Barbara Allen
"Barbara Allen" is described as far and away the most widely collected song in the English language. Samuel Pepys heard it in 1666, and singers in Britain, Ireland and America have kept it going ever since, in hundreds of versions.
- Also known as
- Barbry Allen; Barbary Allen; Bonny Barbara Allan
- Origin
- Scotland or England, 17th century or earlier
- Earliest mention
- Samuel Pepys's diary, 2 January 1666
- Catalogue
- Child ballad 84; Roud 54
- In America
- From around 1836; about 500 traditional recordings exist
The story
A young man lies dying for love of Barbara Allen and sends for her. She comes, slowly, and tells him coldly that he's dying. After he dies she is overcome with grief and dies soon after. In most versions a rose grows from his grave and a briar from hers, and the two twine together in a true lovers' knot.
Versions disagree on why she was cold. In many she is angry because he toasted other girls at the tavern and slighted her. That detail lets singers take either side: some make her cruel, others make her wronged.
History
On 2 January 1666 Samuel Pepys wrote about hearing an actress sing her "little Scotch song of Barbary Allen" at a New Year gathering. Scholars still debate whether it began as a stage song or as a comment on real people. It spread through Britain and Ireland on broadsides and by ear, then crossed the Atlantic. In the Appalachians it became one of the most common ballads of all.
Recordings to start with
- Jean Ritchie (1961), from the Kentucky family tradition
- Joan Baez (1961), the folk-revival favourite
Because every singer's words are a little different, we don't print one "correct" text. Listen to two or three versions side by side to hear how much the story changes.
Playing it
Most traditional singers performed it unaccompanied. If you want to accompany it, a simple G, C and D in 3/4 fits most versions; let the words set the pace rather than a strict beat.
More ballads: The Water Is Wide · all folk songs