"Widecombe Fair", also called "Tom Pearce" is a Devon folk song about a man called Tom Pearce, whose horse dies after someone borrows it to travel to the fair in Widecombe with his friends.
The song was published by Sabine Baring-Gould in the book Songs and Ballads of the West (1889-91) (referring to the West Country in England), though it also exists in variant forms. The title is spelt "Widdecombe Fair" in the original publication, though "Widecombe" is now the standard spelling of the town Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The ghostly 'Grey Mare' of the song may in fact refer to a lost folk custom similar to the Mari Lwyd or Hobby Horse of Welsh and Cornish tradition.
Local historians have tried to identify the characters in the song. Tony Beard, a member of the local history group that has researched the song says "I'm convinced the characters were real people", concluding that they are likely to have been inhabitants of the Spreyton area and that the song may commemorate an event that happened in 1802.
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Performed by the Band of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.
Негізгі бет Widecombe Fair - English Folk Song
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