Strawberry Fair is an

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folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

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Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

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. The song was collected by H. Fleetwood Sheppard in Broadstone,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, in 1891. The text may have been re-written by Sabine Baring Gould and Fleetwood Sheppard.

Lyrics

As I was going to Strawberry Fair,
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
I met a maiden taking her ware,
Fol-de-dee!
Her eyes were blue and golden her hair,
As she went on to Strawberry Fair,
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, Butter-cups 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."
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee. "Your cherries soon will be wasted away;"
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
"Your roses wither'd and never stay,
Fol-de-dee.
'Tis not to seek such perishing ware
That I am tramping to Strawberry Fair."
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee. I want to purchase a generous heart,
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
A tongue that neither is nimble or tart.
Tol-de-dee!
An honest mind, but such trifles are rare
I doubt if they're found at Strawberry Fair.
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee. The price I offer, my sweet pretty maid
Singing, singing, Butter-cups and Daisies
A ring of gold on your finger displayed,
Tol-de-dee!
So come- make over to me your ware,
In church today at Strawberry Fair.
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-li-do,
Ri-fol, Ri-fol, Tol-de-riddle-dee.

Versions

*A version was recorded by

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest ...

(Decca F11295, 1960, "Strawberry Fair / A Boy Without a Girl") which reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The beginning is the same as the traditional version, but then the rest is altered for humorous effect, for example: ''I told her straight / I want a girl with a generous heart / (Singing, singing buttercups and oojahs) / Without a tongue that is wicked or smart / (Foldadee) / And an honest mind but these are rare / I doubt If I'll find 'em at this crummy old fair / (Rifle, Rifle, Tolderiddleay)"''. In the same year, Newley also performed a shortened version of this arrangement in episode 5 of his surreal comedy show ''The Strange World of Gurney Slade''. *In a 1968 episode of ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The f ...

'',

Rambling Syd Rumpo Rambling Syd Rumpo was a folk singer character, played by the English comedian and actor Kenneth Williams, originally in the 1960s BBC Radio comedy series ''Round the Horne''. History The Rambling Syd sketches generally began with a short disco ...

(played by

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...

) parodied this song as "Goosenadgers Fair" ("As I was going to Goosenadgers Fair, / Singing, singing, loomers on my

posset A posset (, also historically spelled possot poshote, possyt or poshotte), was originally a popular British hot drink made of milk curdled with wine or ale, often spiced, which was often used as a remedy. The original drink became extinct and ...

… / Singing, singing, nadger

Julie Felix Julie Ann Felix (June 14, 1938 – March 22, 2020) was an American-British folk singer and recording artist who achieved success, particularly on British television, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later performed and released albums on h ...

/ Singing, singing, riddle

Simon Dee Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (28 July 1935 – 29 August 2009), better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British television interviewer and radio disc jockey who hosted a twice-weekly BBC TV chat show, ''Dee Time'', in the late 1960s. Aft ...

...")

References

*Sabine Baring Gould and H. Fleetwood Sheppard, ''Songs of the West'', 1905.

External links

MIDI file
{{Authority control English folk songs Year of song unknown 1960 singles Songs with unknown songwriters