Bobree Allin- (VA) pre-1888 Davis C; Smith F; Scarborough (See also: Dusky Barbara Allen)
[Bobree Allin, first published under the title, A Dusky Barbara Allen, is an African-American version of Barbar Allen that was published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 77, Issues 457-562; dated 1888 edited by Henry Mills Alden. No source is given except that the ballad was sung by African-Americans in Virginia (see quote below). There is an incomplete verse in Harper's version- stanza 8 is missing the last two lines. It was corrected in a later publication of the song in "Songs We Used To Sing," August 12, 1912. The correction was made by adding two standard lines:
I cannot keep you from death,
So farewell," said Bob-ree Allin
It was again reprinted by Dorothy Scarborough under the title Bob-ree Allin in her book, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs (1925) after she was sent a copy by Alphonso Smith. Scarborough comments, "A Negro version of Barbara Allan, from Virginia, was sent to me by Professor C. Alphonso Smith. I had wondered if the Negroes had failed to appreciate and appropriate this most familiar and beloved of all the ballads, and so I was pleased at this contribution. This is sung in Albemarle, Wythe, and Campbell Counties, Virginia."
It also appears as Reed Smith's Version F "Bobree Allin" in his South Carolina Ballads. The incomplete stanza 8 has been "edited" without comment apparently by adding the last two lines from Stanza 5. Alphonso Smith's same version appears as Davis's Version C in Traditional Ballads of Virginia. Davis refers to the publication of the song in "Songs We Used To Sing," August 12, 1912.
Since Scarborough, Reed Smith and Davis didn't know about the 1888 Harper's New Monthly Magazine (Volume 77) publication, there is likely an earlier source than Harper's, unknown source- since the 1912 printing refers to specific locations in Virginia- "Albemarle, Wythe, and Campbell Counties." These details were missing from the 1888 publication.
R. Matteson 2012]
BOB-REE ALLIN
In London town, whar I was raised,
Dar war a youth a-dwellin',
He fell in love wid a putty fair maid,
Her name 't war Bob-ree Allin.
He co'ted her for seben long years;
She said she would not marry;
Poor Willie went home and war takin' sick,
And ve'y likely died.
He den sen' out his waitin' boy
Wid a note for Bob-ree Allin.
So close, ah, she read, so slow, ah, she walk;
"Go tell him I'm a-comin'."
She den step up into his room.
And stood an' looked upon him.
He stretched to her his pale white hands;
"Oh, won't you tell me howdy?"
"Have you forgot de udder day,
When we war on de pawlor,
You drank your health to de gals around,
And slighted Bob-ree Allin?"
"Oh, no; oh, no--my dear young miss;
I think you is mistaking;
Ef I drank my healt' to de gals around,
'Twar love for Bob-ree Allin."
"An' now I'm sick and ve'y sick,
An' on my deathbed lyin',
One kiss or two fum you, my dear,
Would take away dis dyin'."
"Dat kiss or two you will not git,
Not ef your heart was breakin';
I cannot keep you from death,
So farewell," said Bob-ree Allin.
He tu'n his pale face to de wall,
An' den began er cryin';
An' every tear he shed appeared
Hard-hearted Bob-ree Allin.
She walked across de fiel's nex' day
An' heerd de birds a-singin',
An' every note dey seemed to say:
"Hard-hearted Bob-ree Allin."
She war walkin' 'cross de fiel' nex' day,
An' spied his pale corpse comin'.
"Oh, lay him down upon de groun',
An' let me look upon him."
As she war walkin' down de street
She heerd de death bells ringin',
An' every tone dey seemed to say:
"Hard-a-hearted Bob-ree Allin."
"Oh, fader, fader, dig-a my grave,
An' dig it long an' narrow;
My true love he have died to-day,
An' I must die to-morrow."
"Oh, mudder, mudder, make-a my s'roud
An' make it long and narrow;
Sweet Willie died of love for me
An' I must die to-morrow."
Sweet Willie war buried in de new churchyard,
An' Bob-ree Allin beside him.
Outen his grave sprang a putty red rose,
An' Bob-ree Allin's a briar.
Dey grew as high as de steeple top,
An' couldn't grow no higher,
An' den dey tied a true-love knot,
De sweet rose roun' de briar.