16. Bonny Barbara Allen (Folk-Songs of the South- 1925; Footnotes moved to the end of each version.)
16. BONNY BARBARA ALLEN (Child, No. 84)
Twelve variants have been found in West Virginia under various titles. A is a very close reproduction of Child B, stanza for stanza, with an added stanza at the end not found in Child; B, in general, follows Child B, with two stanzas at the beginning not found anywhere in Child; C, D, E, J, agree closely with Child A; the first three stanzas of E are like Child B, the next five, like Child A; the leaving of three rolls of money to Barbara in F indicates some connection with the ballad in Buchan's MS. Cf. Child II, 276, also West Virginia G 3; in H 2 the lover defends himself, an incident not found in Child; for similar stanzas in American texts, see Smith, p. 13; Journal, xix, 286; xix, 287; xxn, 63; Campbell and Sharp, p. 90; Wyman and Brockway, p. 5; McGill, p. 39; Pound, p. 9. In this connection it is interesting to note that one of the American texts makes the lover acknowledge the charge as a just one (Journal, xx, 256).
For American texts, in song-books and in oral circulation, see references in Journal, xxix, 160, Xxx, 317; Xxxv, 343. Add Focus, V, 282; Shoemaker, p. 107; Pound, No. 3; Bulletin, Nos. 6-10; Minish MS.
A. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Mr. Lyndell O. Baker, Belington, Barbour County, January 28, 191 5; learned about nine years before from Roy Keller, who learned it from his father in Tucker County. Printed by Cox, xliv, 305.
1 In Scarlet town, where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwelling,
Made every youth cry ''Well away!"
Her name was Barbara Allen.
2 All in the merry month of May,
When green buds they are swelling,
Young Jimmy Green on his death bed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
3 He sent his man unto her there,
To the town where she was dwelling;
"O you must come to my master dear,
If your name be Barbara Allen.
4 "For death is printed on his face
And o'er his heart is stealing;
O haste away to comfort him,
O lovely Barbara Allen!"
5 "If death is printed on his face
And o'er his heart is stealing,
Yet little better shall he be
For the love of Barbara Allen."
6 So, slowly, slowly she came up,
And slowly she came nigh him;
And all she said when there she came,
"Young man, I think you're dying."
7 He turned his face unto her straight,
With deadly sorrow sighing:
"O lovely maid, come pity me!
I'm on my death bed lying."
8 "If on your death bed you do lie,
What need the tale you 're telling?
I cannot keep you from your death:
Farewell," said Barbara Allen.
9 He turned his face unto the wall,
And deadly pains he fell in:
"Adieu, adieu, adieu to all,
Adieu to Barbara Allen."
10 As she was walking o'er the fields,
She heard the bell a-knelling;
And every stroke it seemed to say,
Unworthy Barbara Allen."
11 She turned herself around about
And spied the corpse a-coming:
"Lay down, lay down the corpse," said she,
"That I may look upon him."
12 With scornful eyes she did look down,
Her cheeks with laughter swelling;
While all her friends cried out amen, [1]
"Unworthy Barbara Allen!"
13 When he was dead and laid in grave,
Her heart was struck with sorrow:
"O mother, mother, make my bed,
For I shall die to-morrow.
14 "Hard-hearted creature him to slight,
He who loved me so dearly!
O had I been more kind to him,
When he was alive and near me!"
15 On her death bed as she did lay,
She begged to be buried by him,
And sorely repented of that day
That she e'er did deny him.
16 "Farewell, ye virgins all," she said,
"And shun the fault I've fell in;
Henceforward take warning by the fall
Of cruel Barbara Allen."
1. Error for amain.
B. "Barbara Ellen." Communicated by Miss Lalah Lovett, Bulltown, Braxton County, 1916; obtained from Miss Martha Jenkins, Valley Point, Preston County, who learned it from Miss Callie Long, Morgantown, Monongalia County.
1 In Scotland I was bred and born,
In London was my dwelling;
I fell in love with a pretty maid,
Her name was Barbara Ellen.
2 I courted her for months and weeks,
Hoping that I might gain her;
Although she solemnly replied,
No man on earth should have her.
3 'T was in the merry month of May,
The flowers and trees were swaying;
A young man on his death bed lay
For the love of Barbara Ellen.
4 He sent his servant to his home,
To the place of Barbara's dwelling:
"My master he doth call on thee,
If thy name be Barbara Ellen."
5 Slowly she put on her things,
And slowly she went to him;
And all she said, when she got there,
Was, "Young man, I think you're dying.
