Barbara Ellen
Composer:
Genre: World / Folk
Decade: before 1923
Submitted by: Russell Ambrose
Description:
"The Ballad of Barbara Allen", also known as "Barbara Ellen," "Barbara Allan," "Barb`ry Allen," "Barbriallen," etc., is a folk song known in dozens of versions. It has been classified as Child Ballad 84 and Roud 54. The author is unknown, but the song may have originated in England or Scotland.[1] The earliest known mention of the song is in Samuel Pepys` diary [2] for January 2. 1666 (ed. Robert Latham & William Matthews, Vol. vii, London: [1972], p. 1.) where he refers to the "little Scotch song of `Barbary Allen`".
by: Russell Ambrose