Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.

Subject: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 02:29 AM

I'm looking for the lyrics to Strawberry Fair (As I was going to Strawberry fair, singing, singing, buttercups and daisies).

I've got the first verse, and the ri fol bits, the book I have (ironically, called 'Strawberry Fair, pub 1985, used in schools) has the dots but only the one verse.

Now I did find it on a Children's site, but they aren't the verses I really remember (I'm sure I'd remember lines as dreadful as 'I want to purchase a generous heart; a tongue that neither is nimble nor tart').

Does anyone out there have any other versions?

Being such a staple of the school singing together sessions and ripe with double entendres, I'm surprised this isn't mentioned anywhere on the forum, other than being the source book for another song!

Thanks.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 02:40 AM

Strawberry Fair, here it is. A bit dire, innit?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:00 AM

Yes...thanks... but again, not the version I remember.. Unless I really did blank it from my mind for being so syrupy!

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:11 AM

Liz

You may be thinking of the Anthony Newley version (a hit in the 60's) which was a bit more rocky than the twee nursery rhyme. He also had a hit with "pop goes the weasel".

I remember him most for the TV series "The Strange World of Gurney Slade"

Not sure where you'll find the words though. It's on a best of AN CD at Amazon for £5.97

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: MartinRyan
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:19 AM

Definitely the Anthony Newley version, I reckon. I can hear hisaccent as the words go through my head!

Regards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:22 AM

Anthony Newley's version ended with 'the donkey's eaten all the strawberries' but none of that 'want to purchase a generous heart; a tongue that neither is nimble nor tart' crap.

Just before his death in 1999 he had been cast for EastEnders. Such a shame nothing came of this.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:26 AM

Just been looking at Anthony Newley on the web and there was so much I'd forgotten about his life and career.

Fascinating stuff.

Actually wasn't it "the milkman said the donkey's eaten all of my yoghurt" or is my mind really playing tricks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:46 AM

Extract from a piece in Living Tradition (July/August 1999) on Bob Blair, Tradition Bearer, by Pete Heywood:

One of the songs that Baring Gould put back into the tradition was 'Strawberry Fair'. Anthony Newley did a version of it and unless you accept that there is something particularly special about folksong style, then it was just as valid a performance of the song as any other. But if you play that version to anybody with knowledge of folksong, they either get annoyed or laugh. It is not fair to laugh - Newley is doing a legitimate performance of 'Strawberry Fair' as he sees it. I happen to hate it, but if you don't recognise the importance of style then Newley's rendition is as good as any.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:48 AM

So can anyone post Newley's lyrics? I was only born in the mid '60's but I may have heard it subliminally.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 04:50 AM

But if Baring Gould got his mits on the original, then I can see how the words got to be so syrupy, with 'a ring of gold on your finger displayed'... He could out-bowdler Bowdler.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Kevin Sheils
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:08 AM

Sorry Liz I can find lots of sites related to Anthony Newley but not one with the lyrics of Strawberry Fair.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Bernard
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 07:03 AM

Strawberries! Shan't be round termorrer! The donkey's pinched all me strawberries!

That's how it ended - see here!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Martin Graebe
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 12:31 PM

The original words that Baring-Gould collected from Baring-Gould were as follows:

As I was going to Strawberry Fair
Ri-tol-ri-tol, riddle-tol-de-lido
I saw a fair maid of beauty rare
Tol-de-dee
I saw a fair maid go selling her ware
As she went on to Strawberry Fair
Ri-tol-ri-tol-riddle-tol-di-dee

O pretty fair maiden I prithee tell
My pretty fair maid, what do you sell?
O come tell me truly sweet damsel
As you go on to Strawberry Fair

O I have a lock that doth lack a key
O I have a lock, sir, she did say
If you have a key then come this way
As we go on to Strawberry Fair

Between us I reckon, that when we met
The key to the lock it was well set
The key to the lock it well did fit
As we went on to Strawberry Fair

O would that my lock had been a gun
I'd shoot the Blacksmith, for I'm undone
And wares to carry I need have none
That I should go to Strawberry Fair

Liz, you protest too much about SB-G. He edited, like Sharp, Broadwood and the rest for publication. He did, though, leave us very good records of what he actually collected - and there are many in his papers that use metaphors much more explicit than the old lock and key.

