The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #5238   Message #1909070
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
14-Dec-06 - 12:08 AM
Thread Name: Origins: Poor Babes in the Woods
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: poor babes in the woods
Foolstroupe, at the Bodleian are copies of "The Babes in the Woods" (from the type font probably early 19th c.) and a "New Version" (c. 1855), Harding B11(123) which is moralistic and preachy.
I am going over the older one, which is much as you describe it, and will post it tomorrow, after I make sure that I have got it correctly. It is worth a look, as it has a primitive cut showing the two dead babes, a man on the scaffold, and in the foreground the two Ruffians (both wearing spurs).
The verse about the Robin-redbreast covering them with leaves (sob!) is there, and it goes on to tell of the heavy Wrath of God falling on the Uncle, and ends with a caution to Executors and Overseers that they could meet the same fate.