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 world 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."
"The tears my dear mother shed for me
Would wet my winding sheet
Would wet my winding sheet."