Barbary Allen
In Scotland I was born and bred,
In Scotland was my dwelling;
Till I fell a-courting a pretty maid,
Her name was Barbary Allen. From the singing of Danny Brazil, Gloucester 6 January 1966 and Lemmy Brazil, Gloucester 29 September 1967 (Springthyme 66.2.3 & 67.6.22) In: Shepheard, Peter. Folk Songs and Ballads of the Brazil Family of Gloucester (1967)
In Scotland I was born and bred,
In Scotland was my dwelling;
Till I fell a-courting a pretty maid,
Her name was Barbary Allen.
Look over, look over in yonders field,
You’ll see some cows a-feeding;
For they are mine they are left for thine,
They are left for Barbary Allen.
Look down, look down at the foot of my bed,
You’ll see a waistcoat hanging,
And in the pocket a watch and chain,
It’s left for Barbary Allen.
Look down look down at the foot of my bed,
You’ll see a basin standing;
A basin of blood from my heart I’ve shed,
For you my Barbary Allen.
Oh mother dear make me a bed,
Make it soft and narrow,
For Johnny died for me today,
I’ll die for him tomorrow.
Oh parson dear dig me a grave,
Dig it neat and narrow,
And on my bosom place a red rose,
And on Johnny’s a sweet briar.
They growed and growed to the top of the chunch,
Til they couldn’t grow any higher,
And they turned back in a true love’s knot,
The rose around the briar.
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