The Ancient Ballads

The Elfin Knight

The Elfin Knight

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

Child Ballad #2
(Also known as “Scarborough Fair)

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

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without any seam or 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
When water ne’er sprung nor drop of rain 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

O will you find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the sea foam and the salt sea sand
Or never be a true love of mine

O will you plough it with a ram’s horn
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And sow it all over with one peppercorn?
And then she’ll be a true love of mine

O will you reap it with a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And tie it all up with a peacock’s feather?
And then she’ll be a true love of mine

And when you are done and finished your work
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Then come to me for your cambric shirt
And you shall be a true love of mine

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

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I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music.  I share their research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite their work accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  Thanks!

"Scarborough Fair" (Roud 12, Child 2) is a traditional English ballad.[1] The song lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The "Scarborough/Whittingham Fair" variant was most common in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where it was sung to various melodies, often using Dorian mode, with refrains resembling "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" and "Then she'll be a true love of mine."[2] It appears in Traditional Tunes by Frank Kidson published in 1891, who claims to have collected it from Whitby.[3]

The famous melody was collected from Mark Anderson (1874–1953), a retired lead miner from Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England, by Ewan MacColl in 1947. This version was recorded by a number of musicians in the 20th century, including the most iconic 1968 version by folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, who learned it from Martin Carthy. A slightly different version (referred to as "The Cambric Shirt", or "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme") was recorded by John Lomax in 1939 in the United States.

History

The lyrics of "Scarborough Fair" appear to have something in common with a Scottish ballad titled "The Elfin Knight",[4] collected by Francis James Child as Child Ballad #2,[5] which has been traced as far back as 1670. In this ballad, an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task ("For thou must shape a sark to me / Without any cut or heme, quoth he"); she responds with a list of tasks that he must first perform ("I have an aiker of good ley-land / Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand").

Dozens of versions existed by the end of the 18th century. A number of older versions refer to locations other than Scarborough Fair, including Wittingham Fair, Cape Ann, "twixt Berwik and Lyne", etc. Many versions do not mention a place name and are often generically titled ("The Lovers' Tasks", "My Father Gave Me an Acre of Land", etc.).[citation needed]

The references to the traditional English gathering "Scarborough Fair", and the refrain "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme", date to 19th-century versions, and may have been borrowed from the ballad Riddles Wisely Expounded (Child Ballad #1), which has a similar plot.[citation needed]

Lyrics

The lyrics, as published by Frank Kidson in 1891,[4] begin:

"O, where are you going?" "To Scarborough fair,"
    Savoury, sage, rosemary, and thyme;
"Remember me to a lass who lives there,
    For once she was 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."[6]

— Stanzas 1–3

Alternative refrains

The oldest versions of "The Elfin Knight" (circa 1650) contain the refrain "my plaid away, my plaid away, the wind shall not blow my plaid away." Slightly more recent versions often contain one of a group of related refrains:

  • "Sober and grave grows merry in time"
  • "Every rose grows merry with time"
  • "There's never a rose grows fairer with time"
  • "Whilst every grove rings with a merry antine"[note 1][7]

These are usually paired with "Once (s)he was a true love of mine" or some variant. "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" may simply be an alternate rhyming refrain to the original based on a corruption of "grows merry in time" into "rosemary and thyme."[citation needed]

Recordings

Field recordings

Early audio field recordings of the ballad include the following examples:

Commercial recordings

1950s

The earliest commercial recording of the ballad was made by actor/singers Gordon Heath and Lee Payant, Americans who ran a café and nightclub, L'Abbaye, on the Rive Gauche in Paris. The recording appeared on the 1955 Elektra album Encores from the Abbaye.[12] The song was also included on the 1956 album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads vol IV by A. L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl, using Kidson's melody.[13]

The first recorded version using the best-known melody was performed by Audrey Coppard on the 1956 album English Folk Songs.[14] A decade after collecting the song, MacColl released his own version, accompanied by Peggy Seeger on guitar, on the 1957 LP Matching Songs of the British Isles and America[15] and an a capella rendition another decade later on The Long Harvest (1967).[16]

1960s

The version using the melody later used by Simon & Garfunkel in "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" was sung to Ewan MacColl in 1947 by Mark Anderson (1874–1953), a retired lead miner from Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England.[17][18][19] No audio recording of Anderson's version was ever made, although Alan Lomax recorded Anderson singing other songs in 1951.[20] MacColl printed the lyrics and melody in a book of Teesdale folk songs, and later included it on his and Peggy Seeger's The Singing Island in 1960.[18]

In 1965, Martin Carthy sang "Scarborough Fair" on his eponymous debut album after having picked up the tune from the songbook by MacColl and Seeger.[21]

"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" appeared as the lead track on the 1966 Simon & Garfunkel album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme in counterpoint with "Canticle", a reworking of the lyrics from Simon's 1963 anti-war song "The Side of a Hill".[22] The duo learned their arrangement of the song from Martin Carthy, but did not credit him as the arranger. They later made a "pretty substantial" monetary settlement with Carthy's publisher when asked, but unbeknownst to them, Carthy himself did not receive anything from it.[23]

Marianne Faithfull recorded the song for her album North Country Maid, released in April 1966.[24]

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 scored a U.S. #16 hit (#2 AC) with their light jazz/samba/pop version in 1968.

