Annotation:She moved through the fair

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X:1 T:She moved through the fair Z:transcribed by Gregory Taylor M:4/4 L:1/8 K:Dmix (D4 DE)F2|G3 F3 G2|A3 ((AA4)|A6) (GE)| (C4 C)D E2|(D8|D6) AB| c3 d3 A2|B3 (AA4|A6) F2|G3 F3 G2|(A8|A6) AB| c3 d3 A2|B3 ((A A4)|A6) F2|G3 F3 G2|(A8|A8)|(D4 D)E F2| G3 F3 G2|(A4 A)A (A2|A6) (GE)|(C4 C)C D2|((D8|D8)|D8) ||



SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR. AKA – “Our Wedding Day,” “Out of the Window.” Irish, Air (3/4 time). D Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. John Loesberg records that the song was collected in County Donegal by Herbert Hughes, and the words were rewritten by Padraic Colum. They begin:

My young love said to me, 'My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you for your lack of kine
And she stepp'd away from me and this she did say:
It will not be long love till our wedding day.

She walked away from me and she moved through the fair;
She won several goldfish and one teddy bear;
And then she went onward with one star awake;
It was too dark to see, and she fell in the lake.

John Moulden remarks that a song called “Out of the Window” is an antecedent version of the song Colum transformed into "She moved through the fair." He notes there are three sources for the song: one recorded from Robert Cinnamond, another from Eddie Butcher and a third printed in the Sam Henry collection. All modern performances seem to stem from those sources, including the late Paddy Tunney, who adapted Robert Cinnamond’s version.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Colum (A Treasury of Irish Folklore). Loesberg (Folksongs and Ballads Popular in Ireland), 1979; p. 19.

Recorded sources: -GIFT 10006, Mary Black – “Collected.” MCA/BMG MCVD 30012, Margaret Barry – “Margaret Barry & Pecker Dunne: Travellin' People" (1996). Polygram 834496, The Chieftains & Van Morrison – “Irish Heartbeat.” RCA 5798-2-RC, "James Galway and the Chieftains" (1986). RCA 62702, Chieftains & Sinead O’Connor – “Long Black Veil.” Rounder CD, Margaret Barry – “I Sang Through the Fairs” (1998. A compilation of Alan Lomax field recordings). Varrik 026, Pentangle – "Pentagle in the Round.” McPeake Family – "The Rights of Man". Meg Davis – "The Claddagh Walk.” Alison Pearce & Susan Drakes – "My Lagan Love and Other Songs of Ireland.”



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