> Les Barker & the Mrs Ackroyd Band > Songs and Poems > Roseville Fair
> June Tabor > Songs > Roseville Fair

Roseville Fair

[Les Barker, Bill Staines]

This is a video of Bill Staines singing his own song Roseville Fair at the Franklin House Concert Series, Franklin, MA on May 2, 2010:

Jon Boden sang Roseville Fair as the May 21, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Bill Zorn sang Les Barker's variant of Roseville Fair on The Mrs Ackroyd Band's 2003 CD Yelp!. June Tabor recorded the song too but it wasn't used then. It was finally included in 2005 on her anthology Always where she commented:

I first heard Chris Wood sing the original. Chris did Roseville Fair on that tape that he and Andy Cutting did that was their first recorded output. When Les' version arrived in his Irritable Bowwow Syndrome (1995) book, I knew I had to do it. The thing I love so much about singing it is that the first half of the song is just as the original, so people think, particularly in America where it's extremely well known, that you're going to sing the original. Then it changes… I love what Les has done and it says a lot about banjos really. Except in the hands of a certain Mr Simpson.

And Les Barker commented:

Roseville Fair was originally by Bill Staines. The first version I ever heard was by Chris Wood and Andy Cutting. It was a nice song but it seemed to suggest the ridiculous idea of hitting somebody over the head with a rosewood chair. The words fitted perfectly. But the idea of hitting someone with a banjo seemed even better.

At some point after I'd written it, someone in the States put me in touch with Bill Staines. He liked it. The first time I ever heard June do it was at a gig we did together in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She did a version of it for part of the Mrs Ackroyd Band's Yelp! (2003). She offered to do There's a Hole in My Bodhrán but when the package turned up there was a solo version of Roseville Fair too in case I wanted it!

Lyrics

Bill Staines' Roseville Fair	June Tabor sings Les Barker's Roseville Fair
Oh, the night was clear and the stars were shinin', The moon came up so quiet in the sky. All the people gathered round; the band was tunin'. I can hear them now playin' “Comin' Through the Rye”.	Oh, the night was clear and stars were shinin', And the moon rose quiet in the sky. And the people gathered round as the band were tunin'. I can hear them now, “Comin' Through the Rye”.
You were dressed in blue and you looked so lovely, A gentle flower of a small town girl. You took my hand and we stepped to the music With a single smile you became my world.	She was dressed in blue and she looked so lovely, Just a gentle flower of a small town girl. And he took her by the hand and they danced to the music; With a simple smile she became his girl.
And we danced all night to the fiddle and the banjo, Their drifting tunes seemed to fill the air. So long ago and we still remember When we fell in love at the Roseville Fair.	And they danced all night to the fiddle and the banjo, Drifting tunes filled the air. So long ago now but I still remember When we fell in love at the Roseville Fair.
We courted well; we courted dearly, And we'd rock for hours in the front porch chair. Then a year went by from the time I met you And I made you mine at the Roseville Fair.	And they courted well and they courted dearly Till the very next year at that self-same fair, When she caught him holding hands with some floozy And she smashed his skull with a rosewood chair.
And we danced all night to the fiddle and the banjo, Their drifting tunes seemed to fill the air. So long ago and we still remember When we fell in love at the Roseville Fair.	And his head went clean through the middle of the banjo; She left them both well beyond repair. And the old fox said that's the way to treat a banjo, And we danced all night at the Roseville Fair.
So here's a song for all of the lovers, Here's a tune that they can share. May they dance all night to the fiddle and the banjo The way we did at the Roseville Fair. May they dance all night to the fiddle and the banjo The way we did at the Roseville Fair.	And we couldn't believe the improvement in the music; Drifting tunes filled the air. And the old fox said, yip, that's the way to treat a banjo, And we danced all night at the Roseville Fair, Yes we danced all night at the Roseville Fair.