All in the merry month of May
When all things they were bloomin'
Sweet William came from the Western States
And courted Barb'ry Allen
It was all in the month of June
When the green buds they were fallin'
Sweet William on his death-bed lay
For the love of Barb'ry Allen
He sent his servant to the town
Where Barb'ry was a-dwellin'
My master is sick and sends for you
If your name be Barb'ry Allen
So slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she came nigh him
And all she said when she got there:
Young man, I think you're dying
O yes, I'm sick, and very sick
And death is on me dwellin'
No better, no better I never will be
If I can't have Barb'ry Allen
O yes, you're sick, and very sick
And death is on you dwellin'
No better, no better you never will be
For you can't have Barb'ry Allen
Don't you remember in yonder town
When we were at the tavern
You gave a health to the ladies all 'round
And slighted Barb'ry Allen
O yes, I remember in yonder town
In yonder town a-drinkin'
I gave a health to the ladies all 'round
But my heart to Barb'ry Allen
As she was on her high way home
She spied his corpse a-comin'
Lay down, lay down that corpse of clay
That I may look upon him
The more she looked, the more she mourned
Till she fell to the ground a-cryin'
Saying - Take me up and carry me home
For I am now a-dyin'
She was buried in the old church-yard
And he was buried nigh her
On William's grave there grew a red rose
And on Barb'ry's grew a green briar
They grew to the top of the old church wall
Till they could not grow any higher
They lapped and they tied in a true lover's knot
And the rose grew round the briar