I'm sure that I've got the Tony Newley version on tape somewhere - finding it will be an interesting challengs

Martin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 12:37 PM

Who was it sang :-
Ri-fol ri-fol,
Have a bowl of Trifle!

then?
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 01:52 PM

Baring-Gould rewrote many of the songs that he collected, one being "Strawberry Fair" (in "Songs of the West).
A. L. Lloyd said B-G discovered a double-entendre in the song and eliminated it.
In his book, "Folk Song in England," Lloyd gave the verse:

Oh, I have a lock that doth lack a key,
Ri tol, ri tol, riddle tol de lido,
I have a lock that doth lack a key,
Tol de dee,
I have a lock sir, she did say,
And if you got the key then come this way.
Ri tol, ri tol, riddle tol de lido.

p. 187, "Folk Song in England," 1967, reprint Paladin 1975.

The B-G rewrite was posted by Malcolm Douglas in thread 37992: Strawberry Fair

The far more interesting original, as collected(?) from J. Masters by B-G, from his MSS as printed in Reeves, was posted by Masato in the thread linked above on 21 Aug 01.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 05:50 PM

Here's what I think the Anthony Newley version is. (As Fox Mulder is probably saying - X-Files Movie on TV in UK now - the tunes are out there!).

(An honest mind... - I took from Malcolm's post from B-G in one of the other threads - it sounds like And bananas fine but these are rare!, but I think the original is more likely here).

Mick

---

STRAWBERRY FAIR
(Trad/Nollie Clapton=Anthony Newley)

Strawberries! Ripe strawberries!

As I was going to Strawberry Fair,
Singing, singing buttercups and daisies
I met a maiden selling her wares
Fol-the-dee
Her eyes were blue and she was fair
She rode on a donkey to Strawberry Fair
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-i-do
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee

Would you like to pick from my basket, she said
Singing, singing buttercups and daisies
My cherries ripe and my roses are red
Fol-de-dee
You can take a handful, I don't care
As I go on to Strawberry Fair
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-i-do
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee

So I said to this bird:
Your're cherries soon will go mouldy and bad
Singing, singing, buttercups and whatsits
Your roses wither and look all sad
Fol-de-dee
Now it's not to buy such perishing ware
That I am slogging it to Strawberry Fair
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Don't forget an earful
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee

I told it straight:
I wanna girl with a generous heart
Singing, singing, buttercups and oojahs
Without a tongue that is wicked or smart
Fol-de-dee
And and honest mind but these are rare
I'd had a-more fun than at this crummy old fair
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-i-do
Ri-fol, Ri- well you know the rest, don't you?

So I put her straight:
Now in return for these virtues I swear
Knees-up, knees-up, come and have a knees-up
I'll give you a ring for your finger my dear
Fol-the-dee
So make me your partner and give me a share
In church today at Strawberry Fair
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-i-do
Ri-fol, Ri-fol__

Source: Anthony Newley

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:16 PM

This is the version that will be added to the Digital Tradition. I couldn't find where it came from, and I don't know if it was posted at Mudcat or if it came from elsewhere - I got it from an advance copy of the DT, which still has some technical bugs. Maybe it came from this post - I haven't complared lyrics completely yet.

Anyhow, here it is.
-Joe-

---

STRAWBERRY FAIR

As I was going to Strawberry Fair,
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies,
I met a maiden taking her wares, fol-de-dee.
Her eyes were blue and golden her hair,
As she went on to Strawberry Fair.

cho: Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
    Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee.

"Kind sir, pray pick of my basket," she said,
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies.
"My cherries ripe or my roses red, fol-de-dee.
My strawberries sweet I can of them spare,
As I go on to Strawberry Fair."

