Rock abye, Baby, on the tree top,

When the wind blows the cradle will rock.

When the boughs break - the cradle will fall,

Down will come baby, cradle and all.

Note: It was the custom of Nipmuck mothers to wrap their infant children in soft blankets and attach them to cradle-boards which could be carried on the mother's back or suspended from a tree limb while the mother worked nearby. As the mother attended to her duties she would sing softly to her child as an assurance of her presence. The gently swaying branch would rock the baby with a sleep-inducing rhythm. Many years ago one of the songs the Nipmuck mothers often sang to their sleeping children was translated into English and is known to almost every toddler as the "Rock Abye Baby" song.