Braes of Yarrow- Young (ME) pre1929 Barry A
[The title, Braes of Yarrow- A, as given in BBM, is certainly wrong and "Braes of Yarrow" could not a local title either. This is from British Ballads from Maine, page 291 published in 1929. One stanza of this ballad, or more properly-- short love song, is from Braes (with music). It also is quoted in Coffin's article:
We have then, in Mrs. Young's ballad mosaic, not only a relic of a lost version of "The Braes of Yarrow," but also through the relation of the air to the melody which Kidson traces back to Tibbie Shiel, evidence which serves to bring the tradition. . .
Barry's first fragment,
Last night I made my bed so wide,
Tonight I'll make it narrow:
With a pretty baby at my side,
And a dead man for its father.
Barry rhymes the last line suggesting the original could have been: And a dead man for its marrow. This ballad is not a good example of Braes and it never mentions Yarrow.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
Braes of Yarrow- Young (ME) pre1929 Barry A (Sung to Barb'ra Allen)
1 . . . . . .
Wherever it is ranging,
For my true love is like the moon,
That ev'ry month is changing.
2. Oh my lover roves, he trips the groves,
He trips both groves and valleys.
Scare in the dew there I could view,
The tracks of my loved Molly.
3. She has a heart would gain love's might,
Twould gain the heart of any;
And the darkest night she'll show me a light,
That is known to many.
4 Last night I made my bed so wide,
Tonight I'll make it narrow:
With a pretty baby at my side,
And a dead man for its father.
5 Love is the cause of my downfall,
Which leaves me broken hearted.