"Your cherries soon will be wasted away,"
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies.
"Your roses withered and never stay, fol-de-dee.
'Tis not to seek such perishing ware
That I am tramping to Strawberry Fair."

"I want to purchase a generous heart,
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies.
A tongue that neither is nimble nor tart, fol-de-dee,
An honest mind, but such trifles are rare.
I doubt if they're found at Strawberry Fair.

"The price I offer, my sweet pretty maid,
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies,
A ring of gold on your finger displayed, fol-de-dee,
So come, make over to me your ware
In church today at Strawberry Fair."

Strawberry Fair is still an annual celebration in Cambridge
and in other locations.
@kids
filename[ STRAWFR
NR
Feb07

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Little Robyn
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 06:42 PM

The buttercups and oojahs version is the one I remember.
Ri-fol, rifol, come and get an eyefull!
It was good for a laugh but I'd never sing it.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 07:41 PM

Joe, the Digital Tradition should have the one published by Reeves from the B-G MS, and posted by Masato in thread 37992.

It has punch, and isn't 'icky poo.'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 09 Jun 07 - 07:56 PM

The proposed DT text is the re-write by H Fleetwood Sheppard and Sabine Baring-Gould. I posted it in the thread indicated above, but this isn't my transcription; there is a typo in line 2 (it should be 'ware', not 'wares') and I provided proper source information, which the DT apparently doesn't intend to bother with. Nor is it from Mudlark's post (link above) which was rather eccentrically spelled.

It's very disappointing to see that the next DT revision will be including new unattributed and inaccurate entries, when full, correct information has been available in the Forum for at least 6 years; and is easily found via the search engine.

I wonder who 'NR' is? It's high time that contributors were identified by name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 Jun 07 - 03:50 AM

So the Anthony Newly one is really just a contemporary (in the '60s!) version of the ickypoo one first posted.

I remember the version with picks and locks, so maybe my school wasn't as strait-laced as it was supposed to be!

Thanks all.

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Martin Graebe
Date: 10 Jun 07 - 04:08 AM

My apologies for being in too much of a hurry to write sense yesterday evening - I was supposed to be going out. Baring-Gould's collected version, as I gave it above and as it appears in several of his manuscripts was noted from John Masters of Bradstone (Devon) in 1891. This is the version that Reeves gives and which Q refers to.

The version re-written by SB-G is as Joe's text, though Malcolm is correct in pointing out that it should be 'ware' in the first verse. This was the version that appeared in the third part of 'Songs and Ballads of the West' in 1892 and all subsequent editions. It then appeared in 'English Folk Songs for Schools' in 1906. The tune is that noted from John Masters - shame about the royalties that he never got from Mr Newley. Not many traditional singers have got their tunes in the top 20.

I just looked back at the other thread that Malcolm mentions - and some of the other 'others'. I suspect we are doomed to continually re-visit our past but maybe not in parallel micro-universes.

Martin Graebe

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 01:08 AM

"use metaphors much more explicit than the old lock and key."

Now look what you've done! Now I can't get out of my head

"I've got a brand new pair of roller-skates,
You've got a brand new key"!!!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 03:53 AM

At least you didn't think 'combine harvester', which, thanks to you mentioning that song, *I* now have rolling round my head!

LTS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 04:31 AM

Do we really have to have a ritualised debate about bowlderisation every time Baring Gould's name is mentioned? Can we move on, please?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 05:37 AM

The People's flag is deepest red,
Singing, singing, buttercups and daisies
It shrouded oft our martyrs dead
Fol the day
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their life's blood dyed its every fold
Right fol, right fol, fol the diddle-dido,
Right fol, right fol, fol-the diddle-day

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Jun 07 - 12:58 PM

When and by whom was 'Strawberry Fair' made a part of this old song?
I could probably find it, but perhaps someone would be kind enough to post it here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jun 16 - 05:15 AM

My Dad used to sing Trifle, Trifle, mother got an eyeful

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Jun 16 - 01:23 PM

I am always on the lookout for good tunes for recorder, so I searched for the old tune for 'Strawberry Fair.' On YouTube I found this video, where the singer is very precise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktSjjTXNKJM

I've made a MIDI of it, if anybody's interested. I lowered the key.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Richie
Date: 28 Jun 16 - 03:35 PM

Hi,

According to Baring Gould the words date back to circa 1650. It was collected in 1891.

