'Twas in the merry month of May
When green buds were a-swellin'
Sweet William on his deathbed lay
For the love of Barbriallen
He sent his servant to the town
The place where she did dwell in
Saying "Master dear has sent me here
If your name be Barbriallen"
Then slowly, slowly she got up
And slowly she went to him
And all she said when she got there
"Young man, I think you're dyin'"
"Oh, don't you remember the other day
When we were in the tavern
You drank your health to the ladies there
And you smited Barbriallen"
He turned his face unto the wall
He turned his back upon her
"Adieu, adieu to all my friends;
Be kind to Barbriallen"
She looked to the east, she looked to the west
She saw his corpse a-comin'
"Oh put him down for me," she cried,
"That I may gaze upon him"
The more she looked, the more she grieved
She bursted out in cryin'
"Oh, pick me up and carry me home
For I feel like I am dyin'"
They buried sweet Willie in the old church yard
And Barbra in the new one
From Willie's grave, there grew a rose
From Barbra's, a green briar
They grew and they grew on the old church wall
And could not grow no higher
And there they tied in a true lover's knot
The rose bush and the briar
