-
“The Ballad of Barbara Allen”, also known as “Barbara Ellen”, “Barb’ry Allen”,“Barbriallen”, etc., is a folk song known in dozens of versions. It has been classified asChild Ballad 84. The author is unknown, but the song may have originated in England,Ireland or Scotland. The earliest known mention of the song is in Samuel Pepys‘ diary for1666 where he refers to the “little Scotch song of ‘Barbary Allen'”. Bob Dylan, ColinMeloy, Thomas Baynes, Michael Hurley, Art Garfunkel, Simon & Garfunkel, Burl Ives,The Grateful Dead, Eddy Arnold, Moses Clear Rock Platt, and many others haverecorded the song.Most versions of “Barbara Allen” can be summarized thus: a young man is dying ofunrequited love for Barbara Allen; she is called to his deathbed but all she can say is,‘Young man, I think you’re dying.’ When he dies, she is stricken with grief and dies soonafter. Often, a briar grows from her grave and a rose from his, until they grow together.Not surprisingly, given that this is a ballad of unknown age and origin, largely passeddown orally, the details of the story vary significantly in different printed and recordedversions. The setting is usually in the fictitious Scarlet Town (possibly a pun on theEnglish town of Reading, pronounced “redding”), although London town and Dublintown are also popular. The action usually takes place “in the merry month of May”although some versions place it in the autumn. The young man who dies of a broken heartis usually called Sweet William or some slight variant such as young Willie Grove, sweetWillie Graeme. In other versions the name is Sir John Graeme. The version printed belowcalls him Jemmye Grove. Some longer versions of the ballad explain Barbara’s “cruelty”by saying that she (mistakenly) believed that the young man slighted her first. JohnnyCash re-wrote lyrics to this song and performed it live at Austin City Limits in 1987.In Scarlet town where I was bornThere was a fair maid dwellingAnd every youth cried well awayFor her name was Barbara AllenTwas in the merry month of MayThe green buds were a swellingSweet William on his deathbed layFor the love of Barbara AllenHe sent a servant unto herTo the place she was dwellingSaying you must come to his deathbed nowIf your name be Barbara AllenSlowly slowly she got upSlowly slowly she came nigh himAnd the only words to him she said
BARBARA ALLEN
Young man I think you’re dyingAs she was walking oer the fieldsShe heard the death bell knellingAnd every stroke it seemed to sayHardhearted Barbara AllenOh mother mother make my bedMake it long and make it narrowSweet William died for me todayI’ll die for him tomorrowThey buried her in the old churchyardThey buried him in the choirAnd from his grave grew a red red roseFrom her grave a green briarThey grew and grew to the steeple topTill they could grow no higherAnd there they twined in a true love’s knotRed rose around green briar
-
https://www.facebook.com/app_scoped_user_id/1203673049655786/ Mark Breedlove