Barbara Allen- Walters (MO) 1903 Belden C
[No title given. From: Old-Country Ballads in Missouri II by H. M. Belden; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 75 (Oct. - Dec., 1906), pp. 281-299. Version A
This is version C in Ballad and Songs- 1940, the master list.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CHILD 84. - Barbara Allen
C. BARBARA ALLEN- Taken down by Mr. Johnson in Tuscumbia, Miller County from the singing of the fiddler Tom Waters, 1903.
In Scotland I was born and raised,
And Scotland is my dwelling;
I fell in love with a pretty little maid,
And her name was Barbara Allen.
I sent my servant to my father's house,
So if there should be Barbara Allen.
. . . .
. . . .
So slowly, slowly she rose up,
So slowly, slowly she started;
And the only word that she could say was
"Young man, I believe you are dying."
"Yes, I am sick, and very sick,
And death is on me dwelling;
And no better will I ever be
If I don't get Barbara Allen."
"Yes, you are sick, and very sick,
And death is on you dwelling;
And no better will you ever be,
For you won't get Barbara Allen.
"Do you remember the other day
Down yonder at the tavern,
You drunk your wine with the ladies round
And slighted Barbara Allen?" [1]
"Yes, I remember the other day,
Down yonder at the tavern,
I drunk my wine with the ladies round;
But I love my Barbara Allen."
He turned his pale face to the wall,
He bursted out to crying;
He bid the ladies all adieu,
Farewell to Barbara Allen.
She had not gone but a few miles away
Till she heard his death-bell ringing;
It rang so loud, it toned so plain:
"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen."
She looked to the east, she looked to the west,
She saw his cold corpse coming;
Saying, " I might have saved the life of one
If I had a done my duty.
"O mother, O mother, oh make my bed,
Oh make it long and narrow;
For Sweet William died for the love of me,
And I will die for sorrow."
Sweet William died on Saturday,
Barbara died on Sunday;
The good old mother, for the love of both,
She died on the next Monday.
From sweet William's grave a blood-red rose,
From Barbara's grave a briar -
They grew till they grew fully four feet high,
They could not grow no longer.
They linked, they tied in a true-lover knot,
For all true lovers to admire.
Footnote:
1. When Waters sang this a bystander named Crismon gave another version: -
"O Willie, O Willie, don't you know,
When we 's down at the grocery drinkin',
You drank the health to the ladies all
And slighted Barbara Allen?"