In 1969, Vicky Leandros recorded the song in several versions for release throughout Europe, Canada and Japan, singing in English, German, French ("Chèvrefeuille que tu es loin") and Greek ("Νά Θυμάσαι Πώς Μ' αγαπάς").[citation needed]

1980s

American folk punk band Cordelia's Dad recorded a version for their 1989 self-titled debut album.[25]

The Stone Roses set their own words to the melody for "Elizabeth My Dear", a track on their eponymous debut album (1989).

2000s

Celtic Woman recorded a version of the song for their third album A New Journey, released in January 2007.[26]

The English death-doom metal band My Dying Bride recorded a version with two additional stanzas by its lead singer Aaron Stainthorpe, which appears on its 2009 EP Bring Me Victory.

German/Norwegian symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes recorded a version of this song on their 2009 album Njord.

2010s

Nox Arcana recorded a ghost-story version with all original lyrics by Joseph Vargo for the 2012 album Winter's Majesty.[27][28]

It was recorded by Seattle based progressive rock band Queensrÿche.[29] At first released on a stand alone CD, it was later included on the 2003 remastered version of their album Empire.

2020s

In 2020, Dan Avidan collaborated with musical group Super Guitar Bros to record the Simon & Garfunkel version of the song, including the "Canticle" counterpoint, for the album Dan Avidan & Super Guitar Bros that was released in April of that year.[30]

Simon & Garfunkel version

"Scarborough Fair/Canticle"
Side-A label of the 1968 US vinyl single
Single by Simon & Garfunkel
from the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
B-side"April Come She Will"
ReleasedFebruary 1968 (1968-02) (single)
10 October 1966 (1966-10-10) (album)
Recorded26 July 1966
Genre
Length
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)"Scarborough Fair": Traditional
"Canticle": Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
Producer(s)Bob Johnston
Simon & Garfunkel singles chronology
"Fakin' It"
(1967)
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle"
(1968)
"Mrs. Robinson"
(1968)
Music video
"Scarborough Fair / Canticle" (audio) on YouTube

In London in 1965, Paul Simon learned the song from Martin Carthy,[31][32] who had picked up the song from the songbook by MacColl and Seeger[33] and included it on his eponymous 1965 album. Simon & Garfunkel set it in counterpoint with "Canticle", a reworking of the lyrics from Simon's 1963 anti-war song "The Side of a Hill";[34] they used the same tune as Carthy had for the traditional lyrics, while Simon's anti-war lyrics were set to a new melody composed mainly by Art Garfunkel.[33][35] "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" appeared as the lead track on the 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and was released as a single after it had been featured on the soundtrack to The Graduate in 1968.[33] The copyright credited only Simon and Garfunkel as the authors, which upset Carthy, who felt that the "traditional" source should have been credited.[33] The rift persisted until Simon invited Carthy to perform the song with him as a duet in a concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo in October 2000.[33][36] Simon performed the song with the Muppets when he guest-starred on The Muppet Show (S5E11 - October 18, 1980).

Before Simon learned the song, Bob Dylan had borrowed the melody and several lines of lyrics from Carthy's arrangement to create his song "Girl from the North Country",[37] which is featured on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963), Nashville Skyline (1969) (with Johnny Cash), Real Live (1984) and The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993).

Chart performance

Chart (1968) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report 49
Canada RPM[38] 5
Irish Singles Chart 5
US Billboard Hot 100[39] 11

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Soundtrack recordings

The Simon and Garfunkel version of the song was featured on the soundtrack to The Graduate in 1968.[33]

Instrumental versions of Scarborough Fair were arranged by Geoff Knorr for use in the video game Civilization VI as the main theme of the English civilization.[41][42] As the themes of each civilization are played as different variations of the same song as the game progresses, four different variations of the song are included in the game's soundtrack, with Phill Boucher assisting Knorr in the arrangement of the Atomic Era version of the song.[43][44]

Notes

  1. ^ For "antine", see the French word antienne ('chant' or 'refrain').

