She Moved Through The Fair lyrics

Celtic Woman

My young love said to me
My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kind
Then she stepped away from me
And this she did say
"It will not be long love,
Till our wedding day".

She stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Moved here and move there
Then she made her way homeward
With one star awake
As the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

Last night she came to me
She came softly in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
Then she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
"It will not be long love,
Till our wedding day".

[The missing third verse:]
The people were saying,
No two e'er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said.
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear

Song Details

Music: Traditional

Lyrics: Padraic Colum - Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore.

Brief: Padraic had already found the verse of a traditional old Irish song, and wrote two verses to complete the song. He sent the verses to be published when he realised that it needed a third verse to explain that the young woman in the song had died.

The first version of the song was published without the third verse, but subsequently the fourth verse was added. To this day, many versions are still recorded without the third verse, including the featured video in this session.

The song tells the story of a young man who sees his lover for the last time at a fair. It is full of symbolism and uncertainty, and its meaning has been interpreted in many different ways.

Some people believe that the song is about a young woman who dies before her wedding day, while others believe that it is about a woman who commits suicide. Still others believe that the song is simply a metaphor for the loss of love.

Here are some of the symbols in the song and their possible meanings:

The fair: A symbol of life and celebration. It is a place where people come together to meet, trade, and have fun. In the song, the fair represents the young couple's hopes and dreams for the future.
The night: A symbol of death and the unknown. It is a time when the veil between the worlds is thin, and ghosts are said to walk. In the song, the night represents the young woman's death and the narrator's grief.
The ghost: A symbol of the young woman's spirit. She appears to the narrator at night to comfort him and to remind him that they will be together again someday.
The wedding day: A symbol of hope and new beginnings. It is the day when the young couple will finally be together. In the song, the wedding day represents the narrator's hope for a reunion with his lover in the afterlife.

Genre: Traditional Irish Folk Song

Covers: Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Van Morrison and The Chieftains, Cara Dillon, Loreena Mckennitt, John McCormack, Deirdre Shannon, Meg Davis, Lothlorien, Katie McMahon, Shannon Mccall, Sarah Dinan, The Dubliners, Mary Black, Anne Briggs, Shirley Collins, Odetta, Jean Redpath, Cy Grant, Josh Groban, Elvis Costello, The King's Singers, Nyle Wolfe, Rebsie Fairholm, Rhys Meirion, Liosa, Siobhán Owen, Rising Gael, Laura Sullivan and many more.

Featured Artists: Celtic Woman

Album: Voices Of Angels
Recorded: 12–13, 15 August 2016
Released: 18 November 2016 (US, Canada and Ireland), 30 March 2017 (Europe)
Format: CD
Label: Manhattan

Back to Irish Lyrics S
Back To Top Back To CELTIC WOMAN