The Babes In The Greenwood- Dalton (NL) 1960
A variant was collected in 1951 from John James of Trepassey, NL, as The Green Woods Of Bonnie-O in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada; Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
The Babes In The Greenwood- collected in 1960 from Jack Dalton of Codroy, NL, by Kenneth Peacock in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.804-805, by The National Museum of Canada (1965)
There was a lady from New York,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
She fell in love with her father's clerk,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
She had two babes by this young man,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
But he would not wed nor take her hand,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
Two thousand pounds in her hand was lain,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
To take her babes and have them slain,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
She drew a penknife long and sharp,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
She pierced it in their tender hearts,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
She buried them under a marble stone,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
And prayed to God it would never be known,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
As she sat one day in her father's hall,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
She saw two babes out playing the ball,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
"Oh, babes, oh, babes, if you were mine,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
I would dress you up in silk so fine,
In the green woods of Bondie-o."
"Oh, mother, oh mother, when we were thine,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
You did not dress us in silk so fine,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
"You left us weep on the cold, cold ground,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
And feared for your life we would soon be found,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
"You took a penknife long and sharp,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
You pierced it in our tender hearts,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
"You buried us under a marble stone,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
And prayed to God it would never be known,
In the green woods of Bondie-o.
"Now heaven is high and hell is low,
Fair flowers of Alley-o;
And when you die it's to hell you will go,
For murdering your babes in Bondie-o."