the nationalist trend prompting a belief in an English
Church. In particular, Askew’s comparison of faith to a
beset ship (stanza 9) recalls the Protestant view that the
church (ship) needed reforms (storms) to restore it to
the true faith (anchor).
FURTHER READING
Beilin, Elaine, ed. The Examinations of Anne Askew. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996.
McQuade, Paula. “ ‘Except that they had offended the Lawe’:
Gender and Jurisprudence in The Examinations of Anne
Askew.” Literature & History 3, no. 2 (1994): 1–14.
R. L. Smith
“BARBARA ALLEN” (“BARBARA ALLAN”)
ANONYMOUS (ca. 14th century) Many versions of
this very popular folk BALLAD exist under a few differ-
ent titles. One source says that there are 92 variations,
but they all share a common storyline: Barbara Allen is
called to deathbed of a young man who is dying of love
for her. She leaves him, and on her way home she hears
the bell tolling his death. In most, but not all, versions,
she then herself dies of love, as though in this way she
and he are at last united.
The vitality of the ballad over the centuries suggests
the romantic power of the notion that men and women
will really die for love (although few of them do); this
is an extension of the LOVESICKNESS ideal. Like most
other folk ballads, the tale’s grim climax is presented
with little or no exposition or buildup.
The song certainly has its roots before 1600,
although the fi rst explicit reference of it is found in
Samuel Pepys’ diary in 1666. The variety of locations
named (Scarlet Town, the West Country, and Reading
Town, among others), the variety of names given the
dying man (Sir John Graeme, Jemmy Grove, Willie
Grove, etc.), and the variety of reactions to the situa-
tion by Barbara Allen suggest the revisionist workings
of a long oral tradition.
Three commonly studied versions come from Fran-
cis Child’s The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, and
the varying titles show different emphases: “Bonny
Barbara Allan,” “Barbara Allen’s Cruelty,” and “Barbara
Allan,” although all convey a sense of bleakness.
In the fi rst version, “Bonny Barbara Allen,” the set-
ting is “the west country” in autumn—“in and about
the Martinmas time / when the green leaves were a
falling” (ll. 1–2). Young Sir John Graeme seems to
have been cursed by Barbara, who, when called to his
bedside, reproaches him for slighting her when toast-
ing others. It is not at all clear what she has done to
him, or whether this is just Divine Providence dealing
rough justice, but “he turnd his face unto the wall”
and dies (ll. 23–24). Barbara rises “slowly, slowly,”
returns home, and announces to her mother, “My
love has died for me to-day, I’ll die for him to-mor-
row” (ll. 39–40).
In “Barbara Allen’s Cruelty,” the setting is Scarlet
Town in “the merry month of May” (l. 5). When Bar-
bara is called to the unnamed young man’s deathbed,
she shows no sympathy for him, saying, “If on your
death-bed you be lying, / What is that to Barbara Allen”
(ll. 30–31). The ringing death knell seems to mock
Barbara Allen, calling her unworthy, and when she
sees the young man’s corpse, she laughs. However, this
reaction must have indicated some very emotional
reaction to his death, for she dies herself shortly there-
after, repenting that she “did deny him” (l. 63).
“Lammas time / When the woods grow green and
yellow” (ll. 1–2) is the setting for “Barbara Allan.” The
unnamed “wooer” comes “out of the West” and unlike
the other versions, he actively woos Barbara for three
full stanzas (2–4), asking her to come see his fi elds and
boats. She apparently rejects his offers, and stanza 5
fi nds him dying in bed. He confesses he is dying “all
for the love of thee, My bonny Barbara Allan” (ll. 36–
37). Her only remark is: “Och hone, och hone, He’s
dead and gone, / For the love of Barbara Allan!” (ll.
40–41). Not clearly regretful, there is no indication
that she will die of lovesickness herself.
See also MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS AND BALLADS.
FURTHER READING
Kolinski, Mieczyslaw. “ ‘Barbara Allen’: Tonal Versus
Melodic Structure.” Ethnomusicology 12 (1968): 1–73,
208–218.
McCarthy William, Bernard. “ ‘Barbara Allen’ and ‘The
Gypsy Laddie’: Single Rhyme Ballads in the Child Cor-
pus.” In The Flowering Thorn: International Ballad Studies,
edited by Thomas A. McKean, 143–154. Logan: Utah
State University Press, 2003.
Eric P. Furuseth72 “BARBARA ALLEN”