Twas in the merry month of May
When rosebuds were a swellin'
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbrie Allen
He sent his servant to the town
The town where she was dwellin'
Said my master's sick and he sent for you
If ye name be Barbrie Allen
Then slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she went nigh him;
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man I think you're dyin'."
Oh, yes I'm sick, I'm very sick
I hear the death wind howling
No better, no better I never shall be
If I can't have Barbrie Allen
I can't forgive that jealous night
Down at the Lockwood Tavern
You drank and danced with the ladies there
And you slighted Barbrie Allen
Instrumentaal
She was on her long way home
She saw the hearse a comin'
Lay down, lay down your corpse of clay
That I may look upon him
The more she looked, the more she moaned
'Til she fell to the ground in sorrow.
Sweet William died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow.
They buried her in the old church yard
And William's grave was nigh her.
On William's grave there grew a red rose
On Barbara's grave a briar
They grew and grew up the old church wall
'Til they could grow no higher
They lapped and tied in a true love knot
The rose wrapped 'round the briar
When rosebuds were a swellin'
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbrie Allen
He sent his servant to the town
The town where she was dwellin'
Said my master's sick and he sent for you
If ye name be Barbrie Allen
Then slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she went nigh him;
And all she said when she got there,
"Young man I think you're dyin'."
Oh, yes I'm sick, I'm very sick
I hear the death wind howling
No better, no better I never shall be
If I can't have Barbrie Allen
I can't forgive that jealous night
Down at the Lockwood Tavern
You drank and danced with the ladies there
And you slighted Barbrie Allen
Instrumentaal
She was on her long way home
She saw the hearse a comin'
Lay down, lay down your corpse of clay
That I may look upon him
The more she looked, the more she moaned
'Til she fell to the ground in sorrow.
Sweet William died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow.
They buried her in the old church yard
And William's grave was nigh her.
On William's grave there grew a red rose
On Barbara's grave a briar
They grew and grew up the old church wall
'Til they could grow no higher
They lapped and tied in a true love knot
The rose wrapped 'round the briar