Scarborough Fair

Scarborough Fair - Paul Simon


The history of Scarborough, its fair and the song(ZT)

This English folk song dates back to late medieval times, when the seaside resort of Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. Founded well over a thousand years ago as Skarthaborg by the norman Skartha, the Viking settlement in North Yorkshire in the north-west of England became a very important port as the dark ages drew to a close.

Scarborough Fair was not a fair as we know it today (although it attracted jesters and jugglers) but a huge forty-five day trading event, starting August fifteen, which was exceptionally long for a fair in those days. People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to do their business. As eventually the harbour started to decline, so did the fair, and Scarborough is a quiet, small town now.

In the middle ages, people didn't usually take credit for songs or other works of art they made, so the writer of Scarborough Fair is unknown. The song was sung by bards (or shapers, as they were known in medieval England) who went from town to town, and as they heard the song and took it with them to another town, the lyrics and arrangements changed. This is why today there are many versions of Scarborough Fair, and there are dozens of ways in which the words have been written down.

The following lyrics comprise most of the more well-known verses as they are commonly sung. A small handful of them were sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel on their 1966 album 'Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,' which popularised the song. Paul Simon learned the song from Martin Carthy, a famous folk singer in the UK, while he was on tour there. Despite using his arrangement of the song, Simon didn´t even mention Carthy´s name in the credits of the album.


are you going to scarborough fair你要去斯卡布罗集市吗?
parsley sage rosemary Ａnd thyme香菜,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
remember me to one who lives there代我向那儿的一位姑娘问好
she once was a true love of mine她曾经是我的爱人
tell her to make me a cambric shirt叫她替我做件麻布衣衫
parsley, sage, rosemary Ａnd thyme香菜,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
without no seams nor needle work上面不用缝口,也不用针线
then she’ll be a true love of mine她将是我真正的爱人
tell her to find me an acre of land叫她替我找一块地
parsley, sage, rosemary, Ａnd thyme香菜,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
between the salt water Ａnd the sea strand就在咸水和大海之间
then she’ll be a true love of mine她将是我真正的爱人
tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather叫她用一把皮镰收割
parsley, sage, rosemary Ａnd thyme芜荽,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
and gather it all in a bunch of heather将收割的石楠扎成一束
then she’ll be a true love of mine她将是我真正的爱人
are you going to scarborough fair要去斯卡布罗集市吗?
parsley sage rosemary Ａnd thyme香菜,鼠尾草,迷迭香和百里香
remember me to one who lives there代我向那儿的一位姑娘问好
she once was a true love of mine她曾经是我的真爱