TY lighter,

I'm going back to the opening stanzas with a quote from "Barbara Allen" in Tradition and in Print- Riley 1957:

There are, besides these texts which are obviously from printed versions, just six texts which begin with the autumn setting. Three of these are from North Carollna (Brown Z, AA, DD), two from Virginia. (Davia G, BB), and one from Georgia (Morris A). These texts show some relationship with other traditional texts which have a spring setting. Three of these (Brown Z, AA, and Davis G) are obviously related texts, Brown Z begins.

It was the fall season of the year
The yellow leaves were falling.
Sweet William he was taken sick
For the love of Barbara Ellen.

The name is "Barbara Allan" in Davis G.

All three texts have Barbara, a reproach, and William's justification is in Davis G and Brown AA. In Davis G the insult occurs in "yonders town," and in Brown A it is "last Tuesday night." Both phrases occur in other texts. The curtain around the bed is retained from Ramsay's or is superimposed. Barbara weeps when she sees the corpse. In Brown Z and AA, Barbara. asks her rather to dig her grave and all end with the rose-brier motif.

Brown DD is deseribed by Hudson as "a full normal text with autumn setting." It has thirteen stanzas and the girl is "Barbara Ellen." The remaining text (Davis BB) has some interesting variations but it is obviously contaminated by Percy's "English" version. It begins:

'Twas late-lie, late-lie in the fall,
'Twas when the leaves were dying,
That Johnny from the back countree
Fall in love with Barbara Allen.

[Richie]