6 "And if it be for love of me
You're on your death bed lying,
But little better would you be
For the love of Barbara Ellen.
7 "Do you remember last New Year's Eve,
Way down at yonder dwelling,
You drank a toast to all around
And slighted Barbara Ellen?"
8 He turned his pale face to the wall,
As death was creeping on him :
"Farewell, farewell to all around,
And adieu to Barbara Ellen."
9 As she was walking in the fields,
She heard the bells a- tolling;
And every toll it seemed to say,
"O cruel Barbara Ellen!" "
10 As she was walking in the street,
She saw the corpse a-coming:
"Lay down, lay down that corpse," she cried,
"That I may gaze upon him."
11. "Mother, mother, make my bed,
Make it soft and narrow;
For Willie was buried for me to-day,
And I'll die for him to-morrow."
12 One was buried in the high churchyard,
The other in the choir;
On one there grew a red rose bush,
On the other there grew a brier.
13 They grew and they grew to the high steeple top,
Till they could grow no higher;
And there they locked in a true-lover's knot,
For true lovers to admire.
C. "Barbara Ellen." Communicated by Miss Lalah Lovett, Bulltown, Braxton County, 1916; obtained from Mrs. Cora Starkey, Harrison County, who learned it when a child from her parents; they learned it in Virginia from their parents, who were of English descent.
1 Early, early in the spring,
When the green buds were a-swelling,
Young Johnnie Green, from a foreign country,
Fell in love with Barbara Ellen.
2 This young man was taken sick,
And he lay in a low condition;
And all he said both night and day,
Was, "Send for Barbara Ellen."
3 They sent a servant to the town,
Where Barbara was a-dwelling:
"Arise you up and quickly go,
If your name be Barbara Ellen."
4 Slowly, slowly she got up,
And slowly she drew nigh him;
And all she said when she got there,
Was, "Young man, I think you're dying."
5 "O yes, O yes, my pretty fair maid,
I lay in a low condition;
But one sweet kiss would comfort me,
Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen."
6 "Do you remember the long summer day,
Around the table gathered,
You treated all other pretty maids
And slighted Barbara Ellen?"
7 He turned his pale face to the wall,
He turned his back unto her:
"Adieu, adieu to all pretty maids,
And woe to Barbara Ellen."
8 As she went walking through the fields,
She heard the death bells ringing;
The more they rang they seemed to say:
"Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen."
9 As she looked east, as she looked west,
She spied the corpse a-coming:
"Lay down, lay down that ice-cold corpse,
Till I may look upon it."
10. She knelt down and kissed his cheek,
And then rose up a-smiling;
And all her friends cried out, "For shame,
Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen!"
11. "O mother dear, go make my shroud,
Go make it long and narrow;
Young Johnnie Green has died for love,
And I shall die for sorrow."
12. Young Johnnie was in the churchyard laid,
And Barbara laid beside him;
And out of her grave grew a bright red rose,
And out of his a green briar.
13 They grew up to the top of the church,
And then they could grow no higher;
And there they tied in a true-lover's knot,
For the sake of Barbara Ellen.
D. "Barby Ellen." Communicated by Mrs. Hilary G. Richardson, Clarksburg, Harrison County, 1916; obtained from Mrs. Nancy McDonald McAtee.
1 Early, early in the spring,
When green buds they was swelling,
This young Johnnie Green on his death bed lay
For the love of Barby Ellen.
2 He got hisself a waiting boy
To do his errants in dwelling;
He sent him down to Strawberry Town,
For to fetch him Barby Ellen.
3 So slow-li, slow-li she got up,
And so slow-li she drawed near him;
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man, I think you're dyin'."
4 "Yes, indeed, I know I am,
Cold death is on me dwellin';
And never better can I be,
Till I git Barby Ellen."
5 "Never better could you be,
If your own heart's blood was spillin' ;
Never better can you be,
For you'll never git Barby Ellen."
6 So slow-li, slow-li she got up,
So slow-li she did leave him.
7 "You remember the time in Strawberry Town,
Where we was all a-dwellin',
You treated all the pretty girls round
And slighted Barby Ellen?"
8 She hadn't got a mile from the place,
Till she heard the church bell tollin';
And all it seemed to say,
Be woe upon Barby Ellen!"
9 She looked to the east and she looked to the west,
And she seen the corpse a-comin':
"Set you down upon this road,
Till I git one kiss upon him." -
10 This young Johnnie Green died on one glad day,
Barby Ellen died to-morrow;
Johnnie Green died for the loss of his dear,
Barby Ellen died for sorrow.
