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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Hard hearted Barb'ra (H)Ellen
Language: English 
In Scotland I was bred adden born,
In Scotland was e my dwellin;
And theere I coorted a pretty mad,
And her name was Bahbre (H)Ellen.

I coorted her for a month or two,
Thinkin' I should gan her favor;
But never to me did she prove kind,
For all the coort I paid 'er.

Then I sent a servant to er e house
The house that she did dwellin;
Sayhin: 'My master wants te speak with you,
If your name be Bahbre (H)Ellen.'

Aw slowly, slowly she got up,
And slowly she came nigh him;
And all she said, when she came theere:
'Yoong man, I think you're dyin'.'

Then he stretched oat his lily-white arms,
Thinkin' to pull her to him;
She turned her back and went awaa.
Then he cried: 'Hard hearted Bahbre (H)Ellen.'

As she was walkin' in the 'igh churchyard
She heard his death bell tollin';
And every toll it seemed to sa
'Hard-hearted Bahbre (H)Ellen.'

As she was walkin' the streets along
She met his curpse acomin'.
'La doan, la doan this curpse of cla,
That I may gaze epun 'im.'
And e when she saw his lily-white face,
She could not forbeer smilin';
Then her parents cried, they cried and said:
'Hard-hearted Bahbre (H)Ellen.'

She ceried and said: 'O mother dear,
make me a bed both soft and shaller;
For my treeoo love has died tedaa
And I'll die for him temorrer.'

Her mother dear she made her a bed,
Both soft and fit for dyin'.
'For O I reeoo, for O I reeoo,
I reeoo that I denied him.'

Her mother dear, she made her a bed,
She made it both soft and shaller.
She turned her pale white face to the wall
addend death came creepin' on her.

The won was buried in the 'igh churchyard,
And the other in the kwier;
The won sprung up a red rosebud,
And the other a green brier.

Then they greeoo and greeoo to the high church top
And could not get any higher.
And they met and they tied of a treeoo lovers knot
Fower all the wurruld to admiyer.

This folk text was written down by Grainger from the singing of Mr James Hornsby of Lincolnshire. Numerous diacritics have been omitted.


Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs)  [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Hard hearted Barb'ra (H)Ellen", 1906-1914, published 1982 [ tenor, piano ], revised 1946 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 52
Word count: 357

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