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Scarborough Fair (ballad)
"Scarborough Fair" () is a traditional English ballad. The song lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The "Scarborough/Whittingham Fair" variant was most common in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where it was sung to various melodies, often using Dorian mode, with refrains resembling "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" and "Then she'll be a true love of mine." It appears in ''Traditional Tunes'' (1891) by Frank Kidson, who claims to have collected it from Whitby. Republished in 1999: The famous melody was collected from Mark Anderson (1874–1953), a retired lead miner from Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England, by Ewan MacColl in 1947. This version was recorded by a number of musicians in the 20th century, including the 1966 arrangement in counterpoint by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, who learned the ballad from Martin Carthy. A slightly different rendition of the ballad (referred to as "The C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. While ballads have no prescribed structure and may vary in their number of lines and stanzas, many ballads employ quatrains with ABCB or ABAB rhyme schemes, the key being a rhymed second and fourth line. Contrary to a popular conception, it is rare if not unheard-of for a ballad to contain exactly 13 lines. Additionally, couplets rarely appear in ballads. Many ballads were written and sold as single-sheet Broadside (music), broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard University, where he produced influential editions of English poetry. In 1876 he was named Harvard's first Professor of English, a position which allowed him to focus on academic research. It was during this time that he began work on the Child Ballads. The Child Ballads were published in five volumes between 1882 and 1898. While Child was primarily a literary scholar with little interest in the music of the ballads, his work became a major contribution to the study of English-language folk music. Biography Francis James Child was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His lifelong friend, scholar and social reformer Charles Eliot Norton, described Child's father, a sailmaker, as "one of that class of intellige ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambric
Cambric or batiste is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often glazed or calendered. Initially it was made of linen; from the 18th and 19th centuries the term came to apply to cotton fabrics as well. Chambray is a similar fabric, with a coloured (often blue or grey) warp and white filling; the name "chambray" replaced "cambric" in the United States in the early 19th century. Cambric is used as fabric for linens, shirts, handkerchiefs, ruffs, lace, and in cutwork and other needlework. Dyed black, it is also commonly used as the dustcover on the underside of upholstered furniture. Description Cambric is a finely woven cloth with a plain weave and a smooth surface appearance, the result of the calendering process. It may be made of linen or cotton. The fabric may be dyed any of many colours. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riddles Wisely Expounded
"Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was given by Francis James Child and seems derived from the seventeenth century broadside version "A Noble Riddle Wisely Expounded". Origins and Context The motif of riddling in folklore is very ancient, the stories of Oedipus and Samson giving two early examples. The particular form used here matches the folktale Aarne-Thompson type 875 ''The Clever Girl'' where a woman wins a husband by her clever answers to riddles. Other tales of this type include '' What Is the Fastest Thing in the World?'' and '' The Wise Little Girl''. There are strong parallels with ballads in other languages, with many German, and Scottish and Irish Gaelic versions known to exist. There is also significant crossover with other popular English language ballads, suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thyme
Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. The species most commonly cultivated and used for culinary purposes is ''Thymus vulgaris'', native to Southeast Europe. History Thymus serpyllum, Wild thyme grows in the Levant, where it might have been first cultivated. Ancient Egyptians used common thyme (''Thymus vulgaris'') for embalming. The Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing it was a source of courage. The spread of thyme throughout Europe was thought to be due to the Ancient Rome, Romans, as they used it to purify their rooms and to "give an aromatic flavour to cheese and liqueurs". In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosemary
''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean region, as well as Portugal and Spain. It has a number of cultivars and its leaves are commonly used as a flavoring. Description Rosemary has a fibrous root system. It forms an aromatic evergreen shrub with leaves similar to '' Tsuga'' needles. Forms range from upright to trailing; the upright forms can reach between tall. The leaves are evergreen, long and broad, green above, and white below, with dense, short, woolly hair. The plant flowers in spring and summer in temperate climates, but the plants can be in constant bloom in warm climates; flowers are white, pink, purple or deep blue. The branches are dotted with groups of 2 to 3 flowers down its length. Rosemary also has a tendency to flower outside its normal flowering season; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salvia Officinalis
''Salvia officinalis'', the common sage or sage, is a perennial, evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae and native to the Mediterranean region, though it has been naturalized in many places throughout the world. It has a long history of medicinal and culinary use, and in modern times it has been used as an ornamental garden plant. The common name "sage" is also used for closely related species and cultivars. Description Cultivars are quite variable in size, leaf and flower color, and foliage pattern, with many variegated leaf types. The Old World type grows to approximately tall and wide, with lavender flowers most common, though they can also be white, pink, or purple. The plant flowers in late spring or summer. The leaves are oblong, ranging in size up to long by wide. Leaves are grey-green, rugose on the upper side, and nearly white underneath due to the many short soft hairs. Modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parsley
Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Europe and elsewhere in the world with suitable climates, and is widely cultivated as an herb and a vegetable. It is believed to have been originally grown in Sardinia, and was cultivated in around the 3rd century BC. Linnaeus stated its wild habitat to be Sardinia, whence it was brought to England and apparently first cultivated in Britain in 1548, though literary evidence suggests parsley was used in England in the Middle Ages as early as the Anglo-Saxon period. Parsley is widely used in European cuisine, European, Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern, and American cuisine. Curly-leaf parsley is often used as a garnish (food), garnish. In Central European cuisine, central Europe, Eastern European cuisine, eastern Europe, and southern Eur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarborough Fair (fair)
During the late Middle Ages the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough, in Yorkshire, was an important venue for traders from all over England. It was host to a huge 45-day trading event starting on 15 August, and continuing until the end of September. Merchants came to it from all areas of England, Norway, Denmark, the Baltic states, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Scarborough Fair originated from a royal charter granted by King Henry III of England on 22 January 1253. The charter, which gave Scarborough many privileges, stated "The Burgess (title), Burgesses and their heirs forever may have a yearly fair in the Borough, to continue from the Assumption of Mary, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary until the Michaelmas, Feast of St Michael next following" (15 August – 29 September). Naturally, such a large occasion attracted a lot more than just tradesmen; they needed to be entertained and fed and therefore large crowds of buyers, se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), chain by one furlong (66 by 660 Foot (unit), feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. Based upon the International yard and pound, international yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac, but is usually spelled out as the word "acre".National Institute of Standards and Technolog(n.d.) General Tables of Units of Measurement . Traditionally, in the Middle Ages, an acre was conceived of as the area of land that could be ploughed by one man using a team of eight oxen in one day. The acre is still a statutory measure in the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sark
Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set of laws based on Norman law, and its own parliament. It was a royal fief, fiefdom until 2008, when the Constitution of Sark went into effect. Sark has a population of about 500. Including the nearby island of Brecqhou, it has an area of . Little Sark is a peninsula joined by a natural but high and very narrow isthmus to the rest of Sark Island. Sark is one of the few places in the world where List of car-free islands, cars are banned from roads, and only tractors, bicycles, and horse-drawn vehicles are allowed. In 2011, Sark was designated as a Dark-sky preserve, Dark Sky Community and the first Dark Sky Island in the world. Geography and geology Sark consists of two main parts, Greater Sark, located at about , and Little Sark to the so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
