The Cruel Mother
A minister’s daughter i’ the north,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O,
Has fallen in love wi’ her feyther’s clerk,
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
He’s courted her for a year and a day,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
At last she’s proved wi’ child by him.
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
She’s leaned her back against a thorn,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
And there twa bonny bairns she has born,
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
She’s ta’en oot her little pen-knife,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
And robbed those babies o’ their life.
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
She’s hid their bodies underneath a stone,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
Thinking tae gang a maiden home.
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
She saw as she sat by her feyther’s wall
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
Twa naked babies playing at ball.
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
“O, bonny bairns, an ye were mine,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
I’d dress ye in silks and satins sae fine!”
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
“O, cruel mither, when we were thine,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
We dinnae see aucht o’ th’ satin sae fine.”
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
“O, bonny babies, tell tae me
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
The manner o’ deeth I’ll hae to dee.”
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
“Seven years a bird i’ the wood,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
Seven years a fish i’ the flood!”
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!
“Seven years a tongue tae the warning bell,
Hey, the rose and the linsey, O!
Till Judgment Day i’ the Caves o’ Hell!”
Doun by the greenwood sidey, O!”
– traditional Scottish murder ballad.