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 running

Come running 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'