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MELISMATA: MUSICAL PHANSIES FITTING THE COURT,

CITIE AND COUNTREY HUMOURS.

EDITION AND COMMENTARY

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State University in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

By

Michael L. Roberts

Denton, Texas

December, 1978

Roberts, Michael L., Melismata: Musical Phansies Fitting

the Court, Citie, and Countrey Humours. Edition and Commen-

tary, Master of Arts (Music), December, 1978, 46 pages of

text, 72 pages of music, critical notes, 5 facsimiles, and

bibliography, 64 titles.

Thomas Ravenscroft, the English composer, editor, and

arranger, is known for his participation in the St. Paul's

Boys' Choir, as instructor of music at Christ's Hospital

School, and as a prodigy. His best-known publications are

a setting of the psalter, The Whole Booke of Psalmes, and

the treatise, A Brief Discourse,which is an effort to revive

mensural notation.

Ravenscroft's works contain many examples of popular

Elizabethan music which he edited and arranged. Part II of

this thesis consists of an edition of his third publication,

Melismata, a collection of nine rounds and fourteen part-

songs. A list of critical notes is also included.

The commentary to the edition includes a biography, a

discussion of his works, the background and origin of the

songs in Melismata, and an analysis of these songs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Chapter

I. THOMAS RAVENSCROFT . .

II. RAVENSCROFT'S PUBLICATIONS

III. BACKGROUND AND ORIGIN . .

IV. ANALYSIS . . . . . . . .

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . .

Page

. . . . . . . . . .S

. . . . . . . . . . 7

15

. . . . ..... . 34

. . .~ . . . . . . . 47

FACSIMILES . . . . . .

TABLE OF CONTENTS . .

THE EDITION . . . . .

CRITICAL NOTES .

PART II

. . . . .

0 0 0 0 0

. .. . .. .. .ix

1. . . . S S S . S 5 .

. . . . . . . . . . . 87

iii

CHAPTER I

THOMAS RAVENSCROFT

Thomas Ravenscroft lived in London during the early

seventeenth century where he worked as a composer, as well

as an editor and arranger. Sources do not always agree, but

his most commonly accepted birthdate is 1592. This date is

based on a Latin epigram contained in the prefatory pages of

his treatise, A Brief Discourse, 1614, which gives his age

as twenty-two. The epigram reads, "De ingenuo Invene T. R.

(annos 22. nato) Musica Studiosissimo, huius Libelluli

Authore,"i and from this it can be deduced that his birth-

date is 1592 or 1593. Another epigram in the treatise reads,

"ad annos 14 Creatus est Baccalareus facultatis Musicae in

Academ: Cantabrig."2 Assuming this information to be

correct, one sees that Ravenscroft would have been a prodigy

because of his age, fourteen, at graduation from Cambridge,

and because much of his important composition had been com-

pleted before 1614.

'Thomas Ravenscroft, A Brief Discourse (London, 1614,

facsimile reprint, New York, 1971),j 42.

Ibid., 42.

The earliest known activity of Ravenscroft is reordeI

SThe Act of the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedra) Co

ichester 1545-164A, edited by W. D. Peckham. here

e 1inds that on May 2, 1594, one "Thomas Raniscroft"

adittLOed as chorister at the Chichester Cathedra ,

:9 r-duction, Peckham wrote, "the notaries Wh"kept

IActl Book wrote legibly, and it is altogeth excptiona3

ere to e taydoubt about a reading with, owevrt

usual exception of the confusion of n or u.

Ravenscroft's next known activity was as chorister

st Paul Cathedral in London. Possibly, he was tIre

Saar s 1598 because the name, "Thomas Rainescrofte,"

appeared on a list of choristers in the visitation report

tat yar by Bishop Bancroft. Here Ravenscroft part

oated with the Children of St. Paul's which was divided -nt-

ups,. the grammar school and the choir or songwschoi,

The grammar school was the more elite of the two groups

5wounded in the time of Henry I. The choir school, wIrh

Thurston Dart, "Music and Musicians at Chichester Cathe

545-164 " Music and Letters XLII (July, 19611 1221

'Boward N. Hillebrand, The Child Actors (New York, 1964

This list of choristers can be found in the Bishop

VSRegistry.

,Up. 105.

3

which Ravenscroft was associated, consisted of the charity

boys of the almonry. They were taught music and letters by

the almoner who was also considered "master of the choristers."

The two men who held the position of almoner during Ravens-

croft's time at St. Paul's were Thomas Gyles and Edward Pearce.

