She moved through the fair
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 till our wedding day
She stepped away from me, and she moved thro’ the fair
And fondly I watched her move here and move there
And then she went homeward with one star awake
As the swan in the evening moves over the lake
Last night she came to me, she came softly in
So softly she came that her feet made no din
And she laid her hand on me and this she did say
It will not be long love till our wedding day
If I were an eagle and had wings to fly
I’d fly to my loves castle and it’s there I would lie
On a bed of green ivy I would lay myself down
And it’s with my two fond wings
I would my love surround
This song is about the return of a loved one in a dream. Usually sung in the feminine, “She Moved Through the Fair”, it has its origins in two similar songs called “Our Wedding Day” and “Out of the Window,” which can be found in Sam Henry’s collection of Irish songs, “Songs of the People.” It is the latter song that Padraic Colum rewrote in the early 1900’s to create the version which is sung today. The fourth verse, with its exquisite lyrics, can be found in a book by Patrick Tunney titled “The Stone Fiddle” and was not part of the original version.
