Dusty Strings Ravenna 26 Lever Harp

Dusty Strings Ravenna 26 Lever Harp - "Scarborough Fair"

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Күн бұрын

If my name was Peabody and your name was Sherman, then right about now I'd be telling you to get into the Wayback Machine and set the dial for waaaaaay back to merry old England in the '50s...the 1250s, that is. Here we will watch King Henry the VIII sign a charter (in 1253 to be precise) which began the annual tradition of a 45-day fair in the seaside city of Scarborough in North Yorkshire (on the North Sea side of the UK). The charter stated, "The Burgesses and their heirs forever may have a yearly fayre in the Borough, to continue from the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary until the Feast of St Michael next following".
For a brief time, the Scarborough Fair was a big deal; however, it wasn't a medieval fair like we picture as a place to go specifically for amusement. Rather, it was an enormous open-air trading center/market that attracted merchants and tradesmen from all over the country. This monumentous occasion drew impressively large crowds. In its heyday, we might say that a trip to Scarborough Fair would be the equivalent of taking a modern-day trip to, say, New York City. It had everything anyone could need, and from August 15-September 29, it was England's hot spot. It was the place to be. Of course, since many hundreds of people from far and near attended to sell their wares, naturally there also came those who sold food and various amenities to those who were far from home.
The song Scarborough Fair, the tune and lyrics, appeared somewhere around 1300. The song was written and sung by medieval bards throughout the English countryside. Because of the nature of song at the time, there is no single author credited with the song's inception. It was a folk tune that soon caught on with the local populous, and it became a tradition for the common folk to sing about participating in this auspicious occasion. As is true with most folk music, as time went on more lyrics and verses were added.

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@margaretblack8491 2 жыл бұрын

So lovely! And really appreciated the history lesson. Most wonderful tunes that have stood the test of time have quite the story, don't they? Thanks for putting this on KZbin.