Brigg Fair

It was on the fifth of August 
Er' the weather fine and fair, 
Unto Brigg Fair I did repair, 
For love I was inclined.

I rose up with the lark in the morning, 
With my heart so full of glee, 
Of thinking there to meet my dear, 
Long time I'd wished to see.

I took hold of her lily-white hand, 
O and merrily was her heart: 
"And now we're met together 
I hope we ne'er shall part".

For it's meeting is a pleasure, 
And parting is a grief, 
But an unconstant lover 
Is worse than any thief.

The green leaves they shall wither 
And the branches they shall die 
If ever I prove false to her, 
To the girl that loves me.

Note: "Er" is a folk-singer's added "nonsense-syllable"

Submitted by David K. Smythe

Authorship

• from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , taken down by Percy Aldridge Grainger at Brigg, Lincolnshire, in 1905, from the singing of Mr Joseph Taylor. [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Brigg Fair", rev. 1911. [single high male voice and mixed chorus with piano or orchestra] [
   text verified 1 time
  ]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Brigg Fair" [voice and piano] [
   text not verified 
  ]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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