Lyrics

There was a woman and she lived alone/And babies she had three/She sent them away to a far country/To learn their grammery

They’d not been gone but a very short time/Scarcely six weeks to the day/When death, cold death swept o’er the land/And stole those babes away

“I wish the wind may never cease/Nor flashes in the flood/‘Til my three little babes return to me/In earthly flesh and blood”

‘Twas very close to Christmas time/The nights were long and cold/And the very next morning, at the break of day/Them babes came a’running home

She’s set the table for them to eat/Upon it spread bread and wine/Come eat, come drink, my three little babes/Come eat, come drink of mine

“Oh mother, we cannot eat your bread/Neither can we drink your wine/For death, cold death is lord of all/To him we must resign”

“Rise up, rise up” cried the eldest one/The cock he crows for the day/“We must depart to the place/From whence we went away”

“Cold clods of clay roll o’er our heads/Green grass grows on our feet/And thy sweet tears, my mother dear/Will wet our winding sheet”