Pearce succeeded Gyles in August,1600, and held this position

until the school closed in 1607.6 Pearce must have exerted

much influence on Ravenscroft, for in his fourth publication

of 1614, A Brief Discourse, Ravenscroft writes:

Maister Edward Pearce the first, sometimes Maisterof the Children of Saint Paules in London, andthere my Maister, a man of singular eminency in hisProfession, both in the Educating of Children forthe ordering of the voyce so, as the Quality mightafterward credit him and preferre them: And alsoin those his Compositions to the Lute, whereof theworld enjoyes many (as from the Maister of thatInstrument) together with his skilfull Instructionsfor other Instruments too, as his fruits can bearehim witnesse. 7

The Children of St. Paul's constituted one of several

groups of child actors, along with the Chapel Royal and the

Blackfriars, who participated in many plays which were per-

formed at court. It is not known if Ravenscroft participated

in these plays as actor, singer, composer, or all three, but

6 Ibid., p. 108.

7Ravenscroft, A Brief Discourse, A2.

it can be assumed that he participated in some capacity since

it was required by the appointment.8

Ravenscroft may have left St. Paul's as early as 1604

to attend Cambridge where he later received his Bachelor

of Music degree. Because of the epigram in A Brief Discourse,

it has generally been assumed that he graduated from Cambridge

in 1606 or 1607; however, the name "Thomas Rangcroft," appears

An Dr. Venn's Book of Matriculation and Degree, CambridIV

2544-1659 and the entry is dated 1605.9 There is no way to

explain this discrepancy except to conjecture that either of

the dates are possible misprints or that "Thomas Ravenscroft"

and "Thomas Rangcroft" are two different people.

In 1618, he succeeded John Farrant as instructor of

Music at Christ's Hospital, London, where he remained until

1622. This evidence is based on a remark in Edward Pearce's

Annals of Christ's Church where he noted Ravenscroft's tenure:

"His warrant'ss) successor, Ravenscroft, came and went."10

Alone, this does not verify that it is our Ravenscroft, but

it was later discovered by H. B. Dickin that the Christian

8W. J. Lawrence, "Thomas Ravenscroft's Theatrical Asso-

ciations, " Modern Language Review XIX (1924), 419.

9 lbid., p. 418.

10Dotted Crotchett Upseud.j , "A Visit to Christ's HospitaL,

Musical Times XLVI (September, 1905), 579-580.

5

name of the Ravenscroft mentioned in Annals was Thomas. He

supports this with two Psalm tunes in Ravenscroft's Whole

Booke of Psalmes named "Christ Hospitall Tune." Dickin points

out that "we can have no doubt that our Ravenscroft was the

Ravenscroft and that his Psalter was largely compiled in the

intervals of teaching 'Blues' the element of Pricksong."'l

During this time, he'may have continued his association

with the theatre. W. J. Lawrence writes,

In 1618 he was one of the witnesses tothe will of Richard Cowley, the actor,notable as the original Verges in MuchAdo, the others being John Heminges,Cuthbert Burbadge and John Shank, allof whom were prominently associatedwith the fortunes of Shakespeare's oldcompany [the Globe Theatre).1 2

He surmises that "whether as musician or composer it seems

not unlikely that Ravenscroft had some employment there."1 3

There are no concrete facts about his personal and

family life. His membership in the choir school at St.

Paul's is a possible indication that he was an orphan or

a charity case, and nothing is known of his family except

'1Ibid., pp. 579-580. The term "Blues" .refers to theBluecoat School, an orphanage where the children received food,lodging, and schooling.

1 2 Lawrence, "Thomas Ravenscroft' s Theatrical Associations,"p. 423.

1 3 Ibid., p. 423.

-he station of his brother, William, as co-authCo on

14ci oae of Melismata.

y comparing the dates already cited to the dates

Br Ief Discourse, it can be seen that there are

imy or w n d e rect e

'er E. H. Felowes states, "The ati

age probably belongs to an -arI

rwas rin.ted in the 16]L4 vcu1

t S, wouId place the real birthdate sometime 0Efr

2 1 Fellowes conjectures that Ravenscroft was r

I

abOuOt 1585.L

After the 1622 date, nothing is known about his acrii

be-Lieved that his death occurred sometime between

A J_ . Although it is not known where he is bur

ma, Ravenscroft who died in 1630 is buried at Bar

4Robert Eitner, "Thomas Ravenscroft," Biographisc

graphisches Quelen-Lexikon der Msiker und Musik-

rte n10 vols (Leipzig, 1898-1904), VIII, 145,

Fe owes, English Madrigal Compgserl (Oxtoos,

Ibid., .3l

to Mark, iThomas Ravenscroft, " Groves Dtad

and musician, 5th ed., 10 vols., ed.

1954-1961) J, VII, 63

CHAPTER II

RAVENSCROFT'S PUBLICATIONS

Major Publications

Pammelia. Musicks Miscellanie. or Mixed Varietieof Pleasant Roundelayes, and delightful Catches,of 3.4* 5. 6. 7. _8 9. 10. Parts in one. (1609reprinted in 1618)

Deuteromelia: or The Second part of. Musicks melodie,or melodius Musicke. of Pleasant Roundelaies; K. H.mirth, or Freeman Songs, and such delightfull Catches.Quicanere potest canat. Catch, that catch can.(1609)

Melismata. Musicall Phansies. Fitti the Court,Citie, and Countrey Humours. To 3, 4., 5. oyces.(1611)

A Brief Discourse of the true (but neglected) use ofCharact'rig the Degrees b2y their Perfection, Imper-fection, and Diminution in Measurable Musicke, againstthe Common Practise and Custome of these Times. (1614)

The Whole Booke of Psalmes: With the Hymnes Evangelicalland Spirituall. (1621, second edition in 1633)

Ravenscroft's earliest publications, Pammelia, Deutero-

melia, and Melismata, contain a variety of popular music

which he arranged and edited.1 These three works preserve

1Jeffrey Pulver, "Thomas Ravenscroft," AIographicalDictionary of Old English Music (New York, 1927), p. 406.

