During late medieval times the seaside resort of Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. It was host to a huge 45-day trading event, starting August 15, which was exceptionally long for a fair in those times. Merchants came to it from all areas of England, Europe, Norway, Denmark, the Baltic and the Byzantine Empire. Scarborough Fair originated from a charter granted by King Henry III of England on 22 January 1253. The charter, which gave Scarborough many privileges, 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". (On the modern Roman Catholic calendar, the equivalent dates are August 15 to September 29.) Naturally, such a large occasion attracted a lot more than just tradesmen; they needed to be entertained and fed, therefore large crowds of buyers, sellers and pleasure-seekers attended the fair. Prices were determined by âSupply and demandâ, with goods often being exchanged through the barter system. Records show that from 1383 Scarboroughâs prosperity slumped. In the early 17th century competition from other towns' markets and fairs and increasing taxation saw further collapse of the Fair until it eventually became financially untenable. The market was revived again in the 18th century, but due to intense competition Scarborough Fair finally ended in 1788. The traditional 'Scarborough Fair' no longer exists but a number of low-key celebrations take place every September to mark the original event. Scarborough Fair in July 2006 witnessed Medieval Jousting Competitions, hosted by English Heritage in addition to the usual attractions. The song tells the tale of a young man, who tells the listener to ask his former lover to perform for him a series of impossible tasks, such as making him a shirt without a seam and then washing it in a dry well, adding that if she completes these tasks he will take her back. Often the song is sung as a duet, with the woman then giving her lover a series of equally impossible tasks, promising to give him his seamless shirt once he has finished. As the versions of the ballad known under the title "Scarborough Fair" are usually limited to the exchange of these impossible tasks, many suggestions concerning the plot have been proposed, including the hypothesis that it is a song about the Plague. In fact, "Scarborough Fair" appears to derive from an older (and now obscure) Scottish ballad, The Elfin Knight (Child Ballad #2), which has been traced to 1670 and may well be earlier. 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 which he must first perform ("I have an aiker of good ley-land / Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand"). As the song spread, it was adapted, modified, and rewritten to the point that dozens of versions existed by the end of the 18th century, although only a few are typically sung nowadays. The references to "Scarborough Fair" and the refrain "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" date to nineteenth century versions, and the refrain may have been borrowed from the ballad Riddles Wisely Expounded, (Child Ballad #1), which has a similar plot. Following is one (relatively recent) version of the song, arranged as a duet: BOTH Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Remember me to one who lives there, For she/he once was a true love of mine. MAN Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Without any seam nor 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, Which never sprung water nor rain ever 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. Ask her to do me this courtesy, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, And ask for a like favour from me, And then she'll be a true love of mine. BOTH Have you been to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Remember me from one who lives there, For she/he once was a true love of mine. WOMAN Ask him to find me an acre of land, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Between the salt water and the sea-strand, For then he'll be a true love of mine. Ask him to plough it with a lamb's horn, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, And sow it all over with one peppercorn, For then he'll be a true love of mine. Ask him to reap it with a sickle of leather, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, And gather it up with a rope made of heather, For then he'll be a true love of mine. When he has done and finished his work, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Ask him to come for his cambric shirt, For then he'll be a true love of mine. BOTH If you say that you can't, then I shall reply, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Oh, Let me know that at least you will try, Or you'll never be a true love of mine. Love imposes impossible tasks, Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, But none more than any heart would ask, I must know you're a true love of mine. Much thought has gone into attempts to explain the refrain "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme", although, as this is found only in relatively recent versions, there may not be much to explain. The oldest versions of "The Elfin Knight" contain the refrain "my plaid away, my plaid away, the wind shall not blow my plaid away" (or variations thereof), which may reflect the original emphasis on the lady's chastity. Slightly younger 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 These are usually paired with "Once she was a true love of mine" or some variant. "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" may simply be the result of an attempt to fill in forgotten portions of one of the above, or the herbs might be a mondegreen of the original. In "Scarborough Fair" the herbs may be a veiled message for the girl where the man is explaining why she should come back to him (if she overcomes the five impossible tasks): ⢠parsley: I want you to bear my children. ⢠sage: I'm dependable. ⢠rosemary: Remember me. ⢠thyme: I'm yours. On the other hand, elaborate theories have been proposed concerning the symbolism of these herbs. Parsley, used to this day as a digestive aid, was said to take away the bitterness, and medieval doctors took this in a spiritual sense as well. Sage has been known to symbolize strength for thousands of years. Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance, and the custom of a bride wearing twigs of rosemary in her hair is still practiced in England and several other European countries today. Thyme symbolizes courage, and during the medieval era, knights would often wear images of thyme on their shields when they went to combat. The speaker in the song, by mentioning these four herbs, wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and, paradoxically, courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can. Also, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are the ingredients of a love spell that was very popular in the Middle Ages. Another theory considers the magical significance of the herbs. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme have all been closely associated with death and used as charms against the evil eye. In The Elfin Knight (of which Scarborough Fair is a version), an elf sets impossible tasks to a maid, and her replies determine whether she will fall into his clutches or not. Francis Child suggested that the elf was an interloper from another ballad, Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight, and that he should rightly be a mortal man, 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 on 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 so far as to suggest that the refrain might be the survival of an incantation against such a suitor (which would fit well with the plot of "The Elfin Knight"). An interesting connection between all of the herbs mentioned in the refrain of Scarborough Fair is that they are all contraceptive and abortifacient plants, members of the mint family. The insertion of these plants into a ballad about love, ploughed fields, and a thorn tree which never blossoms may have been a way for people to remember the names of commonly available antifertility herbs at a time when many people, especially women, were illiterate. The Refrain and the whole ballad may be the common pick up line: "We're here for a good time not a long time". Medieval peoples were simple folk but literature of the time suggests they had great wit particularly in the pursuit of love. By cheekily suggesting to an attractive passer by that you had a true love and suggesting she had the Time to do all these impossible tasks, the singer is sending the impetuous message that love lies in wait and there is no time to waste. All versions of the refrain seem to emphasize things that last forever in contrast to the opportunity at hand. Modern exulted versions of the song emphasize an altruism that probably was out of place in rustic medieval times.