Hi,

I don't believe Dolph has any factual information to back up his claim that Barbara Allen "was well known in Colonial America. . ."

And, although it was likely one of the "Songs of the Carolina Charter Colonists (1663-1763)" songs, I believe there is no proof that it was.

The difficulty as pointed out by Lighter is deciding if the print versions- Barbara Allen's Cruelty (before 1790), Bonny Barbara Allen (1740 Ramsay/Oswald) and Percy's "edited" English version (1765) and then the many print versions in the US (Pearl Songster; Forget-Me-Not Songster) - influenced tradition and how much?

To decide the influence, I'll add some of the significant print versions (I've already given the c.1690 broadside). It is my belief that most unique broadsides and print version were taken from tradition (although edited). A good example of a traditional version that was printed is Barbry Allum (Charley Fox, 1863).

Richie