In the liner notes to "At the Gate of Horn", Odetta says of this song, "A woman crooning a lullaby to a baby while she leaves her own unattended in order to earn money for bread. In the song she refers to her own child as the lambie in the meadow. This lullaby comes from the South, post Civil War." (The version of the lyrics that I see in DT, here , includes this lamb verse.)

Here's a version with a different feel to it:

WHOLE HEAP A LITTLE HORSES

Go to sleep, go to sleep,
Go to sleep little baby.
When you wake, get some cake,
And ride them pretty little horses.

Black and a bay, sorrel and a gray,
Whole heap a' little horses.
Black and a bay, sorrel and a gray,
Whole heap a' little horses.

Little old horse, little old cow,
Ambling around the old hay mound.
Little old horse, he took a chew,
"Darned if I don't," said the old cow too.

Texas Gladden sings this to her grand-daughter on the Alan Lomax Southern Journey series, volume 2, Ballads and Breakdowns. According to the liner notes, Shirley, Alan's older sister remembers their mother and grand-mother singing it.

Is there a relationship anyone knows about between this song and HUSH, L'IL BABY ? They seem similar to me.