Babes in the Wood

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

or Children in the Wood, an old English ballad of unknown authorship. The story has been thought to be a disguised account of the alleged murder of his nephews by Richard III. It has been retold many times, both in prose and verse. It appears in a form long popular in S. Baring-Gould's Nursery Songs and Rhymes. Poor babes in the wood, poor babes in the wood, So hard was the fate of the babes in the wood. When a child on the knee, how silent I'd be, While my mother related the story to me. My dear, you must know that a long time ago, Two poor little children whose names I don't know Were stolen away on a fine summer's day, And left in a wood, as I've heard people say. Poor babes in the wood, poor babes in the wood! So hard was the fate of the babes in the wood. And when it was night, so bad was their plight, The sun it went down, and the stars gave no light. They sobbed and they sighed, and they bitterly cried, And the poor little things they lay down and died. Poor babes in the wood, etc. And when they were dead, the robins so red, Brought strawberry leaves, and over them spread. And all the day long, the branches among, They mournfully whistled, and this was their song: Poor babes in the wood, etc. 2026 Editor's Note: 'Babes in the wood' entered English as a phrase for the helplessly naïve, adrift among dangers they don't understand — and the old ballad became a perennial British Christmas pantomime , often merged with the Robin Hood legend. (Ed: BR 2026-06-22)