Scarborough Fair was a 45 day trading fair held in the seaside resort of Scarborough in medieval England.  In its time it was internationally famous as a place to trade and do business with merchants from all over England, parts of Europe and Scandinavia.  I’ve often imagined that the song that bears its name had its origins in some poor unrequited lover’s ballade.  He was a bumpkin come to the fair from the sticks to make his fortune, or at least a little spending money he could take back home.  But he lost his heart instead.  You have to figure though, that any song humans have sung across the centuries is just ambiguous enough that anyone can imagine themselves in it. 

As the years passed, it gradually became a duet sung by lovers who seemed separated by more then the distance between them…

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me to one who lives there,
He once was a true love of mine.

For me, when I’m in a certain mood, nothing beats hearing Sergio Mendes & Brazil ’66 sing this chorus.  It’s seductive and beautiful. But they only sing the chorus.  There’s more to it, and when you uncover the additional verses of this old medieval song, what you discover is that it is a duet between two lovers who are asking each other to perform simple, yet clearly impossible tasks…

Ask him to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Between the salt water and the sea-strand,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to plough it with a lamb’s horn,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And sow it all over with one peppercorn,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

Ask him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
And gather it up with a rope made of heather,
For then he’ll be a true love of mine.

Again, it’s all just ambiguous enough that you can see in it almost anything you want to.  Maybe this was medieval England’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.  Maybe its a devoted couple having a good laugh together that while they aren’t the perfect lovers of the folk tales and ballades, they’re still happily in love all the same.  Maybe its a couple who’ve let each other down, angrily hurling impossible demands at each other.  Maybe the song is about how love makes us rise above ourselves, brings things out of us that we’d never have known were there, never have known we could do or become, until we met that one person we would do anything for.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

Perhaps once upon a time there were two people who might have loved, but time and circumstance just made it impossible.  And now all they can do is wave at each other at a distance, smile a little, laugh a little, and ironically give each other these little absurd tasks to win each other, knowing full well it can never be.

Remember me to one who lives there,
He once was a true love of mine.

The songs that speak to us about the human condition across the ages, tell just enough, and leave out just enough, that everyone can recognize themselves in them.