She Moved Through the Fair

SATB, a cappella

My family can trace much of its lineage back to County Clare in Ireland in the early nineteenth century.  This is probably no big surprise for anyone who’s met me in person as I—like a lucky few of my relatives—am covered in the freckles that are often associated with folks from that country (though they do occur all over the world as well).  My aunties had the annual tradition of rounding up the freckled folks at family reunions so we could take a picture of all our arms lined up in a row and we could compare who had more than each other and whose had faded over time.  It probably sounds like a strange tradition to anyone who’s never experienced it, but it was a meaningful way for the elders in my family to connect us to our heritage and the story of how our family came to be in the United States. 

As I grew up and eventually became a musician, knowing where my ancestors came from has served to connect me deeply with the music of that country.  Not that you have to be from Ireland to enjoy trad music, but I find that, for me, I feel a deep bond with the land and the people whenever I encounter it and, since the first time I heard She Moved Through the Fair, it has been one of my favorite tunes.  It seems to hang in the air in a way I struggle to put my finger on and—not to be too melodramatic—it has haunted me for the past 20 years. 

In 2024, it finally kept me up enough nights running through my head that it insisted I arrange it, so I tried to stay out of the way and let the tune and the words work their magic on the listener.  I hope you like it.

This arrangement of She Moved Through the Fair was commissioned by the Donald Brinegar Singers and received its premiere on December 8, 2024.  It is dedicated with love and admiration to my constantly traveling, moving-through-the-world friend, the brilliant Jessica Shorland, in honor of her return to Nairobi.

The Text

Traditional Irish folk song
With some words attributed to Padraic Colum (1881-1972)

My young love said to me, “My mother won’t mind.”
“And my father won’t slight you, for your lack of kind.”
And she stepped away from me, and this, she did say:
“It will not be long, love, ‘til our wedding day.”

She stepped away from me, and she moved through the fair.
And, fondly, I watched her move her and move there.
And then she moved onward, with one star awake.
Like the swan in the evening moves over the lake.

The people were sayin’, “No two were e’er wed.”
“But one has a sorrow that never was said.”
And she smiled as she passed me with her goods and her gear
And that was the last I saw of my dear.

Last night, she came to me; she came softly in.
So softly she came, that her feet made no din.
And she stepped closer to me, and this, she did say:
“It will not be long, love, ‘til our wedding day.”