Bob'ry Allen- Fredin (ME) 1934 Barry BFSSNE, Bronson 50.
[From Bulletin of the Folk Song Society of the Northeast, Vol. 10, 1935, p. 23. Some notes follow.
R. Matteson 2015]
Bronson: This grotesque variant appears to me a product of bad intonation. Barry: The structure of the air is unprecedented in ballad music. Barry says this version "must be traced to Ireland." He compares it to Virginia T, 1929, and to two text in the Vermont archives (Flanders).
"Bob'ry Allen" - Sung by Mrs. John N. Fredin, Brownville, Me., June 8, 1934. Collected by Phillips Barry.
1. O mother, mother, look under my bed,
And there you'll see a napkin:
And in that napkin a diamond ring;
Give that to Bob'ry Allen.
2. O Mother, mother, look under my bed,
And there you'll see a basin;
And in that basin a drop of blood,
'Twas shed for Bob'ry Allen.