7

an important election of the rarely notated popular music

of the sixteenth century.2

The earliest collection of English rounds is Pananeil.a..

Ravenscroft's motives are set forth in the introduction

fthis work where he states, "The onely intent is to

"ive general content, composed by Art to make thee disposEd

to mirth."4 This work contains one hundred rounds, most of

which are traditional or popular in nature, such as "Robin

lend me thy bowe," and "Joan come kisse me now." There are

also some sacred rounds in English and Latin.

Deuteromelia followed the publication of Pamxelia in

the same year, and may have been inspired by the success of

the earlier work. He alludes to Pammelia's success in

Deuteromelia where he writes:

the kind acceptation of the former Impression is

a new invitation to this latter Edition, though

not of the same things, yet of the same condi-

tion; full of the same delectations, made to5

please as the other were .

2Noah Greenberg, An Anthology ffEnglish Medieval and

Renaissance Vocal Music (New York, 1968), p. 198.

3M. C. Boyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism,

2nd ed. (Westport, Connecticut, 1962), p. 121.

4 Thomas Ravenscroft, Pammelia (London, 1609, facsimileprint, New York, 1971), A2.

-Thomas Ravenscroft, Deuteromelia (London, 1609, facsimile

reprint, New York, 1971), A3.

9

Contained in Deuteromelia is the first version of "Three

Blind Mice" and "Hold thy Peace thou Knave" which was used

in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.6 In 1611, Melismata was

published, thus completing a trilogy of popular music. The

main distinction between Melismata and its counterparts is

that it is made up of part-songs and rounds whereas the other

two are exclusively rounds.

His treatise, A Brief Discourse, was an attempt to

resurrect the use of mensural notation. Of the forty-six

pages of text, only half constitute the body of the treatise;

the remainder are prefatory pages in which he bemoans the

deplorable state of music and rails against the "common

practise." He comments that

so much is she wronged, dilacerated, dis-membered, and disjoynted in these our daies;she scarcely hath Form or Habite left, bute'ne as a Sceleton, retaines onely a shape,or shadowe, of what she was in her formerpurity.7

His intention was to correct this situation by opposing the

common practice in this treatise. Although he gives the

impression that music has almost come to the point of com-

plete degradation, his only apparent objection was that mensural

6 Pulver, A Biographical Dictionary, p. 406.

7 Thomas Ravenscroft, A Brief Discourse (London, 1614,facsimile reprint, New York, 1971), 414.

nation was no longer used. Boyd calls the treatise a

Sempestin a teapot" and writes,

one might have thought he was criticizing

strange new harmonies of Farnaby, perhaps,

c Monteverdi. But Ravenscroft's anger is

aroused solely by the contemporary miscalling

andi.swriting of time signatures.

There are eight poems of approbation in the pre Fatory

which various composers such as Nathanie

ma.ampion, and John Dowland give their support to

-a-use " Dowlands poem reads,

Fiourate Musicke doth in each Degree

Require it Notes of severall Quality;

By Perfect, or Imperfect Measure chang'd:

An that of More, or Lesse, whose Markes were rang d

By Number, Circle, and Poynt: but various use

Olfunskild Composers did induce

anfusion, which make muddy and obscure,

What first Invention fram'd most cleere, and Pure

These, (worthy Ravenscroft) are restrain'd b Thee

To one fixt Forme: and that approv'd by Me.

is conjectured by Boyd that Ravenscroft's eart

maY have been successful because of their popular

r nd siniary, that the acceptance of the Discouse

1ased on tne twenty part-songs by Ravenscroft, Bennett

eaccwhic were included to demonstrate his theorie-.,

Bfyd, Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism,

.Ravenscroft, A Brief Discourse, 3.

Bcvd., Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism, p. 25

11

The work for which Ravenscroft is most remembered is

the Whole Booke of Psalmes. Its 105 songs for four parts

show a great variety of styles. The subtitle implies that

these tunes are indigenous to other countries, but it is

more likely that most all of them originated in England and

were simply popular in other places.1 2 Ravenscroft contri-

buted fifty-five of the pieces, twenty-eight come from other

psalters, particularly the one by East, and the remainder

Ravenscroft compiled from other sources. The composers whose

tunes are included are John Dowland, Thomas Morley, John

Bennett, Thomas Tallis, Richard Palmer, John Milton (the poet's

father), William Cranfield or Cranford, John Ward, Samuel Stubbs,

Martin Peirson, Michael Cavendish, Giles Farnaby, Richard

Allison, Edward Blancks, John Farmer, Edward Hooper, George

Kirby, Robert Palmer, and William Parsons.13

All of Ravenscroft's major works are listed in the

Catalogue of Printed Music in the British Museum,14 and

11. E. Wooldridge and T. C. L. Pritchard, "Psalter,Metrical: English," Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians,5th ed., 10 vols., ed. Eric Blom (London, 1954-1961), VI, 968.

