Barbara Allen- Elliott (IN) 1935 Brewster C
[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. 66-68; 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
C. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Mrs. Phoebe Elliott, of New Harmony, Indiana. Posey County. October 15, 1935.
1. In Scarlet Town where I was born
There was a fair maid dwelling
Made every youth cry "well-a-way,"
Her name was Barbara Allen.
2. All in the merry month of May
When green buds they were swellin',
Young Jemmy Grove on his deathbed lay
For love of Barbara Allen.
3. He sent his man unto her then
To the town where she was dwellin';
"You must come to my master dear
If your name be Barbara Allen."
4. "For death is printed on his face
And o'er his heart is stealin';
Then haste away to comfort him,
O lovely Barbara Allen!"
5. "Though death be printed on his face
And o'er his heart be stealin',
Yet little better shall he be
For bonny Barbara Allen."
6. So slowly, slowly she came up,
And slowly she came nigh him,
And all she said when there she came,
"Young man, I think you're dying."
7. He turned his face unto her straight,
With deadly sorrow sighing:
"O lovely maid, come pity me;
I'm on my deathbed lying."
8. "If on your deathbed you do lie,
What needs the tale you're tellin'?
I cannot keep you from your death;
Farewell!" said Barbara Allen.
9. He turned his face unto the wall,
As deadly pangs he fell in;
"Adieu, adieu, adieu to all;
Adieu to Barbara Allen!"
10. As she was walkin' o'er the fields,
She heard the bell a-knellin',
And every stroke it seemed to say,
"Unworthy Barbara Allen!"
11. She turned her body round about
And spied the corpse a-coming;
"Lay down, lay down the corpse," she said,
"That I may look upon him."
12. With scornful eyes she looked down,
Her cheeks with laughter swellin',
Whilst all her friends cried out amain,
"Unworthy Barbara Allen!"
13. When he was dead and in his grave,
Her heart was struck with sorrow:
"O Mother, Mother, make my bed,
For I shall die tomorrow.
14. "Hard-hearted creature him to slight
Who loved me oh so dearly;
O that I'd been more kind to him
When he was alive and near me."
15. She on her deathbed as she lay
Begged to be buried by him,
And sore repented of the day
That she did e'er deny him.
16. "Farewell," she said, "ye virgins all;
And shun the fault I fell in.
Henceforth take warning of the fall
Of cruel Barbara Allen."