Down by the Greenwood Side- Paugh (WV) 1916 Cox B
[From Folk-Songs of the South- 1925 by John H. Cox. His note follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
THE CRUEL MOTHER (Child, No. 20)
Three variants have been recovered in West Virginia under the titles, "Down by the Greenwood Side," and "The Greenwood Siding" (see Cox, XIV, 159). A is an excellent version, following Child E in most details. B is confused at the beginning and one verse of stanza 4 is missing. In the main it agrees clearly with Child C. The only thing in variant C that may be of help in determining its relationship is the last line: "You shall be keeper of hell's gates." Cf. Child, I, 15: "Seven years a porter in hell," and Child, K, 7: "And seven years a porter in hell."
For American texts see Mackenzie, Journal, xxv, 183 (Nova Scotia; also Quest, p. 104) ; McGill, p. 83 (Kentucky) ; Campbell and Sharp, No. 9 (North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia) ; Sharp, Folk-Songs of English Origin Collected in the Appalachian Mountains, 2d Series, p. 2 (Kentucky) ; Jones, p. 5 (South Carolina by way of Kentucky) ; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, 11, 109 (Kentucky). For other references see Journal, xxx, 293.
B. "Down by the Greenwood Side." Communicated by Mr. George Paugh, Thomas, Tucker County, January 10, 1916; obtained from Mrs. S. R. Paugh, who learned it about forty years previous from Mr. John Cox in Pendleton County.
1. She placed her foot against a rock,
And there twin babes were born,
Down by the greenwood side.
2 She drew her garter from her leg
And tied them up both hand and foot.
3 She dug a grave both wide and deep,
She placed them in, both hand and feet.
4. . . . . . .
She thought this murder would never be known.
5 One day she was sitting in her father's hall,
She saw those twin babes play ball.
6 "O sweet little babes if you were mine,
I'd dress you in the silks so fine."
7 "You false-hearted mother, when we were thine,
You neither dressed us rough nor fine."