BARBARA ALLEN
(Traditional)

D                          A7          D

T'was in the merry month of May

                      Bm  G   A7 

When flowers were a bloomin',

          G                     D

Sweet William on his death-bed lay

            Em       A7        D

For the love of Barbara Allen.

He sent his servant to the town 

To the place where she was dwellin',

Sayin', "You must come to my master dear,

If your name be Barb'ry Allen.



Slowly, slowly she got up,

And slowly she went nigh him,

And all she said when she got there,

"Young man, I think you're dying."

Oh, yes, I'm sick and very low,

And death is on me dwellin',

No better shall I ever be

If I don't get Barbara Allen."

Don't you remember the other day

When you were in the tavern,

I toasted all the ladies there

And slighted Barbara Allen?"     

"Oh, yes, I remember the other day

When we were in the Tavern,

I toasted all the ladies there,

Gave my love to Barbara Allen."

He turned his pale face to the wall,

And death was on him dwellin',

"Adieu, Adieu, my kind friends all

Be kind to Barbara Allen."

As she was walkin' through the fields,

She heard the death bells knelling

And every toll they seemed to say

"Hard-hearted Barbara Allen."                      

She looked east, she looked west,

She saw his corpse a-comin'

"Lay down, lay down the corpse," she said,

"And let me gaze upon him."

"O mother, mother make my bed,

O make it long and narrow,

Sweet William died for me today,

I'll die for him tomorrow."                 

Sweet William died on a Saturday night,

And Barbara died on Sunday,

Her mother died for the love of both,

And was buried Easter Monday.

They buried  Willie in the old church yard

And Barbara there anigh him,

And out of his grave grew a red, red rose,

And out of hers, a briar.

They grew and grew in the old churchyard,

Till they couldn't grow no higher,

They lapped and tied in a true love's knot.

The rose ran around the briar.

This song is most lovingly dedicated to a precious friend,
Maeve Silvermoon.