Cruel Lincoln

[Verse 1]
Said the lord to the lady "I am now going out
Beware of Cruel Lincoln when I am gone out"

[Verse 2]
"What cares I for Lincoln or any of his kin
For my doors are all bolted an my windows are pinned"

[Verse 3]
As soon as the lord had got out of sight
Cruel Lincoln crept in in the middle of the night

[Verse 4]
Got and pricked the sweet baby which caused it to cry
Whilst the nurse sat a singing "oh, hush-a-lullaby"

[Verse 5]
Cruel Lincoln rocked the cradle and the false nurse she sung
And all round the cradle the Babies blood ran

[Verse 6]
"Oh, nurse, oh, nurse, how sound you do sleep
Whilst my little baby almost bitterly got weep?"

[Verse 7]
"Oh, nurse, oh, nurse, oh, still him with the keys"
"He will not still, my lady, let me do what 'ere I please"

[Verse 8]
"Oh, nurse, oh, nurse, oh, still him with the ring"
"He will not still, my lady, let me do most anything"

[Verse 9]
Cruel Lincoln rocked the cradle and the false nurse she sung
While out of the cradle the baby's blood run

[Verse 10]
"Oh, lady, dear lady, come and take him in your lap
For I cannot quiet him with milk nor with pap"

[Verse 11]
"How can I come down so late in the night
Without coal or candle for to grant me any light"

[Verse 12]
"There's two smocks in your coffer as white as any swan
Put one of these about you, it will show a light down"

[Verse 13]
The lady came down, not thinking any harm
Cruel Lincoln stood a waiting for to catch her in his arms

[Verse 14]
"O Lincoln, Cruel Lincoln spare my life for one hour
You shall have my daughter Betsy, she's my own blooming flower"

[Verse 15]
"Go and fetch your daughter Betsy, she will do very well
To hold up the silver basin for to catch your hearts blood"

[Verse 16]
There was blood in the kitchen, there was blood in the hall
There was blood in the parlour where the lady did fall

[Verse 17]
As soon as the lord had heard what was done
Tears from his eyes in torrents they ran

[Verse 18]
Saying "the nurse shall be hung on the scaffold so high
Cruel Lincoln shall be burned in the furnace close by"

[Outro]
"Cruel Lincoln shall be burned in the furnace close by"