There was a knight, and a lady bright  And three little babes had she.  She sent them away, to a far country,  To learn their grammerie.  They hadn't been gone but a very short time,  About three months and a day,  When the lark spread o'er this whole wide world  And taken those babes away.  It was on a cold, cold Christmas night  When everything was still  Ahe saw her three little babes come running,  Come running down the hill.  She spread them a table of bread and wine,  That they might drink and eat;  She spread them a bed of winding sheet,  That they might sleep so sweet.  "Take it off, take it off," cried the eldest one;  "take it off, take it off," cried she,  "for I shan't stay here, in this wicked world  When there's a better one for me."  "Cold clods, cold clods, inside my bed,  Cold clods, down at my feet -   The tears my dear mother she'd for me  Would wet my winding sheet."