Said my lord to my lady as he mounted his horse,
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss."
Said my lord to my lady as he rode away,
"Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay,
"Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned,
And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in."
So he kissed his fair lady, and he rode away,
And he was in fair London before break of day.
The doors were all bolted and the windows all pinned,
Except one little window where Long Lankin crept in.
"Where is the lord of this house?" Said Lankin,
"He's away in fair London," said the false nurse to him.
"Where's the little heir of this house?" Said Lankin,
"He's asleep in his cradle," said the false nurse to him.
"We'll prick him, we'll prick him all over with a pin,
And that'll make my lady come downstairs to him."
So they pricked him, and they pricked him all over with a pin,
And the false nurse held the basin for the blood to flow in.
"Oh, nurse, how you slumber, oh, nurse, how you sleep,
You leave my little Johnson to cry and weep.
Oh, nurse how you slumber, oh, nurse, how you snore,
You leave my little Johnson to cry and roar."
"I've tried him with an apple, I've tried him with a pear,
Come down, my fair lady, and rock him in your chair.
I've tried him with milk, and I've tried him with pap,
Come down, my fair lady, and rock him in your lap."
"Oh, darest I go down in the dead of the night,
With no fire a-kindled, nor candles alight?"
"You've three silver mantles as bright as the sun,
Come down, my fair lady, all by the light of one."
The lady went down, she was thinking no harm,
Long Lankin stood ready to catch her in his arm.
Here's blood in the kitchen, here's blood in the hall,
Here's blood in the parlour where my lady did fall.
The maiden looked out from a turret so high,
And she saw her master from London ride by.
"Oh, master, oh, master, don't lay blame on me,
'Twas the false nurse and Lankin that's killed your lady."
Long Lankin was hanged on a gibbet so high,
And the false nurse was burned on a fire close by.