References

  1. ^ "The Elfin Knight / Scarborough Fair / Whittingham Fair". Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Search: Scarborough Fair RN12". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.
  3. ^ Kidson, Frank (1891). "Scarborough Fair". Traditional tunes. Oxford: Chas. Taphouse & Son. pp. 42–44. hdl:2027/umn.31951001728562y. OCLC 47625906 – via HathiTrust. Republished in 1999: ISBN 9781861430816
  4. ^ a b Kidson, Frank (1891). Traditional Tunes : a collection of ballad airs, chiefly obtained in Yorkshire and the south of Scotland; together with their appropriate words from broadsides and from oral tradition. Oxford, UK: Chas. Taphouse & Son. pp. 42–44. OCLC 866568452 – via HathiTrust.
  5. ^ Child, Francis James (1894). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Part 9. Vol. 9. Boston / Cambridge: Houghton, Mifflin and company / The Riverside Press. p. 206.
  6. ^ Kidson, Frank (1891). Traditional Tunes. Oxford: Chas. Taphouse & Son. p. 46.
  7. ^ Baring-Gould, Sabine (1892). "Riddles". Strange Survivals. London: Methuen & Co. p. 226.
  8. ^ "The Cambric Shirt (Roud Folksong Index S230643)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Rosemary and Thyme (child No. 2) (Roud Folksong Index S407682)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Every Rose Grows Merry in Time (Roud Folksong Index S204527)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Rosemary Lane (Roud Folksong Index S189118)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. ^ Heath, Gordon. "Encores from the Abbaye". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  13. ^ LLoyd, A.L. "Ewan MacColl's Discography". ewan-maccoll.Info. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Scarborough Fair". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Matching Songs of the British Isles and America : Ewan MacColl at theBalladeers". www.theballadeers.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  16. ^ totsie. "The Long Harvest traditional English and Scottish ballads sung by Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl". www.peggyseeger.com. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Famous song has roots in Dale folk". The Northern Echo. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Scarborough Fair (Roud Folksong Index S160453)". The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  19. ^ Harvey, Todd (2001). The Formative Dylan: Transmission and Stylistic Influences, 1961–1963. Scarecrow Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8108-4115-4.
  20. ^ "Mark Anderson". The Lomax Digital Archive. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  21. ^ Humphries, Patrick (2003). "Sold on Song – Song Library – Scarborough Fair". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Song and Lyrics, Scarborough Fair/Canticle". PaulSimon.com. Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  23. ^ "The story behind Simon & Garfunkel's song 'Scarborough Fair'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Marianne Faithfull – North Country Maid". Discogs. 26 November 1966. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Cordelia's Dad, by Cordelia's Dad". Cordelia's Dad. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  26. ^ Digital, Granite. "Celtic Woman Story". www.celticwoman.com.
  27. ^ "Scarborough Fair by Nox Arcana with original lyrics". 29 November 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2022 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "Winter's Majesty by Nox Arcana". Discogs. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  29. ^ Honigmann, David (9 August 2020). "Scarborough Fair — the ancient ballad that sparked a modern-day grudge". FT.com. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Scarborough Fair by Dan Avidan & Super Guitar Bros". YouTube. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  31. ^ "Sold on Song - Song Library - Scarborough Fair". bbc.co.uk/radio2. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  32. ^ "Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair (Chords)" – via tabs.ultimate-guitar.com.
  33. ^ a b c d e f Humphries, Patrick (2003). "Scarborough Fair". Sold on Song. BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  34. ^ "Song and Lyrics, Scarborough Fair/Canticle". PaulSimon.com. Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  35. ^ Bennighof, James (2007). The Words and Music of Paul Simon. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 21–24. ISBN 9780275991630. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  36. ^ "Paul Simon Setlist at Hammersmith Apollo, London". setlist.fm.
  37. ^ JK. ""...She Once Was A True Love of Mine" - Some Notes About Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country"". www.justanothertune.com. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  38. ^ "RPM Top 100 - April 27, 1968" (PDF).
  39. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955–2012. Record Research. p. 767.
  40. ^ "British single certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – Scarborough Fair Canticle". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  41. ^ England Theme - Industrial (Civilization 6 OST) | Scarborough Fair, 31 October 2016, retrieved 4 August 2022
  42. ^ "Civilization VI to feature an orchestral soundtrack led by Knorr and Tin". VGMO -Video Game Music Online-. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  43. ^ Tom Marks (30 September 2016). "Civ 6's music evolves alongside your cities, and it's one of its best features". PC Gamer. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  44. ^ CIVILIZATION VI Official Game Soundtrack, 23 October 2016, retrieved 4 August 2022


    Source: Mainly Norfolk

    The Elfin Knight / Scarborough Fair / Whittingham Fair / Rosemary Lane

    Roud 12 ; Child 2 ; G/D 2:329 ; Ballad Index C002 ; trad.]

    Martha Reid of Blairgowrie, Perthshire, sang The Elfin Knight in 1955 to Maurice Fleming. This field recording was included in 2011 on the Greentrax CDSongs and Ballads from Perthshire (Scottish Tradition 24). Further versions of her can be found on Peter Shepheard’s Springthyme Records page of The Elfin Knight.

    A.L. Lloyd sang Scarborough Fair in 1956 on his and Ewan MacColl’s Riverside anthology The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (The Child Ballads) Volume IV. All of his ballads from this series were reissued in 2011 on his Fellside CDs Bramble Briars and Beams of the Sun.

    Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger sang The Elfin Knight in 1956 on their Tradition album Classic Scots Ballads. He commented in the sleeve notes:

    A universal theme of both folk tale and ballad is that of impossible tasks. In this ballad, the form it takes is that of the courtship, with on flirtatious lover setting a series of tasks and his companion meeting the challenge by setting an equally difficult series. In early forms of the ballad, an elfin knight posed the tasks, to be answered by a maiden who remains free by devising tasks of no less difficulty which must be answered first. Modern folk have made both characters mortal enough. Child had nineteen versions of this ballad, which he traced in his affinities through many languages of Europe and Asia. It is well known in England and America. This version was learned from Greig’s Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs.

    He also sang The Elfin Knight on his 1964 Folkways album The English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Vol. 3—Child Ballads.

    Both Bob and Ron Copper of Rottingdean and Thomas Moran of Mohill, Co. Leitram, sang The Elfin Knight in a medley on the anthology The Child Ballads 1 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 4; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970).

