Whittingham Fair- (Alnwick) 1882 Bruce & Stokoe
[From: Thomas Hepple's MS c.1855, then arranged and published by J. C. Bruce and J. Stokoe, "Northumbrian Minstrelsy," 1882, pp.79-80. Bronson 2.22. Child reports in Additions and Corrections: 17, II, 495 b. In The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, III, 7, 'Whittingham Fair' is given by Mr Stokoe with a few variations. See also The Denham Tracts, II, 358, from D. D. Dixon's tractate on The Vale of Whittingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1887.
The version published by Stokoe "Northumbrian Minstrelsy," 1882 is different form Hepple's version which supposedly it's based on. The melody has been transposed but is fairly accurate to Hepple's original.
R. Matteson 2018]
This manuscript, by Thomas Hepple of Kirkwhelpington, was sent to the Committee following an appeal by the Duke of Northumberland. The Duke, having been approached by the Committee, offered prizes of £10 and £5 for the two best collections of ancient Northumbrian music in score. Hepple's collection of songs appears to have been the only set of Northumbrian music to have been entered. It was nevertheless warmly received by the Committee, who included Hepple's fine Whittingham Fair in their final publication.
Hepple's MS date 1855
Whittingham Fair- From Hepple's MS, c. 1855
1 'Are you going to Whittingham fair?
Parsley, sage, grown merry in time
Remember me to one that lives there;
For once she was a true lover of mine.
2. 'Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, &c
Without ever a seam or needlework,
Then she shall be a true lover of mine.
3. 'Tell her to wash't in yonder well,
Parsley, &c
Where is never sprung, where never rain fell,
Then she shall be &c
4. 'Three hard questions he's gotten to me,
Parsley, &c
But I'll match him with the other three
Before he shall be a true lover of mine.
5 'Tell him to buy me an acre of land
Parsley, &c
Between the sea and the sea-sand,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.
6 Tell him to plow't with a hunting horn,
Parsley, &c
And sow it with the sickerly corn,
Then he shall &c
7 Tell him to shear'd with the hunting leather,
And bind[1] it up in a pea-cock feather.
Then he shall &c
8 Tell him to trash it on yonder wall,
Parsley, &c
And never let one corn of it fall,
Then he shall &c
9. After he has ended his work,
Parsley &c
Go tell him to come and to have his shirt,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.
1. Hepple writes "bind" twice- an obvious error.
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Whittingham Fair- Stokoe's text published 1882, which was "popular in the north and west of the county of Northumberland; usually sung as a nursery-ballad."
1 'Are you going to Whittingham fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there;
For once she was a true-love of mine.
2 'Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Without any seam or needlework.
3 'Tell her to wash it in yonder well,
Where never spring-water nor rain ever fell.
4 'Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born.'
5 'Now he has asked me questions three,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
I hope he will answer as many for me;
For once he was a true-love of mine.
6 'Tell him to find me an acre of land
Betwixt the salt water and the sea-sand.
7 'Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
And sow it all over with one pepper-corn.
8 'Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
And bind it up with a peacock's feather.
9 'When he has done, and finished his work,
O tell him to come, and he'll have his shirt.'