Barbra Allen- Barr (CA) 1939 Cowell REC
[From: California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties. Cowell, Sidney Robertson, collector, her notes follow. Barr, Alex, performer. Archive of Folk Culture (Library of Congress) AFC 1940/001 and AFS 4228 A1 & B.
Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Captain Leighton Robinson, Alex Barr, Arthur Brodeur, and Leighton McKenzie performing Anglo-American ballads, shanties, and sea songs on November 12, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Belvedere, California.
R. Matteson 2015]
NOTES: Dust jacket notes: AFS 4228 A1 begins with false start and is incomplete. Song continues on AFS 4228 B.
Inscribed on dust jacket by Sidney Robertson Cowell: "He cannot recall when he learned this song. Tune is variant of 'Polly-wolly- doodle-all-the-day.'"
Barbra Allen- Sung by Alex Barr, unaccompanied vocals. Recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Belvedere, California on November 12, 1939. Listen: http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afccc/audio/a422/a4228b1.mp3
1. In Scarlet town where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwelling
Made every lad cry, "Well-a-way!"
Her name was Barbra Allen.
It was all in the month of May
The buds they were a-swelling
Sweet William came from the Western states
And courted Barbra Allen.
It was all in the month of June
When flowers were a-blooming,
sweet William on his death-bed lay,
For the love of Barbra Allen.
He sent his servant to the the town
Where Barbra was a-dwelling
Saying, "Hasten up and come with me,
If your name is Barbra Allen."
[text incomplete]