Lamkins- Barnitz (PA-WV) 1957 Musick
[From: Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia by Ruth Ann Musick; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sep., 1957), pp. 247-261.
R. Matteson 2015]
10. "Lamkin" (Lamkin, Child 93) [14]
10.1. Mrs. Eric Barnitz of Fairmont learned this comparatively rare ballad as a child in Pennsylvania from her mother, Mrs. A. C. Miller, who later recorded it for me. Bayard states the tune to be unusual for this ballad (see Ex. 16).
(1) "Oh, wife, dear wife
Beware of your life;
Beware of young Lamkins
He will be here [needles, fire] tonight.
(2) "Oh, wife, dear wife,
What a pity it is
To stick this little infant
Full of needles and pins."
(3) While young Lamkins was a-hanging
On the gallows so high,
The false nurse was burning
In a fire close by.