I agree with you, Jacob B. I merely thought the rendition was sentimental because I couldn't understand 90% of the lyrics and the arrangement was so syrupy.

To this day, I've only caught one phrase out of the accompanying song Canticle. That phrase is, "blazing in scarlet battalions..." and it refers to a uniform which is 100-200 years too late for Scarborough Fair.

If you gather I am not a fan of Simon and Garfunkel's version, you are right. ----------------- I don't think it's a riddle song, because riddles have answers. S.F. is a song of warning, a song about meanness and inability to love. There were a number of tales and songs from the old days about women who fell in love/had sex with the devil (or a devil) and how bad this was, and this song is a descendent of that group.

I realize that maybe "devil" is too strong a word, as sometimes he is referred to (by Child, anyway) as the Elfin Knight. Whichever he was, elf or devil, he was still No Good.