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Traditional English Folk Songs

A Collection Of Traditional British Folk Songs Full English - A Collection Of Traditional British Folk Songs features the amazing talents of Mat Williams who did most of the vocals and also played most of the traditional instruments involved in the recordings, such as Guitar, Violin, Viola, Mandolin, Banjo, Banman, Upright Bass, Piano and many more. Mat invited some fellow folk musicians to share him for this album and add more traditional instruments, such as the Irish Whistle, Uilleann Pipes and Bodhran. Enjoy the music and read along as you listen!



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Scarborough Fair


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

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Without any seams, nor needlework,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Between the salt water and the sea strand,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.






Words & Music: Traditional,
arranged & performed by Mat Williams













Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
And bind it all in a bunch of heather,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Then she’ll be a true love of mine,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine,
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.



Origin and meaning of Scarborough Fair

I know of no song quite like this. It is a riddle song, like many others, but these riddles have no answers - they lead nowhere. The riddles in “John Barleycorn,” say, are all clever wordplay and meant to be sung with a smile. There are no smiles in “Scarborough Fair.”

Compare it with this old folk song:
“I will give my love an apple without any core.
I will give my love a house without any door.
I will give my love a palace wherein she may be,
And she may unlock it without any key.

My head is the apple without any core,
My mind is the house without any door.
My heart is the palace wherein she may be,
And she may unlock it without any key.”

The riddles set up in the first verse sound impossible, but like most riddles are solved with a bit of imagination and a pinch of salt and they all lived happily every after. Not so “Scarborough Fair.” The tasks that are set are impossible - quite deliberately so - because the outcome itself is impossible, that is, that she can once more be “a true love.”

If the words are looked at on their own, they seem very bitter. They change their nature when sung to this tune which is simple, hypnotic and has a soothing, rocking movement - almost like a lullaby. This quality agrees with the shape of the verses, where only two lines of each question change: we are repeatedly rocked back to the familiar “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” and “Then she’ll be a true love of mine.” This combination takes away the bitterness and rage in the words and leaves behind a flatness of statement almost as if the singer has become numb in facing up to the truth.

The choice of herbs for the repeat lines is not accidental. They all have medicinal properties. Parsley is a general tonic, sage oil is used for bruises, sage tea for sleeplessness, rosemary is for remembrance, thyme lotion is for aches and sore eyes. What could be more relevant to a betrayed lover?

All these messages are sent to the girl through an anonymous intermediary as if no meeting has taken place since the betrayal and none is possible. The singer knows full well that trust, once broken, can never be made whole again. It is broken forever.

Commentary written by Gillian Goodman,
© ClassicRocks, Mat Williams 2012

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