Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/491

 ANONYMOUS

Barbara Allen's Cruelty

IN Scarlet town, where I was born, There was a fair maid dwellin', Made every youth cry Well-a-way! Her name was Barbara Allen.

All in the merry month of May,

When green buds they were swellin',

Young Jemmy Grove on his death-bed lay, For love of Barbara Allen.

He sent his man in to her then,

To the town where she was dwellin',

'O haste and come to my master dear, If your name be Barbara Allen.'

So slowly, slowly rase she up, And slowly she came nigh him,

And when she drew the curtain by 'Young man, I think you're dyinV

'O it 's I am sick and very very sick,

And it 's all for Barbara Allen.' 'O the better for me ye'se never be,

Tho' your heart's blood were a-spillin''

'O dinna ye mind, young man,' says she, 'When the red wine ye were filhn',

That ye made the healths go round and round, And slighted Barbara Allen ? '

He turn'd his face unto the wall, And death was with him dealin':

'Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all, And be kind to Barbara Allen!'

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