In Scarlet Town where I was born
There was a fair maid dwellin'
Made every youth cry "well-a-day,"
Her name was Barbara Allen.
All in the merry month of May
When green buds they were swellin'
Young Willie Grove on his death-bed lay
For love of Barbara Allen --
to the town where he was dwellin'
Haste ye come to my master's call
If your name be Barbara Allen
So slowly, slowly got she up
And slowly she drew nigh him--
And all she said when there she came
"Young man, I think you're dying."
He turned his face unto the wall
And death was drawing nigh him--
Goodbye, goodbye to dear friends all
Be kind to Bar'bra Allen --
Sweet William's grave was nigh hers
And from his grave grew a red red rose
From hers a cruel briar.
Until they could grow no higher,
And there they twined in a true love's knot --
The red, red rose and the briar.
The background music on this site is "Barbara Allen," an old English or Scottish ballad first recorded in 1665, and is perhaps older. Please visit the following website to get the info on this wonderful Barry Taylor arrangement, as well as the complete lyrics, which I have excerpted here. The version you are listening to now, and one other version, are available for download on this site. The hyperlink is Barbara Allen.
The model images on this page are taken from a really excellent bikini and pin-up site. I found no nudity that is objectionable on this site. I have written the webmaster asking for permission to use three or four of his photos in return for providing him a link. This individual has probably the best collection of swimsuit models I've seen yet on the web. I invite you to check out this bikini photo collection. I believe this individual collected the photos from far and wide on the net, and is not really a copyright owner. However, I don't like to just rip people off without acknowledgement either. The individual has hundreds of photos there to see.
The woman Barbara Allen in this ballad is a femme fatale. A "fatal beauty." Her beauty leads men to their death. A similar theme is found in Keat's poem, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci." In this song Barbara laments of her coldness to William and herself dies of a broken heart. I wish there were names to the models on this page, but there was no attempt to track names at the source (cited above). These young women (shown above) can truly be said to be among the world's most beautiful women. I'm sure any of them COULD be a heartbreaker if she wanted to be. However, most models are really nice people and are not into that. A few are, I suppose.
Thanks to visitor "Rak" for identifying the second model from the top as Patricia Ford!
