Hi,

In a tip from Kloss's article I got a copy of Thomas Hepple's original Whittingham Fair MS which was "arranged" and published by Bruce and Stokoe in 1882.

I noticed another somewhat similar song is "Newcastle Fair" c. 1810 attributed to James Stawpert, (b.1785? d.1814) which begins:

Ha' ye been at Newcastle Fair
And did you see owse o' great Sandy?
Lord bliss us ! what wark there was there;
And the folks were drinking of brandy.

What is interesting is comparing the Hepple's original MS with the Stokoe version which drastically rewrites Hepple's version and does not credit him. A copy of the MS is on my website: http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/whittingham-fair--thomas-hepple-alnwick-c1855-.aspx

Below is a transcription of Hepple's original, The first set of tasks or questions (stanzas) is said to be three questions but is missing a stanza which was added by Stokoe. The last question in Hepple's MS is eliminated. The drastic changes may be indicative of editorial practices at that time. Both texts are presented below:

Whittingham Fair- From Hepple's MS, c. 1855

1 'Are you going to Whittingham fair?
Parsley, sage, grown merry in time
Remember me to one that lives there;
For once she was a true lover of mine.

2. 'Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, &c
Without ever a seam or needlework,
Then she shall be a true lover of mine.

3. 'Tell her to wash't in yonder well,
Parsley, &c
Where is never sprung, where never rain fell,
Then she shall be &c

4. 'Three hard questions he's gotten to me,
Parsley, &c
But I'll match him with the other three
Before he shall be a true lover of mine.

5 'Tell him to buy me an acre of land
Parsley, &c
Between the sea and the sea-sand,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.

6 Tell him to plow't with a hunting horn,
Parsley, &c
And sow it with the sickerly corn,
Then he shall &c

7 Tell him to shear'd with the hunting leather,
And bind[1] it up in a pea-cock feather.
Then he shall &c

8 Tell him to trash it on yonder wall,
Parsley, &c
And never let one corn of it fall,
Then he shall &c

9. After he has ended his work,
Parsley &c
Go tell him to come and to have his shirt,
Then he shall be a true lover of mine.
_______________

1. Hepple writes "bind" twice an obvious error.
____________________

Whittingham Fair- Stokoe's text published 1882, which was "popular in the north and west of the county of Northumberland; usually sung as a nursery-ballad."

1 'Are you going to Whittingham fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there;
For once she was a true-love of mine.

2 'Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Without any seam or needlework.

3 'Tell her to wash it in yonder well,
Where never spring-water nor rain ever fell.

4 'Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born.'

5 'Now he has asked me questions three,
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
I hope he will answer as many for me;
For once he was a true-love of mine.

6 'Tell him to find me an acre of land
Betwixt the salt water and the sea-sand.

7 'Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
And sow it all over with one pepper-corn.

8 'Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather,
And bind it up with a peacock's feather.

9 'When he has done, and finished his work,
O tell him to come, and he'll have his shirt.'

* * * *

Richie