The Cruel Mother- Warton; Shropshire 1885 Child Q
[Below Child's version is the text from Through Romany Songland- Page 137 (with music) by Laura Alexandrine Smith - 1889.
The Cruel Mother- Version Q; Child 20
'The Cruel Mother,' Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, 1883-86, p. 540; "snug by Eliza Wharton and brothers, children of gipsies, habitually travelling in North Shropshire and Staffordshire, 13th July, 1885."
1. There was a lady, a lady of York,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
She fell a-courting in her own father's park.
Down by the greenwood side, O
2. She leaned her back against the stile,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
There she had two pretty babes born.
Down by the greenwood side, O
3. And she had nothing to lap 'em in,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
But she had a penknife sharp and keen.
Down by the greenwood side, O
4. . . . . . . . . .
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
There she stabbed them right through the heart.
Down by the greenwood side, O
5. She wiped the penknife in the sludge;
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
The more she wiped it, the more the blood showed.
Down by the greenwood side, O
6. As she was walking in her own father's park,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
She saw two pretty babes playing with a ball.
Down by the greenwood side, O
7. 'Pretty babes, pretty babes, if you were mine,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
I'd dress you up in silks so fine.'
Down by the greenwood side, O
8. 'Dear mother, dear mother, [when we were thine,]
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
You dressed us not in silks so fine.
Down by the greenwood side, O
9. 'Here we go to the heavens so high,
Ri fol i diddle i gee wo
You'll go to bad when you do die.'
Down by the greenwood side, O
________________
[This version supplies the missing line in the 4th stanza]
Through Romany Songland - Page 137 with music by Laura Alexandrine Smith - 1889.
This song of " The Cruel Mother" was also sung by Eliza Wharton and her brothers. It is a variant of a standard ballad in Kinloch's and Motherwell's collections.
"THE CRUEL MOTHER"
"There was a lady, a lady of York,
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo!)
She fell a-courting in her own father's park,
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"She leaned her back against the stile [read thorn]
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo !)
There she had two pretty babes born,
Down by the greenwood side, 01
"And she had nothing to lap 'em in,
(Ri fol i diddle i gee wo!)
But she had a penknife sharp and keen,
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"She did not care if they felt the smart,
(Rifol i diddle igee wo!)
There she stabbed them right through the heart,
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"She wiped the penknife in the sludge,
(Ri fol i diddle i gee wo !)
The more she wiped it the more the blood showed,
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"As she was walking in her own father's park,
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo !)
She saw two pretty babes playing with a ball,
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"Pretty babes, pretty babes, if you were mine,
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo!)
I'd dress you up in silks so fine,'
Down by the greenwood side, O! "
' Dear mother, dear mother, when we were thine,
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo!)
You dressed us not in silks so fine,'
Down by the greenwood side, O!
"Here we go to the heavens so high,
(Rifol i diddle i gee wo!)
You'll go to bad when you do die!
Down by the greenwood side, 01"