Martin Carthy learnt the song from MacColl's songbook, and included it on his eponymous debut album in 1965. Mark Anderson (1874-1953), a retired lead-miner from either Newbiggin-by-the-Sea or Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England, sang "Scarborough Fair" to Ewan MacColl in 1947. The song " Scarborough Fair" is considered a relatively recent variant of "The Elfin Knight", and both are officially classified as the same ballad. This ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in Ballads Weird and Wonderful which was published by John Lane's The Bodley Head in 1912 and illustrated by Vernon Hill. In Celtic folklore, in common with many other European traditions, impossible tasks are often given to a suitor as part of a wedding trial - a well known example would be Culhwch and Olwen from Welsh Brittonic tradition where the 40 impossible tasks are set by the father-in-law (in this case the giant Ysbadadden Pen Cawr). The countering of impossible tasks with other impossible tasks is a common motif in the folktale Aarne–Thompson type 875, the Clever Girl, a fairy tale making use of this motif is The Wise Little Girl.
Ye'll come to me, luve, and get your sark.' Where the dew never wat, nor the rain ever fell.ħ 'And ye maun plow 't wi your blawing horn,Ĩ 'When ye've dune, and finishd your wark, The first verse usually opens with the introduction of the title character:Īnd the bonny laddie here that I luve best! Later versions invert the direction of desire, with the elf proposing tasks which the lady must perform in order to be accepted as his lover. The plot is closely related to " Riddles Wisely Expounded" ( Child Ballad #1), in which the Devil proposes to carry off a woman unless she can answer a number of riddles. She responds with a list of tasks which he must first perform, thus evading rape. In the oldest extant version of this ballad (circa 1600-1650), an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task. The first broadside version was printed before 1674, and the roots of the song may be considerably older. As is the case with most traditional folk songs, there have been countless completely different versions recorded of the same ballad. The ballad has been collected in different parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, the US, and Canada. " The Elfin Knight" ( Roud 12, Child 2) is a traditional Scottish folk ballad of which there are many versions, all dealing with supernatural occurrences, and the commission to perform impossible tasks.
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