Babes in the Woods (5)

And then those pretty little babes
Did wander up and down,
And never more did see that man
Approaching from the town.

Their little lips with blackberries
Were all besmeared and dyed
And when the darksome night came on
They set them down and cried.

In each other's arms they died,
Grim death did end their grief.
Little Robin Redbreast pitiful-lie
Covered them up with leaves.

- that's in Sharp's
English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians.
Unlike many of the tunes in the book there are no other variants. Sharp says
the tune is in Chrisite's Traditional Ballad Airs and Chappell's Music of
the Olden Times - a later source would be McGills Folk Songs of the
Kentucky Mountains.

LN
oct99