1213Ibid., p. 968. 13Ibid., p. 969.

1 4W. Barclay Squire, Catalogue of Printed MusicPublished between 1487 and 1800 Now in the British Museum,2 vols. (London, 1912), II, 393.

the first four are included in the collection of the

Bodleian library, Oxford. Some individual songs taken from

Melismata as well as from some of his other works are listed

M the CataloQgue of Manuscripts in the British Museum (addi-

tional1,5.336) .'5

Ravenscroft's Other Works

Anthems: Ah helpless wretch

All laud and praise

In Thee 0 Lord

o Jesu meeko Jesu sweetO let me heare

o Lord, in Thee is all my trust

o wofull ruinesThis is the day

Four Fantasies

Musalia or Pleasant Diversions in Rime, several Varieties

of Catches, roundels, canons. (1613)

A Treatise of Musick

Four of the anthems, "In Thee 0 Lord," "0 let me heare,'"

"o woful1 ruines," and "This is the day," are in the library

)f Christ Church, Oxford and date from between 1609 and

1621.16 All of these are five-voice anthems but in each,

15Augustus Hughes-Hughes, Catalogue of_ Manuscript Music

n the British Museum, 2 vols. (London, 1908), II, 36, 458, 655

1 6jeffrey Mark, "Thomas Ravenscrbft, " Grove's Dicti2aryL

of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 10 vols., ed. Eric Blom

'London, 1954-1961), VII, 63.

13

some of the parts are missing. "In Thee 0 Lord," "0 let

me heare," and "This is the day" are verse anthems and

"0 wofull ruines" is a full anthem. The other uncollected

anthems, all located in the British Library, are also for

five voices.

Ravenscroft's only instrumental works are Four Fantasies

for a quintet of viols. Copies of these works are also in

the British Library collection. The first piece of the

fantasies is noteworthy because of the dynamic markings,

"soft," "verrie softe," and "lowd," which were unusual at

this time.1 8

Musalia or Pleasant Diversions in Rime dates from 1613.19

It was later rediscovered among a large collection of music bur-

ied in strong boxes2 0but the music has subsequently disappeared. 2 1

171bid., p. 65.

1 8 Michael Tilmouth, "Thomas Ravenscroft," Die Musikin Geschichte und Gegenwart, 14 vols., ed. Friedrich Blume(Kassel, 1949-1968), XII, 66.

19 Pulver, A Biographical Dictionary, p. 407.

20Ibid.,p. 407.

2 1 Tilmouth, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart,XII, 66.

count of this discovery was published in Musical WorA

'3 2 840;2

A Treatise of Musick is also owned by the British

It ntains much of the same material found

nscr OtISC~S

22

Pulvr, A Biographical Dictionary, p. 407

La.,TD Pp.407-40.

CHAPTER III

BACKGROUND AND ORIGIN

Melismata was printed in London by William Stansby for

Thomas Adams in 1611. Stansby was a printer and bookseller

in London from 1597 to 1639. In 1610, he printed a number of

musical works including editions of the Sternhold and Hopkins

version of the Psalms.1

Thomas Adams was bookseller and publisher at the

White Lion, St. Paul's Churchyard. He and his wife, who

continued the business after his death, published other

musical works as well, most notably, two editions of Fantazies

of III. Parts by Orlando Gibbons.2

In the prefatory pages of Melismata, Ravenscroft makes

it very clear that the mood of these songs is to be light and

frivolous. On the frontispiece is the rhyme,

To all delightfull, except the Spitefull,To none offensive, except to the Pensive. 3

1Charles Humphries and William Smith, Music Publishing inthe British Isles from the Earliest Times to the Middle of theNineteenth Century (London, 1954), p. 500.

2 lbid., p. 49.

3 Thomas Ravenscroft, Melismata (London, 1611, facsimilereprint, New York, 1971), A2.

15

a raw 6,

2e . mata was probably an attempt to capitalize on the market

opuar musc,and it appealed to a wider public thaI

4

6sserved by the anthologies of madrigals and ayers.

The selections contained in Melismata are great

R avenscroft repeatedly makes reference L

t e hs tates: "fitting the Court, Citie, and

Jntr ey Humours," and again in the first line of the "itr

Jn r "t t Noblest of the Curt,

StcurteY and freest of the Citie." He directs thiS

-Ctement to those of every professional and social fe2eL

,,ntroduction continues:

Yoc may well perceive by the much variety hereir

composed, that my desire is to give contentment

.n this kind of Musicke to the skillful, and most

o all sorts. And being little or

beholding to some of each rancke, I tudie an

strive to please you in your own elements.

Jic-f such words as "variety," "kind,' and "rancke

Tpression that he chose to present a dIVcrsity

uAhe phrase "kind of music" could imply -hat

puarin raturne, and "some of each rancke" thabthe

S rting the pieces toward a lay public n addittOn 4t

"usual aristocratic audience.

Percy M. Young, A History of British Music (New York,

s tt192-mt3.

-'Ravenscroft, Mel-ismata, A4.

