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Scarborough Fair, Solved
Jun. 5th, 2014 06:21 pmOne of the books I'm currently reading on my Kindle is the first volume of Child's collection of English and Scottish ballads; this volume is devoted to ballads with supernatural aspects.
The folk song that Simon and Garfunkel adapted in "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is puzzling. The singer asks the listener - who is en route to Scarborough Fair - to ask a certain person there to perform a variety of impossible tasks - sewing a shirt with no needlework, plowing an acre of ground without the usual implements, and so on. It's never really bothered me; the song is a beautiful one, and the other half ("Canticle") is shivery. But, reading Child, I think I've figured it out.
At least two of the ballads (presumably related) in the collection feature a young woman in conversation with an elf knight. She hints at marriage; he tells her that of course he'll marry her, provided that she sew him a shirt in the manner described. Her response? Sure, I'll do that - if you do this other thing first - the "other thing" being the plowing. In other words, it's not a matter of one lover making multiple impossible demands, but of a pair crossing wits (and parting in unfriendly wise). That makes much more sense. Presumably the folk song is a descendant of one of these, or some related ballad.
The folk song that Simon and Garfunkel adapted in "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is puzzling. The singer asks the listener - who is en route to Scarborough Fair - to ask a certain person there to perform a variety of impossible tasks - sewing a shirt with no needlework, plowing an acre of ground without the usual implements, and so on. It's never really bothered me; the song is a beautiful one, and the other half ("Canticle") is shivery. But, reading Child, I think I've figured it out.
At least two of the ballads (presumably related) in the collection feature a young woman in conversation with an elf knight. She hints at marriage; he tells her that of course he'll marry her, provided that she sew him a shirt in the manner described. Her response? Sure, I'll do that - if you do this other thing first - the "other thing" being the plowing. In other words, it's not a matter of one lover making multiple impossible demands, but of a pair crossing wits (and parting in unfriendly wise). That makes much more sense. Presumably the folk song is a descendant of one of these, or some related ballad.
