Classic Poem

1.

" In Scotland was I bred and born; "
In Yorkshire was my dwelling;
And there I fell in love with a pretty fair maid,
And her name was Barbara Ellen.

2.

" I sent a boy down to her house,
To the house that she did dwell in;
I sent him to her father's house.
Her name was Barbara Ellen. "

3.

" Look up, look up at my bed-head,
You'll see a napkin hanging;
In that you'll find a gold watch and chain,
And that's for Barbara Ellen.

4.

" Look down, look down at my bed-foot,
You'll see a trunk a-standing;
It's full of gold and jewelry,
And that's for Barbara Ellen.

5.

" Look down, look down at my bed-side,
You'll see a bowl o'erflowing;
And in that bowl there's my heart's blood,
That's shed for Barbara Ellen. "

6.

So slowly she put on her clothes;
So slowly she went walking;
So slowly, as she crossed the field,
She met the corpse a-coming.

7.

" Oh, lay him down, oh, lay him down,
That I may gaze upon him. "
The more she gazed, and still she gazed,
She could not keep from smiling.

8.

The young men cried out, " Oh fie! for shame
Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen!
There's many a wealthy squire died
For cruel Barbara Ellen. "

9.

She went down into yonder vale;
She could hear the dead-bell's knelling,
And every toll it seemed to say,
" Hard-hearted Barbara Ellen! "

10.

" Oh, father, father! dig my grave,
And dig it deep and narrow;
For a young man died for me to-day,
I'll die for him to-morrow. "

11.

On the one was buried a red rose bud,
On the other, a sweet brier;
And they grew and they grew to the church-steeple top,
Till they could grow no higher.
There they twined in a true-lover's knot,
For all true lovers to admire.