Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine

Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without no seams nor needle work
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Have him wash it in yonder dry well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Where ne'er a drop of water e'er fell
And then he'll be a true love of mine

Tell him to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between salt water and the sea strands
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine


Lyrics submitted by liquid_diamonds

Scarborough Fair Lyrics as written by Dp Frank Peterson

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Scarborough Fair song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are supposedly traditional abortifacients. On the whole I think the message the song is sending is that the woman at the fair will never again be a true love of his.

    Letmeinon June 09, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    To me, this song is all about insecurity. The lover, paranoid that her partner is not in love with them any more, convinces themself that the more their partner gives them in the form of material possessions, then the closer they will be emotionally. (note- I wrote 'them' instead of s/he because on my 'very best of...' album, she is singing about a man.)

    Alinaon March 01, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I disagree. If you read the lyrics you see the tasks themselves are impossible. sickles need to be metal, and you cannot make a shirt without any stitches or seams. This songs meaning is more clear with the original lines from the old folk song, which adds in the last verse that if the poor lover will simply say that he/she will attmept these tasks, thats all the singer needs for complete assurance.

    Beltaneon March 10, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love the way Sarah did this song. It's very beautiful. I've always loved this song.

    MrReallyBigBadManon April 06, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Letmein, I agree with you, the woman in the story is apparently asking impossible things from his lover, so I think she's just basically rejecting him.

    kryptoncolomoon January 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Well I see what your saying kryptoncolomo, however it seems to me from the lyrics being always being "Tell her" That the man is indeed asking for impossible things because he knows they cannot be together. Thus saying when the impossible is possible we will be together. If I'm not mistaken Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme we're used in food so they did not taste bitter(among other uses). It sounds like, to me at least, saying that line is removing the "bitterness" from the past relationship? I could be totally wrong but that's the way I see it.

    SarahBfan12on July 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Another thing about these tasks nobody has said so far: peppercorns are native to Southern India and would never grow in the English soil, except in a glasshouse (greenhouse.)

    quampon July 27, 2020   Link

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