17

Most authorities agree that Ravenscroft's function was

as a compiler and arranger of the songs in his collections,

and only in A Brief Discourse and in his Psalter are composers

given. No composers or lyricists are mentioned anywhere in

his three earliest editions, and the only evidence Ravenscroft

gives about the origin of any of them is in Deuteromelia where

he writes: "the songs are made truly Musicall with art by

my 'correction,' and yet plaine, and capable with ease by

my 'direction.'"6 Here he admits that he is the editor rather

than the composer, and it is probable that the songs in Melis-

mata were similarly treated.

The bulk of the texts and tunes in his editions probably

originated before or during the time of Elizabeth and were

carried over in a varied form into the seventeenth century.

The two most likely sources of the texts and tunes in Melis-

mata are the songs composed for the plays given by the child

players of St. Paul's Cathedral and the songs derived from

traditional street cries and ballads.

6 Thomas Ravenscroft, Deuteromelia (London, 1609, fac-simile reprint, New York, 1971), A3.

7Noah Greenberg, An Anthology of English Medieval andRenaissance Music (New York, 1968), p. 198.

Part-songs, dances, and incidental music played an

important part in the dramatic productions at St. Paul's.

Some of the songs preserved in Ravenscroft's editions are

aiso found in plays dating from his time there. The song

"TheUrchins Dance " which he included in A Brief Discourse

s igned by him and is also found in the anonymous Paul's

yLay Maids Metamorphosis which dates from 1600. "The

Eles Dance, " by John Bennett also appears in both work.

There are other songs found in Ravenscroft's editions

wh'h have dramatic connections. "Love for such a cherry

.ps " from Blurt, Master Constable appears in A Brief

Discourse as "The Mistris of her Servant" and is ascribed

to Edward Pearce. The drinking song from Jack Drum's

Entertainment, "Give us once a drink" appears in Deuteromeia

as No. 28, and the text, "Terlitelo, terlitelo, terlitelee,

er 10," from Maid's Metamorphosis, appears as a three voice

round entitled "Jolly Shepheard" in Pammelia.

Although the songs in these works have their dramatic

connection more substantially documented, one songin

W.J. Lawrence, "Thomas Ravenscroft's Theatrical

Associations," Modern Language Review XIX (1924), 420.

SAndrew J. Sabol, "Two Songs with Accompaniment for

an Elizabethan Choirboy Play," Studies in the Renaissance

!1958), 152.

19

Melismata has definite connections with the play by Thomas

Middleton, A Trick to Catch the Old One. The last four lines

of the lyric to song No. 12, "The Scriveners servants Song

of Holborne" is almost the same as the lyric printed in

the play at the beginning of Act IV, Scene V.1 0 No music is

given, but the following lyric appears with these stage

directions:

SCENE V

DAMPIT the Usurer in his bed, AUDRYspinning by (and BOY serving drink)

SONG Let the Usurer cram him, in interest that excell,There's pits enow to dam him, before he comes to

hellIn Holborne some, in Fleet-street some,Where ere he come, there's some, there's some.

The corresponding text in Melismata is,

Let the Usurer cram him in interest that excell,their pits, their pits enough to damme him before

he goes to hell.In Holborn some: In Fleetestreete some,Where eare he come, there some, there some,Where eare, theirs some, where eare, theirs some,

theirs some.1 2

There are slight differences between the lyric in the play

1 0Andrew J. Sabol, "Ravenscroft's 'Melismata' and theChildren of Paul's," Renaissance News VXIII (1959), 3.

1 1 Thomas Middleton, A Trick to Catch the Old One,edited by Charles Barber (Los Angeles, 1968), p. 70.

12 Ravenscroft, Melismata, D3.

"wo Alai =nvA- - MAWAIWWMW

h a in Melismata, but there is no doubt that they

related. The explicit stage direction indicates that

to be sung. This direction often appears in many

tCese plays, but, unfortunately the lyrics are either

Lost, making It impossible to determine c1

niso ng

Er sQi Us which could have connections with th St

pays are numbers 2, 3, 5, 6, and 1 c

-n.'owning of Belphebe," is a pastoral setting which

asr totuncommon in these plays. In this song, the solo

chorus,which represented the shepherds, are paying

tonage to their queen. The soloist instructs his fellow

tU kneel, then rise, bow, and lead her to her state

S r ttat io i iven in Maid's Metamorphosis whe e

tion is given that a chorus of shepherds enter

o andpraising the beautiful Eurymine. Although

rwnin of Belphebe" is not used in this play, the

II lar song did exist in a play suggests that

14c ouid have lad dramatic connections.

No, 3, "Mercuries Song, the messengers of the Gods,

asc have dramatic connections. Mercury was a

,"Ravenscroft's Melismata,*" pp. 4-5,

ibid. -

21

commonplace character in many of these plays. Ben Johnson

states in the introduction of Cynthia's Revel, "take anie

of our play-bookes without a Cupid, or a Mercury in it and

burn it for an heretique in Poetrie."1 5 Mercury also appears

in Marston's Malcontent to sing "The song of the Cornets."

The lyrics are missing from the play.1 6

It was typical in the choirboys' plays for there to be

comic songs, sung by an ensemble, usually a trio of pages.

