Barb'ry Allen- Craven (GA) 1945 Arnold/McNeil
[From Arnold, Folk Songs of Alabama, 1950, p. 8 (collected by Arnold 1945); also in Southern Folk ballads - Volume 1- Page 102 W. K. McNeil, 1987 and Bronson TTCB no. 86.
R. Matteson 2015]
"Barb'ry Allen." Sung by Miss Callie Craven, Chicopee County, Ala., November 26, 1945.
1. Lonely lonely was a town
Where three fair maids were dwelling;
There was but one that I called my own
And that was Barb'ry Allen.
2. He sent his servant to the town
Where these fair maids were dwelling,
"My master's sick and he's very sick
And for your sake he's dyin'."
3. Slowly, slowly she rose up
And to his bed side going
She drew the curtain to one side
And said, "Young man, you're a-dyin'."
4. He turned his pale face to the wall
His back towards his darling,
"Adieu, adieu to the friends around
Be kind to Barb'ry Allen."
5. As she was walking through the field
She heard a death bell tolling;
She looked to the east and she looked to the west
And saw the corpse a-coming.
6. "Lay down, lay down the corpse," she said,
"That I may kiss upon him."
The more she kissed and the more she grieved.
And bursted out a-cryin'.
7. "Oh mother, oh mother, make my bed,
Go make it long and narrow;
Sweet William died for me today
I'll die for him tomorrow."
8. Sweet William died on Saturday night
And Barb'ry died on Sunday
The old lady died for the love of both
She was buried EasteĀr Monday.
9. Sweet William's buried in one church yard
And Barb'ry in another,
A rose bud sprang from one church yard
And a brier from the other.
10. They grew and they grew until they grew so tall
They could not grow any higher;
They linked and tied in a true love's knot
That all true lovers might admire.