147
The Babes in the Wood
See Kittredge's bibliographical note JAFL xxxv 349-50 and the
headnote to this song BSM 106. To the references in the latter add
Vermont (NGMS 234-8), Virginia (FSV 38), Florida (FSF
401-7), the Ozarks (OFS i 365-8), Indiana (BSI 313), and Michi-
gan (BSSM 343-5). It is probably a good deal more widely known
than collectors' lists would imply; it is so familiar that collectors
are likely to disregard it.
'Babes in the Wood.' Reported by Miss Pearl Webb of Pineola, Avery
county, probably in 1921.
1 Oh, don't you remember, a long time ago,
Of two little children, their names I don't know.
They were stole on the way^ on a bright summer day
And lost in the woods, I've heard people say.
2 And when it was night so sad was their plight,
The moon went down and the stars gave no light.
They sobbed and they sighed and they bitterly cried ;
Poor babes in the woods, they lay down and died.
3 And when they were dead the robins so red
Brought strawberry leaves and over them spread
And sang a sweet song the whole day long.
Poor babes in the woods, they lay down and died.