Scarborough Fair✧
An old ballad with a wistful turn. Explore a minor mood and long, singing phrases.
Sheet music
Tap a staff note or finger tab to hear it.
Opening question
The refrain
Remember me
Homeward
D whistle · E dorian · 3/4 · 80 BPM · + upper octave
Opening question
The refrain
Remember me
Homeward
Lyrics
Traditional · collected by Frank Kidson, Traditional Tunes (1891)
The first four verses pose the tasks; the final four answer them. This is the 1891 text, rather than the verse selection of a modern recording.
O, where are you going? To Scarborough Fair? Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, Remember me to a lass that lives there, For she was once a true love of mine.
And tell her to make me a cambric shirt, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, Without any seam or needlework, And then she shall be a true love of mine.
And tell her to wash it in yonder dry well, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, Where no water sprung nor a drop of rain fell, And then she shall be a true love of mine.
And tell her to dry it on yonder thorn, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, Which never bore blossom since Adam was born, And then she shall be a true love of mine.
O, will you find me an acre of land, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, Between the sea foam and the sea sand, Or never you’ll be a true love of mine.
O, will you plough it with a ram’s horn, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, And sow it all over with one peppercorn, Or else you’ll be a true love of mine.
Or will you reap it with a sickle of leather, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, And tie it all up with a peacock’s feather, Or never you’ll be a true love of mine.
And when you have done and have finished your work, Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme, You can come to me for your cambric shirt, And then you shall be a true love of mine.
About this tune
This northern English ballad belongs to a family of songs about lovers setting each other impossible tasks. Frank Kidson printed a version collected from Whitby in Traditional Tunes in 1891, including the herb refrain and a request for a shirt made without seams.
Words and melodies vary across the tradition. The recurring refrain holds the verses together, while the impossible demands give the apparently gentle love song an uneasy edge.
Performances
Watch musicians play this tune on tin whistle. Keys and arrangements may differ from the tabs above.
Scarborough Fair
Thon Whistler
Tin whistle performance and tutorial
Watch on YouTube — Scarborough Fair by Thon Whistler (opens in a new tab) ↗