Cruel Mother

Judy Collins

There was a lady lived in the North,
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
She fell in love with her faither's clerk,
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

He courted her a year and a day,
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
Till her the young man did betray.
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

She leaned her back up against a thorn,
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
There she had two pretty babes born.
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

She took her penknife, keen and sharp.
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
She has stuck it through their hearts.
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

As she was walking her father's path,
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
She saw two babes a-playing ball.
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

She said "O, babes, if you can tell",
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
"What kind of death I have to die."
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

"Seven years a fish in the flood",
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
"Seven years a bird in the wood".
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

"Seven years a tongue in the warning bell",
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
"Seven years in the flames of hell".
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

"Oh, welcome, welcome, fish in the flood",
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
"Welcome, welcome, bird in the wood".
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.

"Welcome, welcome tongue in the warning bell",
Oh, the rose and the linsie O,
"God keep me from the flames in Hell."
Down by the greenwood sidie, O.