Coll. by M.C. Parler Jane Robinson
Fayetteville, Ark. March 1957
Reel 350, Item 5
False Lamkin
Said the Lord to his Lady,
As he rode away from home,
Beware of false Lamkin Or he'll do you much harm.
I care not for false Lamkin Nor 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 he prick-ed one of the other babes With a bright silver pin.
Oh nursemaid, oh nursemaid,
How soundly you sleep,
Can't you hear one of the other babes A-tryin' to weep?
How durst I go down In the dead of the night,
Where there's no fire a-kindled,
No Randle alight?
As she was a-goin' down,
Thinkin' of no harm,
False Lamkin he caught her Right tight in his arm.
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,
Tin 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 a silver basin To catch her own heart's blood.
-more-Reel 350, Item 5
Pretty Betsy bein' up At the window so high,
Saw her own dearest Father Come ridin' close by.
Oh Father, dearest Father,
Oh blame not of me,
For it was false Lamkin Killed baby and me.
There's blood in the kitchen, There's blood in the hail, There's blood in the parlor Where the lady did fall.
False Lankin shall be hung From the gallows so high,
While his bones they are burned In the fire close by.