This is implied either in the lyrics or indicated in the

stage directions. Often the songs are characterized by the

voices singing both in ensemble and alternately. 17 Two songs

from Melismata which have these characteristics are No. 5,

"A song of Pages, cashiered from their Masters," and No. 6,

"Servants out of Service, are going to the Citie to looke for

new." They could have been sung in a situation like that

found at the end of Act III in Marston's What You Will.

In this last scene, six pages make sport of the fantastic

whims of their masters and complain of their slovenly

manners. The scene concludes with the indication of a song,

151bid., pp. 8-9. 16Ibid., p. 9.

1 7 Sabol, "Two Songs," p. 146.

i ext is given. Either of these songs would be

18appropr iate.

The text of No. 5 bears some resemblance to the text

-AI4i Ulpian Fulwell's Like Will to Like, 1568 TVe

the bowl and drink to me, and troll nte

bowl again

put a brown toast in the pot, for Philip

..Ileming 'S Ibr ain .

And 6, PI toss to and fro, even round

abou t the house a.

Good hostess now let it be so, I drink them

LL carouse a.1 9

othn text from No. 5 in Melismata reads: to>: wr

T- 01CEs, lets in pretie soules, to carrouse with the

22 Although the body of the songs are not in any

sirmixr the fragment of text "Troll the bowl, "wh

me a s 4t-.pass about, and "carouse" may have been fair ly

P ter Song of London," No. 11, is a street

may h aver been used in a play. This text is apprt

the rocuress, Birdlime, to sing in Dekker and

tSabol, "Ravenscroft's 'Melismata, '" p. 8

Edward ed, songs from British Drama (New A

Ravenscroft, Mejismata, C2.

23

Webster's play, Westward Ho. In this play, Birdlime masks

as a seller of cosmetics who is forced by Sir Gozlin to

sing a song in Act V to be accompanied by the town consort

of fiddlers. The lyric is omitted in the play.2 1

The preceding is speculative but there is sufficient

evidence to show that the sentiments in these songs fit

certain characters or situations in many of the Paul's boys'

plays. It is possible that some of the diverse repertory

contained in Melismata were actually stage songs.2 2

The other main source for these songs is the traditional

popular music of Elizabethan England. Ravenscroft must have

been very impressed by the street vendors' songs and other

popular music such as that sung in pubs and taverns. He

may have passed them daily on the way to and from St. Paul's,

and he may have participated in their activities. An indi-

cation of this is the expression "K. H. mirth" found in the

title of Deuteromelia. It could stand for "King Henry's

Mirth," but Fellowes conjectures that it implies "Kings Head"

which could be the name of a tavern in Cheapside or the name

of the house at Greenwich later known to Pepys as "the great

2 1 Sabol, "Ravenscroft's 'Melismata,'" p. 8.

2 2 Ibid., p. 9.

musicke house. "23 At any rate, he did include some of the

popular tunes of this time in Melismata. A distinguishing

feature of the popular music is that it

was performed by Balladmongers, minstrels, andwaits, by fiddlers and others who played musicfor dancing and by tinkers and tailors--who notskilled enough for madrigals, could performcatches and ballads usually to be sung to thetune of a current ballad air.2 4

This music was used by composers such as Weelkes and

Gibbons. Not only were they masters of composing all sorts

of musical compositions, they also wrote extended fantasies

for voice and instruments which included tunes and words

borrowed intact from popular music.2 5

One source of popular music which was commonly used

is the street cry. Generally these cries were not "set

to music" but both the text and the music which the traders

sang was used in its original form in composition. These

cries were arranged and combined in rounds and songs. Thus,

2 3 Jeffrey Mark, "Thomas Ravenscroft," Grove's Dictionaryof Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 10 vols., edited by EricBlom (London, 1954-1961), VII, 63.

2 4 Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance (New York,1959), p. 833.

25lbid., p. 833.

25

many of these texts and tunes can be found in compositions

by various composers.2 6

One of the best examples of this in Melismata is the

round, No. 7, "Broomes for Old Shooes." Ravenscroft cleverly

arranged twelve cries with original text and music into a

round.2 7 They are,

1. Broomes for old shooes 8. Hay yee any Kitchin-stuffe,2. Pouchrings Maides3. Bootes and Buskings 9. Pippins fine4. New Oysters 10. Cherrie ripe5. New Cockels 11. Hay any Wood to cleave6. Fresh Herrings 12. Give eare to the clocke2 8

7. Will yee buy any straw

While rounds often were derived from street cries,

other more extended songs also used these cries. No. 11,

"The Painters Song of London," which was mentioned earlier,

is an example of this. It is a solo song in which the vendor

is selling cosmetics. The text to the first stanza reads as

follows:

Where are you faire maides, that have needof our trades?

2 6 Frederick Bridge, The Old Cries of London (London, 1921,reprint, New York, 1976), pp. 21-22.

2 7 Ibid., p. 23.

2 8 Ravenscroft, Melismata, Dl.

Ile sell you a rare confection: will yee haveyour faces spread,

Either with white or red? will yee buy any,will yee buy any faire complection?2 9

No. 14, "The Cryers Song of Cheapside," is the most

extended song in Melismata. It uses the traditional "0

yes," with its long, sustained note values. This phrase

was frequently used by the public cryers to spread news,

gossip or to make inquiries, and may have evolved from

this into traditional songs. 3 0

The best known songs from Melismata are the ballads.

