Barbara Allen- Mason (IN) 1935 Brewster I
[From: Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana, 1940. Most of the ballads were collected in 1935 and 1936.
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
I. "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Miss June Falls, of Oakland City, Indiana. Secured from Mr. Paul Mason, of Mifflin, Indiana. Crawford County. May 8, 1935.
1. It was in the merry month of May
When flowers were a-blooming,
Sweet Willie on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.
2. He sent his servants through the town,
The town where she was dwelling,
Saying, "Master dear has sent me here
If your name be Barbara Allen."
3. Then slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she went to him,
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man, I think you're dying."
4. "Don't you remember the other day
When we were at the tavern,
You drank a health to the lady there
And slighted Barbara Allen."
5. He turned his face unto the wall;
He turned his back upon her;
"Adieu, adieu to all my friends;
Be kind to Barbara Allen."
6. She went on through and through the town;
She heard his death-bell ringing;
And every stroke they seemed to say,
"O cruel Barbara Allen!"
7. She looked to the east, she looked to the west;
She saw his corpse a-coming;
"O set him down for me!" she cried,
"That I may gaze upon him."
8. The more she looked the more she wept;
Then she broke down to crying:
"O pick me up and carry me home,
For I feel like I am dying."
9. They buried Willie in the old churchyard,
And Barbara in the new one;[1]
From Willie's grave there grew a rose,
And from Barbara's a green brier.
1. An interesting change here.