From Songs and Ballads of the West: A Collection Made from the Mouths of the People edited by Sabine Baring-Gould, Henry Fleetwood Sheppard, Frederick William Bussell, 1892:

LXVIII. Strawberry Fair.
Melody taken down from 'Jas. Masters, of Bradstone,' by Mr. Sheppard [1891]. The ballad is a recast of "Kytt hath lost her key," given by Dr.'Rimbault in his "Little Book of Songs and Ballads gathered from Ancient Music Books," 1851, p. 49; but this was a parody in 1561 of "Kit hath lost her keye (cow)." The song was certainly early, but unsuitable; and I have been constrained to re-write it. The old air was used, in or about 1835, by Beuler, a comic song writer, for his "The Devil and the Hackney Coachman."

"Ben was a lackney coachman rare,
Jarvey! Jarvey!- Here I am, your honour."

Beuler composed the words of a good number of songs, and set nearly all to old airs. Thus he wrote "The Steam Coach" to "Bonnets of Blue," "Don Giovanni" to the air of "Billy Taylor," "the Sentimental Costermonger" to "Fly from the World," "Honesty is the best Policy" to the old melody of " The Good Days of Adam and Eve," "Ireland's the nation of Civilization" to the tune of "Paddy O'Carrol," and "The Nervous Family" to "We're a Nodding."

The same thing was done by Hudson, and a score of comic song writers. They took good old tunes and set t em to vulgar words, which were, in some cases, no doubt an improvement, for vulgar words are better than those which are obscene.

That "Strawberry Fair" is a genuine old melody I have no doubt. The ballad is sung everywhere in Cornwall and Devon to the same melody. The words are certainly not later than the age of Charles II., and are probably older. They turn on a double entendre which is quite lost- and fortunately so- to half the old fellows who sing the song. It seems to me impossible to believe that the air should have
become dissociated from Beuler's words and attached to very early words of the peculiar metre required. I have never found a singer who had any knowledge of "The Devil and the Hackney Coachman," but all have heard "Strawberry Fair," and some men of 70-80 say they learned it of their fathers. The earliest date of Jacob Beuler's song is 1834, and if what the old singers tell me is true, then certainly Beuler adopted a tune taken from a folk ballad, and did not contribute a tune to folk melody.

Richie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Jun 16 - 11:37 AM

Thanks for the info, Richie. It's a nice melody, and 1834 is old enough for me. I'm playing it on my dulcimer today.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Jul 16 - 06:43 AM

Sheet music for voice and piano can be seen in Songs and Ballads of the West edited by S. Baring-Gould & H. Fleetwood Sheppard (London: Methuen & Co., 1892), p. 144.

Lyrics are identical to those posted by Joe Offer above.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Ebor Fiddler
Date: 03 Jul 16 - 06:27 PM

I find it difficult to believe that Baring-Gould's informants were quite as dim as he made out. Mind, he was writing for publication!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Jul 16 - 10:13 PM

I think the reference to lock and key has to do with siphoning off some strawberries from the shed or warehouse to line the pockets of the poor.

Well, she's poor, but she's authorized to sell strawberries. He's middle management - a reeve, bailiff or midriff, someone like that. And he has a key to the barn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 04 Jul 16 - 05:01 AM

"I think the reference to lock and key has to do with siphoning off some strawberries from the shed or warehouse to line the pockets of the poor."

