She Moved Through the Fair

"She Moved Through the Fair" (or "She Moves Through the Fair") is a traditional Irish folk song, which exists in a number of versions and has been recorded many times.

Origins of the Melody

The melody is in Mixolydian mode. John Loesberg speculates: "From its strange, almost Eastern sounding melody, it appears to be an air of some antiquity," but he does not define its age any more precisely. It has been found both in Ireland and in Scotland, but scraps of the song were first collected in County Donegal by the Longford poet Padraic Colum and the musicologist Herbert Hughes.

Origins of the Lyrics

In a letter published in the Irish Times (22 April 1970) Colum claimed that he was the author of all but the final verse. He also described how Herbert Hughes collected the tune and then he, Colum, had kept the last verse of a traditional song and written a couple of verses to fit the music.

One verse was not included in the first publication, in Hughes's Irish Country Songs, published by Boosey & Hawkes in 1909. Colum soon realised that he had not put in the poem the fact that the woman had died before the marriage, and so he wrote the verse that begins: "The people were saying, that no two were e'er wed, but one had a sorrow that never was said ..." and sent it on to Hughes, too late for publication in that particular collection. This extra verse was subsequently published in other collections, along with the other three verses. The lyrics were also published in Colum's collection Wild Earth: And Other Poems (1916 ), though their traditional origin is not mentioned there.

No earlier version of the three verses written by Colum has ever been found, so there is little doubt that he is the author of those three verses.

Alternative Version

The traditional singer Paddy Tunney relates how Colum "wrote" the song after returning from a literary gathering in Donegal with Herbert Hughes and others. Tunney suggests, however, that it would be more accurate to say that Colum simply added additional lyrics, not the melody, to an original traditional song that by then had generated many variations throughout Ireland.

Tunney himself collected one version from an Irish singer called Barney McGarvey. This version was called "I Once Had a True Love". The opening four lines are reminiscent of "She Moved Through the Fair" and the second four lines are unmistakably similar.

The words to the first verse are:

I once had a sweet-heart, I loved her so well

I loved her far better than my tongue could tell

Her parents they slight me for my want of gear

So adieu to you Molly, since you are not here

I dreamed last night that my true love came in

So softly she came that her feet made no din

She stepped up to me and this she did say

It will not be long, love, till our wedding day

The remaining two verses are quite different. Tunney also points to a version of the song that he learned from his mother, who called it "My Young Love Said to Me". The first verse is virtually the same as Colum's, but the remaining three verses are quite different:

My young love said to me, my mother won't mind

And my father won't slight you for your lack of kind

And she went away from me and this she did say:

It will not be long now till our wedding day.

She went away from me and she moved through the fair

Where hand-slapping dealers' loud shouts rent the air

The sunlight around her did sparkle and play

Saying it will not be long now till our wedding day.

When dew falls on meadow and moths fill the night

When glow of the greesagh on hearth throws half-light

I'll slip from the casement and we'll run away

And it will not be long love till our wedding day

According to promise at midnight he rose

But all that he found was the downloaded clothes

The sheets they lay empty 'twas plain for to see

And out of the window with another went she.

Variants and Related Songs

One variant of the song is called "Our Wedding Day". A related song, "Out of the Window", was collected by Sam Henry from Eddie Butcher of Magilligan in Northern Ireland in around 1930 and published in 1979. Yet another song, "I Once Had a True Love", also appears to be related, as it shares some lyrics with "She Moved Through the Fair".

Performances and Recordings

The traditional singer Paddy Tunney learned "She Moved Through the Fair" in County Fermanagh and recorded it in 1965. Other singers who sang it in the 1950s and the 1960s included Dominic Behan and Anne Briggs. It was popular among members of the Traveller community in Ireland at that time.

Fairport Convention recorded the song in 1968, adapting the style of the song from the Traveller Margaret Barry, though she herself had learned it from a vinyl recording made by John McCormack at EMI Studios in 1941. Former Fairport Convention guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson regularly includes the song in concert performances. Also of note are the recordings of the song by Alan Stivell in 1973. Art Garfunkel (formerly of Simon and Garfunkel) recorded a particularly lush version on his album Watermark (1977). Josh Groban recorded the song for his album All That Echoes (2013).

Versions of the song recorded by Sinéad O'Connor (as used on the soundtrack of the film Michael Collins), Trees and Nana Mouskouri change the gender of the pronouns, so the song became "He Moved Through the Fair". O'Connor's and Trees' versions keep the original title even so, but Mouskouri changes it. In a 2015 interview, O'Connor expressed regret for having changed the gender. An alternative version of the lyrics is also used in Mary Black's version of the song.

