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Barbara Allen in Tradition and in Print PDF

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LLooyyoollaa UUnniivveerrssiittyy CChhiiccaaggoo LLooyyoollaa eeCCoommmmoonnss Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1957 BBaarrbbaarraa AAlllleenn iinn TTrraaddiittiioonn aanndd iinn PPrriinntt Mary Athanasius Riley Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Riley, Mary Athanasius, "Barbara Allen in Tradition and in Print " (1957). Master's Theses. 1436. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/1436 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1957 Mary Athanasius Riley "BAHBARA ALLFn" IN TFUJ)ITION .AND IN PRIllT • by Sister Ma.ry Athtmaslua Riley. B.V.11. It. Thesis Submitted to the Fs,oulty of .the Gra.duate School of Loyo1a U'n1vers1ty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of )rlaster of Arts January 1957 :tIFF.: Sister ?'ts,ry Athnnasius Riley. B. V. M., was born in E,,:1ra., Iowa. • February 3, 1909. She W8,S gra.o..uD,ted from Oreston Hl~h School, Oreston, low!!, ;,1(l.Y, 1927, and. from 't{rundeleln College, Ohici':'I,Go, Illinois, June, 1932 ~.vlth the degree of B~chelor of' Arts. The a,11tho!' ent.ered the novitiate of the Sistere of' Charity of t,he Blessed Virgin i,fie.,ry, Dubuque, Ioyta in Septembt1l", 193L!.. Since her profession ahe has taught chiefly English, in the schools of her community, in Colorado, Iowa, California, I'iebrnskn. and. Illinois. She begE!.n her grs(lu.Ate studies at Loyola University in the of 1952. s~~mer PerloCllcnls in whieh the a.uthorta poems nppet:tr In- c11.1('1& Con'H!l.On't1eab, £l!2~r*~, B.nd !tvrlce.l~. T"ro of her poems ht~.ve been reprinted in anthologies: "Truth and Beaut~r f» in lmthoJ.ot;y .2t f~AZine Y!fll for 1938-1942 edited by Alan Pe~ter, New York, 191!2; tmd ttMed.lts,tion on Time, 1n Joyce Ailmer'ra U A.nth()j.Of;;Y 2.t 21};tt1011c l:get~h ecli ted by Janos E. Tobin, :New York, 111 PREFACE The study of a. bo.llct<:1 a.s prolific as "Barbara, Allen" involves the handling of a. gran.ter bulk of material tlu;m would ordinnril;r be dealt with in master' e thesis. Conclusions, to $, be vnlid must be bt;tsed.on an investigation of all Etvails.ble t material. Some deviations from the usual methods of handling ma,terial in the field of English hnve been found expedient because of the special nature of the problem. the practice used in other ballad studies. Follo~tinb v~u·j.e"nts are referred to by the name of the editor nnd the let ter used by him to desie.,ne,te the text, or a. letter wl11 1)6 ns sit:nec1 by the author in the al)sence of such designe.tlon. These references w11l be pl!,l,ced in the text. thus dispensinG ",1th foot notes for each reference. 8pec1.al thanks I!)\,re d.ue to Dr. Nev1l1e for her !'i~,rle helpful interest in this project. lv TAPU: 0 F conTENTS Chnpter Page I" INTRODUCTION"",..........." • .. • .. • .. .. 1 Antiquarian interest in the bB.llad exempl1t'led by Pepys--Rome.ntl0 interest exemplified by Gold ... smith. ..... Bypaths 1n the h1story of the ballad- Theories about the ballad--Previous studies- Statement of objectives. II. "BARBARA ALLEN" AS SEEN BY THE CRITICS AND BY THE PEOPLE • .. • • • .. " .. .. .. 13 I " .. .. .. • " • .. • .. \fide dissemlne.tlon-Sce.rcity of valid critioism- Impressionistic qua.lity of much cr1ticism of the ballad--Te.stlmony of be,l1nd· a populari ty--Reaaons for popularlty--Furtber justifioation of the study. III. ttBARBAHA ALLF,f.