She Moved Through The Fair waltz

I’ve heard only two versions of it and I made a “mix” with both ones (which were very similar). I know that this tune repeats many times, (it’s got lyrics) but i didn’t put the repetiton because i don`t know exactly where does it repeat from; the different versions repeat from different parts. Anyway, I hope you like it.
Mariana

But does anyone have a full text ?
Most singers I know start with;
"My young love said to me
My mother won’t mind"
but I have heard a much longer version where this stanza is in the middle of the song, and it makes much more sense.
Help, anyone ?

The original words were an old ballad from Donegal which was collected in 1909. The words were “reworked” by Padraic Colum to this version. Alternate titles and variants include, Our Wedding Day and Out of the Window.
According to Ossian’s Folksongs and Ballads Popular in Ireland - Volume I the tune dates back to Medieval times.*
Full Lyrics:

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 stepped away from me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
Till our wedding day"

As she stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she turned homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

The people were saying,
No two e’er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear.

Last night she came to me,
My dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
As she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
It will not be long, love,
’Til our wedding day

Years ago I heard a terrific version of this by Davy Graham and on friday on BBC 4 he was playing it in some folk club on Folk Brittania recorded back in the sixties

Here is an alternative version. I have added some chords too!

X:1
T:46. She moved through the fair
C:trad
Z:Klas Krantz 2006
R:Air
Q:“adagio”
L:1/8
M:3/4
K:D

(3ABc | “G”d2“Fm”c2“G”d2 | “A”e2e4- | e4dB | “G”G2>A2A2 | “A”A6- | A4 ef |
“A”g2a2>e2 | “Fm”f2e2>c2 | “G”d2c2d2 | “A”e6- | e4 ef |
“A”g2a2>e2 | “Fm”f2e2>c2 | “G”d2c2d2 | “A”e2e4- | e4 (3ABc |
“G”d2“Fm”c2“G”d2 | “A”e2e4- | e4 dB | “G”G2A2A2 | “A”A6- | A4 |]

As many have noted, the 1909 “reworked” version by Padraic Colum doesn’t make a lot of sense. This isn’t necessarily bad, since it adds to the mystery and unworldliness of the song. However, before attempting to sing it myself I did a bit of research and explored the original verses of the (at least two) traditional songs (one is “Our Wedding Day”) that apparently derived from the forgotten original. Many of those verses also don’t make sense, and many seem to have been added later by balladeers other than the original author. Of those I was able to unearth, I eventually decided on seven that with a little reworking of my own seemed to make sense and were consistent with one another. Usually I sing only the first three and the last three verses, since the middle verse (“When according to promise…”), generally either confuses the listeners or leads them to assume a rather mundane explanation for the lyrics. To reinforce its ethereal quality, I generally sing the song in only two alternately repeating chords, for example A and G.

Incidentally, the word “kind” in this song is used in its somewhat antiquated meaning of tangible wealth (livestock, possessions, etc. goods or commodities as distinguished from money), as in the phrase “payment in kind.”

My young love said to me,
"My brothers won’t mind.
Nor will my parents slight thee
For thy lack of kind."
Then she placed her hand on me
And this she did say
"It will not be long, love
Till our wedding day."

Then she stepped away from me
And moved through the fair.
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
Then she made her way homeward
With but one star awake
As the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake.

The neighbors were saying
We two ne’er would wed
For one had a sorrow
That never was said
But I smiled as she passed me
With her goods and her gear
And that was the last time
That I saw my dear.

When according to promise
At midnight I rose
I found nothing of her
Nor linen, nor clothes.
The window was open
My young love was gone.
And I, left behind
To wander alone.

Oh love, my young love
What is this path you chose?
You have taken the thistle,
Forsaken the rose.
The thistle will wither
It soon will decay
While the [red] rose in its garden
Alone e’er will stay.

If I had the wings
Of an eagle I’d fly.
I’d fly to my young love’s side
And it’s there that I’d lie.
In a bed of green ivy
I’d leave myself down
And with my two folded wings
I would my love surround.

Last night she came to me;
My young love came in.
So softly she came
That her feet made no din.
She lay down beside me
And this she did say:
"It will not be long, love
Till our wedding day."

There are a number of theories about the meaning of the various verses of the song, that generally fall into two categories. The first theory is that the lost love ran off with another man. Under this theory, the “sorrow that never was said” would presumably be that she was in love with someone else, and ran off with some “Blackjack Davey” type rather than go through with an arranged marriage. Presumably she ran away through that open window. The second main theory is that she died, perhaps killing herself by jumping out the window, or perhaps she was kidnapped and/or murdered by someone who came in through the window. If by suicide, the “sorrow that never was said” could have been some disgrace, scandal, or severe depression.

The most interesting theory I’ve heard is that the “sorrow that never was said” refers to a disease that (at that time) was invariably fatal. In every generation there is some disease that, if someone has it, is spoken of only in whispers, if at all. Recently AIDS has been such a disease (and indeed, throughout history various types of venereal disease were considered “unspeakable” diseases). When I was young the same thing was true of cancer: if a friend or family member had it, that fact was generally not discussed—it was, literally, “a sorrow that never was said.” I’m told that in the 19th century “consumption” (what we now call tuberculosis) was such a disease, though I have my doubts about that.

Under the disease theory, when the poor fellow arrived to see her she had already died and her body removed. That fact, and the lyrics about the open window and the missing clothing and bedding (presumably taken away to be burned, as in “The Velveteen Rabbit”), would also be indications to listeners of the time of what had happened, since those were all things that were normally done to minimize possible infection to others when a person died of a contagious disease. That she had died could also better explain the verse about the singer wanting to “leave himself down in a bed of green ivy” (her grave?) to be with her.

In either case (abandonment or death), there is always debate about the final verse. Did she come back to him? Was she a ghost coming back to him? Was he just dreaming of her? Or was it a vision of her joining him in the grave (or beyond) because he himself was dying, perhaps having been infected when she “placed her hand on [him]”? I prefer to think that the final verse reflects a fantasy that the singer, now much older, often has--perhaps every night. But I would prefer not to venture any explanation to an audience. The best songs are those that make the listener think, and often the best meaning is that which the listener can find in his or her own mind.

i learned notes by letter a b c d e f g those kind of letter could you get the tune in it anyone??

Look up “ABC notation” in a search engine, online, but here’s one site usually recommended ~

http://www.lesession.co.uk/abc/abc_notation.htm

The base octave, starting with middle C is all caps ~
C ~ D ~ E ~ F ~ G ~ A ~ B ~
and the next octave is lower case ~
c ~ d ~ e ~ f ~ g ~ a ~ b ~
to go up to the next level an apostrophe is used ’ ~
c‘ ~ d’ ~ etc…
to go down from middle C a comma is used , ~
B, ~ A, ~ G, ~ down to the low string of the fiddle…

ABC notation is an easy learn and well worth the effort, giving you something you can use on a beer coaster to remember a tune by, and often all the memory needs to respark something appreciated is just a bar or two… Good luck, it won’t be an effort wasted…

If you’re winds, flute or whistle or pipes, then the lowest note on a D instrument, the usual, is D…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nztk3dk-W6g

play video

Thanks for all the wonderful background! I do love this song, although I have always thought it referred to the Fae - that she was one of them and he could not really “bridge” into their realm.

I would also add for context, this may even be a story of a woman who runs off with the faeries rather than staying in the human realm. Celtic mythology has legends of humans were are seduced by faerie lovers only to disappear forever, as one cannot return from that realm. Could be a euphemism for any number of psychological issues or even just the idea the woman was fey-touched and therefore was bound to disappear one day breaking the heart of her lover left behind.