JIMMY GROVE AND BARBARA ELLEN
As recorded by The New Christy Minstrels on "Tell Tall Tales! Legends and Nonsense" (1963)

In Scarlet Town, long time ago
There was a fair maid dwellin'
She was the fairest of them all
And her name was Barbara Ellen

All in the merry month of May
When the green buds were swellin'
Then all the boys for miles around
Came to call on Barbara Ellen

Don't want your land, don't want your gold
Nor all the sweet words you're tellin'
My heart belongs to Jimmy Grove
He's comin' home to Barbara Ellen

Don't be a fool; don't waste your life
You know that fortune has denied him
He has no land, he has no gold
You'll have to work and slave beside him

I love him more than words can tell
And it's true love that's more compellin'
I'd rather have my Jimmy Grove
Than all the world, cried Barbara Ellen

And when the war was almost done
They heard the steeple bells a-knellin'
He's gone, he's gone, your Jimmy Grove
They've killed your love, dear Barbara Ellen

Sweet Barbara died of a broken heart
And Jimmy Grove was buried nigh her
And from her grave grew a red, red rose
And from his grave, a fragrant briar

They grew to the top of the old white church
To the very top of the steeple spire
They twined and tied in a true love knot
The red, red rose around the briar

If you have loved with a love that's true
You must believe the tale we're tellin'
True love will last till the end of time
For Jimmy Grove and Barbara Ellen.