11 Johnnie Green was buried in a churchyard,
Barby Ellen was buried close by;
And out of his breast grew a red, red rose,
And out of his 'n there grew a brier.
12 They grew till they came to the top of the church,
And couldn't git any higher;
And there they tied in a true-lover's knot,
The red rose round the brier.
E. "Barbary Ellen." Communicated by Professor Walter Barnes, Fairmont, Marion County, July, 1915; obtained from Mr. G. W. Cunningham, Elkins, Randolph County, who learned it many years ago from Ellen Howell, Dry Fork.
1 'T was early in the month of May,
When the green buds were swelling,
This young man on his death bed lay,
In love with Barbary Allen.
2 He sent his butler to the place
Where his true love was dwelling.
3 So slowly, slowly she came there,
So slowly she drew nigh him;
And all she said when she came near:
"Young man, I think you're dying."
4 "Yes, I am sick and very sick,
In love with Bar by Ellen;
But one sweet kiss from your tender lips
Will save me from this dying. "
5 "O do you not remember the day,
You drank a health to the ladies all,
But slighted Barbary Allen?"
6 He turned his face unto the wall,
His back to Barbary Allen,
And said, "Adieu, adieu to kind friends all,
But a woe to Barbary Allen!"
7 She scarcely went one mile from town,
Till she heard his death knell ringing;
And every toll it seemed to say:
Hard-hearted Barbary Allen."
8 "O mother, mother, make my bed,
And make it straight and narrow;
Young Johnnie Green died for me to-day,
And I'll die for him to-morrow."
9 "O bury him in the churchyard,
And bury me in the choir ;
And out of him shall a red rose spread,
And out of me a green brier."
10 They buried him in the churchyard,
They buried her in the choir;
And out of him a red rose spread,
And out of her a green brier.
ii They grew and grew to the church-steeple top,
Till they could grow no higher;
And there they twined in a true-love knot,
With the rose around the brier.
F. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Mr. Josiah Keely, Kayford, Kanawha County, December 27, 1917; learned about twenty years before from Geraldine Dickinson, a little girl who sang it in the home of a family named Warner, who
lived on Cotton Hill Mountain in Fayette County.
1 'T was early in the month of May,
The roses all were bloomin';
Sweet William cou'ted a fair young maid,
Her name was Barbara Allen.
2 He cou'ted her six mont's or mo',
An' was 'bout to gain her favor;
"Young man, young man," she says to him,
"Young men has mines [1] to waver."
3 He went right home an' taken sick,
An' he sent for Barbara Allen;
So slow she walk, so slow she came,
She found her true love dy-i-n-g.
4 She walked along by his bedside
An' gazed down upon him;
"Young man, young man," she says to him,
"I believe you is a-dy-i-n-g."
5 "In vain, in vain my love has called,
For love of you I's dy-i-n-g."
Then he turned his face to the milk-white wall,
An' his back on Barbara Allen.
6 "Look under my head, when I am dead,
An' you'll find three rolls of money;
Go share 'em wid those ladies 'round,
An' done [2] slight Barbara Allen."
7 "Dear mother, dear mother, go make my bed,
Go make it soft an' easy;
Sweet William died to-day for love,
An' I's gwine die to-morrow.
8 "Dear father, dear father, go dig my grave,
Go dig it long and norrow,
To-day Sweet William died for love,
An' I's gwine die of sorrow."
9 They buried him in the new churchyard,
An' Barbara in the other;
An' from his grave there grew a sweet red rose,
But from her grave a brier.
10 They grew and dumb to the steeple top,
Tell they could not grow any higher;
Then they wropped and tied and withered and died,
The rose wropped round the brier.
1. For minds.
2. For don't.
G. "Barbara Ellen." Communicated by Miss Mabel Richards, Fairmont, Marion County, October, 1915; obtained from Mrs. P. J. Lang; learned from Mrs. Marjory West, Monongalia County.
1 It was in the early spring,
When the green buds were swelling;
I espied a youth on his death bed
For the love of Barbara Ellen.
2 Now this young man was taken very sad
And in a low condition;
And all he could say, both night and day,
Was, "Send for Barbara Ellen.
3 "O mother, O mother, look under my bed,
There you'll find gold and silver;
Take it all, take it all, take it all, I say,
And give to Barbara Ellen."
4 And slowly, slowly she got there,
And slowly she approached him;
And all she could say when she got there,
Was, "My love, you're surely dying."
5 She looked to the east, she looked to the west,
She saw his cold corpse coming:
"Lie him down, lie him down, lie him down, I say,
Till I gaze awhile upon him."
6 She looked upon his corpse of clay,
And turned away a-smiling;
She looked again on his corpse of clay,
And turned away a-crying.
7 "Mother, O mother, go make my bed,
And make it long and narrow;
For little Johnnie Gray has died of love,
And I shall die of sorrow."
8 They buried her in the old churchyard,
They buried him beside her;
And out of his grave there grew a red rose,
And out of hers a briar.
9 They grew till they came to the tallest church tower,
And then they could grow no higher;
And there they entwined in a true-lover's knot,
The red rose and the briar.
H. "The Love of Barbara Ellen." Communicated by Professor C. E. Haworth, Huntington, Cabell County, 1917; obtained by Miss Virginia Ranson from Mrs. Ranson's maid, who had lived both in Kentucky and West Virginia.
1 "O do you remember down in town,
All down where you were drinking,
You drank the health to the ladies in the room,
And slighted Barbara Ellen?"
2 "O yes, I remember down in town,
All down where I was drinking,
I drank the health to the ladies in the room,
And love to Barbara Ellen."
3 She started to go down in town,
She heard the death bells ringing;
She looked due east and looked due west,
And saw the corpse a-coming.
4 Fold down, fold down, those linen white sheets,
And let me gaze upon him;
The more she looked, the more she loved,
And bursted out a-crying.
***************
5 They grew in height and grew in tall,
Till they could not grow no taller;
And lapped and tied in true-love's knots,
With the rose around the green brier.
I. "Barbara Allen." Communicated by Miss Susan Montgomery, Kingwood, Preston County, 1922; obtained from Miss Marion Brooks, formerly of Buckhannon, but now of Alarka, North Carolina, whence the ballad came.
1 In Scarland town where I was bound,
And many fair ladies dwelling,
I chose me one to be my own,
And her name was Barbara Allen.
2 If I was a man and many of a man,
And a man of my own dwelling,
I would write me a letter of my own heart's blood,
And send to Barbara Allen.
3 O yes, I'm a man and a many of a man,
And a man of my own dwelling.
I'll write me a letter of my own heart's blood,
And send to Barbara Allen.
4 The month, the month, the month was May,
The green buds were a-swelling,
And Sweet William on his death bed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
5 He sent his servant to the town,
To this young lady's dwelling:
"My master dear has sent me here
For the Lady Barbara Allen."
6 Slowly, slowly rose she up,
And went to where he's lying;
And when she reached him, thus she spoke:
"Young man, I think you're dying."
7 "O yes, I'm sick, and very sick,
And feel very much like dying;
And no better will I ever be,
Till I get Barbara Allen."
8 "O yes, you're sick, and very sick,
And feel very much like dying;
But no better will you ever be,
For you'll not get Barbara Allen."
9 He turned his pale face to the wall;
He turned his back upon them:
"Bedew, [1] bedew, to the friends all round;
Be kind to Barbara Allen."
io As she rode out from Scarland town,
She heard the death bells ringing;
And as they rung, she thought they sung,
"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen."
11 Then looked she east, and looked she west,
Till she saw that cold corpse coming.
"O hand me down those corpse of clay,
That I may look upon him."
12 The more she looked, the more she wept,
Till she cried out in sorrow:
"Sweet William died for me to-day,
I'll die for him to-morrow.
13 "O, mother, mother, dig my grave,
And dig it long and narrow;
Sweet William died for me to-day,
I'll die for him to-morrow.
14 Barbara lies in the King's Churchyard,
Sweet William close beside her;
And out of her grave sprang a red, red rose,
And out of his a brier.
15 They grew and grew up the old church tower
Till they could grow no higher;
And there they twined in a true-love knot,
The red rose and the brier.
1. For Adieu.
J. "Little Johnnie Green." Communicated by Mrs. Hilary G. Richardson, Clarksburg, Harrison County, March 15, 1916; learned from Mrs. Rachel Fogg, originally from Doddridge County. She learned it from her mother, and she from her mother, "on back into the old country across the sea" (cf. Journal, xxxn, 504). Much like C.
K. "Barbara Allan." Communicated by Miss Mabel Richards, Fairmont, Marion County, October, 191 5; obtained from Mrs. J. C. Roby of Lowesville; learned about twenty years before from Mrs. Mona Arnett, Fairmont. Practically identical with variant G, but omits stanzas 5 and 6.
L. No local title. Communicated by Miss Emma Boughner, Monongalia County; obtained from Mrs. E. B. Hall. A fragment of three stanzas.