Powerpoint presentation

1. Scarborough Fair

2. During the late Middle Ages the seaside town
of Scarborough, in Yorkshire, was an important
venue for tradesmen from all over England. It
was host to a huge 45-day trading event,
starting on August 15th which was
exceptionally long for a fair in those times.
Merchants came to it from all areas of England,
Norway, Denmark, the Baltic states and
the Byzantine Empire.

3. Naturally, such a large occasion attracted a lot
more than just tradesmen; they needed to be
entertained and fed, therefore large crowds of
buyers, sellers and pleasure-seekers attended
the fair. Prices were determined by supply and
demand, with goods often being exchanged
through the barter system.

4. In the early 17th century,
competition from other
towns' markets and fairs
and increasing taxation saw
further collapse of the Fair
until it eventually became
financially untenable. The
market was revived again in
the 18th century, but due to
intense competition
Scarborough Fair finally
ended in 1788.

5. The fair features in the
traditional English ballad
"Scarborough Fair“, existing
in more than one version.
The song implies the tale of a
man who instructs the third
party to tell his former love,
who lives in said fair town,
to perform for him a series
of impossible tasks, adding
that if she were to complete
these tasks he would take
her back into his affections.
Often the song is sung as a
duet, with the woman then
giving her sometime lover a
series of equally impossible
tasks.