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Babes in the Wood is a traditional English children's tale, as well as a popularpantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents entering unawares into any potentially dangerous or hostile situation.
The traditional children's tale is of two childrenabandoned in a wood, who die and are covered with leaves byrobins.
It was first published as an anonymousbroadsideballad byThomas Millington inNorwich in 1595 with the title"The Norfolk gent his will and Testament and howe he Commytted the keepinge of his Children to his own brother whoe delte most wickedly with them and howe God plagued him for it".[1]
The tale has been reworked in many forms; it frequently appears attributed as aMother Goose rhyme. Around 1840,Richard Barham included a spoof of the story in hisIngoldsby Legends, under the title ofThe Babes in the Wood; or, the Norfolk Tragedy.[2] Harris cheekily claims in an endnote[2] that the true history of the children is, 'or ought to be,' in "Bloomfield's [sic]History of Norfolk", but that work'sWayland section does not mention it. The anonymous ballad was also illustrated byRandolph Caldecott in a book published in London in 1879.
The story tells of two small children left in the care of an uncle and aunt after their parents' deaths. The uncle gives the children toruffians to be killed, in order to acquire their inheritance, telling his wife they are being sent to London for their upbringing. The murderers fall out, and the milder of the two kills the other. He tells the children he will return with provisions, but they do not see him again. The children wander alone in the woods until they die; their bodies are covered with leaves by the birds. Like many morality tales, the story continues with a description of theretribution befalling the uncle. In sanitized versions, the children are bodilytaken to Heaven. The story ends with a warning to those who have to take care of orphans and others' children not to inflict God's wrath upon themselves. The story is also used as a basis forpantomimes. However, for various reasons including both the brevity of the original and the target pantomime audience of young children, modern pantomimes by this name usually combine this tale with parts of the modernRobin Hood story (employing the supporting characters from it, such asMaid Marian, rather than Robin himself) to lengthen it.
Fox Film produced a 36-minute short of the story,The Babes in the Woods, adapted by screenwriterBernard McConville in 1917. Fox's treatment included a wicked witch and a house of candy, elements borrowed from the "Hansel and Gretel" folk story. This film provides a happy ending for the children, with Robin Hood and his company rescuing them in the end.
The Walt Disney Company re-worked this tale for their 1932 short animated filmBabes in the Woods, incorporating some material from "Hansel and Gretel" by theBrothers Grimm, and adding a village of friendlyelves (a feature not traditionally present in either tale) and a happy ending.
On Christmas Eve 1973,Junior Showtime did aBabes in the Wood pantomime episode at theBradford Alhambra theatre.[3][4] It starred Bobby Bennett as Robin Hood,Peter Goodwright asAlan A'Dale,Susan Maughan as Maid Marian,Roy Rolland as Nanny Riley, John Gower as theSheriff of Nottingham,Eddie Large as Private Large,Syd Little as Private Little, Colin Prince asLittle John,Norman Collier asWill Scarlett,Bonnie Langford as Babe Tilly, andMark Curry as Babe Willy.[3][4]
Folklore has it that the events told inBabes in the Wood originally happened inWayland Wood inNorfolk, England. It is said that the uncle lived at the nearby Griston Hall. The ghosts of the murdered children are said to haunt Wayland Wood.[5] The village signs atGriston and nearbyWatton depict the story. In the folklore version, the uncle resents the task and pays two men to take the children into the woods and kill them. Finding themselves unable to go through with the act, the criminals abandon the children in the wood where, unable to fend for themselves, they eventually die.
Another version, from Lancashire, has it that the tale is based on real events of 1374, when "the villainous Robert de Holland" illegally seized the land of 13 year-old Roger de Langley and his young bride. The children flee to the nearby woods and are cared for by loyal retainers until they are rescued by their legal guardianJohn of Gaunt.[6]
The 1915 Broadway musicalVery Good Eddie featured a song entitledBabes in the Wood by composerJerome Kern and lyricist Schuyler Greene. Main character Eddie Kettle comforts former love Elsie Darling in a duet in which each refers to the traditional tale. A recording of this song was included in the 1993 CDJerome Kern Treasury, sung byHugh Panaro (Eddie) andRebecca Luker (Elsie), and conducted byJohn McGlinn (Angel CDC 7 54883 2).
Eddie:Then put on your little hood,
And we'll both be, Oh, so good!
Like the babes in the wood.Elsie:When the babes were lost in the gloomy wood,
It's no wonder they were so very good.
Fourteen angels were watching them,
So all the story books state,
Sandman's coming now, it is getting late.
Cole Porter's songBabes in the Wood, from his 1928 musicalParis, is a modern and sardonic rewriting of the story:
They were lying there in the freezing air
When fortunately there appeared
A rich old man in a big sedan
And a very,very fancy beard
He saw those girls and cheered
Then he drove them down to New York Town
Where he covered them with useful things
Such as bonds and stocks, and Paris frocks
Traditional English singersBob and Ron Copper sangBabes in the Wood and their version was released on the EFDSS LPTraditional Songs from Rottingdean. According toSteve Roud, the Coppers' abridged version of the story and the song's tune came from musician and composerWilliam Gardiner.[7]
Several murders of children in English-speaking countries have been nicknamed the "Babes in the Wood murders":
