she was sitting in her father's hall,
She espied two pretty boys playing at ball.

Oh babes oh babes if you were mine,
I'd dress you up in scarlet fine.

Oh. mother oh mother we once were thine,
And you didn’t dress us in scarlet fine.

You dug a grave wide and long ,
And, buried us under the cold marble stones.

Oh, babes oh babes come tell me,
Just what the future holds for me.

Oh, mother oh mother you know right well,
‘Tis us for heaven and you for hell.