They are characterized by many short narrative verses set

in a strophic form. The precise origin for the music and

text is unknown. It is most likely that they came from

an oral tradition and that Ravenscroft either composed new

music or matched existing music to an older text. The

importance of these songs is that they were and still are

current in Anglo-American folk tradition.3 1 Melismata is

the earliest extant transcription of these songs and texts.

2 9 Ibid., D2.

3 0 Robert B. Childs, The Setting of Poetry in theEnglish Madrigal (Ann Arbor, 1961), p. 100.

3 1 Reese, Music in the Renaissance, p. 834.

27

The most famous of the ballads is No. 20, "The Three

Ravens Song." It was probably an old ballad when Ravenscroft

introduced it into Melismata, and, perhaps, may even come

from the time of Henry VIII.3 2 Chapman suggests that the

song has a Gaelic origin, basing his conclusion on Celtic

mythology by interpreting various symbols contained in the

text.3 3

The ballad remained popular well into the nineteenth

century. Ritson, in his Ancient Songs, 1790, wrote: "It

will be obvious that this ballad is much older, not only

than the date of that book [MelismataJ, but than most of the

pieces in it." 3 4 Chappell in his Popular Music of Olden

Time remarks:

It is nevertheless still so popular in someparts of the country, that I have been fa-vored with a variety of copies of it, writtendown from memory; and all differing in somerespect, both as to words and tune, but withsufficient resemblance to prove a similarorigin.35

Motherwell in his introduction to Minstrelsy, which contains

3 2 Thomas Lyle, Ancient Ballads and Songs, introduction byRobert Thomson (London, 1827, reprint, Norwood, Pa., 1973), p. 62.

3 3Vernon V. Chapman, "The Three Ravens Explicated," Mid-west Folklore XIII (1963), 178.

3 4 William Chappell, The Ballad Literature and Popular Musicof the Olden Time, 2 vols. (London, 1855-1859),, v., 59.

35Ibid., V, 59.

a version of the "Three Ravens," stated that he had met with

several copies almost the same as that found in Melismata.

His version is the first stanza of the traditional version.

He writes that it was "very popular in Scotland," meaning

hat it [his version was "a counterpart rather than a copy

of the other [Melismata]." 3 6

This song is steeped in the supernatural and each

character represents different symbols. "The transformation

of the sweetheart into a doe may go back to very early be-

liefs in shape-shifting, and adds a curious eerie touch." 3 7

Through the many versions of this ballad, one can see changes

in the symbols.3 8 In an American version, the ballad has a

happy ending. The ravens direct the friends of the knight,

who are carrying him, to a hut where the knight is fed and

Cared for. 39

The "Marriage of the Frogge and the Mouse," No. 21, is

more commonly known as "A frog he would a wooing go." It

3 6 Francis Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,

5 vols. (NewYork, 1965), 1, 253.

3 7 John Houseman, British Popular Ballads (New York, 1952),

p. 105.

3 8 E. K. Wells, The Ballad Tree (New York, 1950), pp. 146-

L47,

3 9 fHouseman, British Popular Ballads, p. 105.

29

was first mentioned in 1549 in The Complaynt of Scotland

as "The Frog he went to Myl Dur." Then in 1580 a song

entitled "A Most Strange Wedding of the ffroge and the

Mouse" appeared in the Stationer's Register. This is possibly

the text one finds in Melismata. Its popularity continued

to increase after publication and it.later became a part

of most folksong collections.4 0 A more modern version is

"Rowley would a wooing go." 41

The text is probably a satire, and often animal rhymes

and fables were used to lampoon notable personages. In this

case, the satire is aimed at Queen Elizabeth who was known for

the habit of giving animal names to her courtiers.4 2

Sir Walter Raleigh was her fish, Leicesterher lapdog (or robin), Sir Christopher Hattonher bell-wether, and Burleigh and Cecil wereOld Leviathan and his cub. At the time ofher proposed marriage to the Duc d'Alencon,the French Ambassador Simier, was her ape andthe Duke himself was her frog.43

The proposed marriage of the Duke and the Queen was very

unpopular. Many spoke out against it and were duly punished.

4 0 Wells, The Ballad Tree, p. 159.

4 1 Lyle, Ancient Ballads, p. 67.

4 2 Wells, The Ballad Tree, p. 159.

4 3 Ibid., p. 160.

song was icensed in 1580, just after the incidentand

iac.he song mentioned in the Complaynt If indeed th

orr-esponds with the one contained in Melismata, the

, ,b our Cat," and "Dick our Drake" could be referring

Jr L phrev -ibert and Sir Francis Dra ke. Theson

e a nurzSeryrhyme after interest in the royal s'iJttis

, ing rS ong of a Yeoman of Kents sonne,

sg, varied history and is based on an old ballad

S "The Country-man' s Delight; or, The Happy Wooing,

-ng the successful Love of John the Servingman, in hiI

inq of Joan the Dairy-maid."4 5 There are many varia-

<i <f this song but they all have the famous text,

ncFt come every day to woo" in common. John Stafford Smi t

a ica Aniua printed the following text whi cA

mist form cf the "Country-man's Delight.

