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BARBARA ALLEN (BONNY BARBARA ALLAN) Sung by: Fleecy Fox Recorded in Leslie, AR 7/30/63 Click here to listen to the original recording When the green buds, they were swelling, Sweet William on his deathbed lie, For the sake of Barbara Allen. He sent his servants into town, And there unto her dwelling, Saying, “Oh, so sick and sent for you, If your name be Barbara Allen.” So slowly, slowly, she got up, And slowly she went to him. She drawed the curtain from Willie’s pale face, Saying, “Young man, you are dying.” “Oh yes, oh yes, I’m very sick, And death is on me dwelling, But never better will I be ‘Til I get Barbara Allen.” “Don’t you remember the other night, A-sitting in the tavern? A-drinking wine with the ladies all around, And you slighted Barbara Allen.” “Oh, yes, I remember the other night, A-sitting in the tavern, A-drinking wine with the ladies all around, But I didn’t see Barbara Allen.” So slowly, slowly, she got up, And slowly she went from him. She hadn’t went but a mile or two ‘Til she heard the death bell tolling. She looked to the east; she looked to the west. She seen the chariots a-coming, With two gray horses working in the breast, And Willie’s corpse behind them. “Oh mother, oh mother, go dig my grave. Dig it both long and narrow. Sweet William died for me today, And I’ll die for him tomorrow.” They buried him in the old churchyard; Barbara Allen was buried beside him, A red rose at Sweet Willie’s feet, A green briar at Barbara Allen’s. They grew and they grew in the old churchyard, ‘Til they could grow no higher. They locked and they tied in a true love’s knot, The red rose ‘round the briar. Also found in Child, #84, “Bonny Barbara Allan”; Randolph, Vol. I, #21, “Barbara Allen”; Brown, Vol. II, #27, “Bonny Barbara Allan”; Belden, p. 60, “Barbara Allen.” |
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All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas Back to the Song Index Back to the Wolf Collection Homepage ©Copyright 2002 Lyon College |