Barbara Allen- Glasscock (WV) 1957 Musick B
[From: Ballads and Folksongs from West Virginia by Ruth Ann Musick; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 70, No. 277 (Jul. - Sep., 1957), pp. 247-261. Her notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012]
13. Perhaps the most widely known of all ballads, this is in almost every collection; see especially Percy's Reliques; Belden, pp. 60-65; Brewster, pp. 99-121; Chappell, p. 32; Cox, pp. 96-109; Leach, pp. 277-280; Mackenzie, pp. 35-40; McGill, pp. 39-40; Morris, pp. 283-290; Randolph, I, 126-139; Scarborough, pp. 93-97; Sharp, I, I83-I95; Wells, pp. 113-114.
9.2. This version, from Mrs. Glasscock (who learned it as a child from her grandmother) does not have a particularly unusual tune either; according to Bayard, it is the "Bayne Water" air (see Ex. 15). The first verse alone is given.
(1) All in the merry month of May
When the green buds were swelling,
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.