- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Publication date
- 1595
- Language
- English
- Comments
-
[Roud 288; Laws Q34; Ballad Index LQ34; Bodleian Roud 288; Wiltshire 696, 998, 999; trad.]
The traditional children's tale is of two children abandoned in a wood, who die and are covered with leaves by robins. It was first published as an anonymous broadside ballad by Thomas Millington in Norwich in 1595 with the title "The Norfolk gent his will and Testament and howe he Commytted the keepinge of his Children to his own brother whoe delte most wickedly with them and howe God plagued him for it". The tale has been reworked in many forms; it frequently appears attributed as a Mother Goose rhyme. Starting around 1840, The "Babes in the Wood" (or "Norfolk Tragedy"), was included in The Ingoldsby Legends, an exceptionally popular miscellany of folklore and poetry, reprinted throughout the nineteenth century. The anonymous ballad was also illustrated by Randolph Caldecott in a book published in 1879. - Licensing
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Song
Versions
Babes in the Wood(s) written by [Traditional] English
Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Babes in the Wood | Bob and Ron Copper | 1963 | |||
Babes in the Woods | Almeda Riddle | 1964 | |||
The Babes in the Wood | Shirley Collins | 1967 | |||
Babes in the Wood | Tim Hart & Maddy Prior | 1968 | |||
The Babes in the Wood | The Derek Sarjeant Folk Trio | 1971 | |||
Babes in the Wood(s) | Lily May Ledford | 1983 | |||
Babes in the Woods | Jon Boden | January 19, 2011 | |||
Babes in the Woods | Reeb Willms and Caleb Klauder | 2012 | |||
Babes in the Wood | Alice Wylde | February 2013 | |||
Babes in the Wood | Karl & Harty | 2013 | Released more than 10 years after its recording |