Traditional & Folk Songs with lyrics & midi music www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
The Cruel Mother 
The Cruel Mother 
There was a lady lived in York
 Oh, the rose and the lindsay oh She fell in love with her father's clerk
 Away by the greenwood side-e-o 
He loved her up, he loved her down He loved her 'til he filled her womb 
She leaned her back against an oak First it bent and then it broke 
She leaned her back against a thorn There she's had two bonnie babes born 
She had ta'en her wee pen knife With it she's ta'en those sweet babes lives 
She's taken a handkerchief from her pleat And made it into a winding sheet 
She's laid them under a marble stone And she has ga'ed a maiden home 
As she was passing her father's hall She saw two boys aplaying at ball 
Oh bonnie boys, gin you were mine I'd dress you up in silks sae fine 
Oh cruel mother, when we were thine You neither dressed us coarse nor fine 
Oh bonnie boys, can you tell to me What kind of death I am to die 
Seven years a bird in the wood Seven years a fish in the flood 
Seven years the tongue of a bell Seven years in the depths of Hell 
Welcome, welcome bird in the wood Welcome, welcome fish in the flood 
Welcome, welcome warning bell But God save me from the depths of Hell 
Child #20 A mixed version from several singers, such as Baez and Redpath SOF