There was a knight and a lady bright
And three little babes had she
She sent them away to a far country
To learn their grammary

They hadn't been gone but a very short time
About three months and a day
When the lark spread over this whole wide world
And taken those babes away

It was on a cold, cold Christmas night
When everything was still
And she saw her three little babes come runnin'
Come runnin' down the hill

She set them a table of bread and wine
That they might drink and eat
She spread them a bed of a winding sheet
That they might sleep so sweet

"Take it off, take it off", cried the eldest one
"Take it off, take it off", cried she
"For I shan't stay here in this wicked world
When there's a better one for me"

Cold clods, cold clods inside my bed
Cold clods, down at my feet
The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet

The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet
Would wet my winding sheet