Lyr/Tune Add: Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear

Subject: Lyr Add: FARE THEE WELL, MY DEAREST DEAR^^
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 12 Feb 00 - 08:59 PM

G'day,
From the Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs, Ed Pellow's rendition of the tune of Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear can be found here.

FARE THEE WELL, MY DEAREST DEAR
Sung by Mrs Verrall, Horsham, Sussex (R.V.W. 1904)

'Fare thee well, my dearest dear, fare thee well, adieu,
For I must go to sea for the sake of you.
Love, have a patient heart, for you must bear the smart,
Since you and I must part, my turtle dove.

'You'll have silver and bright gold, houses and land,
What more can you desire, love? Don't complain.
And jewels to your hand, and maids at your command,
But you must think of me when I am gone.'

'Your gold I'll count as dust when that you have fled,
Your absence proves me lost and strikes me dead.
And when you are from home, your servants I'll have none.
I'd rather live alone than in company.'

And so nimbly then she dressed all in man's attire,
For to go to sea was her heart's desire.
She cut her lovely hair, and no mistrust was there
That she a maiden were, all at the time.

To Venice we were bound with our hearts content,
No fear of ship being wrecked, away we went.
From London but one day, our ship was cast away,
Which caused our lives to lay in discontent.

Our ship was cast away, misfortune it did frown,
For I did swim to shore, but she was drowned.
Now she lies in the deep, in everlasting sleep,
Which causes me to weep for evermore.

Previous song: The False Bride.
Next Song: Gaol Song.

Cheers,
Alan

^^

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear
From: davidkiddnet
Date: 20 Dec 12 - 10:31 AM

I think the most beautiful arrangement of this is on
Shirley and Dolly Collins "Anthems in Eden" track 9
BGOCD442

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear
From: Artful Codger
Date: 20 Dec 12 - 01:17 PM

I'm partial to the version by Phil Cooper, from Written in Our Eyes. As soon as I heard his rendition, I wanted to learn the song.

I sing (unaccompanied) a longer version, which gives more of the initial dialog (some good bits adapted from the rather lengthy broadside), and close with an echo of the first verse that flips the roles.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear
From: Edthefolkie
Date: 20 Dec 12 - 04:10 PM

I too love the version by Shirley Collins from 1976. It's an excellent arrangement, performed by Simon Nicol on acoustic guitar, Pat Donaldson on bass, Dave Mattacks on drums and John Rodd on anglo concertina. PLUS a lovely sackbut band - Roger Brenner alto, Colin Sheen and Paul Beer tenor, Martin Nicholls, bass. It was a sort of pinnacle of the first electric folk era IMHO.

I'd been following the Albion Band and the Etchinghams round their London gigs for a few years and really hoped that Shirley would record more tracks like this, but it didn't happen for personal reasons.

It was originally recorded in 1976 for the "Amaranth" vinyl album which had six newly recorded songs on the A side, and "Anthems In Eden" on the B side. All of the "Anthems" and "Amaranth" tracks later appeared on CD. Better have a look for them on the shelves I think.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Add: Fare Thee Well My Dearest Dear
From: The Doctor
Date: 21 Dec 12 - 05:46 AM

There is also an excellent version on Trio Threlfall's CD 'Revisited', or even 'Morning Tempest' if you can find it.