Barbara Allen- Bowman (VA) 1932 Davis AA*
[From Davis, More Traditional Ballads of Virginia. Davis selected 8 versions out of the 26 new versions collected in Virginia since 1929, Traditional Ballads of Virginia was published. Note that Davis AA* is different from Davis AA from TBVa, 1929. I have not included Davis' extensive notes.
Bowman married a Plemmons and her versions can also be found under her married name. She was a close friend of Eunice Yeatts MacAlexander (who also sings a version). Bowman gave three tunes, and one complete text.
R. Matteson 2015]
AA* "Barbara Allen." Phonograph record (aluminum) made by A. K. Davis, Jr. Sung by Miss Ruby Bowman, of Laurel Fork, Va. Carroll County. August 10, 1932. Text transcribed by P. C. Worthington. Tunes noted by G. W. Williams and E. C. Mead. Miss Bowman knew three tunes for this ballad at the collector's request, she sang the first stanza to the first two tunes and then sang the whole ballad to the third tune. The first of the three tunes has most musical interest, mainly because of its varied and flexible rhythm.
1 All in the merry month of May,
When the green buds they were swellin',
Young Jimmy Groves[1] on his death bed lay,
For the love of Barbra Alien.
2 He sent his servant to a town,
To the place where she was dwellin',
"My master's sick and he sends for you,
If your name be Barbra Allen."
3 Slowly, slowly, she got up,
And slowly she went to him,
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man, I believe you're dying."
4 "Oh Yes, oh Yes, I'm very sick,
A lovesick care a-dwellin',
No better, no better, will ever I be,
If I can't get Barbra Allen."
5 "Do you remember the other night,
When we were in the tavern?
You drank the health to the ladies there,
But slighted Barbra Allen."
6 He turned his pale face to the wall,
For death was with him dealin',
"Adieu, adieu, to all o' my friends,
Be kind to Barbra Allen."
7 She had not got one mile from town,
Till she heard his death bell ringing,
"Go bring him here and set him down,
That I might look upon him."
8 The more she looked, the more she grieved,
And she bursted out to crying,
"Just think how easy I could have saved his life,
If only I had been trying.
9 "Mother, mother, make my bed,
Make it both long and narrow.
Young Jimmy died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow."
10 Young Jimmy was buried in the old church yard,
And Barbra Allen in the choir,
And out of his grave grew a lily-white rose,
And out of hers a briar.
11 They grew and they grew till they grew so tall,
They could not grow any higher,
Then they both tied in a true love knot,
But the rose grew around the briar.
1. The singer apparently omitted "Groves" in the third repetition of the stanza. Note other minor variants.