6
'What will you leave to your brother, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave to your brother, my comfort and joy?'
'I'll leave him my bow and my fiddle; mother, make my bed soon,
There 's a pain in my heart, and I mean to lie down.'
7
'What will you leave to your sister, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave to your sister, my comfort and joy?'
'I'll leave her my gold and my silver; mother, make my bed soon,
There 's a pain in my heart, and I mean to lie down.'
8
'What will you leave to your servant, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave to your servant, my comfort and joy?'
'I'll leave him the key of my small silver box; mother, make my bed soon,
There 's a pain in my heart, and I mean to lie down.'
9
'What will you leave to your children, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave to your children, my comfort and joy?'
'The world is wide all round for to beg; mother, make my bed soon,
There 's a pain in my heart, and I mean to lie down.'
10
'What will you leave to your wife, my own pretty boy?
What will you leave to your wife, my comfort and joy?'
'I'll leave her the gallows, and plenty to hang her; mother, make my bed soon,
There 's a pain in my heart, and I mean to lie down.'
11
'Where shall I make it, my own pretty boy?
Where shall I make it, my comfort and joy?'
'Above in the churchyard, and dig it down deep,
Put a stone to my head and a flag to my feet,
And leave me down easy until I'll take a long sleep.'
I.
a. Communicated by Mrs L. F. Wesselhoeft, of Boston, as sung to her when a child by her grandmother, Elizabeth Foster, born in Maine, who appears to have learned the ballad of her mother about 1800. b. By a daughter of Elizabeth Foster, as learned about 1820. c. By Miss Ellen Marston, of New Bedford, as learned from her mother, born 1778. d. By Mrs Cushing, of Cambridge, Mass., as learned in 1838 from a schoolmate, who is thought to have derived it from an old nurse. e. By Mrs Augustus Lowell, of Boston. f. By Mrs Edward Atkinson, of Boston, learned of Mrs A. Lowell, in girlhood. g. By Mrs A. Lowell, as derived from a friend.
1
'O where have you been, Tiranti, my son?
O where have you been, my sweet little one?'
'I have been to my grandmother's; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm sick to my heart, and I'm faint to lie down.'