Ballads and Songs of Indiana - online book

A collection of 100 traditional folk songs with commentaries, historical info, lyrics & sheet music

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	Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana             99 15 BARBARA ALLEN (Child, No. 84) "Barbara Allen" easily ranks first among Indiana ballads in point of number of versions recovered. Fourteen texts have been collected, ranging in length from seventeen stanzas to two. The ballad is known in this state as "Barbara Allen" or "Barbary Allen." Both the A and B versions of Child are found, and sometimes there are combinations of the two. The hero appears as "Sweet William," "Young William," "Jemmy Groves," "Johnnie Green," and "Willie Green." The "rose-and-brier" ending occurs in eight of the versions. For American texts, see Barry, No. 22; Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 195; Campbell and Sharp, p. 90; Cox, p. 96; Davis, p. 302 and p. 577; Hud­son, No. 13; Hudson, Folksongs, p. 95; Journal, VI, 132; XIX, 286; XX, 256; XXII, 63; XXVI, 352; XXVIII, 144; XXIX, 160,198; XXX, 317; XXXV, 343; XXXIX, 97, 211; XLII, 268, 303; XLVI, 28; XLIX, 207-8; Jones, p. 301; Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 26; Mackenzie, Ballads, p. 35; Mackenzie, p. 100; McGill, p. 39; Pound, Ballads, p. 7; Sandburg, p. 57; Scarborough, p. 59; Scar­borough, Song Catcher, p. 83; Shearin, p. 3; Shearin and Combs, p. 8; Smith, pp. 13, 20; Smith, Ballads, p. 129; Thomas, p. 94; Wyman and Brockway, p. 5; Randolph, The Ozarks, pp. 183-85; Smith and Rufty, American An­thology, pp. 30-36; Cambiaire, East Tennessee and Western Virginia Mountain Ballads, pp. 66-6$; Fauset, Folk-Lore from Nova Scotia, p. 113; BFSSNE, X, 23-24 (Maine); PTFLS, X, 146; Neely, Tales and Songs of Southern Illinois, pp. 138-39; Gordon, Folk-Songs of America, p. 69; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 80. British: Greig, Last Leaves, pp. 67-70; Williams, Folk-Songs of the Upper Thames, pp. 204, 206; JFSS, I, 111, 265; II, 15, 80; Journal of the Irish Folk-Song Society, I, 45. A "Barbara Allen." Contributed by Mr. Herbert D. Heckel, of Dale, In­diana. Spencer County. April 3, 1936. 1.     In Scarlet Town where I was born There was a fair maid dwelling, Made every youth cry "wellaway," And her name was Barbara Allen. 2.     All in the merry month of May When the green buds were swelling, Sweet William came from the Western States And courted Barbara Allen.