I think Freud (and the conventions of the tradition) might have some other interpretation....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 04 Jul 16 - 08:51 AM

I also suspect a pocket lined with strawberries could become rather messy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Geoff
Date: 19 Mar 20 - 09:08 AM

Hated this song when I was at school - a sissy's song! But what a fantastic tune; been going round and round in my head. I thought I'd search for the words and got more than I bargained for. I think I'm going to enjoy singing the lock and key version at Folk Club.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 19 Mar 20 - 09:11 AM

MacColl used a pop version of it by Anthony Newley to illustrate the misuse of folk song in The Song Carriers - well worth a listen
Jim Caarroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Mo the caller
Date: 19 Mar 20 - 05:51 PM

"Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Ebor Fiddler - PM
Date: 03 Jul 16 - 06:27 PM

I find it difficult to believe that Baring-Gould's informants were quite as dim as he made out. Mind, he was writing for publication! "

They were singing for a posh vicar, so maybe they were not as dim as THEY made out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 03:16 AM

Would hihly recommend Martin Graebe's '@As I Walked Out', a biography of Baring-Gould
It's packed full of information and has filled in many of the gaps for me
Gould was collecting at a time when bawdy and erotica were a minefield- the late Victorian period
What he published was what he ws allowed to and we must be thankful for that
The singers themselves would have been circumspect in what they gave an outsider, never mind a clergyman
Some people have sought to make their name by applying modern standards to collectors like him - easy- peasy for the lazy and ambitious
He seemed to have kept everything he was given, as did others
Long after Bishop Thomas Percy kicked the whole thing off in England, somebody was a bly to put together 'Percy's Loose and Humourous Songs'
We eventually go Peter Buchan's 'Secret Songs of Silence'   
There are stirring of us being allowed to see some of the "filthier" shanties that were sung by 'Real Sailors'
Fingers Crossed' that there is more of Baring-Gould to come. "Locks and Keys" and all
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 05:00 AM

"MacColl used a pop version of it by Anthony Newley to illustrate the misuse of folk song in The Song Carriers"

Didn't Martin Carthy say something to the effect that the only misuse was not to sing them. I can't find the quote quickly, but the last paragraph of
this makes a similar point - "You can't hurt this music. That's the most important thing. There's nothing you can do that is going to hurt it."

I prefer Martin's attitude to Ewan's.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 05:11 AM

"the only misuse was not to sing them."
He couldn't have heard the Heavy Metal of 'Sheepcrook and Black Dog'
Personally, I think it was a crass statement - you can do far more damage to a song by nausing it up than if you waited for someone who understands it enough to sing it well to come along - or sing it yourself, of course
TRY THIS
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 05:15 AM

Jim,

I think we'll have to agree to differ on the matter. I've stated my preference for Martin's attitude, you clearly side with Ewan. Fair enough - I accept that these are matters of personal opinion and taste, and you're welcome to hold your opinion.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 05:45 AM

Can't remember Ewan ever stating an opinion on it
I prefer to make up my own mind on this sort of thing
It makes sense to me that a badly sung song does a lot of damage
I hated 'Strawberry Fair' when I left school because of a tone-deaf teacher forcing us to join her to the accompaniment of a badly tuned piano
It's actually a very good song
Jim

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 06:31 AM

"Can't remember Ewan ever stating an opinion on it"

Really?

"MacColl used a pop version of it by Anthony Newley to illustrate the misuse of folk song in The Song Carriers - well worth a listen"

I think that expresses an opinion, but I'm not in the mood for a prolonged discussion.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 07:16 AM

What has that to do with whaether a song is better sung badly, or not sung - which is what Mark aand I weer discussing ?
It's worth listening to the Newly version as an example of a bad song, which is not what Marting was referring to in his statement
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 07:26 AM

Badly song good song, that should read
Jim

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: Mo the caller
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 07:54 AM

It's the songs that have sunk into our beings that bubble out in parodies. We just can't help ourselves. And it is because everyone sang Strawberry Fair at school that they recognised and bought the A N version.
Just like the Kippers. I know some people hated what they did to songs too. But it only works for those songs we already know well.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Strawberry Fair - old English trad.
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 12:19 PM

Thanks to Jim Dixon I was able to make a MIDI of the tune, and I hope it will be posted here soon. That way, those who don't read music can hear it.

Perhaps some kind soul will post the abc.

---

Click to play (joeweb)