{" IN PRIN'r .. .. •• " • .. ,. .. .. .. .. 40 HIstory of the ballad in prlnt--Demonstration of the prior1ty of the "English" verslon--Crit leal opinion a.bout rela.tionship of Ji:ngliah and. Scottish ballnds. ... ,.. . Ja.mea Oswald. the poss1ble author of the "Scotch" veralon--The ballad 1n brondslc1.es .... -Sie;n.1f'1co.l1t printed taxts of the ballad. IV. THE VARIANTS OF' "BARBARA ALLEN" 71 !II • .. !II • • • • TradItional texts closely related to print- Tabulation of oharactel"lstlcs of the texts unrelated to prlnt--SUmrnary or results of tabulatlon--Comparlson of texts given by rnem b$rs of' the SflJlle fe.rnl1y and from same 100alit y " V,. MINOR VARIATIONS IN TH!: BALLAD 106 !II • • • • !II • .. Varintions in word,lng discussed in detail with t examples--Demonstra.tlon of possible priority of v vi n8.rIl.f1 I";arbnra It':11en--Chtl!''s,ctcrist1cs borrowt:ld from other of contra,dictions" b~11t"c1Q--l~;ti VI. CONCLUSION 162 it .... ." .... • • • " " " " " • " • " The universal t:lsteem of. the ballad unquestloned.- * Hendren S Guess answered--The ba.llat1 as evidence of folk preference--Separa.tlon of pr1nt ane 11v ins trad1t1on. .. -Pred1ctlon for the future of the b!>,,11ad. • . . . . PIBLIOGRAPHY " " " " " " " • •• • « • " " " a. " C!IAPTEn I 'l'he foundinG of the Societ.y of Antiqu!u':'16s in 1572 \,{8.S the culmin(ltion of the incres.sine preoccupp,tion with the pnst ':,11ic11 "ms to continue to crow crcet1y in scope durinc the next lIustvcdt believes thc,t PepJrs· interest in popule.r vlas l(',reely due to this preoccupB,tlon with t),ntic;ui tics. ~~nllnds in 1666 is certainly the ;;lOst quoted of his COl7Enents D,n(: is peculio.r1y lntercstir.c from our !)opular point of view. u3 It Hustvedt vfOuld plnce PE'mvs "on the borderlnnd tet'>1elim the h1s- ,,," .1 4 torian nne1 t"'f n::lt:t c:up,rlen u in his cnt[m8ins~:1 for the l'(!.11n(1, • The second reference to the l'a11ad occurs in 1759 r;ihen GolctSr:1ith pu1-::1ished tlje first of the impressionistic COnlL"l1Cnts on 1 Slcnrc1 ;'crnhB.rd Hustvcdt. D~11D.d Crltlcimn in nccnc;in",vj.p, and Grcgt durin,'"": Century, I~rltain ~ E~Fhteenth London, 1916, 36. 2 Se-muel Pep~'s. The Diary Qf Snmuel Penys. eel. Henry ley-, London 1898 tV, 175. ~:':. V.rl1E~e,t t 3 Huotvedt, raIle-a Criticism, 36. 4 1.l1.Q... 1 S "Barbara Allen" which hnve ohnre"oterized l"eferenoes to it since .. ~ The fe.ot tl'18.t Goldsnlth beoa.rne aoquainted with Percy durinG the 6 preoed1nG yetlr ma,y throw some l1r;ht on Gold.$m1th· 8 reoollection. However, his comment antedates Percy· s 1l§~1q1Jii§ by e1x years. We do not know 'tlha,t version of the balled wa.$ kno'tm to Pepys under the title ttBa.rbary Allen," or to Goldsmith as It~rhe Cru,elty of Bs.rbE:".ra. Allen. The latter title resembles the broa.c1. tt side tltle ftBr:.trba.ra Allen' sCruelty."1 The problem of determining the time anci, pln.ce of the origin of this ballad 1s difficult if not imposs1ble, but oome fe.cts be assumed. 'rhere is strong presu.n:rptive 9v1(;'ence that C(L"l tlBal"bnra Allentt oric1nated. in the British Isles, for althOUGh it 1s the !:'lost prolific balla.Q. 1.n most parts of the E:n(,11r1h-epen.king vlorld, no trace of it can be fo'tmd in any other langue.ge e,.:cept 8 for a. fe,,, lc.te li tero.ry tra.nala.tions mentioned by Child" 5 Oliver C!'olc1emlth, "Ha.ppiness, In n. Grec.t Has,sure, Dependant on Constitution," The :Bee, II, October 13. 