Is “Scarborough Fair” about Herbs?

No. Hey, that was easy, wasn’t it? You can just stop reading now if you want to.

However, if you’d really like to know what “Scarborough Fair” is about, I’ll say that the true meaning is probably quite different from the impression you have. That was certainly the case for me, as I always vaguely thought as I listened to Simon and Garfunkel that the song was about a pining lover asking someone to say hello to a former true love if that someone was going to the fair where presumably the former true love was going to be. A wistful “Say ‘hi’ to him/her for me,” in other words, perhaps in the hope that the lover would say, “Oh yeah–I should get in touch.” (This sort of thing never happens.)Actually, however, the lyrics are explaining that the former true love must do a series of impossible tasks in order to win back the speaker, so the real situation is in a sense flipped from what we typically assume. The speaker isn’t plaintive; he/she is demanding or even dismissive. Perhaps words has come down the grapevine that the former true love would like to get back together, and the speaker wants to make it clear that he/she hasn’t been just hanging around and hoping. “You want me back? Well, prove it.”

Here are a couple of the more common lines:

Tell him [or her] to make me a cambric shirt, without no seams nor fine needlework.
(Cambric is very finely-woven fabric, but the real kicker is that she can’t cut or sew it to make the shirt.)

Have him find me an acre of land, beneath the sea and over the sand.
(Hard to see how this acre could be in both of these places.)

If he says he can’t I’ll reply, Let me know that at least he will try.
Love imposes impossible tasks, though not more than any heart asks.

There is no “original” of this song; it is a true folk song with almost infinite variations. When Simon & Garfunkel released their version in the 1960’s they listed their own names as the copyright holders and got themselves in hot water with the guy who had introduced them to it in the first place. He felt that its traditional roots should have been recognized and that since S&G hadn’t really written the song they shouldn’t claim credit. The older forms of the song have some tasks typical for a man (such as buying land and reaping it) and some of a woman (making the shirt), with the appropriate pronouns, and there are many verses besides the well-known ones. Many if not most modern versions don’t necessarily make any gender distinctions at all.

As for the herbal refrain, the words may be a corruption of the line “There’s never a rose grows fairer with time,” that shows up in some very early folk songs with the same basic story of the “impossible tasks.” (So then the line would be saying to the lover, “You’re not getting any younger! Better win me back while you can!”)

And where does this whole narrative of the tasks come from in the first place? While we can never know for sure what the source is for any folk tale or song, this one bears a strong resemblance to the myth of Cupid and Psyche, in which Venus, Cupid’s mother, is very angry that a mere mortal has won the love of her son. She therefore gives Psyche four tasks, all of which are impossible without outside aid. I’ll just describe the first one, in which Psyche is presented with a great heap of different types of grain and has to sort them out into separate heaps by morning. She’s aided by a legion of ants. Eventually she fulfills all four of Venus’ commands, is made immortal, and gets to marry Cupid in a great wedding feast of all the gods. We don’t know how things turn out in the folk song, so we’ll have to leave it at that.

Here’s the Simon & Garfunkel version referenced above. It should be noted that they’re actually singing two songs at once: “Scarborough Fair” and “Canticle,” Paul Simon’s anti-war song written during the Vietnam War.

But, as with so many other songs, the definitive version is from the Muppets. Paul Simon’s facial expressions as he listens to Miss Piggy sing the refrain are priceless:

Here’s sort of a standard set of lyrics: