Barb'ry Allan- (KY) 1967 Jameson
[From Sweet Rivers of Song, Jameson; 1967. Four melodic versions are given from the Burea region in Kentucky by Jameson, along with the following words.
R. Matteson 2015]
Barb'ry Allan
1. All in the merry month of May,
When green buds are a-swellin',
Sweet William came from the western states
And courted Barb'ry Allan.
2. All in the merry month of June,
when flowers were a-blooming;
Sweet William on his deathbed lay,
For love of Barb'ry Allan.
3. He sent a servant to the town,
Where a-dwellin',
"My master's sick and sent for you,
If your name be Barb'ry Allan."
4. Slowly, slowly she got up,
And slowly she came nigh him,
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man I think you're dyin'. "
5 "Oh, I am sick and very sick,
And death is on me dwellin';
No better, no better I never can be,
If I can't get Barb'ry Allan. "
6. "Yes, you are sick and very sick,
And death is on you dwellin';
No better, no better you never can be,
For you can't get Barb'ry Allan. "
7 . "Do you remember in yonder town,
In yonder's town a-drinkin'?
You drank a health to the ladies all around,
And slighted Barb'ry Allan. "
8. "Yes, I remember in yonder town,
In yonder's town a-drinkin';
I gave a health to all around
But my heart to Barb'ry Allan. "
9. He turned his pale face to the wall,
And death was on him dwelling,
"Adieu, adieu, to my friends all
Be kind to Barb'ry Allan. "
10. As she was walking o'er the fields,
The bells they kept a-kne1ling,
And every stroke did seem to say,
"Hard-hearted Barb'ry Allan."
11. She looked to the east and looked to the west,
And spied his corpse a-coming,
"Lay down, lay down, the corpse of clay,
That I may look upon it. "
12. The more she looked the more she mourned,
She fell to the ground a-crying,
"Pick me up, pick me up, and take me home,
For now I am a-dying."
13 "O Mother, O Mother, go make my bed,
O make it long and narrow,
Sweet William died of pure, pure 1ove,
And I shall die of sorrow.
14. "O Father, O Father, go dig my grave,
O dig it long and narrow,
Sweet William died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow."
15 She was buried in the old church yard,
And he was buried nigh her,
On William's grave grew a red, red rose,
On Barb'ry's grew a briar.
16. They grew and grew to the old church tower,
There they could not grow any higher,
They wrapped and tied in a true lover's knot,
The rose wrapped round the briar.