    Shirley Collins sang Scarborough Fair unaccompanied in 1960 on her second album, False True Lovers. She commented in the album’s sleeve notes:

    Derived by MacColl from Cecil Sharp’s English Folk Songs, [this] is a fragment of an extremely ancient ballad (Child No. 2, The Elfin Knight), common in all areas of Britain and North America. In the original song a girl hears the far-off blast of the elfin knight’s horn and wishes he were in her bedroom. He straightaway appears, but will not consent to be her lover until she answers a series of riddles. This trait of test-by-riddle is a heritage from remote antiquity. The survival of this ancient piece of folklore is assured by the fact that all the couplets in this song contain gentle, but evocative erotic symbols.

    Martin Carthy sang Scarborough Fair in 1965 on his first album Martin Carthy, and it was included on the compilations The Big FolkShades of Folk, and Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, and in 1999 on Martin Carthy: A Collection. He sang a slightly different version on Wood Wilson Carthy, and yet another together with Bert Jansch on Acoustic Routes under the title The Elfin Knight. These two versions were both included as starting and closing track of the 4 CD anthology The Carthy Chronicles. Carthy commented in his first album’s sleeve notes:

    Folklorists and students of plant mythology are well aware that certain herbs were held to have magical significance—that they were used by sorcerers in their spells and conversely as counter-spells by those that wished to outwit them. The herbs mentioned in the refrain of Scarborough Fair (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme) are all known to have been closely associated with death and also 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 on the maid’s replies depends whether she will fall into his clutches or not. 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 to 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 as far as to suggest that the refrain might be the survival of an incantation against such a suitor.

    This video shows Martin Carthy with members of the Aurora Orchestra on BBC Radio 3 In Tune on February 24, 2012:

    In 1966, Paul Simon had a big hit with this song in Martin Carthy’s arrangement as title track of his album Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme. He also sang Scarborough Fair in episode 5/11 of The Muppet Show:

    Cyril Tawney sang this ballad with the tile The Tasks in 1969 on his Polydor album The Outlandish Knight: Traditional Ballads from Devon and Cornwall. He commented in his sleeve notes:

    A composite version of The Elfin Knight taken from the Baring-Gould manuscripts. With the exception of two verses from John Hext of Postbridge, Devon (October 1890), all the ‘ingredients’ come from West of the Tamar. An unknown source from the Camelford district supplied Baring-Gould with all the other verses and I have used the refrain sung to him by Joseph Dyer of Mawgan-in-Pyder, together with Dyer’s tune. Baring-Gould was told that in Cornwall this used to be sung as a sort of game in farm-houses, between a young man who went outside the room, a girl who sat on a chair and a chorus of farm lads and lasses. The man re-entered and addressed the girl with the first half of the ballad and she replied with the second half. Known as Whittingham Fair in Northumberland and Scarborough Fair in Yorkshire, a chocolate-boxy version of the latter being very popular with modern folk-singers.

    Robin and Barry Dransfield sang Scarborough Fair in 1970 on their Trailer album The Rout of the Blues. A live recording of Robin Dransfield at the Medway Folk Centre in November 1972 was included in 2008 on his CD A Lighter Touch.

    Liz Jefferies sang this song, with the unusual title Rosemary Lane, to Barry and Chris Morgan in their own home in Bristol in September 1976. This recording can be found on the anthology As Me and My Love Sat Courting (The Voice of the People Series Volume 15; Topic 1998).

    Nancy Kerr sang Whittingham Fair in 1993 on her and Eliza Carthy’s eponymous album Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr and on their compilation CD On Reflection. Nancy commented in the original album’s sleeve notes:

    Whittingham Fair is from Folk Songs of the North Countrie by Frank Kidson and Alfred Moat, under the title Scarborough Fair. The “Northumbrianised” version is from my mother and the tune can be found in Kidson’s Traditional Tunes.

    and Eliza added:

    [The tune] For Whittingham Fair was a flash of inspiration while I was learning the song in my bedroom. Original title, isn’t it?

    Brian Peters sang Scarborough Fair in 1994 on his CD Squeezing Out Sparks.

    Sue Brown and Lorraine Irwing sang Scarborough Fair in 1997 on their WildGoose CD Call & Cry.

    Lucky Bags sang Whittingham Fair in 1998 on their Fellside CD Delight in Disorder. They commented in their liner notes:

    The text of this version is from Songs of Northern England (Stokoe) and has the same pedigree as its better known cousin, Scarborough Fair, both originating from Child Ballad no. 2 The Elfin Knight. The setting of impossible tasks seems to have been a very popular way of whiling away the time in many different parts of Britain. (Producer’s note: c.f. recording Lucky Bags!)

    Tim van Eyken sang The Cambric Shirt in 2003 on Dr Faustus’ Fellside CD The First Cut.

    Chris Wood sang Scarborough Fair in 2010 on The Imagined Village’s album Empire and Love.

    Jon Boden sang Scarborough Fair as the March 14, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

    Emily Smith sang this ballad as Sweet Lover of Mine in 2011 on her CD Traiveller’s Joy. This track was also included on the CD BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2012. She also sang it in a bonus session of the DVD Cambridge Folk Festival 2011.

    Mike and Ali Vass sang The Elfin Knight in 2011 on their CD Waiting to Fly.

    Compare to this the related title An Acre of Land sung by John Kirkpatrick on Brass Monkey’s album Sound and Rumour. And Jim Copper recorded An Acre of Land for the BBC in 1952.

    Bellowhead recorded Rosemary Lane in 2014 for their Island record Revival. They commented in their booklet notes:

    Taken from a singer called Liz Jefferies (the original being available on the Voice of the People CD series issued by Topic Records), almost everyone will be aware of the underlying story in that it’s a version of Scarborough Fair, known the world over via Simon & Garfunkel. It’s a song where a suitor is set a number of impossible tasks in order to satisfy the demands of their prospective lover. The narrative is so strong that it’s survived down the generations, like many a fable of fairy tale, albeit in subtly changed versions. But in true trad style, all these versions are actually themselves a much abridged version of an even older folk song called The Elfin Knight. Incidentally, Paul Simon’s version was borrowed from a legendary figure in English folk, Martin Carthy.

    Kim Edgar learned The Elfin Knight from Gavin Grieg’s Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs (Aberdeen, 1925) and sang it on Cara’s 2016 CD Yet We Sing. The album’s liner notes commented:

    […] Kim was immediately drawn to this song’s themes: enchantment, desire, the supernatural, and relationships that aren’t destined to be. It’s been previously recorded by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger on their [1956] album, Classic Scots Ballads, amongst others—but for this version we’ve made a new arrangement.

    Lyrics

    Martha Reid sings The Elfin Knight
    O fetch to me aye a Holland shirt,
    Aye thout either needle or needle work.
    For you’ll wash it in to yon draw well
    Where there never was water nor one drop o dew fell.For you’ll hing it oer yon Thornhaugh bush,
    Where there never was thorns since Adam was born.
    And it’s ho, ho the wind’ll blow.For you’ll fetch to me two acres of land
    Between thon salt sea and thon salt sea strand.
    For you’ll ploo it up with a devil tup’s horn,
    You will sew it ower with one grain of corn,
    And it’s ho, ho the wind’ll blow.

    For you will ripen it up with one blink o sand,
    You’ll cut it down with a pea-hen’s feather.
    You’ll stook it up by the stung of a nettle,
    And it’s ho, ho the wind’ll blow.

    For you’ll yoke two sparrows in a matchbox,
    An cart it home to your own farm yard,
    And it’s ho, ho the wind’ll blow.

    For surely when you put such task on me,
    I’ll surely put aye as hard on you.
    You’ll, how many ships sails in thy forest?
    How many strawberries grows on the salt sea?
    And it’s ho, ho the wind’ll blow.

    Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger sing The Elfin Knight Kim Edgar sings The Elfin Knight
    There stands three trumpeters on yon hill
    Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw,
    And they blaw their trumpets sae loud and shrill
    And the wind it blaws aye my plaid awa’.
    The Elfin Knight stands on yon hill
    ba, ba, ba lily ba,
    And he blows his horn baith loud and shrill,
    And the wind has blown my plaid awa’.
    Gin I’d his trumpet in my kist
    And was in the lad’s airms that I like best
    If I had yon horn in my kist,
    ba, ba, ba lily ba,
    And were in the lad’s arms that I love best
    And the wind would blow my plaid awa’.
    Gin ye would be wed wi’ me
    There’s ae thing ye maun dae for me
    Gin ye would be wed tae me,
    ba, ba, ba lily ba,
    There’s ae thing ye maun to me dee,
    And the wind shall blow my plaid awa’.
    Ye maun mak’ me a linen sark
    Withoot a stitch o’ needlewark
    I maun hae a fine linen sark,
    ba, ba, ba lily ba,
    Withoot a stitch o’ needlework,
    And the wind shall blow my plaid awa’.
    Ye maun wash it in yon dry well
    Where water never sprang nor fell
    Ye maun wash it in yonder well
    Where water never sprang nor fell
    Ye maun dry’t on yon hawthorn
    That hasna seen blossom since man was born
    Ye maun dry it upon a thorn
    That hasna bloomed since man was born
    And gin I mak a sark for thee
    There’s something you maun dae for me
    Gin I mak a sark for thee
    There’s something you maun dee for me
    My faither has an acre o’ land
    Ye maun ploo it wi’ your ae hand
    My father has an acre o’ land
    And ye maun ploo it wi’ your hand
    Ye maun sow it wantin’ corn
    And roll it wi’ a sheep’s shank bone
    Ye maun sow it wantin’ corn
    And roll it all wi’ a sheep’s shank bone
    Ye maun shear it wi’ a scythe o’ leather
    And bind it wi’ a peacock’s feather
    Ye maun stook it in the sea
    And bring the wheat sheaf dry tae me
    Ye maun stook it in the sea
    And bring the wheat sheaf dry to me
    And gin you wark noo all this wark
    Come to me and you’ll get your sark
    When you’ve done and finished your work
    You’ll come to me, love, and get your sark
    Blow winds, blow …
    Martin Carthy sings Scarborough Fair Shirley Collins sings Scarborough Fair
    Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once she was a true love of mine.
    Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once he was a true love of mine.
    Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Without no seam nor needlework,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    Tell him to make me a cambric shirt,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Without a seam or needlework,
    And he shall be a true love of mine.Tell him to wash it in yonder dry well,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Where water ne’er sprang nor drop of rain fell,
    And he shall be a true love of mine.Tell him to hang it on yonder thorn,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Which never bore blossom since Adam was born,
    And he shall 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,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    Oh can you find me an acre of land,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Between the sea foam and the sea sand,
    And you shall be a true love of mine.
    Tell her to plough it with a lamb’s horn,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And to sow it all o’er with one peppercorn,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And to thrash it all out with a bunch of heather,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once she was a true love of mine.
    Nancy Kerr sings Whittingham Fair Martin Carthy sings Scarborough Fair
    Are you going to Whittingham* Fair?
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    She once was a true lover of mine.
    Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once she was a true love of mine.
    Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Without any stitches or needlework,
    Then she’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Without no seam nor needlework,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    Tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Where water ne’er sprung nor a drop of rain fell,
    Then she’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to hang it on yonder thorn,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    That never bore blossom since Adam was born,
    Then she’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Now he has asked me questions three,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    I hope that he’ll answer as many for me,
    Then he’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to find me an acre of land,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Betwixt the salt water and the sea sand,
    Then he’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to find me an acre of land,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Between the salt water and the sea strand,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    Tell him to plough it with a ram’s horn,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And sow it all over with one peppercorn,
    Then he’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to plough it with a lamb’s horn,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And to sow it all o’er with one peppercorn,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And tie it all up with a peacock’s feather,
    Then he’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    And to thrash it all out with a bunch of heather,
    And then she’ll be a true love of mine.
    When he has done and finished his work,
    Savoury, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Well, tell him to come and tear up his shirt,
    And he’ll be a true lover of mine.
    Note: Nancy Kerr quite clearly sings “Whittingt-ham” — however spelled — with a “T” sound, not “Whittingham”. Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once she was a true love of mine.
    Liz Jefferies sings Rosemary Lane Bellowhead sing Rosemary Lane
    As you will go down Rosemary Lane,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, you’ll pick me out the finest girl there,
    And I will make her a true lover of mine.
    If you will go down to Rosemary Lane,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, you’ll pick me out the finest girl there,
    And I will make her a true love of mine.
    Oh, tell her to get me a camberic shirt,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    To be done without needle or needle’s work,
    And then she will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    To be done without needle or needlework,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    And tell her to wash it in yonder well,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    Where water ne’er sprung nor rain never fall,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    And tell her to wash it in yonder well,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Where water ne’er sprung and rain never fell,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    And tell her to dry it on yonder sharp thorn,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    For one of her rose since Adam was born,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell her to dry it on yonder green thorn,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Where bloom never grew since Adam was born,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    When she is finished all of her work,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, tell her I’ll got her camberic shirt,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    And when she has finished all of her work,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, tell her I’ll call for my cambric shirt,
    Then she will be a true lover of mine.
    And as you will go down Rosemary Lane,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, you’ll pick me out the finest boy there,
    And I will make him a true lover of mine.
    If you will go down to Rosemary Lane,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, you’ll pick me out the finest boy there,
    And I will make him a true love of mine.
    Tell him to get me an acre of land,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    Between the salt sea and the salt-sea sand,
    And then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to get me an acre of land,
    Where very rose grows merry and fine,
    Between the salt sea and the salt-sea strand,
    Then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to plough it with a ram’s horn,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    And sow it all over with one ben of corn,
    Then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to plough it with a ram’s horn,
    Where very rose grows merry and fine,
    And sow it all over with one grain of corn,
    And then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to reap it with a cock’s feather,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    And bind it all over with strappings of leather,
    Then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Tell him to reap it with a cock’s feather,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    And bind it all over with strappings of leather,
    Then he will be a true lover of mine.
    And tell him to drive home on a snail,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    And thrash it all over with a mouse’s tail,
    And then he will be a true lover of mine.
    And tell him to draw it home on a snail,
    Where every rose grows merry and fine,
    Thrash it all over with an ox’s tail,
    Then he will be a true lover of mine.
    And when he has finished all of his work,
    Every rose grows merry and fine,
    Oh, tell him to call for his camberic shirt,
    And then he will be a true lover of mine.
    Every rose grows merry and fine

    Acknowledgements and Links

    See also Just Another Tune’s study …Tell Her to Make Me a Cambric Shirt — From the Elfin Knight to Scarborough Fair and the Mudcat Café thread Lyr Req: The Elfin Knight (from Mary O’Hara, #2).

    Martin Carthy’s version transcribed by Garry Gillard with corrections from Kira White. Thanks to both of you!

    Performances, Workshops, Resources & Recordings

    The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

    Festivals & Celebrations Coffeehouses School Assemblies Library Presentations Songwriting Workshops Artist in Residence House Concerts Pub Singing Irish & Celtic Performances Poetry Readings Campfires Music Lessons Senior Centers Voiceovers & Recording

    “Beneath the friendly charisma is the heart of a purist gently leading us from the songs of our lives to the timeless traditional songs he knows so well…”

     

    Globe Magazine

    Join Fitz at The Colonial Inn

    “The Nobel Laureate of New England Pub Music…”

    Scott Alaric

    Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground

    On the Green, in Concord, MA Every Thursday Night for over thirty years…

    “A Song Singing, Word Slinging, Story Swapping, Ballad Mongering, Folksinger, Teacher, & Poet…”

    Theo Rogue

    Songcatcher Rag

    Fitz’s Recordings

    & Writings

    Songs, poems, essays, reflections and ramblings of a folksinger, traveler, teacher, poet and thinker…

    Download for free from the iTunes Bookstore

    “A Master of Folk…”

    The Boston Globe

    Fitz’s now classic recording of original songs and poetry…

    Download from the iTunes Music Store

    “A Masterful weaver of song whose deep, resonant voice rivals the best of his genre…”

    Spirit of Change Magazine

    “2003: Best Children’s Music Recording of the Year…”

    Boston Parent's Paper

    Fitz & The Salty Dawgs Amazing music, good times and good friends…

    Listen here

    TheCraftedWord.org

    Writing help

    when you need it…

    “When the eyes rest on the soul…that’s Fitzy…”

    Lenny Megliola

    WEEI Radio

    Trawler

    Leave the fog stillness
    of a cold harbor town;
    cup our hands
    in the warm diesel sound—
    leave while the children
    are calmed in their dreams
    by light buoys calling:
    “Don’t play around me.”

    The Next Time Around

            I wonder what the years have really taught me about writing and music. I have gotten so used to preaching and teaching that I am a bit looped by the thought of writing—as in how I wrote before (or how I will claim I wrote) before settling into this somewhat...

    The Value of a Classic

    “Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.” ~Mark Twain A note to my 8th grade class:      All of you are supposedly reading a classic book, but what Twain says is true: few of us go thirsty to the well and willingly read the greatest works of literature...

    The Fallacy of Philanthropy

    There are thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one striking at the root. ~Henry David Thoreau     I just spent a long day deconstructing our backyard. EJ sold his alpacas, and so our fenced in pasture and barn can now return to its suburban origins as a shed...

    The Shapes of Stories

    While I have always been a storyteller of sorts, I am not much of a writer of stories--but I have always been intrigued by the relative simplicity at the core design level of most books and movies. A lot of it is tied to my love for Joseph Campbell's work on the...

    Nurture Passion

    How about we all take the bull by the horns and make this blog thing work! Your job this week is to do something with your blog that is powered by the passion that is in you. Passion is the one thing you have some control over. There are plenty of smarter, more...

    Canobie lake

    Going to Canobie Lake is always the turning point of the year for me. It is like some primal signal that It is time to turn away from the school year and towards the future.  Obviously, it is my hope that you learned some useful skills this year, but, more...

    Fenn Speaks…

    I am You, and You are me... Give a damn & figure it out        I feel like one of my students: it’s the night before my big presentation at All-school-meeting, and I still don’t know what I am going to talk about. I just know I am supposed to talk about me......

    Out of the Forge: April 6, 2017

    Some nights I feel like I am singing in a mall. Tonight--in a fun way--it felt a bit like I walked into the Natick mall at Christmas time and pulled out my guitar in front of the Apple store and started to play, but like every night down at the inn it evolved into a...

    In the unfolding chores

    The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck I hear Emma rustling for soccer cleats and...

    The Small Potato

    Maybe there is a God. I just came home and sat down in the kitchen to grade some papers and input some grades, but the internet is buggy and slow, and I thought, "maybe this is the message" that I am trading my soul for work. I even remember myself  pontificating in...

    Going Google?

    When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to join the minority ~Mark Twain I have to admit, Google is pretty impressive. The whole set of features that are offered to the public and to educators for free is pretty astounding: email, document creation and...

    Molting

    I am always molting; leaving my hollowed skin in awkward places, scaring people and making them jump. They touch me and think I’m real; then laugh and say things like “What a riot.” I’m tired of this changing of skins. I’d rather stumble on myself and be fooled; and...

    Don’t Let Go of Your Soul

    Sometimes yeah.
    Sometimes no.
    Sometimes it’s somehow somewhere in between.
    Sometimes it’s somewhere that no one has been–
    no, nobody, nowhere, no nothing can end.
    So don’t you let go and hope you’ll find it again.
    Don’t you ever let go–

    Dallas: 7/7/2016

    I woke up this morning almost too fearful to read the news. I stayed up late into the night just watching for the breaking stories and updates. Now, I am simplyconfused about how to act. I feel incredibly small and pointless, unsure of where I stand and how to move...

    A Redemptive Moment

    I see the clock ticking towards 7:00. The kids are deep in their weekday world of homework, juggling soccer balls around the house, watching TV, but I am in my “got to rally” and get to the inn mode that happens very Thursday. Tonight I am tired. I’ll admit it, but...

    This new spring begs attention

    And shivers its literal timbers. Cold, wet and pleading, Scarred by winter winds And pasty snows, My small field and patch of woods Is now a monument To aging neglect. Shorn limbs and branches Hang high and tangled in the Sugar maples (Widow makers we called them Back...

    Out of the Forge: April 13, 2017

    In my forty years or so of actively singing and playing folk music and writing songs, I have played together with a remarkably narrow list of musical partners: Rogue, Wally and Barry with camp songs and Hatrack and Seth with literally everything. These last few years...

    What Christmas Is

      I am not sure what Christmas really is anymore. I am almost afraid to think of what Christians are going through in the lands of the original Christian faith. By dint of place and time, I grew up in the Catholic faith, and try as I might, I can’t ever escape the...

    Diesel Lullaby

    I've been spending a lot of time lately writing sketches of songs—some more complete than others. I have found that it takes time for a song to evolve into its final form, so what I have posted here is more the end of the beginning, not the end. Denise gave me the...

    Garden Woman

    I woke today and had my tea
    and at the window spent the morning:
    the same scene I’ve seen so many times
    is each day freshly born;
    from the ground I turn each spring and fall
    come the flowers sweetly blooming;
    you disappear among the weeds—
    you are the garden woman.

    Redemption

    Finally, the tall green pines standing sentinel around this cold and black New Hampshire pond are framed in a sky of blue. After a month of steady rains, foggy nights, and misty days, I am reborn into a newly created world—a world that finally answered my prayers: no...

    Moby Dick: Chapters 42-51

    A literary reflection to my students... The lowering for whales, the appearance of Fedallah's crew, the vivid descriptions of the first chase in a sudden and unrelenting gale, the fatalistic joy of resigning oneself to fate, the awesome poetic intensity of Melville's...

    Kampuchea

    I stutter for normality across the river from black men fishing for kibbers and horned pout. Barefoot children rounded bellies curled navels stalk the turtle sunning on a log. lonely in the field grass lonely on the curbstones I stutter for normality. Not a mother...

    The Fisher

    To cast far is to cast well. I’ve always believed that the biggest fish are just beyond my range and lie in dark water I could never swim to. But experience is the wisdom that has me now casting closer to shore, nearest the reeds and overgrowth — a subtleness geared...

    In Reply To Einstein

    *God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...

    Mum…

    Very jealous today of all the folks I see spending time with their respective moms--and sad for those who can't and for those whose wives were taken from their families too early in life... This is my remmebrance of my "mum" who died several years ago.       I ran...

    The Late and Lazy Teacher

    I guess this is a good thing. I showed up five minutes late for class, and my classroom was empty. I walked the hallways of the school and could not find any of them. I sheepishly asked the assistant headmaster if he "happened to see a class of wandering boys?"No, he...

    The End Is the Beginning

    For the past twenty years this night has always been a bittersweet moment. I have never been hobbled by boredom or a lack of "things I love to do," so whatever supposed free time I have is rewarding in whatever I choose to do. The flip side is that I am teacher, and I...

    Ghetto of Your Eye

    I wrote this song back in the winter of 1989, in the dining car of a steam driven train, somewhere along the Trans-Siberian railway, after meeting a group of Russian soldiers fresh from battle in Afghanistan—that poor country that has been a battleground for way too long.

    We stare together hours the snow whipped Russian plain—
    rolling in the ghetto of your eye.
    We share a quart of vodka
    and some cold meat on the train—
    you know too much to even wonder why;
    I see it in the ghetto of your eye.

    All You Need is Love

        The day grew warm today, as did my mood. I did a couple of shows at my school’s diversity day. It was good to see girls there and the obvious racial differences. It was comforting to see a sea of color with a smattering of white instead of the other way around. My...

    Quit Your Whining

    Anything worth succeeding in is worth failing in~Ben Franklin     "Quit your whining and complaining" is probably a clause that can easily be translated into every language in every culture on earth, for, from what I know and have seen in the world, bitching about...

    No Dad To Come Home To

    Rain’s falling outside of Boston—
    Thank God I’m not working tonight.
    I’ve got six of my own,
    And a stepdaughter at home,
    And a momma keeping things right.
    I wonder if they’re at the table
    With their puzzles, their papers and pens?
    When I get off the highway
    And pull in that driveway,
    Will they run to the window again?

    Chores

    The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck, sharpening the dulled teeth of a worn...

    The Tide

    They are building a world and the plastic is fading: Margaret and Eddie's buckets are split, pouring out the warm Atlantic as they race along the tidal flat, filling pools connected by frantically dug canals. Tommy squats naked and screams in guttural joy at the...

    What’s in a Song

    Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. ~Plato         Writing a song is not just an exercise in seeking some kind of future fame. It is...

    How To Be Human

    Mark Twain once wrote that it is good to be a good person, but it is better to tell people how to be good--"and a damn sight easier!" So much of my life is lived in response to the moment and not in a practiced and cultivated wisdom. I sat here this morning looking...

    Wisdom

    Wisdom starts in non-action… The doing and non-doing are the equal balance. Without the luxury of contemplation there would not be a prioritizing of need versus want. Wisdom balances physical reality… Wisdom does not shuffle tasks out of view but finds a way to...

    China Journal: Part Three

    III My teachers could have ridden with Jesse James For all the time they stole from me... ~Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America      Today it was a temple built into the mountainside west of West Lake. Mr. Toe drove us out there. In most ways I just follow Rob...

    Raccoon

    I’ve stopped the chinks with newspaper and rags wedged tightly against the wind blowing cold three days now. I feed the fire and curse its hissing and steaming mixing green oak with sticks of dried pine calling myself Raccoon grown fat in the suburbs sleeping in...

    Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!