There was a knight, and a lady bright
And three little babes had she
She sent them away, to a far country
To learn their grammerie
They hadn't been gone but a very short time
About three months and a day
When the lark spread o'er this whole wide world
And taken those babes away
It was on a cold, cold Christmas night
When everything was still
And she saw her three little babes come running
Come running down the hill
She set them a table of bread and wine
That they might drink and eat;
She spread them a bed of winding sheet
That they might sleep so sweet
"Take it off, take it off," cried the eldest one;
"Take it off, take it off," cried she
"For I shan't stay here, in this wicked world
When there's a better one for me."
"Cold clods, cold clods, inside my bed
Cold clods, down at my feet —
The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet."