No. 84: Bonny Barbara Allen
[Barbara Allen is the most widely known Child ballad. In Virginia alone (before 1925) Davis reports 92 versions and fragments. The Roud index gives over 1,000 sources (some of them are multiples) and Ed Cray says there are nearly 700 versions from North America. Bruce Olson noted the similarity of Barbara Allen with two earlier broadsides. I've included the text of The Ruined Lover below.
Bruce Olson commented: Samuel Pepys in his diary mentioned Mrs. Knipp's Scotch song of "Barbery Allen" on Jan. 2 1666, but we do not know a single line of that song, nor even if she was the same "Barbara Allen " of later date. The Child ballad, #84, from the earliest known copy above [the broadside Barbara Allen's Cruelty- Child B] is of 1690 at the earliest. There doesn't appear to be any 'Scotch' in this copy. The original tune for it is unknown. I know I will be in a minority, but I believe this to be a very silly ballad. We see that Barbara Allen didn't live in the same town as the dying young man, and she doesn't seem to have laid eyes on him before she went to Scarlet town to see him on his death-bed. Since her friends were around when his corpse was being carried this must have been the town where Barbara Allen lived, wherever that was, not Scarlet town, wherever that was.
This looks rather like a reworked version based on the two earlier ballads above [see following]. More cliches were piled on later in order to 'fix' up the ballad, red rose and briar, and such. [Bruce Olson : Scarce Songs 2]
The Ruined Lovers
Being a rare Narrative of a young Man that dyed for his cruel Mistriss, in June last, who not long after his death, upon consideration of his intire Affection, and her own coyness, could not be comforted, but lingered out her dayes in Melancholy, fell desperate sick, and so dyed.
Tune of, Mock-Beggers Hall Stands Empty.
Mars shall to Cupid now submit,
for he that gain'd the glory;
You that in Love were never yet,
attend unto my story,
For it is new, 'tis strange and true
as ever age afforded;
A tale more sad, you never had
in any Books recorded.
A Young-man lately lov'd a Maid
more than his life or fortune,
And in her ears the same convey'd,
for thus he did importune:
Dear, pity me, the Lover cry'd,
Sweet let thy heart come to me;
And often said unto the Maid,
Love me, or you'l undo me.
I never was ingag'd before,
I must and will be true t'ye,
Love never made me cry and roar,
untill I saw thy beauty.
No creature cou'd of flesh and bloud,
bring more delight unto me:
Which makes me cry perpetually,
Love me, or you'l undo me.
He made Adresses to the Maid,
and profered to advance her:
I cannot love thee, then she said,
pray take it for an answer:
In many wayes, he sung her praise,
Love shot his Arrow thorow me,
Why did not he, do so to thee,
Love me, &c.
She made him such a straight reply,
he durst no more come near her:
Quoth he I will go home and dye,
since there is nothing dearer.
The joyes of all the Christian World,
(said he) are nothing to me;
'Tis Death only, can set me free:
Love me, &c.
He took his Bed, he rag'd and burn'd,
(sure this must greatly grieve him).
His scorching love was quickly turn'd
into a burning Feaver:
And then he dy'd, but first he cry'd,
O! will she not come to me:
Then sheds a tear; his last words were,
Love me, or you'l undo me.
The second part, Containing the misery, sorrow, and death of the Maid.
To the same tune.
The Virgin when she heard news
was very greatly troubled;
And when ye coffin'd Corps she views,
her woes were all redoubled;
And hast thou dy'd for me she cry'd,
thou hast in love out-run me,
Too late I may, thus sadly say,
Thy death hath quite undone me.
Had I a thousand worlds, I would
give them all to restore thee,
For I am guilty of thy bloud,
how dare I stand before thee;
I am a Murdress, woe is me,
Let all true Lovers shun me;
And I must cry untill I dye,
Thy death hath, &c.
It is in vain for me to live,
thy memory will haunt me,
I only have short Reprieve,
thy sorrows daily daunt me;
Where ever thy, dead Corps do lye,
(since thou in death hast won me)
I will be laid, a wofull Maid,
Thy death hath quite undone me.
With that the tears fell from her eyes
she could no longer bear it,
For Love and Death did tyrannize,
she could no longer bear it.
Pray have me home to bed she cry'd,
my sorrows over-run me
I am rewarded for my pride;
Thy death hath quite undone me.
She took her bed and in her head,
a thousand frantick dreams are,
Sadly she lyes, and in her eyes
a hundred flowing streams are;
What wretched fool am I? cry'd she,
O whether am I going? [whither
Poor soul (she cry'd) and so she dy'd:
Thy death hath, &c.
Let all fair Maids that are in love,
by this poor Soul take warning,
Lest that like her, you sadly prove
the purchase of her scorning:
Let all by this, mend what's a miss,
before grief over run-[ye];
Lest you be forc'd to die, and cry,
Thy death hath quite undone me. FINIS
London, Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright. [1663- 74]
[Olson adds:] This issue of this song seems to be the earliest extant, and may or may not antedate the mention of "Barbara Allen" in Pepys diary. The ballad from which the tune is derived cannot be dated precisely. Ebsworth in 'Roxburghe Ballads' VII, p. 763 puts it at 1636-42, but Harper printed ballads in 1643, and even issued a chapbook in 1660. I think from this tune citation (c 1640-50?) that the ballad above is probably a reissue of one of the late 1640's or 50's. The repeat in the 3rd from last verse is the type of error one finds in reprints, where the typesetter's eyes strayed from the correct line on his text source. [Ballads were mostly reprinted from a copy of the most recent previous issue, so errors accumulated. This gives rise to some reprinted ballads with strange titles when the old copy had the top torn off, and some strange tune directions, too, ones that won't fit the ballad.]
I strongly suspect, but can't definitely prove, that "Barbara Allen" was based on the above song. [From Olson: Scarce Songs 2]
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This is the "important" missing early text which was not included in ESPB but was referenced by Child in his headnotes. It is Buchan's 41 stanza version, which Steve Gardham has dated circa 1830.
Bonny Barbara Allen - p. 90-96 of Buchan's MS; Received from Harvard Library 5-10-15; From a handwritten copy of Buchan's MS Child commissioned. Transcribed by Richard Matteson (with the help of Steve Gardham and others).
p. 90--
1. In Scarlingtown where I was born[1],
There was a fair maid dwallin',
Whom I did choose to be my spouse,
And her name was Babie Allan.
2. But as I with some young men sat,
In the oak-tavern, dwallin',
A het dispute did there fa' out,
Streave[2] me an' Babie Allan.
3. Their tauk gaed roun' thro' a' the room,
This fair maid's praise a tellin';
In a' this place, there's nae sic face,
As bonny Babie Allan.
4. But I was shy, and naught said I,
For a' their boasts an' brawlin';
Thinks I you make ower much ado,
Concerning Babie Allan.
5. Sir James Whiteford then filled a glass,
O' gude brown liquor swallin';
Ordering the same aroun' to pass,
An' drink to Babie Allan.
p. 91--
6. Miss Morton sitting by my side,
while they this maid were extollin'
Said I to her, ye are mair fair,
Than that maid, Babie Allan.
7. These news then spread thro' a' the town,
O' thus my brags and brawlin';
And sin' that time I've naught but frowns,
Frae bonny Babie Allan.
8. O when I'd spent some time in vain,
My tender heart was failin';
I then took bed, in love's bands laid,
For bonny Babie Allan.
9. My servant man gaed thro' the town,
For this fair maid was dwallin';
Says, ye mawn speak wi' Captain Green,
Gin your name be Babie Allan.
10. O, is it for my tocher great?
Or for my boasted beauty?
Or is it for my comely face,
He sends sae aft about me?
11. It is not for your tocher great,
Nor for your boasted beauty,
But for the luve he bears to you,
He sends sae aft about you.
p. 92--
12. Then heally, heally gaed she aff,
To the room where he was lyin';
An' a' she said when she came there,
I think, young man, ye're dying.
13 I'm lying sick, an' very sick,
An' death is on me callin';
But ae kiss o' thee wou'd comfort me,
My bonny Barbie Allan.
14 If ye are sick, an' very sick
An' death is on you callin';
Ye might have sent for Peg Morton,
An' nae for Babie Allan.
15. O my dear, ye are too severe,
To ane whose heart is failin'
Although I spake to her in jest,
I mindit on Babie Allan.
16. When ye into the tavern sat,
Wi' a' the rest a drinkin';
Ye fill'd the cup an' drank about,
An' slighted Babie Allan.
17. Put in your hand at my bed stock,
An' there ye'll find a warran';
Ye'll find my watch, an' my gowd ring,
Gie that to Babie Allan.
p. 93--
18. Put in your hand at my bed head,
An' there ye'll find a warran';
Yell find my bible an pen-knife,
Gie that to Babie Allan.
19. O see ye not yon thirty ploughs,
Sae merrily's they're eering [3]
The rents o' them are coming in,
To tocher Babie Allan.
20. O see ye not yon nine meal-mills,
Sae merrily's they're shealin';
The rents o' them are coming in,
To tocher Babie Allan.
21. O see ye not yon seven ships,
Sae merrily's they're sailin';
The freights o' them are coming in,
To tocher Babie Allan.
22. Win[4] up, win up, young man, she said,
Gae to the kirk an' marry;
He turned about an' gae a sigh,
I hinna time to tarry.
23. Then turn'd his white face to the wa',
Wi' dreadfu' pangs were failin'
Says, Fare ye well, my kinsfolk a',
Be kind to Babie Allan.
p. 94--
24. Then out it spake his mother dear,
As she was a sorry woman;
Says, wae be to your comely face,
Hard hearted Babie Allan.
25. She wasna' twa miles frae the town,
Till she heard the dead bells knellin';
An' ilka stroke the dead bells gae,
Unworthy Babie Allan.
26. When she did there return again,
Where her parents dear were dwallin';
Then every ane began to spier,
The news at Babie Allan.
27. Out it spake her father dear,
Says, Babie will ye take him?
Its vain to spier, my father dear,
When the bells are on him ringin'.
28. Out it spake her brother dear,
Says Babie, will ye take him?
Its vain to speir, my brother dear,
When's corpse are at the liftin'.
29. As I went out to take the air,
She spied his corpse a comin';
Set down the corpse, the maid she said,
That I may look upon him.
p. 95--
30. When the corpse they were set down,
Her face began a swallin';
An' when she look'd the corpse upon,
Right pale grew Babie Allan.
31. In the church-yard he was interr'd,
Wi' muckle grief an' wailin';
The girls a' then began to say,
Gae drown her, Babie Allan.
32. Then out it spake Sir James Whiteford,
While on the green was standin';
I wou'd fain see the face that's here,
Dare trouble Babie Allan.
33. Then he has taen her by the hand,
Says, Dear, leave off your weepin';
If ye will gang alang wi' me,
Ye'll hae my heart a-keepin'.
34. Ye shall hae ha's[5], ye shall hae bowers,
An' gold ye'se hae a plenty;
A' that's mine love, shall be thine,
In the town o' Ayr, right dainty.
35. I gie you thanks, ye courteous knight,
For this my praises tellin';
But there is nae ae man alive,
Can comfort Babie Allan.
p. 96--
36. This fair maid's dane her hame,
Wi' muckle grief an' sorrow,
Sin my luve's died for me to-night,
I'll die for him tomorrow.
37. O mother, mother make my bed,
Ye'll make it lang an' narrow;
There is nae ane in James' steed,
Shall ever be my marrow.
38 He mother she did make her bed,
And made it lang an' narrow;
And her luve died for her that night,
She died for him ere morrow.
39. When Sir James Whiteford heard the news,
His heart was sair an' swallin';
Says Captain Green's been a' the cause,
O' the ruin of Babie Allan.
40. She was a girl baith meek and mild,
Her features worth the tellin';
There's nae a flower that buds in May,
Sae fair as Babie Allan.
41. But Captain Green, wi' haughty words,
His haughty boasts an brawlin';
Was basely slain by his ain sword,
An' nae by Babie Allan.
Comments and footnotes: Title should be "Babie Allan." Sometimes it's "frae" sometimes it's 'for". Sometimes it's "an' " and sometimes its "and". Stanza 2 "het dispute" = "hot dispute";
1. "born" may be "bound" in MS
2. "Between," not sure of the literal translation of "Streave" or possibly spelled "Shreave".
3. "eering," an archaic word for ploughing and occurs in the blackletter broadside version of The Elfin Knight v12 'For thou must eare it with thy horn' [Gardham].
4. Win= Get
5. Assume it's "has" for may be written "ha's" in MS for "halls"
* * * *
The curious and not well known fact is: almost no traditional singer sang "Barb-a-ra" Allen. Barbara is almost always sung in two syllables as a contraction as "Barb'ra" Allen or as frequently sung in the Appalachians- "Barb'ry" Allen (not Barbary as frequently written). Sometimes the titles reflect this pronunciation with the silent missing "a," usually they don't. Therefore nearly all of the titles are inaccurate since they should reflect the way the singer pronounced the name, not a corrected generic title.
Also it should be noted that the rhyming word with Barbra Allen (Ellen) is usually an "-ing word" - and the g should not be pronounced:
In the late season of the year,
When the yellow leaves were fallin',
Sweet Willie, he was taken sick
For the love of Barbara Ellen. (Abrams collection)
In this case fallin' rhymes with Ellen. In most cases fallin' appears in print as "falling" (as is the case above) but it is sung "fall-in'."
* * * *
With some trepidation I give a partial analysis or summary of this ballad here, realizing the daunting task of sorting through the many collected versions to reach any conclusions. With regards to the study of this ballad several sources must be consulted:
1) Early sources: including Pepys; Golsmith; Ramsay and Owsald - then continuing to Charles K. Sharpe, Kidson and Chappell. An important early copy by Buchan (Harvard Library) has never been published (see text above). This 41 stanza version was referenced by Charles Sharpe and later Child and contains stanzas of the toucher (gifts) to Barbara Allen from her love. Some rare versions (especially the Irish versions - see for example Barry BFSSNE 1933; also my US and Canada version headnotes).
2) Child- English and Scottish Popular Ballads (see below). The A version (Scottish) and B version (English) and their variants are fundamental early versions.
3) In the early 1900s the headnotes to several collections must be considered including Belden, Cox, Davis, and Randolph (1946).
4) Recent (after 1950) articles include:
A) The British Traditional Ballad in North America by Tristram Coffin 1950, from the section A Critical Biographical Study of the Traditional Ballads of North America
B) Bonny Barbara Allen by Joseph W. Hendren in Folk Travelers: Ballads, Tales and Talk. Dallas, Texas. Boatright, Mody Coggin. UNT Digital Library, view online: http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc38314/m1/53/
C) "Barbara Allen" in Tradition and in Print- Riley 1957
D) Flanders-Ancient2, pp. 246-292, "Barbara Allen" 1961 Headnotes by Coffin (see also A by Coffin).
E) Bronson: Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads (2)- 1962
F) Versions & Variants of the Tunes of "Barbara Allen"- Seeger 1966 with COMMENT ON THE WORDS by Ed Cray
G) Ed Cray, "''Barbara Allen': Cheap Print and Reprint" article published 1967 in Folklore International.
H) "Barbara Allen": Tonal versus Melodic Structure, Part I by Mieczyslaw Kolinski; Ethnomusicology, Vol. 12, No. 2 (May, 1968), pp. 208-218 (also followed by Part 2).
I) The Traditional Ballad Index c. 1990
J) Roud Index No. 54 Bonny Barbara Allen (1169 Listings) c. 2000 but updated- also see Keefer's Folk Index, and the Child Collection.
This list above does not cover in detail the recordings but most of them are found referenced in A-J. It is safe to say that no detailed study of the ballad has been made since the 1960s. Perhaps the best references for the study of the texts would be Coffin (1950) Hendren (1953) Riley (1957) and Cray (1966). I have the texts here in my collection and links to the originals (for Hendren and Riley).
The question is: With so many versions, how do we know the ur-ballad, the original ballad from whence the Scottish (Child A) and English (Child B) versions were formed? Riley compares A and B then notes the similarities of both. Hudson, followed somewhat by Riley and then Cray, has sorted the version by opening lines and assigned approximate dates to these versions.
Riley (and I concur) has given the primary area of original dissemination in North America as the Virginia Colony which established the House of Burgess in 1619, a date that probably preceded the ballad landing on the James River's fertile shores. The fact that the ballad was not particularly well-known in the British Isles (Child gives only one traditional version) until the 1800s, means that an early dissemination in North America is unlikely. However, it is possible the ballad in Virginia (extending later to the Appalachians) predates the publication of both Child A and B (circa 1690) and subsequent broadsides from which some influence on the tradition of the ballad was established (Child C Motherwell, 1828).
Dolph in Sound Off! NY, 1949, says that the song was well known in Colonial America and that the tune was borrowed for "Sergeant Champe," a long ballad about an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap General Benedict Arnold. Although this may be true, Dolph provides no actual evidence of its popularity. Barbara (or more properly Barb'ra) certainly arrived on American shores earlier and a date of the late 1600s is not unreasonable-- although conjecture. Lacking evidence, since the early settlers didn't focus on writing down their musical offerings, we must use family lineage and a manuscript (Flanders U) to provide an assumed early date for many of the ballads found in North America. The ballad dates back, in three versions from my collection, to the late 1700s (Davis R, Hubbard, and Webb).
The influence of printed versions (Reliques, Miscellany to broadsides) is, in my opinion, overrated. Tracing traditional versions back to Child A and B may and should be done. However, it is likely that they represent traditional versions which eventually may be traced back to the ur-ballad, and should not be considered based on print necessarily. This is an important distinction:
The traditional versions found in the 1900s (and even rarely today) are based mainly on tradition and not on print.
This has become clear in my research on Lord Thomas and other ballads where a large number of print versions were made. It is my postulation that ballads by the folk and of the folk tend to remain with the folk through oral circulation and are passed down from generation to generation through the extended family circle (which includes friends and neighbors).
There is no doubt (and this is sometimes hard to recognize) that some versions were influenced by print and later recordings (from 1927). Other variants are recreations by informants and collectors (authors) using print. However, the number of variants based on print or that have been recreated are relatively small. In most cases these un-traditional versions will be commented on in my blue-font headnotes (See, for example, US and Canada Versions).
It will be noted that even our earliest versions (Child A and B) have been recreated to some extent (by Percy for example) and do not represent the true ur-ballad. Some of Percy's additions have been uncovered by Riley and others. Riley gives the following:
An examination of the text at the end of this chapter will show phrases that Percy introduced into subsequent history of the ballad. Some of the moat significant are:
Made Every youth cry wel-aways,
Green buds they were swellin'
Young Jemmye Grove
And o'er his heart is stealing
O lovely Barbara Allen
And slowly she came nigh him.
What needs the tale you are tellin'
When ye the cups were filian
As deadly pangs he tell in
As she was walking o'er the fields
She turned her body round about
Her cheeks with laughter "wallin'
Her heart was struok with sorrow
and the following stanzas:
She on her death-bed as she laye
Beg'd to be Buried by him;
And sore repented of the dye
That she did ere denye him.
Farewell she sayd ye vergins all,
And shun the fault I fell in,
Henceforth take warning by the fall
Of cruel Barbara Allen.
Thus we have a chance to uncover the traditional and those influenced by print. Because of the length of any analysis I will not give additional details here but will write an article detailing my thoughts which eventually will be found attached to the Recordings & Info page.
* * * *
I put my published version (from Acoustic Music Source Book- 2010 Mel Bay- Amazon.com) of Barbara Allen (Richard Matteson w/Jessica Kaster) on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX6PE80W4Pw It was based on several KY versions using the standard melody, not the modal one.
My grandfather, Maurice Matteson collected and published two versions, one in 1933 (NC) and the other in 1947 (MD). See US/Canada Versions for the texts.
I've attached most of the available North American versions now (the British versions have not been completed) and will come back and add a few more when I do the final proof the 305 Child ballads. I'm sure there are four or five hundred traditional US versions in my collection alone. It should be noted that many versions in collections are listed (title, informant and date) but since the text is similar to other texts, the text is not given. For example Belden, in Ballads and Songs, 1940, gives versions A-P with only one full text. This was done in part to reduce the number of pages in an already large book (Ballads and Songs is 530 pages). Ed Cary in his article, "Comment on the Words" (part of Versions and Variants of the Tunes of "Barbara Allen" by Charles Seeger) reports "some 700 North American texts." The Round index lists over 1,000 sources (some of these are multiple listings)--this is a huge undertaking and if I live long enough- haha- I'll try to get them and put them on here. Unfortunately "getting them" involves visiting the collection or having someone access the collection for you.
* * * *
One way to categorize versions of Barbara Allen is the location of the town (the placename) in the usually first stanza. In his article Place-Names in Traditional Ballads, W. F. H. Nicolaisen (Folklore,Vol. 84, No. 4 (Winter, 1973), pp. 299-312) explores the town name:
The first line of 'Barbara Allan' (Child 84) is a case in point. Of the nearly 200 variants printed by Bronson, almost one quarter (48) begin with a line like 'In (ABC) where I was born.' Of these, 17 make reference to Scarlet Town ('In Scarlet Town where I was born,' etc.), 10 name Scotland ('In Scotland I was born and bred'), there are 6 references to London, 4 to Reading, 2 each to the fictitious Story Town and Starling(s) Town, and one to Oxford. The other five do not use names but descriptive appellatives: 'It was once I lived in a scornful town', 'Dark and gloomy there was a (is the) town', 'In yonders town where I was born', and somewhat different, 'It was upon a high, high hill'. We are not going to speculate on the original form or location of the placename (the question 'Wo ist Scarlet Town?' will not be asked), although one can see some interesting connection between Scotland, Scarlet, Starling (for Stirling?), Story, scornful, and even Reading; but what is interesting in this context of interchangeability is the fact that Scarlet Town, 'which is not to be found on any map', [ Bertrand Harris Bronson, The Ballad as Song, Berkeley 1969, p. 237.] wins out over the rest, a result quite in keeping with what David Buchan has called the 'stylized limbo' of the ballad world. The ubiquitous and non-existent Scarlet Town has become a distancing device providing 'Barbara Allan' with a setting which removes it 'from the everyday work of the plough and the byre." In this artistic process, the supposedly denotative place-name has become almost identical with the connotative 'scornful town', by losing its isolating onomastic function. We may confidently add at this point that the non-fictitious Scotland, London, Reading, and Oxford are potentially just as much lacking in denotation in this context as Scarlet, Story, and Starling(s) Town, for they have become part of the stylized landscape in which 'court, castle, and greenwood (also) have rarely any precise, geographically identifiable location. The frequent references to the North Country or the West Country in other ballads have a similar effect.
So far as the placename is concerned, Robert Bell (Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, 1857) comments: "In Percy's version of Barbara Allen, that ballad commences 'In Scarlet town,' which, in the common stall copies, is rendered 'In Redding town.' The former is apparently a pun upon the old orthography - REDding."
While that is not impossible, it should be noted that the "stall copies" referred to are all later than the texts in the Reliques. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time, 1859) added: "It has been suggested that for 'Scarlet' town... we should read "Carlisle" town. Some of the later printed copies have 'Reading' town."
Ed Cray in his article "Comment on the Words" further categorizes the ballad by the placename, Barbara's lover's name and also the time of year (May, Martimas etc.). Following are several paragraphs from Cray's article:
Conjecturally, the oldest texts are those which begin: "It fell about a Martinmas time /When the green leaves were a- fallin'." These "Martinmas" versions , more specifically the traditional Scottish variants represented by Child C, may contain a legacy motif where in the dying lover leaves Barbara a series of gifts, including a bowl of his heart's blood. (Child thought the legacy mean stuff and did not print an available text which contained it. No "Martinmas" texts were found among the AAFS recordings available for this study.
Two other variants of the "Martinmas" group are less old: Child A, which in spite of a lively history in print has rarely been collected from oral tradition; and a Forget-me-not Songster text, identifiable by the hero's offer to make Barbara mistress of seven ships This latter variant has entered oral tradition in the United States - a tribute to the popularity of the songster which reportedly had multiple press runs in the 1840's totaling one million copies. The Child A text, from Allan Ramsay's Tea- table Miscellany, seemingly has been most reprinted in those literary collections of "olden ballads", which rarely were distributed among the folk; the Forget-me -not Songster, on the other hand, was aimed at the mass, and therefore the folk, market.
The second large group of version, most conveniently dubbed the "Early Early" group, begins: "So early, early in the Spring/When little birds were singing/A young man on his death bed lay/For the love of Barbara Allen. " (See variants A5, 7. ) This group, in turn, neatly divides itself into two variants types , those which identity the dying lover as "Sweet William" and those which speak of him anonymously only as a "young man. " There is a notable geographic dichotomy between the two variants; the "Young-Man" texts are generally from the tradition of the northern woods, the "Sweet William" variants largely from the southern mountains .
While the "Martinmas" and "Early-Early" versions remain relatively pure in oral tradition, these groups are markedly less popular in the New World than the third and fourth textual types, the "Scarlet Town" and "May" versions . Only two of the variants recorded on Record L54, those sung by Kate Singleton (variant A5) and Mary F. Farmer (variant A7), are not "Scarlet Town" or "May" texts.
The third group of texts usually begins "In Scarlet Town where I was born" (see variants A2, 10; B3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13) and is divided into a series of variants although there is less positive demarcation between these.
Closely identified with the printing houses, the "Scarlet Town" version breaks down into two variants of the parent broadside and a series of rewritten or slightly altered variants distinguished principally by shifts in the locale of the action.
Of the two "Scarlet Town" or broadside variants, one identifies the hero as "Jemmy Grove," the other as "Sweet William" again. The "Jemmy Grove" texts have a two stanza introduction, the usual "Scarlet Town" and a second concerning events in the month of May. The "Sweet William" variants employ a three stanza introduction: the usual "Scarlet Town, " a "May" and a third dealing with events in the month of June. Jemmy invariably sends a "man;" Sweet William dispatches "a servant " to seek the girl. In the "Jemmy Grove" texts, Barbara, "with scornful eyes," looks down on the hero' s corpse; at this point , the "Sweet William" texts substitute "The more she looked, the more she mourned (grieved)."
There is a series of sports in this group: texts which localize the song to Stoney Town, to Yonders Town (variants B10, 14) or in London, in which some of the language may be local dialect, for example, "howdy" and "Bursted," and in-which the hero, usually unnamed, s ends not a man or a servant , but a "letter." Another localized variant beginning " In Scotland I was bred and born" probably is of English derivation; some versions contain the legacy motif of Scots tradition and identify the hero as a "squire," a title more of the Old World than the new. A fourth variant in this "Scarlet Town" or broadside group is also identified by a line in the first stanza which names Barbara as one of three maids living in Yonders Town.
Although most popular in the United States in terms of the number of texts recovered, the "May" versions are divided only into two variants. (See variants A1 , 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11; B1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 17, 18. ) In the course of the ballad, Sweet William, invariably the hero, will either beg a kiss to keep from dying or at this point will lament that he will not improve his health unless he gets Barbara Allen. Her refusal in either case need not be present .
Extreme diversity of circumstantial detail within the "May" group is probably the result of a full flowering of oral tradition without the "corrective" influences of printed texts. Of the fifty-one broadside and songster texts recovered, none is a "May" version, yet within oral tradition in the United States and Canada , fully one-half of the texts are "May" variants. This is the case, also, with the total AAFS holdings. Fifteen of the thirty recorded examples of the ballad on this record, for example, are "May" variants. (Two of the thirty field recordings on the record lack first stanzas which would permit positive identification.)
* * * *
Who was Barbara Allen?
The investigation into the identity of Barbara Allen by Phillips Barry is well-known although Barry never published the results. In BBM (1929) Barry states that Barbara Allen was, in fact, a real person. Her identity has come from Barry to Fanny Eckstorm to Hudson who published this in The Brown Collection of NC Folklore in 1952:
Mrs. Eckstorm in a letter written in 1940 informed me that she and Barry had satisfied themselves, before Barry's death, that as sung by Mrs. Knipp to the delight of Samuel Pepys in 1666 it was not a stage song at all but a libel on Barbara Villiers and her relations with Charles II; but so far as I know the details of their argument have never been published.
Below is a letter from Sharpe to Sir Walter Scott dated 1812. As far as I know this lineage has never been pursued or even mentioned by current (1900s to present) writers (my italics).
C. KIRKPATRICK SHARPE to WALTER SCOTT, Esq. 1812
Your Ecclefechan tragedy set me a rummaging among the trash here to find anything respecting the Dornock family, and I have been very successful. I fell upon a huge bundle indorsed Dornock Papers, wherein among many rentals and bonds were the printed advertisements respecting the roupe of the estates, one of which I shall present to you as an illustration of the verses. Among Dornock's creditors you will find Mrs Barbara Allan, whom I strongly suspect to have been descended from that Barbara concerning whom there is a song: this is serious. I also discovered a letter which is rather amusing, and as I am not at all so, I will transcribe it here, that this epistle may not be totally unworthy of postage. I find the tradition concerning the fellow's ear was erroneous : it was a much more serious matter.
* * * *
In Creole Performances by Roger D. Abrahams [Journal of Folklore Research, Vol. 24, No. 2 (May - Aug., 1987), pp. 107-134] he gives a version of Barbara Allen:
In the past, one of the most popular of these captains was the one professional countryside musician on the island, the blind street-singer, Charles Walters.[18] Characteristic of West Indian songmakers such as the Trinidadian calypsonians, Walters would write songs about local scandals and catastrophes or compose praise songs for heroes (from Roosevelt and Churchill to more local boys).
"Barbry Alone" illustrates that similar principles of aesthetic change operate on Nevis as they did on Jamaica. The story is told not only with the traditional "leaping and lingering" narrative technique, but in fact few details of the story remain. The song emerges as something of a lyric lament:
As I was going along the road
I heard the churchbell tolling.
As I was going along the road
I see the coffin passing.
Oh, lay it down, oh, lay it down,
That I might gaze upon him;
Oh, lay it down, oh, lay it down,
That I may gaze upon him.
Barbry alone, Barbry alone,
A kiss from me will save you;
But a kiss from me you will never get,
Not if your heart were broken.
A young man died for me today,
And I may die tomorrow;
And I might die tomorrow.
Barbry alone, Barbry alone,
A kiss from me will save you;
But a kiss from me you will never get
Not if your heart were broken.[21]
18. See Roger D. Abrahams, "Charles Walters: West Indian Autolycus," Western Folklore 27 (1968): 77-95.
21. For texts of these last two songs attributed to Walters' singing, see Abrahams, "Charles Walters" pp. 91-92, 94-95.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnote (Added at the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-C (Changes for A b and B b-d are found in End Notes)
5. Endnotes
6. From "Additions and Corrections"
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 84. Bonny Barbara Allen
A. Roud No. 54 Bonny Barbara Allen (1169 Listings)
B. Moses Platt and the Regeneration of Barbara Allen
C. Barbara Allen: Tonal Vs. Melodic Structure, Part I
D. Barbara Allen: Tonal Vs. Melodic Structure, Part 2
E. A Near Eastern Parallel to "Barbara Allen"
F. A Serbian Parallel to "Barbara Allen"
G. Versions & Variants of the Tunes of "Barbara Allen" Seeger
H. Brown Collection- Bonny Barbara Allen (Complete)
I. Folk-Songs of the South: Bonny Barbara Allen- Cox
2. Sheet Music: Bonny Barbara Allen (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-C with additional notes)]
English Broadside- Printed for P. Brooksby J. Deacon, J. Blare J. Back. Published 1675-1696
Child's Narrative
A. a. 'Bonny Barbara Allan,' Tea-Table Miscellany, IV, 46, ed. 1740; here from the edition of London, 1763, p. 343.
b. 'Sir John Grehme and Barbara Allan,' Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 131.
B. a. 'Barbara Allen's Cruelty,' etc., Roxburghe Ballads, II, 25; reprint of the Ballad Society, III, 433.
b. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 522.
c. Broadside formerly belonging to Percy,
d. Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 125.
C. 'Barbara Allan,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 288, from recitation.
A a is wrongly said by Stenhouse, The Scots Musical Museum, IV, 213, to have appeared in Ramsay's Miscellany in 1724. It is not even in the edition of 1733, but, according to Mr. Chappell, was first inserted in that of 1740. Ramsay's copy is repeated in Herd, 1769, p. 29, 1776, I, 19, Johnson's Museum, p. 230, No 221, and Ritson's Scotish Song, II, 196. C was perhaps derived from Ramsay, but possibly may have come down by purely oral tradition. Some later copies of B have Reading Town for Scarlet Town (Chappell).
The Scottish ballad is extended in Buchan's Manuscripts, I, 90, Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 671, to forty-one stanzas. In this amplified copy, which has no claim to be admitted here, the dying lover leaves his watch and gold ring, his Bible and penknife, a mill and thirty ploughs, nine meal-mills and the freights of nine ships, all to tocher Barbara Allan. This is the ballad referred to by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe in Stenhouse's edition of the Museum, IV, 300*, as sung by the peasantry of Allandale. Doubtless it was learned by them from some stall-print.
Pepys makes this entry in his Diary, January 2, 1666: "In perfect pleasure I was to hear her [Mrs. Knipp, an actress] sing, and especially her little Scotch song of Barbary Allen." Goldsmith, in his third essay, 1765, p. 14, writes: The music of the finest singer is dissonance to what I felt when an old dairy maid sung me into tears with 'Johnny Armstrong's Last Good-night,' or 'The Cruelty of Barbara Allen.'[1]
A b is translated by Loeve-Veimars, p. 379, von Marges, p. 34; B d by Bodmer, I, 85.
Footnote: 1. Pepys is cited by James Farquhar Graham, The Scottish Songs, II, 157, and Goldsmith by Chappell, The Roxburghe Ballads, III, 433.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
Pepys makes this entry in his Diary, January 2, 1666: "In perfect pleasure I was to hear her [Mrs. Knipp, an actress] sing, and especially her little Scotch song of Barbary Allen." Goldsmith, in his third essay, 1765, p. 14, writes: "The music of the finest singer is dissonance to what I felt when our old dairy-maid sung me into tears with 'Johnny Armstrong's Last Good-night,' or 'The Cruelty of Barbara Allen.'"
Child's Ballad Texts A-C
Bonny Barbara Allan- Version A a. Child 84 Bonny Barbara Allen
a. The Tea-Table Miscellany, IV, 46, ed. 1740; here from the London edition of 1763, p. 343.
b. Percy's Reliques, III, 131, ed. 1765, "with a few conjectural emendations from a written copy."
1 It was in and about the Martinmas time,
When the green leaves were a falling,
That Sir John Graeme, in the West Country,
Fell in love with Barbara Allan.
2 He sent his men down through the town,
To the place where she was dwelling:
'O haste and come to my master dear,
Gin ye be Barbara Allan.'
3 O hooly, hooly rose she up,
To the place where he was lying,
And when she drew the curtain by,
'Young man, I think you're dying.'
4 'O it's I'm sick, and very, very sick,
And 'tis a' for Barbara Allan:'
'O the better for me ye's never be,
Tho your heart's blood were a spilling.
5 'O dinna ye mind, young man,' said she,
'When ye was in the tavern a drinking,
That ye made the healths gae round and round,
And slighted Barbara Allan?'
6 He turnd his face unto the wall,
And death was with him dealing:
'Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
And be kind to Barbara Allan.'
7 And slowly, slowly raise she up,
And slowly, slowly left him,
And sighing said, she coud not stay,
Since death of life had reft him.
8 She had not gane a mile but twa,
When she heard the dead-bell ringing,
And every jow that the dead-bell geid,
It cry'd, Woe to Barbara Allan!
9 'O mother, mother, make my bed!
O make it saft and narrow!
Since my love died for me to-day,
I'll die for him to-morrow.'
-------------
'Barbara Allen's Cruelty'- Version B a; Child 84- Bonny Barbara Allen [dated c.1690 at earliest]
a. Roxburghe Ballads, II, 25; reprint of the Ballad Society, III, 433.
b. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 522.
c. A broadside formerly belonging to Bishop Percy,
d. Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 125.
1 In Scarlet Town, where I was bound,
There was a fair maid dwelling,
Whom I had chosen to be my own,
And her name it was Barbara Allen.
2 All in the merry month of May,
When green leaves they was springing,
This young man on his death-bed lay,
For the love of Barbara Allen.
3 He sent his man unto her then,
To the town where she was dwelling:
'You must come to my master dear,
If your name be Barbara Allen.
4 'For death is printed in his face,
And sorrow's in him dwelling,
And you must come to my master dear,
If your name be Barbara Allen.'
5 'If death be printed in his face,
And sorrow's in him dwelling,
Then little better shall he be
For bonny Barbara Allen.'
6 So slowly, slowly she got up,
And so slowly she came to him,
And all she said when she came there,
Young man, I think you are a dying.
7 He turnd his face unto her then:
'If you be Barbara Allen,
My dear,' said he, 'Come pitty me,
As on my death-bed I am lying.'
8 'If on your death-bed you be lying,
What is that to Barbara Allen?
I cannot keep you from [your] death;
So farewell,' said Barbara Allen.
9 He turnd his face unto the wall,
And death came creeping to him:
'Then adieu, adieu, and adieu to all,
And adieu to Barbara Allen!'
10 And as she was walking on a day,
She heard the bell a ringing,
And it did seem to ring to her
'Unworthy Barbara Allen.'
11 She turnd herself round about,
And she spy'd the corps a coming:
'Lay down, lay down the corps of clay,
That I may look upon him.'
12 And all the while she looked on,
So loudly she lay laughing,
While all her friends cry'd [out] amain,
So loudly she lay laughing,
While all her friends cry'd [out] amain,
'Unworthy Barbara Allen!'
13 When he was dead, and laid in grave,
Then death came creeping to she:
'O mother, mother, make my bed,
For his death hath quite undone me.
14 'A hard-hearted creature that I was,
To slight one that lovd me so dearly;
I wish I had been more kinder to him,
The time of his life when he was near me.'
15 So this maid she then did dye,
And desired to be buried by him,
And repented her self before she dy'd,
That ever she did deny him.
----------
'Barbara Allan'- Version C; Child 84 Bonny Barbara Allen
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 288; from Mrs. Duff, Kilbirnie, February 9, 1825.
1 It fell about the Lammas time,
When the woods grow green and yellow,
There came a wooer out of the West
A wooing to Barbara Allan.
2 'It is not for your bonny face,
Nor for your beauty bonny,
But it is all for your tocher good
I come so far about ye.'
3 'If it be not for my comely face,
Nor for my beauty bonnie,
My tocher good ye'll never get paid
Down on the board before ye.'
4 'O will ye go to the Highland hills,
To see my white corn growing?
Or will ye go to the river-side,
To see my boats a rowing?'
5 O he's awa, and awa he's gone,
And death's within him dealing,
And it is all for the sake of her,
His bonnie Barbara Allan.
6 O he sent his man unto the house,
Where that she was a dwelling:
'O you must come my master to see,
If you be Barbara Allan.'
7 So slowly aye as she put on,
And so stoutly as she gaed till him,
And so slowly as she could say,
'I think, young man, you're lying.'
8 'O I am lying in my bed,
And death within me dwelling;
And it is all for the love of thee,
My bonny Barbara Allan.'
9 She was not ae mile frae the town,
Till she heard the dead-bell ringing:
'Och hone, oh hone, he's dead and gone,
For the love of Barbara Allan!'
End-Notes
A. b. 13. o the.
44. a wanting.
51. Remember ye nat in the tavern, sir.
52. Whan ye the cups wer fillan.
53. How ye.
64. And wanting.
71. Then hooly, hooly.
72. And hooly, hooly.
82. deid-bell knellan.
83. that wanting.
84. It wanting.
94. I 'se.
B. a. Barbara Allen's Cruelty, or, The Youngman's Tragedy. With Barbara Allen's Lamentation for her Unkindness to her Lover and her Self... Printed for P. Brooksby, J. Deacon, J. Blare, J. Back. Black Letter.
134. undone we.
b. Barbara Allen's Cruelty, or, The Young Man's Tragedy. No name of printer.
13. for my own.
22. they were.
24. the sake of.
34. name is.
44. thy name is.
53. Then wanting.
61. she came to him.
62. came to him.
64. a wanting.
72. you are.
74. As I am on my death-bed lying.
81. If you are on your death-bed lying.
83. from your.
84. Then farewell: said wanting
92. on him.
93. and wanting: to you all.
101. And wanting: out one day.
102. bells.
103. And they.
112. And saw.
113. corps said she.
123. cry'd out.
131. in his.
134. will quite undo me.
141. A wanting.
143. more kind.
144. In time of life.
153. eer.
16. As she was lying down to die,
A sad feud she fell in;
She said, I pray take warning by
Hard-hearted Barbara Allen.
c. Title the same as in a. Printed and sold at the Printing-office in Bow-Church-Yard, London.
13. for my own.
22. they wore.
34. name is.
43. And thou.
44. thy name is.
53. O little.
61. she came to him.
63. came to him.
64. a wanting.
72. you are.
74. As I am on my death-bed lying.
83. from your.
84. Then farewell: said wanting.
92. on him.
93. to you all.
101. And wanting: out one day.
102. bells.
103. And they.
112. And espy'd.
113. corps said she.
123. cry'd out.
134. will quite undo me.
141. A wanting.
143. more kind.
144. In time of life.
154. eer.
16 as in b.
d. was "given, with some corrections, from an old printed copy in the editor's possession." That these corrections were considerable, we know from the *** at the end. The old printed copy is very likely to have been c, and, if so, the ballad was simply written over. It does not seem necessary to give the variations under the circumstances. In 23 Percy has Yong Jemmye Grove.
C. 21. bonny should perhaps be comely, as in 31.
42. Originally written To see my white... courting.
52. Originally dwelling.
53. Originally it 's.
54. The is written over His, probably as a conjecture.
72. After stoutly, slowly? as a conjectural emendation.
74. lying. 'An ingenious friend' of Percy's suggested the transposition of lying and dying in A 32,4.
Additions and Corrections
P. 276. In Miss Burne's Shropshire "Folk-Lore, 1883-86, p. 543, there is a copy, taken from singing, which I must suppose to be derived ultimately from print.