"Fare Thee Well" (sometimes known as "The Turtle Dove") is an 18th-century

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folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, listed as number

422 __NOTOC__ Year 422 ( CDXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 117 ...

in the Roud Folk Song Index. In the song, a lover bids farewell before setting off on a journey, and the lyrics include a dialogue between the lovers.

History

The first published version of the song appeared in ''

Roxburghe Ballads In 1847 John Payne Collier (1789–1883) printed ''A Book of Roxburghe Ballads''. It consisted of 1,341 broadside ballads from the seventeenth century, mostly English, originally collected by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (16 ...

'' dated 1710; the lyrics were there given the title "The True Lover's Farewell". The song was traditionally sung to a range of different tunes. In 1907, the composer and folk-song scholar Ralph Vaughan Williams recorded David Penfold, an innkeeper from

Rusper Rusper is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and Cr ...

, Sussex, singing "Turtle Dove", and the recording is available online via the

British Library Sound Archive The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...

Lyrical content

"Fare Thee Well" shares several lyrics which parallel those of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

's "

A Red, Red Rose "A Red, Red Rose" is a 1794 song in Scots by Robert Burns based on traditional sources. The song is also referred to by the title "(Oh) My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose" and is often published as a poem. Many composers have set Burns' lyric to m ...

". The lyrics are also strikingly similar to a folk song titled, "My Dear Mary Ann" that dates back to the mid-19th century. Similarities include the meter and rhyme scheme, as well as the alternative title of "Ten Thousand Miles". Lyrical similarities include the opening line, "Fare thee well my own true love", "Ten thousand miles or more" (word-for-word matches), and the question of seeing a dove or other bird crying for its love. The subjects of the songs are practically identical: Lovers mourning their separation and longing to return to one another.

Musical arrangements

In 1919,

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

wrote an arrangement of the song, entitled "The Turtle Dove", for solo baritone (later re-arranged for solo and

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

choir).

Tia Blake Christiana Elizabeth "Tia" Wallman (April 13, 1952 – June 17, 2015), better known by her stage name Tia Blake, was an American singer-songwriter and writer. She was known for her 1971 debut album, ''Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk ...

released a version of the song similar to Vaughan Williams' arrangement and the original phonograph recording on her album ''Folk Songs and Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-group''. The song has been recorded by

Nic Jones Nic Jones (born Nicolas Paul Jones; 9 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Regarded as a prominent figure of the British folk revival, he has recorded five solo albums and collaborated with various musicians. Biography ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

on her 1960 debut album,

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and ca ...

Chad & Jeremy Chad & Jeremy were a British musical duo consisting of Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, who began working in 1962 and had their first hit song in the UK with " Yesterday's Gone" (1963). That song became a hit in the United States in the following ...

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Liam Clancy Liam Clancy ( ga, Liam Mac Fhlannchadha; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's ...

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

, Molina and Roberts, Bonny Light Horseman and

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...

's version was used in the movie ''

Fly Away Home ''Fly Away Home'' ( ''Flying Wild'' and ''Father Goose'') is a 1996 family drama film directed by Carroll Ballard. The film stars Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels, and Dana Delany. ''Fly Away Home'' was released on September 13, 1996, by Columbia Pict ...

'' (1996).

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

performed and recorded an arrangement of The Turtle Dove by their baritone Philip Lawson (composer and arranger)

Lyrics

The following lyrics were adapted by Vaughan Williams from the phonograph recording of David Penfold.

Fare you well my dear, I must be gone And leave you for a while If I roam away I'll come back again Though I roam ten thousand miles, my dear Though I roam ten thousand miles So fair though art my bonny lass So deep in love am I But I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love Till the stars fall from the sky my dear Till the stars fall from the sky The sea will never run dry, my dear Nor the rocks never melt with the sun But I never will prove false to the bonny lass I love Till all these things be done my dear Till all these things be done O yonder doth sit that little turtle dove He doth sit on yonder high tree A making a moan for the loss of his love As I will do for thee my dear As I will do for thee

References

References 1-6 are transcribed from the Traditional Ballad Index website listed in "External Links" below

External links

The Mudcat Cafe: DTStudy: My Dear Mary Ann

hosted by California State University Fresno *
The Turtle Dove (Ralph Vaughan Williams) 1924 sheet music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fare Thee Well (Song) Folk ballads Joan Baez songs Chad & Jeremy songs English songs 18th-century songs 1710 songs