It Was in the Month of May or June- Borusky (WI) 1937
[From: Kentucky Folksong in Northern Wisconsin by Asher E. Treat; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 52, No. 203 (Jan. - Mar., 1939), pp. 1-51.
R. Matteson 2012]
19. IT WAS IN THE MONTH OF MAY OR JUNE
Sung by Pearl Jacobs Borusky, September 9, 1937. Cf. Sharp, Barbara Allen (E, F, G); Edward (C, I); Lady Maisry (A). See note to No. 12.
1. It was in the month of May or June,
And the green buds they were swellin'.
Young Jemmy Grove on his death bed lay,
For the love of Barbry Al- len.
2. He turned his face to-ward the wall
And softly went to crying
"Adieu, adieu to all the world,
And adieu to Barbry Allen."
The Jacobses claim that their knowledge of the remaining verses is a mixture of what they remember and what they have heard on the radio. The tune, however, is the earliest of the two which they know, the other being B. Kincaid's version. I had not heard the following verse until Mrs. Jacobs gave it to me on September 6, 1938