Barbry Allen- Barnes (AR) 1961 Wolf C
[From the John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection; Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas. Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr.
Wolf recorded hundreds of Ozark folksingers between 1952 and 1963, including Almeda Riddle, Neal Morris, Oscar and Ollie Gilbert, and Jimmy Driftwood.
Several versions of Barbara Allen in the Wolf Collection were recorded in other collections (Parler; Hunter) and won't appear here again.
R. Matteson 2015]
BARBRY ALLEN- Sung by Mrs. Nettie Huddleston Barnes. Recorded in Pfeiffer, AR on 8/23/61. To listen to the original recording:
http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/barnesbarbara1255.html
Away, away, one day in May,
When the buds all were swelling,
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the sake of Barbry Allen.
He sent his servant to the town
Where Barbry was a-dwelling.
“Master William’s sick, he’s very sick,
I think he’s now a-dying.”
Slowly, slowly, she rode on,
Slowly she approached him,
And all she said when she got there,
“My young man, I think you’re dying.”
“Yes, I’m sick, I’m very sick.
I’m in my own dwelling.
Though no better will I ever be,
Unless I get Barbry Allen.”