Allen, Barbara, is the central character in an old British ballad. As with all true ballads, more than one version exists. In most versions, Allen is called to the bedside of a dying man who loves her. She refuses to comfort him, but soon after his death, Allen regrets her lack of pity and dies of remorse. Like all traditional ballads, the focus is on the climax of the action and little is disclosed about the circumstances leading up to it.
A ballad about Allen was first printed in England in 1780, but had existed in oral versions at least 100 years before that date. It was first printed in the United States in 1836 and became very popular.
