"Brigg Fair" is a traditional English folk song sung by the Lincolnshire singer Joseph Taylor. The song, which is named after a historical fair in Brigg, Lincolnshire, was collected and recorded on wax cylinder by the composer and folk song collector Percy Grainger. It is known for its use in classical music, both in a choral arrangement by Grainger and a subsequent set of orchestral variations by Frederick Delius.
The song, which is listed as Roud 1083, has only been collected from members of Joseph Taylor's family, as well as a Mr. Deene of Brigg. [1] [2] Joseph Taylor learnt "Brigg Fair" from gypsies camped near Brigg sometime around the year 1850. Initially, he spied on them from afar as they sat around their campfire singing, but the King of the Gypsies invited him in and taught him the song. [3] [4]
In 1907, Percy Grainger recorded Joseph Taylor singing "Brigg Fair" shortly after a music festival in Brigg, North Lincolnshire. The recording survives and is commercially available; it was digitised by the British Library and made available online in 2018. [5] [6]
Taylor knew only two verses of what can be assumed to be a longer song:
It was on the fifth of August,
The weather hot and fair,
Unto Brigg Fair I did repair,
For love I was inclined.
I got up with the lark in the morning
With my heart so full of glee,
Expecting there to meet my dear,
Long time I wished to see.
Brigg Fair is an annual event held in the English market town of Brigg, North Lincolnshire, on every 5 August since 1205.[ citation needed ] It was primarily an event at which horses were bought and sold. While it is still held today, it is now celebrated primarily for historic and traditional reasons, and mostly organised by the travelling community. [7]
Grainger soon made an arrangement of the song for unaccompanied five-part chorus with a tenor soloist. The original song was short, since Taylor could remember only two stanzas, and Grainger added three stanzas taken from two other songs, "Low Down in the Broom" and "The Merry King". The tune, in the Dorian mode, is wistful, and the lyric is a happy one about true love.
The song has appeared in several different versions, including one set down by Taylor and members of his family. These are the words set by Grainger:
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.
The last three verses were collected by Grainger from two different songs found in different locations. Grainger added the extra verses to "complete" Taylor's original first two verses. Descendants of Taylor, including his daughter Mary, falsely believed that Taylor sang all five verses. [8]
Delius heard Grainger's setting, and was impressed by both the tune and the arrangement. With Grainger's permission, he used the song as the basis of an orchestral work, first performed in 1908. After a pastoral introduction Grainger's setting is replicated by the woodwinds. A succession of variations on the original tune leads to a joyous finale.
Joseph Taylor was a guest at the first performance. [3] [9] While there is a popular story that he stood up and sang along, [10] this legend was denied by Taylor's grand-daughter, Marion Hudson. [9]
3 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, triangle, tubular bells), harp, strings
Brigg (/'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west transport routes across northern Lincolnshire. As a formerly important local centre, the town's full name of Glanford Brigg is reflected in the surrounding area and local government district of the same name. The town's urban area includes the neighbouring hamlet of Scawby Brook.
Percy Aldridge Grainger was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. Although much of his work was experimental and unusual, the piece with which he is most generally associated is his piano arrangement of the folk-dance tune "Country Gardens".
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Leader Records was a British folk music record label, started by Bill Leader. Between 1969 and 1978, Leader released many important releases of both traditional and folk revival performers, the latter category including Nic Jones, Martin Simpson and Dick Gaughan. Among the field recordings released on the label, often with gatefold sleeves and extensive notes, were 'The Border Minstrel' by Billy Pigg, and 'Unto Brigg Fair' which featured cylinder recordings from the early 1900s made by Percy Grainger of Joseph Taylor and other traditional Lincolnshire singers. The 4 LP boxed set 'A Song for Every Season' by the Copper Family was also recorded by Bill Leader and released on his label.
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Marion Hudson was keen to deny the legend that Joseph Taylor got up and sang during the concert. Her comment to me was: 'Well he might have hummed the tune a bit, but he certainly didn't get up and sing.'
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