Other notable versions:

• Donovan, as "She Moved Through the Fair", on Try for the Sun – the Journey of Donovan (2005)

• Pete Seeger, on his album Love Songs for Friends and Foes (1956)

• Liz Madden, on her album My Irish Home (2010)

• Rua, on their self-titled album Rua (2001)

• Mary O'Hara, on her album "Songs of Erin" (1956)

• Dominic Behan, on his album Irish Songs (1958)

• Maureen O'Hara, as "He Moved Through the Fair", on her album Maureen O'Hara Sings Her Favourite Irish Songs (1961)

• Davey Graham, on the EP From a London Hootenanny (1962)

• Anne Briggs (1963)

• Shirley Collins, on her EP Shirley Sings Irish (1963)

• Odetta, on her album One Grain of Sand (1963)

• Jean Redpath, on her album Songs of Love, Lilt and Laughter (1963)

• Cy Grant, on his album Cool Folk! (1964)

• Marianne Faithfull, on her album North Country Maid (1966) she re-recorded the song for her album Blazing Away (1990) and has often sung it in concert.

• John Martyn, on his album London Conversation - Remastered (2005)

• The Yardbirds, on their album Little Games (1967) reelaborated and arranged under the name "White Summer"

• Donal Donnelly, on his album Take the Name of Donnelly (1968)

• Alfred Deller with Desmond Dupre, on the album Folksongs album.

• Alan Stivell, on his albums Chemins de Terre (1973) and Reflets (1981)

• Roger Whittaker, on the album Folksongs of Our Island Volume 1 (1977)

• The King's Singers, on their album Watching the White Wheat – Folk Songs of the British Isles (1985)

• Loreena McKennitt, on her album Elemental (1985)

• Barbara Dickson, on her album The Right Moment (1986)

• Eyeless in Gaza, on the album Back from the Rains (1986)

• Pentangle, on the album In the Round (1986)

• All About Eve, on their debut album, All About Eve (1988)

• Simple Minds, on the album Ballad of the Streets (1989) under the name "Belfast Child" with completely different words

• Van Morrison and the Chieftains, on their album Irish Heartbeat (1988); a live version is included in the video Van Morrison: The Concert (1990)

• Benjamin Luxon on the album "Simple Gifts: Benjamin Luxon and Bill Crofut sing Folks Songs at Tanglewood" (1990)

• Led Zeppelin, on their compilation album Led Zeppelin (1990) reelaborated and arranged under the name "White Summer/Black Mountain Side"

• Feargal Sharkey, on his album Songs from the Mardi Gras (1991)

• Máire Brennan (1992)

• Hazel O'Connor (1995)

• Carol Noonan, on her recording "Absolution" (1995)

• Boyzone, on the album A Different Beat (1996)

• Mike Oldfield, on his album Voyager (1996)

• Maggie Reilly, on her album "Elena" (1996)

• New World Renaissance Band with Owain Phyfe, on the album "Odyssey" (1996)

• The King's Singers, on their album Spirit Voices (1997)

• Bert Jansch, on his album Toy Balloon (1998)

• Sarah Brightman, as "He Moved Through the Fair" (1998)

• Alan Hacker and Tony Coe, as "One Star Awake", on their album Sun, Moon and Stars (1999)

• Charlie Zahm, on his album The Celtic Balladeer (1999)

• Charlotte Church, on her album Charlotte Church (2000)

• B-Tribe, on the album ¡Spiritual, Spiritual! (2001)

• Andreas Scholl, on his album Wayfaring Stranger (2001)

• Anthony Kearns, on the album The Very Best of the Irish Tenors (2002)

• Wayne Shorter, instrumental version on his album Alegría (2003)

• Rory Gallagher with Bert Jansch, on Gallagher's album Wheels Within Wheels (2003)

• Celtic Woman, on their eponymous debut album (2004)

• Enter the Haggis, on the album Casualties of Retail (2005)

• Hayley Westenra on her album Odyssey (2005)

• Culann's Hounds, on the album One for the Road (2006)

• Michael Londra, on his album Celt (2006)

• Majella O'Donnell, on her album At Last (2006)

• Rhys Meirion, on his album Celticae – Cymru, Alba, Eire (2007)

• Cara Dillon, on her album Hill of Thieves (2009)

• Camilla Kerslake, on her eponymous debut album (2009)

• Siobhan Owen, on her album Celestial Echoes (2009)

• Nyle Wolfe, on his album Home Ground (2009)

• Fionnuala Sherry, on her album Songs From Before (2010)

• Jim Causley, as a "Devonshire variant" on his album Dumnonia (2011)

• Andrea Corr, on the album Celtic Skies (2012)

• Arbouretum, on the album Covered In Leaves (2012)

• Cheshire Moon, on the album Ways of Wind and Water (2012)

• Mediaeval Baebes, on the album The Huntress (2012)

• Josh Groban, on his album All That Echoes (2013)

• Celtic Thunder, on the album Mythology (2013)

• Peter Hollens, on his album Peter Hollens (2014)

• 10,000 Maniacs, on the album Twice Told Tales (2015)

External links

• Sissel & The Chieftains Live recording of "Love, Will You Marry Me?" and "She Moved Through The Fair"
• Traditional Ballad Index, California State University: sources and notes about the song
• The lyrics and a MIDI version of the song
• Info/speculation about the history, origins and variations of this song
• Lyrics and chords
• Sheet Music

Preceded by "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" by Gene Pitney & Marc Almond

UK number-one single 19 February 1989 "Belfast Child" by Simple Minds

Succeeded by "Too Many Broken Hearts" by Jason Donovan