Copshawholm Fair

Original Track ID

SA1953.227.A2

Original Tape ID

SA1953.227

Summary

This song describes the hiring fair held at Copshawholm [Newcastleton] in April; there is a variety of produce at the market, musicians for entertainment, and of course, love affairs and arguments to be pursued. The song gives an account of a girl and a farmer negotiating the terms of the girl's employment. Both sides bargain hard, and eventually settle on a wage, with the farmer giving the arles [a sum paid to conclude the deal]. After the day's business is over, everyone can enjoy the music and dancing at the ball.

Item Notes

12 verses of 4 lines; compared with the original published song, verses 3 and 4 are inverted and verse 5 is not sung.

Composed by local man David Anderson in 1830, first published in 1868. Anderson's published song comprises 13 stanzas; Willie Scott's rendition, as transcribed in 'Herd Laddie o the Glen' by Alison McMorland, is very close to the original. Dick Cowan's version, as transcribed in 'The Sang's The Thing' by Sheila Douglas, contains an additional penultimate verse, undoubtedly a later addition. The melody for the song is given by Mike Yates as 'The Wild Hills o'
Wannie', a Northumbrian tune.

Copshaw or Copshawholm is the Scots name for modern-day Newcastleton in Liddesdale. Hiring fairs, last held in Copshawholm in 1912, took place three times per year: the first in April, the second early in May, and the third in November.

See:
'The Sang's The Thing' (S. Douglas, 1992) pp. 22-23
'Herd Laddie o' the Glen' (A. McMorland, revised 2006) pp. 34-36
'Traditional Tunes' (F. Kidson, 1891) pp. 97-99
'Musings by the Burns and Braes of Liddesdale' (D. Anderson, 1868) pp. 4-6

Recording Location

Item Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Song

Collection

SoSS

Classification

R9139

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Fair