He bargained with two ruffians strong
Which were of furious mood,
That they should take these children young,
And slay them in a wood.
He told his wife an artful tale:
He would the children send
To be brought up in fair London,
With one that was his friend.
Away then went those pretty babes,
Rejoicing at that tide,
Rejoicing with a merry mind,
They should on cock-horse ride.
They prate and prattle pleasantly,
As they rode on the way,
To those that should their butchers be,
And work their lives' decay.
So that the pretty speech they had,
Made murder's heart relent:
And they that undertook the deed,
Full sore did now repent.
Yet one of them, more hard of heart,
Did vow to do his charge,
Because the wretch that hired him,
Had paid him very large.
The other won't agree thereto,
So here they fall to strife;
With one another they did fight
About the children's life.
And he that was of mildest mood,
Did slay the other there,
Within an unfrequented wood:
The babes did quake for fear.
He took the children by the hand,
Tears standing in their eye,
And bade them straightway follow him,
And look, they did not cry;