Scarborough Fair (ballad)

An arrangement of the first verse of Scarborough Fair

"Scarborough Fair" is a traditional English ballad. This song dates back to late medieval times, when the seaside resort of Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. It was host to a huge forty-five day trading event, starting August 15, which was exceptionally long for a fair in those times. People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to engage in business.

However, historians have said that "Scarborough Fair" is actually a traditional Scottish ballad. The song itself is a song about the Plague, and the man who misses the woman misses her because she was taken by the Plague. The reference to rosemary in particular is key, because that plant was believed to protect against the Plague.

The traditional 'Scarborough Fair' no longer exists but a number of low key celebrations take place every September to mark the original event.

The song is believed to have originated in the 16th or 17th century, and may have been adapted from an older ballad entitled "The Elfin Knight" (Child Ballad No. 2). As bards carried the song from one town to the next it was adapted, modified, and rewritten to the point that dozens of verses exist for the song, although only a few are typically sung.

The song tells the tale of a young man, jilted by his lover, who jokingly tells the listener to ask her to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as knitting him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she completes these tasks he will take her back. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt once he has finished.

Lyrics

Following is one version of the song, arranged as a duet:

BOTH

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me to one who lives there,
For she once was a true love of mine.

MAN

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without no seam nor fine needlework,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never sprung water nor rain ever fell,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.

Ask her to do me this courtesy,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And ask for a like favour from me,
And then she'll be a true love of mine.

BOTH

Have you been to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me from one who lives there,
For he once was a true love of mine.

WOMAN

Ask him to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Between the salt water and the sea-sand,
For then he'll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to plough it with a sheep's horn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And sow it all over with one peppercorn,
For then he'll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And gather it up with a rope made of heather,
For then he'll be a true love of mine.

When he has done and finished his work,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Ask him to come for his cambric shirt,
For then he'll be a true love of mine.

BOTH

If you say that you can't, then I shall reply,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Oh, Let me know that at least you will try,
Or you'll never be a true love of mine.

Love imposes impossible tasks,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
But none more than any heart would ask,
I must know you're a true love of mine.

Explanation of Symbolism

The refrain of "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme", though obscure to modern listeners, is full of symbolism. Parsley, used to this day as a digestive aid, was said to take away the bitterness, and medieval doctors took this in a spiritual sense as well. Sage has been known to symbolize strength for thousands of years. Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance, and the custom of a bride wearing twigs of rosemary in her hair is still practiced in England and several other European countries today. Thyme symbolizes courage, and at the time this song was written, knights would often wear images of thyme on their shields when they went to combat. The speaker in the song, by mentioning these four herbs, wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and paradoxically courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can.

Another theory behind the herbs mentioned in the song considers the magical significance of the herbs. The herbs mentioned in the refrain (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) are all known to have been closely associated with death and as charms against the evil eye. The characters in The Elfin Knight (of which Scarborough Fair is a version) are a demon and a maid. The demon sets impossible tasks and the maid's replies determine whether she will fall into his clutches or not. Francis Child believed that elf to be an interloper from another ballad Lady Isobel and the Elf Knight and that he should rightly be mortal, but as Ann Gilchrist points out "why the use of the herb refrain except as an indication of something more than mortal combat?" Sir Walter Scott in his notes on Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border recalled hearing a ballad of "a fiend... paying his addresses to a maid but being disconcerted by the holy herbs she wore in her bosom" and Lucy Broadwood goes so far as to suggest that the refrain might be the survival of an incantation against such a suitor.

Simon and Garfunkel version

The arrangement made famous by Simon and Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair/Canticle originated in the late 19th century. Paul Simon learned it in 1965 in London from Martin Carthy and set it in counterpoint with Canticle, a reworking of Simon's 1963 song The Side Of a Hill with new, anti-war lyrics. It was the title track of the 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and was released as a single after featuring on the soundtrack to The Graduate in 1968. The copyright credited only Simon and Garfunkel as the authors, causing ill-feeling on the part of Carthy, who felt the "traditional" source should have been credited. This rift remained until Simon invited Carthy to duet the song with him at a London concert in 2000. (Several years prior to Simon's learning the song, Bob Dylan borrowed the melody and several lines from Carthy's arrangement to create his "Girl from the North Country," which appeared on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.)

Other Artists

Some people know the version of this song done by Sarah Brightman. Though she omits most of the lyrics that are given above, the lyrics that are in her song are reproduced here accurately. Other modern artists who have performed the song include but are not limited to: Vicky Leandros (who also recorded a French, German and Greek version), Nana Mouskouri, Queensryche, Martin Carthy, Roger Whittaker, Midori, Medwyn Goodall, Johnny Dean, Hayley Westenra and the Mediaeval Baebes

External links

• The Modern Herbalist: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: A Love Story