False Lamkins

Cat. #0619 (MFH #184) - As sung by Boyce Davis, Lincoln, Arkansas on February 29, 1968

VERSE 1
False Lamkins was as good a mason
As ever laid stone
Built a house for Lord Arnold
Lord Arnold paid him none

VERSE 2
He built it without
And he built it within
And he built a false kitchen window
To let his ownself in

VERSE 3
Said th Lord to his Lady
As he rode away from home,
Beware of False Lamkins
He'll do you some harm

VERSE 4
Well, I care not for False Lamkins
Or fer none of his kin
When th doors are bolted
An' th windows closed in

VERSE 5
Thru a back kitchen window
False Lamkins crept in
And he prick-ed one of th babies
With a bright silver pin

VERSE 6
O nurse maid, O nurse maid
How soundly you sleep
Don't you hear one of th babies
A start'in to weep

VERSE 7
How durst I go down
In th dead of th night
When there's no fire a kindle
No candles alight

(Boyce says there is something about a penny)

Variants