Barbara Allen- Bryant (IN) 1935 Brewster H
[From: Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940. Most of the ballads were collected in 1935 and 1936.
R. Matteson 2012]
15. BARBARA ALLEN (Child, No. 84)
"Barbara Allen" easily ranks first among Indiana ballads in point of number of versions recovered. Fourteen texts have been collected, ranging in length from seventeen stanzas to two. The ballad is known in this state as "Barbara Allen" or "Barbary Allen."
Both the A and B versions of Child are found, and sometimes there are combinations of the two. The hero appears as "Sweet William," "Young William," "Jemmy Groves," "Johnnie Green," and "Willie Green." The "rose-and-brier" ending occurs in eight of the versions.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 22; Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 195; Campbell and Sharp, p. 90; Cox, p. 96; Davis, p. 302 and p. 577; Hudson, No. 13; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 95; Journal, VI, 132; XIX, 286; XX, 256; XXII, 63; XXVI, 352; XXVIII, 144; XXIX, 160,198; XXX, 317; XXXV, 343; XXXIX, 97, 211; XLII, 268, 303; XLVI, 28; XLIX, 207-8; Jones, p. 301; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 26; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 35; Mackenzie, p. 100; McGill, p. 39; Pound, Ballads, p. 7; Sandburg, p. 57; Scarborough, p. 59; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 83; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Smith, pp. 13, 20; Smith, Ballads, p. 129; Thomas, p. 94; Wyman and Brockway, p. 5; Randolph, The Ozarks, pp. 183-85; Smith and Rufty, American Anthology, pp. 30-36; Cambiaire, East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads, pp. 66-6$; Fauset, Folk-Lore from Nova Scotia, p. 113; BFSSNE, X, 23-24 (Maine); PTFLS, X, 146; Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, pp. 138-39; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 69; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 80.
British: Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 67-70; Williams, Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames, pp. 204, 206; JFSS, I, 111, 265; II, 15, 80; Journal of the Irish Folk-Song Society, I, 45
H. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Mrs. Thomas M. Bryant, of Evans-ville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. May 9, 1935.
1. 'T was in the merry month of May,
And the buds on the trees were swelling;
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
2. He sent his servants into town
To the place where she was dwelling,
Saying, "My master sent me here for you
If your name be Barbara Allen."
3. She mounted upon her milk-white steed
And went through the town a-flying; [1]
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man, you are a-dying."
4. "O yes, I'm sick and very sick,
And death is within me dwelling;
I'll never see my time again
If I can't have Barbara Allen."
5. "I know you are sick and very sick
And death is within you dwelling;
But none the better you can be,
For you can't have Barbara Allen."
6. She looked to the east and she looked to the west,
And she saw his corpse a-coming;
"Go bring him here and lay him down
And let me take my last look upon him."
7. Sweet William died on Saturday night;
And Barbara died on Sunday;
. . . . .
. . . . .
8. They buried her in the churchyard gray;
Sweet William was laid beside her.
On William's grave there sprang a sweet rose,
On Barbara's sprang a briar.
9. They grew in length and they grew in breadth
Until they could grow no higher;
They linked and tied in a truelover's knot,
The rosy 'round the briar.
1. Cf. version D stanza 9.