Addison, in Number 85 of the Spectator, also commends that beautiful and touching ballad denominated "The Children in the Wood." He observes, "This song is a plain, simple copy of nature, destitute of the helps and ornaments of art. The tale of it is a pretty, tragical story and pleases for no other reason than because it is a copy of nature." It is known to every child as a nursery song or a pleasant story. A stanza or two will reveal its pathos and rhythm. The children had been committed by their dying parents to their uncle:
The parents being dead and gone
The children home he takes,
And brings them straite unto his house
Where much of them he makes.
He had kept these pretty babes
A twelve month and a daye
But for their wealth he did desire
To make them both away
An assassin is hired to kill them; he leaves them in a deep forest: