When waves of English, Irish, and Scottish immigrants settled in the New World during the 18th and 19th centuries, they brought many traditions, including their beloved ballads. Over time, some examples have proven consistently popular, becoming part of the American folk heritage. Among these enduring ballads is Barbara Allan. In the 19th c., a young Abraham Lincoln reportedly knew and sang this tale of unrequited love. Much later, during the 1920s and 1930s, famed country singer Bradley Kincaid featured it on his radio broadcasts from Chicago and Boston. In the 1960s, there was a great resurgence of interest in folk music, particularly in ballads. Singers and political activists Bob Dylan and Joan Baez both recorded the legendary song to wide acclaim. Over the years, countless variations of Barbara Allan have been discovered in the United States, with roughly 100 variations observed in Virginia alone. Indeed, scholars believe that Barbara Allan is the most widespread folk song in the English language.
FYI
Did you know that ...
• Robin Hood was not a champion of the poor but a hardened criminal in early ballads?
• a sermon dating from 1405 reprimands those who would rather listen to a Robin Hood ballad than attend church services?
One of the most enduringly popular and widespread ballad themes is that of the noble outlaw. Robin Hood, the legendary bandit of Sherwood Forest who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, became the hero of a cycle of ballads. The earliest of the surviving Robin Hood ballads date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the same tradition, ballads have immortalized the American outlaw Jesse James as a modern Robin Hood.
Poetic form: ballad
Early English and Scottish balladsare stories told in song, using the language of common people. These ballads were composed orally and passed on to subsequent generations through numerous retellings. The three ballads in this lesson are written versions of folk songs that date back centuries.
Like works of fiction, ballads have characters and settings. Most examples also include certain conventions, such as
• tragic or sensational subject matter
• a simple plot involving a single incident
• dialogue
Additionally, ballads usually feature four-line stanzas, or quatrains,with rhyming second and fourth lines. The lines are heavily accented, and the stanzas contain repetition of words, phrases, and ideas. In the following example from “Barbara Allan,” observe how the patterns of rhyme and repetition help make the lines musically appealing and easy to remember:
O slowly, slowly rase she up,
To the place where he was lyin’,
And when she drew the curtain by,
“Young man, I think you’re dyin’.”
As you read the ballads, note what each reveals about this age-old poetic form and how each reflects medieval values.
Reading strategy: reading ballads
In the ballads you are about to read, certain words of Scottish dialectappear—rase and twa, for example. To help you understand the poems, including examples of dialect, follow these steps:
• Read each ballad through once, using the notes to help you decipher dialect and other difficult passages.
• Paraphraseeach stanza as you read, to make sure you understand what is happening in the story.
• Read the ballad again without referring to the notes.
• Read the ballad aloud, allowing the sounds of the words to help you appreciate the texture of the poems.
As you read, note which strategies you find most useful in helping you understand the ballads.
Barbara Allan
It was in and about the Martinmas time,
When the green leaves were a-fallin’;
That Sir John Graeme in the West Country
Fell in love with Barbara Allan.
He sent his man down through the town
To the place where she was dwellin’:
“O haste and come to my master dear,
Gin ye be Barbara Allan.”
O slowly, slowly rase she up,
To the place where he was lyin’,
And when she drew the curtain by:
“Young man, I think you’re dyin’.”
“O it’s I’m sick, and very, very sick,
And ’tis a’ for Barbara Allan.”
“O the better for me ye sal never be,
Though your heart’s blood were a-spillin’.
“O dinna ye mind, young man,” said she,
“When ye the cups were fillin’,
That ye made the healths gae round and round,
And slighted Barbara Allan?
He turned his face unto the wall,
And death with him was dealin’:
“Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
And be kind to Barbara Allan.”
And slowly, slowly, rase she up,
And slowly, slowly left him;
And sighing said she could not stay,
Since death of life had reft him.
She had not gane a mile but twa,
When she heard the dead-bell knellin’,
And every jow that the dead-bell ga’ed
It cried, “Woe to Barbara Allan!”[62]
“O mother, mother, make my bed,
O make it soft and narrow:
Since my love died for me today,
I’ll die for him tomorrow.”
Sir Patrick Spens
The king sits in Dumferling° town,
Drinking the blude-red wine:
“O where will I get guid sailor,
To sail this ship of mine?”
Up and spake an eldern knight
Sat at the king’s right knee:
“Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That sails upon the sea.”
The king has written a braid° letter,
And signed it wi’ his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens
Was walking on the sand.
The first line that Sir Patrick read,
A loud laugh laughed he;
The next line that Sir Patrick read,
A tear blinded his ee.
“O wha° is this has done this deed,
This ill deed done to me,
To send me out this time o’ the year,
To sail upon the sea!
Make haste, make haste, my merry men all,
Our guid ship sails the morn:”
“O say na sae,° my master dear,
For I fear a deadly storm.
“Late late yestreen I saw the new moon,
Wi’ the auld moon in her arm,
And I fear, I fear, my dear master,
That we will come to harm.”
O our Scots nobles were right laith
To weet their cork-heeled shoone;
But long owre° a’ the play were played,
Their hats they swam aboon.
O long, long may their ladies sit,
Wi’ their fans into their hand,
Or eir they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the land.
O long, long may the ladies stand
Wi’ their gold kems° in their hair,
Waiting for their ain dear lords,
For they’ll see them na mair.
Half o’er, half o’er to Aberdour,
It’s fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies guid Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.
Get Up and Bar the Door
It fell about the Martinmas time,
And a gay time it was then,
When our goodwife got puddings to make,
And she’s boild them in the pan.
The wind sae cauld blew south and north,
And blew into the floor;
Quoth our goodman to our goodwife,
“Gae out and bar the door.”
“My hand is in my hussyfskap,
Goodman, as ye may see;
An it should nae be barrd this hundred year,
It’s no be barrd for me.”
They made a paction tween them twa,
They made it firm and sure,
That the first word whae’er should speak,
Should rise and bar the door.
Then by there came two gentlemen,
At twelve o’clock at night,
And they could neither see house nor hall,
Nor coal nor candle-light.
“Now whether is this a rich man’s house,
Or whether is it a poor?”
But ne’er a word wad ane o’ them speak,
For barring of the door.
And first they ate the white puddings,
And then they ate the black;
Tho muckle thought the goodwife to hersel,
Yet ne’er a word she spake.
Then said the one unto the other,
“Here, man, tak ye my knife;
Do ye tak aff the auld man’s beard,
And I’ll kiss the goodwife.”
“But there’s nae water in the house,
And what shall we do than?”
“What ails ye at the pudding-broo,
That boils into the pan?”
O up then started our goodman,
An angry man was he:
“Will ye kiss my wife before my een,
And scad me wi’ pudding-bree?”
Then up and started our goodwife,
Gied three skips on the floor:
“Goodman, you’ve spoken the foremost word,
Get up and bar the door.”[63]
After Reading
Comprehension: Recall and Interpret
Barbara Allan
1.Why does Barbara Allan reject John Graeme? How would you describe their relationship?
2.What do John Graeme’s dying words reveal about his true feelings for Barbara?
3.What does Barbara Allan ask her mother to do for her? What does her request indicate about her true feelings for John Graeme?
4.Do you think the ballad would be more effective if the writer had included the characters’ thoughts and emotions? Explain why or why not.
5.In your opinion, what elements of the ballad explain its long life and appeal?
Sir Patrick Spens
6.Contrast the two settings mentioned in the ballad. Where is the king? Where is Sir Patrick Spens? How does the contrast help define the two characters?
7.Describe the reaction of Sir Patrick Spens to the king’s letter. What does his reaction indicate about his feelings?
8.What happens to Sir Patrick Spens and the men? What role does the speaker think Fate played in what happens to them?
9. Do you think Sir Patrick did the right thing? Give reasons for your answer, using details from the ballad.
10. Which word do you think best describes Sir Patrick Spens—humble or heroic? Give reasons for your answer.