1759,t; 51-52: The, ~ .Q.f Ol1ver 99Jedgmil::b. ed. J .\'l.!~. Gibbs, London.lo84-1D86 IIt~ 7 See Cha.pter III of this thesis for a discussion of printed versions of the ballt!,d. 8 torn.ncis James Child, The Enp;11gb ~ Scottl§h PODulGr. B9vJ.l~~1. NOli York, 1886, II, 279. 3 The origin of the ballad is 1::ut one aspect of this study, however, for as C" Alphonso Smith has 80tl:; pointed out, there is no standard version of a ballad. The surviving ballads are not a.Irend;;, made cut are in the making. As long as a ballad circulates by oral tr~nsmlssion it is alwB.ys in process of making or remaking. The first version, if we could cs,tch it hot from the lips of the composing throng;, would not through mere priority, one wrli t more J t'€ authentic than the IB.test version, provided the la.test 9 version was also the product of the people. In the same vein. Hustvedt remarks that A ~Al1p~ "ts not stifled out by the mere circumstance of being put down on paper. tfhe folk ma.y continue to recite 1 t; the student and the reader gain the opportunity of knowing it as 1 t at the 1 twas WB.S ~noment HIO recorded 1n writing. If the printed text could a.lwa,y s be considered a record of the t'a.llad as it was at the moment of printing, the study of ballads would be simpler. However, it is a commonplace that many recorded versions have been changed to suit the taste of their edltore. Hustvedt says thn.t early nineteenth century editors 9 C. Alphonso Smith, "Ballflds Surviv1ne" in the United States," l\lusict\l.l (:'kuarterly, London. 1916, II, 120. 10 S1p;urd:~ernhard Hustvedt, 1:el18.0 Fooks ~ ?o.llad lifn, Camtridge Ma.ssacbuset ts, 1930, 233. J from Scott Ja.mieson down "were more or l€ss thorouGhl:,' com- td1d mltted to the principle of shl=l.p1nc s., text &.ccorclnr; to their own tl11 devices. This reshaping may indeed have produced better poetry 'tut in the process the true ballad has been obscured. Such edited balla.ds have frequently reentered trad! tion in the1r altered form, In Chapter IV, I shall compare traditional texts with the printed texts to discover the extent of the influence of print on the oral tradition of this ballad. Clues to the history of this ballad lead to a variety of 1nteresting bypa,the. Dolph says that the song was well known in Colonltl1,l k'nerica and that the tune was borrowed for ttSere:eant Ohampa, a long ballad a.bout an unsucoessful attempt to k1dns,p It - 12 General Benedict Arnold., Dorothy Scarborough mentions a, song on the assasslns.tion of Governor Willla,m Goebel of Kentucky, com .,'3 posed by a. mountaineer to the tune of "Ba.rba.ra Allen • A para.- phrs"se of the first four verses, "11"'1 t ten in 1752 by Slr Robert 11 Hustvedt, Ballad Crttic1sm, 11. 12 Edward Arthur Dolph, Sound Orf! New York, 1949, 49. 13 Dorothy Scarborough, Song Ce.t C1ler in .!Jl§. Southern lviountain§. New York, 1937. 83.

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Antiquarian interest in the bB.llad exempl1t'led . Q. 1.n most parts of the E:n(,11r1h-epen.king vlorld, no trace of it the la.test version was also the product of the people. In the same vein. Hustvedt .. Allen" bec~tuse "everyone knows thtlt. u12 degrees of skill in sinDing and plucking the gui
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