Son, Oh Son

Out in the kitchen, down in the hall
(Ah, my lee and lonely)
Willie's the father of his sister's child
Down by the greenwood side

Took her down to the merry wood
And there he shot his sister dead
Down by the greenwood side

He went back to his mother's home
"Welcome to you my son, my son."
Down by the greenwood side

"Son, oh son, why are you so pale?"
"Been down in the greenwood hunting quail."
Down by the greenwood side

"There's no quail away down there."
"Been down there shooting the white-tailed deer."
Down by the greenwood side

"No pistol kills a deer,
Willie, where's your sister, where?"
Down by the greenwood side

"Mother, oh mother, make my bed,
For I have shot my sister dead."
Down by the greenwood side

"Son, oh son, where will you go?
For your father will kill you when he comes to know."
Down by the greenwood side

"He'll bury you under yon hill,
And if he doesn't kill you, I surely will!"
Down by the greenwood side