Barbry Ellen- McConnell (VA) c.1932 Davis DD*
[From Davis, More Traditional Ballads of Virginia. Davis selected 8 versions out of the 26 new versions collected in Virginia since 1929, Traditional Ballads of Virginia was published. Note that Davis DD* is different from Davis DD from TBVa, 1929. I have not included Davis' extensive notes.
The Brown's Cove area was one of the leading repositories of old ballads in Virginia (see also Sharp, Davis, Wilkinson, Scarborough, Foss etc for other local versions).
R. Matteson 2015]
DD* "Barbry Ellen." Phonograph record (aluminum) made by A. K Davis, Jr. Sung by Mrs. J. P. McConnell, of State Teachers College, East Radford, Va. Montgomery County. Text transcribed by P. C. Worthington. Tune noted by Winston Wilkinson.
1. 'Twas in the merry month of May,
When the green buds were a-swelling,
Poor William lay on his death bed,
For love of Barbry Ellen.
Poor William lay on his death bed,
For love of Barbry Ellen.
2 He sent his servants to the town,
To the place where she was dwelling,
"My master's sick and he sends for you,
For you Miss Barbry Ellen."
3 Slowly, slowly she arose,
Slowly she went unto him,
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man, you are a-dying."
4 He turned iris face unto the wall,
For death was in him dwelling,
"I cannot live to spend a day,
Without you, Barbry Ellen."
5 "Don't you remember in yonders town,
When the green buds were a-swelling,
You drank your health to the ladies around,
And you slighted Barbry Ellen?"
6 "Yes, I remember in yonders town,
When the green buds were a-swelling,
I drank my health to the ladies round,
And my love to Barbry Ellen."
7 She hadn't gone but a mile from the town'
When she heard the church bells ringing,
And as they tolled they seemed to say,
"Hard-hearted Barbry Ellen."
8 She looked to the east and she looked to the west,
And she saw some corpse a-coming,
"Lay down that corpse, that lovely corpse,
And let me gaze upon him.
9 "O Mother, Mother, make my shroud,
Go make it long and narrow,
Sweet William died for me today,
And I must die tomorrow'
10 "O Father, Father, dig my grave,
Go dig it deep and narrow,
Sweet William died for me today,
And I must die tomorrow."
11 They buried them down in the old church yard,
The waste was calm and quiet,
And out of his grave there grew a lily-white rose,
And out of hers a brier.
12 They grew and they grew to the church-steeple top,
And there they could grow no higher,
They twisted and they tied till they withered and they died,
With the rose wrapped round the brier.