Hi,

After checking a bit, I found an earlier version (1926) of the modern "Henry My Son" version in "Songs Collected by Francis M. Collinson" in the Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Dec., 1946). The father gives Henry poison in this one. Here are Collinson's notes:

Miss Phyllis Johnson of Coventry learned " Henry my son" from another child when she was a patient in a children's hospital in 1926. She says she remembered the tune because she liked it, and the words because they excited her curiosity in that Henry, having eaten poisoned berries should have a pain in his head! She has carried the song in her memory for twenty years and sang it to me clearly and with good rhythm. She was not sure whence the child came from whom she learned the song, but imagined it might have been somewhere in the Black Country.

HENRY MY SON - Noted from the singing of Miss Phyllis Johnson of Coventry, by Francis M. Collinson.

1. Where have you been all day Henry my son?
Where have you been all day, my beloved one?
In the green fields, in the green fields;
Oh make my bed, I've a pain in my head, and I want to lie down.

2. What have you had to eat, Henry my son?
What have you had to eat, my beloved one?
"Oh poisoned berries; oh poisoned berries.
Oh make my bed, I've a pain in my head, and I want to lie down."

3. Who gave you those to eat, Henry my son?
Who gave you those to eat, my beloved one?
Father, dear mother; father, dear mother.
Oh make my bed, etc."

4. How shall I make your bed, Henry my son?
How shall I make your bed, my beloved one?
"Deep, long and narrow; deep, long and narrow.
Oh make my bed, etc."

* * * *

Richie