All in the merry month of May
When green buds all are swellin'
Sweet William on his deathbed lay for love of Barbara Allen
He sent his servant to the town
The place where she did dwell in Saying, 'Master dear has sent me here if your name be Barbara Allen.'
Then slowly, slowly she got up and slowly she went to him
And all she said when there she came was, 'Young man, I think you’re dying
'Don't you remember the other night when we were in the tavern?
You drank a toast to the ladies there and slighted Barbara Allen.'
He turned his face unto the wall
He turned his back upon her
'Adieu, adieu, to all my friends
And be kind, be kind to Barbara Allen.'
As she was wandering on the fields she heard the death bell knellin'
And every note, it seemed to say
'Hard-hearted Barbara Allen!'
The more it tolled the more she grieved
She bursted out a-crying
'Oh, pick me up and carry me home
I fear that I am dying.'
They buried Willy in the old church yard and Barbara in the new one
And from William’s grave, there grew a rose, from Barbara’s, a green briar
They grew and grew in the old church yard
Till they could grow no higher
And there they tied in a true lover’s knot
The red rose and the briar