Barb'ra Allen- Gibson (AR) 1956 Parler BB
[From Ozark Collection (No. 31); Collected by Mary C. Parler Reel 311, Item 3.
Parler comments: The tune is unusual.
R. Matteson 2015]
BB. Barbra Allen. - Sung by Inez Gibson of Fayetteville, Ark., on May 18, 1956. Learned from her mother.
It was in the merry month of May
When the buds were swelling,
Sweet Willie on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barb'ra Allen.
He sent his servant to the town,
The town where she was dwellin’,
Saying, Master dear has sent me here
If you be Barb'ry Allen.
Then slowly, slowly she got up,
And slowly she went to him
All she said when she got there,
Young man, I think you’re dying.
And as she gazed into his eyes,
She burst out to crying,
Saying, Pick me up and carry me home,
I feel like I am dying.
O Father, go and dig my grave,
Go dig it long and narrow,
Sweet Willie died for love today
And I must die for sorrow.
They buried Willie in the old churchyard,
And Barb'ra in the new one,
By Willie’s grave there grew a rose
And Barb'ra Allen a green-briar.
They grew and grew to the old church wall,
Till they could grow no higher;
There they tied in a truelove knot
The rose bush and the briar.