F                      Dm
And three little babes had she

She sent them away, to a far country
  Gm     A        Dm
To learn their grammerie

[Verse 2]
N.C.             Dm
They hadn't been gone but a very short time
 F                       Dm
About three months and a day

When the lark spread o'er this whole wide world
    Gm      A         Dm
And taken those babes away

[Verse 3]
N.C.        Dm
It was on a cold, cold Christmas night
     F           Dm
When everything was still

And she saw her three little babes come running
    Gm   A           Dm
Come running down the hill

[Verse 4]
N.C.           Dm
She set them a table of bread and wine
     F                    Dm
That they might drink and eat;

She spread them a bed of winding sheet
    Gm     A            Dm
That they might sleep so sweet

[Verse 5]
N.C.                  Dm
"Take it off, take it off," cried the eldest one;
         F                       Dm
"Take it off, take it off," cried she

"For I shan't stay here, in this wicked world
     Gm           A         Dm
When there's a better one for me."

[Verse 6]
N.C.              Dm
"Cold clods, cold clods, inside my bed
    F                 Dm
Cold clods, down at my feet

The tears my dear mother shed for me
  Gm   A         Dm
Would wet my winding sheet."

[Outro]
"The tears my dear mother shed for me
  Gm   A         Dm
Would wet my winding sheet.
  Gm   A         Dm
Would wet my winding sheet."