Barbara Allen (song)
"Barbara Allen" (Child 84, Roud 54) is a traditional ballad originating in Scotland in the 17th century or earlier, which immigrants introduced to the British colonies in America, where it became a popular folk song. Ethnomusicologists Steve Roud and Julia Bishop described it as "far and away the most widely collected song in the English language — equally popular in England, Scotland and Ireland, and with hundreds of versions collected over the years in North America."
History
A diary entry by Samuel Pepys on January 2, 1666 contains the earliest extant reference to the song. In it, he recalls the fun and games at a New Years party:
From this, Roud & Bishop inferred the song was popular at the time. They suggested that it may have been written for stage performance, as Elizabeth Knepp was a professional actress, singer, and dancer.
One 1690 broadside of the song was published in London under the loquacious title "Barbara Allen's cruelty: or, the young-man's tragedy. With Barbara Allen's [l]amentation for her unkindness to her lover, and her self". Additional printing were common in Britain throughout the eighteenth century. The ballad was first printed in the United States in 1836. Many variations of the song continued to be printed on broadsides in the United States through the 19th and 20th centuries. It was also passed orally and spread by inclusion in songbooks and newspaper columns, along with other popular ballads such as "The Farmer's Curst Wife" and "The Golden Vanity".
Podcasts:
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by Isobel Campbell
Barbara Ellen
by: Isobel CampbellIt was in the merry, merry month of May
When the green buds, they were swelling
Young William green on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbara Ellen
He sent his servant to her town
To the place where she was dwelling
Saying master's sick and he sends for you
If your name is Barbara Ellen
So slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she came nigh him
And all she said when she got there
?Young man, I believe you're dying?
"Oh yes, I'm low, I am very low
And death is on me dwelling
No better, no better I ever will be
For I can't get Barbara Ellen"
"Oh yes, you're low, you are very low
And death is on you dwelling
No better, no better you ever will be
For you can't get Barbara Ellen"
Oh don't you remember in yonder's town
In yonder's town a drinking
You raised your glass all around
And you slighted Barbara Ellen
Oh yes, I remember in yonder's town
In yonder's town a drinking
I gave my health to the ladies all around
But my heart to Barbara Ellen
He turned his pale face to the wall
For death was on him dwelling
"Adieu, adieu, good neighbors all
Adieu sweet Barbara Ellen"
As she was going across the fields
She heard those death bells knelling
And every stroke the dead-bell gave
"Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen"
"Oh mother, Mother, make my bed
Go make it long and narrow
Young William's died for me today
And I'll die for him tomorrow"
Oh, she was laid in the old church wall
And he was buried nigh her
And out of his bosom grew a red, red rose
And out of hers a briar
They grew, they grew up the old church tower
Till they could grow no higher
They locked and they tied in a true lover's knot
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