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False Lamkin 
False Lamkin 
Said the Lord to his Lady As he rode away from home, Beware of False Lamkin For he'll do you much harm. 
What care I for False Lamkin Or none of his kin? When the doors are all bolted And the windows close pinned 
At the back kitchen window False Lamkin crept in And h pricked on of the elder babes With a bright silver pin. 
Oh, nursemaid, oh nursemaid How soundly you sleep Can't you hear one of the elder babes A tryin'to weep? 
How durst I go down In the dead of the night? When there's no fire kindled No candle alight. 
As she was a goin' down Thinkin' of no harm False Lamkin, he caught her Right tight in his arms. 
Oh, spare my life, oh spare my life My life that's so sweet You shall have as many guineas As stones in the street. 
Oh, spare my life, oh spare my life Till one of the clock, You shall have my daughter, Betsy The fairest of the flock. 
Fetch me your daughter Betsy 
She'll do me some good She shall hold the silver basin To ketch her own heart's blood. 
Poor Betsy bein' up At the window so high Saw her own dearest father Come a-ridin' close by. 
Oh father, dearest father O blame not of me For it was False Lamkin Killed baby and me. 
There's blood in the kitchen There's blood in the hall There's blood in the parlor Where the lady did fall. 
False Lamkin shall be hung From the gallows so high While his bones, they are burning In the fire close by. 
From the Max Hunter Collection Collected from Jane Robinson, Fayettville, AR, December 1958 Child #93 oct00