Barbara Allen- Lomax (IN) 1936 Brewster K
[From: Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940. Most of the ballads were collected in 1935 and 1936. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2012]
15. BARBARA ALLEN (Child, No. 84)
"Barbara Allen" easily ranks first among Indiana ballads in point of number of versions recovered. Fourteen texts have been collected, ranging in length from seventeen stanzas to two. The ballad is known in this state as "Barbara Allen" or "Barbary Allen."
Both the A and B versions of Child are found, and sometimes there are combinations of the two. The hero appears as "Sweet William," "Young William," "Jemmy Groves," "Johnnie Green," and "Willie Green." The "rose-and-brier" ending occurs in eight of the versions.
For American texts, see Barry, No. 22; Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 195; Campbell and Sharp, p. 90; Cox, p. 96; Davis, p. 302 and p. 577; Hudson, No. 13; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 95; Journal, VI, 132; XIX, 286; XX, 256; XXII, 63; XXVI, 352; XXVIII, 144; XXIX, 160,198; XXX, 317; XXXV, 343; XXXIX, 97, 211; XLII, 268, 303; XLVI, 28; XLIX, 207-8; Jones, p. 301; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 26; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 35; Mackenzie, p. 100; McGill, p. 39; Pound, Ballads, p. 7; Sandburg, p. 57; Scarborough, p. 59; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 83; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Smith, pp. 13, 20; Smith, Ballads, p. 129; Thomas, p. 94; Wyman and Brockway, p. 5; Randolph, The Ozarks, pp. 183-85; Smith and Rufty, American Anthology, pp. 30-36; Cambiaire, East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads, pp. 66-6$; Fauset, Folk-Lore from Nova Scotia, p. 113; BFSSNE, X, 23-24 (Maine); PTFLS, X, 146; Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, pp. 138-39; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 69; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 80.
British: Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 67-70; Williams, Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames, pp. 204, 206; JFSS, I, 111, 265; II, 15, 80; Journal of the Irish Folk-Song Society, I, 45
K. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Dr. Claude Lomax, of Dale, Indiana. Secured by him from his mother, Mrs. Hettie Lomax, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. March 6, 1936.
1. It was in the merry month of May;
The June buds were a-swelling;
When little Johnnie Green on his deathbed lay
For love of Barbara Allen.
2. Slowly, slowly she came up
And slowly she drew nigh him;
And slowly slipped the curtain aside,
Saying, "Young man, I think you're dying.
3. "O yes, I'm sick and very sick;
I feel my whole heart breaking.
But one little kiss from your sweet lips
Would save me from this dying."
4. "O don't you remember in yonder town
At the place where you were dwelling,
You drank the health of the ladies round,
But slighted Barbara Allen?"
5. He turned his pale face toward the wall,
His back toward Barbara Allen,
Saying, "I shall die of grief and pain
If I don't get Barbara Allen."
6. She had not gone more than two miles
When she heard the death-bell knelling,
And every note that the death-bell stroke
Sang, "Woe unto Barbara Allen!"
7. "O Mother dear, go dig my grave,
And dig it deep and narrow;
For little Johnnie Green died for me today;
I'll die for him tomorrow,"