She Moved Through the Fair

"She Moved Through the Fair" or "She Moves Through the Fair" is a traditional Irish folk song. Its original author is unknown, but the modern lyrics were written mostly by Padraic Colum.

The song was first collected in Donegal by Colum and Herbert Hughes and published by Boosey & Hawkes in London in a work entitled "Irish country songs" in 1909, though some claim it dates back to medieval times. Colum composed the lyrics, except for the last verse, while Hughes wrote down the tune, which is in mixolydian mode. [cite book |last=Allen |first=Patrick |title=Developing Singing Matters |publisher=Heinemann Educational Publishers |location=Oxford |year=1999 |pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=pUycX-MTVHQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PRA2-PA22-IA2,M1 22] |isbn=0-435-81018-9 |oclc=42040205] Most modern arrangements of the song can be traced to the recording by Fairport Convention in 1968, who adopted the style of the song from the travelling singer Margaret Barry. Also of note is the recording of the song by Alan Stivell in 1973.

Lyrics

Variations

Many modern versions omit verse three.

The second line of the first verse has two versions:

:And my father won't slight you for your lack of "kine"

and:

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

"Kine" is an archaic word for cattle, whereas "kind" in this sense may refer to general goods and property, as in the same sense that one would say "payment in kind" (rather than implying that the suitor is unpleasant). Either way, the line says that the father won't object to the marriage because the suitor is not rich. An alternate interpretion is that "kind" refers to the old Irish term for family, thus suggesting the girl's father won't mind because the suitor is of no social consequence. Both versions are normally considered correct. There is further support for "kind" to be found in the Oxford English Dictionary, which lists "right or position derived from birth" as one of the oldest senses of the word.

"My dead love" in verse four is sometimes sung as "my dear love" or "my own love". This may occur where verse three is sung, because it is already implied that she is dead, or when the song is sung on a happy occasion, such as a wedding, to remove the tragic aspect.

Variations

In recent times, following Fairport Convention's version of the song in the sixties, hundreds of artists have recorded this song in its traditional form. A few of the common variations are listed here.

Alan Stivell's version (1972), sung in English, is very close to the original song. Both Sinéad O'Connor's version (as used in the soundtrack of the film Michael Collins) and the one by Trees change the gender of the pronouns and so the song became "He Moved Through The Fair" although both versions still appear as "She Moved Through The Fair" on their respective album sleeves.

An alternate version of the lyrics were used in Mary Black's version of the song, as well as in Dolina Mackay's version, amongst others. A notable a capella version was recorded by Loreena McKennitt for her album Elemental in 1985. McKennitt alters the fourth verse, mentioning a dream, and replacing dead love with true love.

In 1988 Van Morrison and the Chieftains recorded a unique version of this song for the album "Irish Heartbeat" and a live version of it also appeared on Van Morrison's 1990 concert video, "Van Morrison The Concert".

In 1989 Simple Minds recorded a song called "Belfast Child", which made it to No. 1 in the UK Charts. This song uses the traditional tune associated with "She Moved Through The Fair", but with completely different words. The song may be found on their album "Street Fighting Years".

In 1989, Eyeless In Gaza recored an a cappella version on the album Back From The Rains.

Davy Graham's version of this song, titled "She Moved Thru the Bizarre", is almost directly copied in the Jimmy Page song "White Summer", first recorded with the Yardbirds in 1967 for their album "Little Games".

English musician Mike Oldfield covered the song on his 1996 album, "Voyager".

Celtic Woman recorded the song on their 2004 "Celtic Woman" album.

Enter the Haggis covered the song as "Moved Through the Fair" on their 2005 album Casualties of Retail.

German techno group Scooter sampled the song on the track "Ratty's Revenge" from their 2007 album "The Ultimate Aural Orgasm".

References

External links

* [http://www.contemplator.com/ireland/shemoved.html The lyrics and a MIDI version of the song]
* [http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=869 Info/speculation about the history, origins and variations of this song]
* [http://www.martindardis.com/id372.html Lyrics and chords]