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"The Ballad of Barbara Allen", also known as "Barbara Ellen", "Barb'ry Allen", "Barbriallen", etc. , is a folk song known in dozens of versions. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous It has been classified as Child Ballad 84. The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 Ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants collected by Francis James Child (Roud 54) The author is unknown, but the song may have originated in England, Ireland or Scotland. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.

Joan Baez, Shirley Collins, Doris Day, The Everly Brothers, Texas Gladden, John Travolta, Pete Seeger, Angelo Branduardi (italian version titled "Piano Piano" in 1983's album "Cercando l'oro"), John Jacob Niles, Bob Dylan, Colin Meloy, Thomas Baynes, Michael Hurley, Art Garfunkel, Simon & Garfunkel, Burl Ives, The Grateful Dead, Eddy Arnold, Moses Clear Rock Platt, and many others have recorded the song. Joan Chandos Baez (born January 9, 1941 in Staten Island, New York) an American Folk singer and Songwriter known For the former MPP see Shirley Collins (politician Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935, Hastings Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1922) is an American Singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as The Everly Brothers ( Don Everly, born Isaac Donald Everly February 1 1937 Brownie Muhlenberg County, Kentucky Texas Gladden (1895-1967 was an American Folk singer born in Saltville, Virginia. Peter "Pete" Seeger (born May 3 1919 is an American folk singer political Activist, and a key figure in the mid-20th century American Angelo Branduardi (born February 12, 1950) is an Italian pop singer and composer who scored relevant success in Italy and European countries such as John Jacob Niles (b Louisville, Kentucky, April 28, 1892; d Lexington Kentucky, March 1, 1980) was an Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5 1974) is the lead singer and songwriter for the Portland Oregon folk-rock band The Decemberists Michael Hurley is an American Singer / Guitarist, reportedly born December 20 1941 Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American Singer-songwriter and Actor of Romanian Jewish ancestry Simon & Garfunkel are an American Singer-songwriter duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives ( 14 June 1909 &ndash 14 April 1995) was an Academy Award winning American actor and acclaimed The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Richard Edward Arnold (known as Eddy Arnold) ( May 15, 1918  &ndash May 8, 2008) was an American Country music

Most versions of "Barbara Allen" can be summarised thus: a young man is dying of unrequited love for Barbara Allen; she is called to his deathbed but all she can say is, 'Young man, I think you're dying. ' When he dies, she is stricken with grief and dies soon after. Often, a briar grows from her grave and a rose from his, until they grow together.

Not surprisingly, given that this is a ballad of unknown age and origin, largely passed down orally, the details of the story vary significantly in different printed and recorded versions. The setting is usually in the fictitious Scarlet Town (possibly a pun on the English town of Reading, pronounced "redding"), although London town and Dublin town are also popular. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. The action usually takes place "in the merry month of May" although some versions place it in the autumn. The young man who dies of a broken heart is usually called Sweet William or some slight variant such as young Willie Grove, sweet Willie Graeme. In other versions the name is Sir John Graeme. The version printed below calls him Jemmye Grove. Some longer versions of the ballad explain Barbara's "cruelty" by saying that she (mistakenly) believed that the young man slighted her first.

Johnny Cash re-wrote lyrics to this song and performed it live at Austin City Limits in 1987. Johnny Cash (born J R Cash; February 26 1932 - September 12 2003 was a Grammy Award -winning American country Singer-songwriter. The song was re-named "The Ballad of Barbara". The main theme of the song is about divorce instead of death. The main character was born and raised in a southern town, and eventually moved his way up north to possibly New York or Washington D. C. After having a lot of girls and drinks, he discovers his true love where they get married under a "lofty steeple". However, when the main character offers to take her to see his folks down south, she refuses and decides to "take the city". The main character divorces her and moves back home "much wiser now and older".

The ballad of Barbara Allen was first printed in England in 1780 but had existed in oral versions at least a century before that date. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The first known reference to the song has been found in Samuel Pepys' diary[1] for 1666 where he refers to it as the "little Scotch song 'Barbary Allen'". Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703 was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for The ballad was first printed in the United States in 1836. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Contents

Uses in Popular Culture

The first verse was sung by Porky Pig, in the character of Friar Tuck, in the 1958 Warner Bros. Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros Friar Tuck is a companion to Robin Hood in the legends about that character cartoon "Robin Hood Daffy". Robin Hood Daffy is a 1958 Warner Brothers theatrical Cartoon short part of the Merrie Melodies series directed by Chuck Jones Much of the song is sung throughout the 1951 film classic Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim. Scrooge ( 1951) released as A Christmas Carol in the US, is one of the most well-known film adaptations of Charles Acting career Preferring the stage, Sim made his London debut in Othello in 1930 It is also sung in the 1940 movie, Tom Brown's School Days. It is heard again in the 1958 Yul Brynner film, The Buccaneer, and in an episode of the 1989–91 TV series Bordertown. The Buccaneer is a 1958 film made by Paramount Pictures and shot in Technicolor and VistaVision. In the 2000 film Best in Show, Michael McKean's character sings a verse of this song to his dog over the phone, saying it is the dog's favorite song. Best in Show ( 2000) is a Mockumentary that follows five entrants in a prestigious dog show. John Travolta did a short rendition of the song in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), included on the soundtrack. A Love Song for Bobby Long is a 2004 Independent film based on the novel Off Magazine Street by Ronald Everett Capps The song is also sung in various versions in the 2000 film Songcatcher.

In the stage play Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson and William Berney, as a reference to the influence of English, Irish and Scottish folktales and songs in the Appalachian region, the name of the female lead is Barbara Allen. Dark of the Moon is a dramatic stage play in the vein of Romeo and Juliet set in the Appalachian Mountains in the 1920s The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America.

One version

In Scarlet Town, where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwellin'
Made every youth cry well-a-day!
Her name was Barbara Allen.
All in the merry month of May
When green buds they were swellin',
Young Jeremy Grove on his deathbed lay
For love of Barbara Allen.
He sent his man unto her then,
To the town where she was dwellin'.
"You must come to my master dear,
If your name be Barbara Allen,
For death is printed on his face
And o'er his heart is stealin'.
Then haste away to comfort him,
O lovely Barbara Allen. "
Though death be printed on his face
And o'er his heart be stealin',
Yet little better shall he be
For bonny Barbara Allen.
So slowly, slowly, she came up
And slowly she came nigh him,
And all she said when there she came,
"Young man, I think you're dyin'. "
He turned his face unto her straight
With deadly sorrow sighin'.
"O lovely maid, come pity me;
I'm on my deathbed lyin'. "
"If on your deathbed you do lie
What needs the tale you're tellin'?
I cannot keep you from your death.
Farewell," said Barbara Allen.
He turned his face unto the wall
As deadly pangs he fell in.
"Adieu! Adieu! Adieu to you all!
Adieu to Barbara Allen!"
As she was walking o'er the fields
She heard the bell a-knellin'
And every stroke did seem to say,
"Unworthy Barbara Allen. "
She turned her body 'round about
And spied the corpse a-comin'.
"Lay down, lay down the corpse," she said,
"That I may look upon him. "
With scornful eye she looked down,
Her cheek with laughter swellin',
That all her friends cried out amaine,
"Unworthy Barbara Allen. "
When he was dead and laid in grave
Her heart was struck with sorrow.
"O mother, mother, make my bed
For I shall die tomorrow.
Hard-hearted creature, him to slight
Who loved me so dearly,
O that I had been more kind to him,
When he was live and near me!"
She on her deathbed, as she lay,
Begged to be buried by him
And sore repented of the day
That she did e'er deny him.
"Farewell," she said, "ye virgins all,
And shun the fault I fell in.
Henceforth take warning by the fall
Of cruel Barbara Allen. "

Media

Barbara Allen

A Florida State Prison recording of this song.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

External links

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