Barbara Allen- (NY) 1927 Dalhart REC
[Taken from Bronson 131, TTCB, "Barbara Allen" transcribed from Vernon Dalhart, Brunswick recording, No. 117-B. [3-12-1927]. Beginning in 1927 Dalhart recorded Barbara Allen seven times under a variety of aliases (Al Craver etc). It's likely that all the texts of the recordings are the same. Bronson comments: "This copy looks untraditional, though related melodically. But see the Florida copy following, and the omittcd one from North Carolina (in List of Variants, variant y)."
R. Matteson 2015]
Barbara Allen- Sung by Vernon Dalhart, Brunswick recording, No. 117-B on 3-12-1927.
1. It was in the merry month of May,
When flowers were a-bloomin',
Sweet Willy on his death-bed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
He sent his servant to the town,
The town where she did dwell in,
Sayin' "Master dear has sent me here,
If your name be Barbara Allen."
2. Then slowly slowly she got up
And slowly she went to him;
And all she said when she got there:
"Young man I think you're dyin'.
Oh don't you remember the other day,
When we were in the tavern,
You drank a health to the ladies there
And slighted Barbara Allen."
3. He turned his face unto the wall,
He turned his back upon her.
"Adieu, adieu to all my friends,
Be kind to Barbara Allen."
She went on through and through the town,
She heard his death-bells ringin',
And every stroke they seemed to say,
"Oh, cruel Barbara Allen!"
4. She looked to the East, she looked to the West,
She saw his corpse a-comin'.
"Oh set him down for me," she cried,
"That I may gaze upon him."
The more she looked, the more she grieved,
She busted out to cryin',
Sayin' "Pick me up and carry me home,
For I feel like I am dyin'."
5. They buried Willy in the old church-yard
And Barbara in the new one;
And from Willy's grave there grew a rose
And from Barbara's a green briar.
They grew, they grew to the old church wall
And could not grow any higher,
And there they tied in a truelove's knot,
The rose-bush and the briar.