Those examples of Barbara Allen (Child Ballad #84) at the end of the post were not placed there by me, but added anonymously by someone on the Mudcat editing team. They are getting intrusive, even added a title - not of my choice - to lyrics I wrote and posted. In this case, the editor should have identified him/her-self as having supplimented the post.

Yes, I learned the song in my schooldays from recordings by Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, but my first choice for an example would be Jean Ritchie recording as an example

often the merry month of May is in the second verse rather than at the beginning
Clifton Hicks (with banjo)
Tom Rush (lush guitar playing)

Note the words of the broadsheet used to illustrate the Tom Rush video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSX6Ts-OBXM (clickable link above).
Sarah Makem sang a version in which the story is placed at Michaelmas time, but the merry month of May is a more common setting for the story. Maybe not in Ireland; Elizabeth Cronin (recorded by Jean Ritchie on a song-collecting trip) just sang early, early in the spring. Tom Lenihan puts the song in the first person and sets it in Ireland "In Dublin town I was brought up
As Limerick being my dwelling;" No time of year is mentioned, he courted Barbara "For twelve long months."