Barbry Allen- Fendley (AR) 1963 Wolf B
[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 Sara Jo Fendley. Recorded in Mountain View, AR 4/19/63. To listen to the original recording
http://web.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/fendleybarbara1294.html
‘Twas in the merry month of May,
When the green buds all were swelling,
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbry Allen.
He sent his servants to the town,
To the place where she was dwelling,
Saying, “You must come to my master dear,
If your name be Barbry Allen.”
So slowly, slowly, she got up,
And slowly she drew nigh him,
And the only words to him did say,
“Young man, I think you’re dying.”
He turned his face unto the wall,
And death was in him welling.
“Goodbye, goodbye, to my friends all.
Be good to Barbry Allen.”
“Oh, Mother--oh, Mother--go dig my grave;
Make it both long and narrow.
Sweet William died on yesterday,
And I shall die tomorrow.”
Barbry Allen was buried in the old churchyard;
Sweet William was buried beside her.
Out of Sweet William’s heart there grew a rose;
Out of Barbry Allen’s a briar.