J qd Jh, when will this be.?fme, when wi,'t how marrie me?

owe ant eke my calf, and rents,land and al> my tenements,

a. Joan, said John, what wilt thow doe46annt come every daie to woe.4

Okeat "A Wooing Song of a Yeoman ofKent

_, Insh Dialect Society No. 76 (1965), xvii.

46Williaw ChappelD, The Roxburghe Ballads,fr 7 repint, New York, 1966), III, pt

31

The text is described as "a very popular song in the early

part of Henry VIII's reign, selected from an ancient MS. in

the editor's [Smith) possession."4 7 This manuscript was

later bought by Dr. Rimbault and was sold with his library

in 1877.48

On January 18, 1591-2, another version was entered into

the Stationer's Register by Henry Kyrkham. It was designated

as a new ballad entitled, "Johns wooing of Joan." 49 A related

text is also mentioned in Puttenham's Art of English Poesie,

1598, where he states:

And we in our Enterlude called the wooer, plaid withtwo words, lubber and lover, thus, the country clowncame and woed a young maide of the Citie, and beingagreeved to come so oft and not to have his answere,said to the old nurse very impatiently

Iche pray you good mother tell our

young dame,Whence I am come and what is my name,I cannot come a woing every day.5 0

Following Ravenscroft's version of the "Wooing Song"

in 1611, other variations appeared. Tom D'Urfey's version

which was performed for Charles II at Windsor was published

in his collection, New Collections of Songs and Poems, 1683,

4 7 Ibid., p. 590. 4 8 Ibid., p. 590.

4 9 Skeat, English Dialect Society, No. 76, xix.

5 0 Richard Puttenham, The Art of English Poesie (London,

1589, facsimile reprint, New York, 1971), p. 164.

and again in Pills to Purge Melancholy from 1698 to 1719.

also appears in Wit's Cabinet, 1731, as "The Clown's

hip suna to the King at Windsor." This version was

wsed as the basis for another ballad, "The North Country

rth Plain downright wooeing between John an

pleasant ew song as it was sung before the

t Wi)TndSr, which is found in Pepys, collection I.

Themnusic xf Ravenscroft's "Wooing Song" is of interest

because the complete melody is almost a duplicate of the

rn ast phrases of the "Three Ravens Song."' Tis

1-milarty leads John Ward to conclude that

tvey provide evidence, slim though it be and

sometimes difficult to interpret, of ways in

Wich a single tune could be varied not forth 1delectation or instruction of a lutenist

r nrginaist but for a singer of broadsidebalIads; and they offer practical lessons in

the Procrustean art of fitting tune to text.

S3, "Remember, 0 Thou Man," is the only song rm

Yetsmata which is religious and is the earliest existing

xamp t his song. in publications from 166 5,k 669, and

appears with only its tune and it is also included

4Ithe several editions entitled, Songs and Fancies, I

appeal, The Roxburghe Ballads, III, pt. 2, '92.

Ward, "Apropos: The British Broadside Balad

ndi Ausic,' Journal of the American MusicolicalOcet XX '1967) ,68.

33

severall Musical Parts, printed by John Forbes at Aberdeen.

For a time, it received considerable attention because of

"an idle assertion that the melody of the well-known song,

'God save the king,' was derived from that of 'Remember, 0

Thou Man. '"53 The carol is paraphrased in Ane compendious

Booke of Godly and Spirituall Songs, with sundrie Ballates

changed out of prophaine Songs &c., and was printed by Andro

Hart in Edinburgh in 1621. Its text is

Remember-, man, remember, manThat I thy saull from Sathan wan,And has done for thee what I can, &c.

"It is also printed from a copy of Melismata in the Library

of the Sacred Harmonic Society, and collated with a copy of

the 1682 edition of Forbe's publication in the same collection. "55

This type of carol was specified "Suffering Ballads" by

Elizabethan writers.5 6

53 William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London,1868, reprint, Norwood, Pa., 1973), p. 32.

5 4Ibid., p. 32.

55 Ibid., p. 32.

5 6 Ibid., p. 32.

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

Melismata is derived from the word "melisma" and

means song, air, or melody. It is any kind of air, or

melody, as opposed to recitative, or other music of a purely

declamatory character. There are twenty-three of these

songs in Melismata and they are divided into five groups

which Ravenscroft designated as "Court Varieties," "Citie

Rounds," "Citie Conceits," "Country Rounds," and "Country

Pastimes." The groups represent certain sentiments, and in

some instances, forms, thereby achieving the "variety"

which Ravenscroft refers to in the preface. There are

several considerations in discussing these songs, mainly

definition of terms, subject matter or sentiment, form, and

now the text is underlaid. Although each song consists of

several voices, not all of them are always vocalized, and

this arrangement, that is, whether they are vocal or instru-

mental, affects the performance as well as the expression

of the sentiment.

t The Oxford English Dictionary, 12 vols., edited byJames Murray, et al (Oxford, 1961), VI, 371: subsequentcitations will be referred to as OED with volume and pagenumbers indicated.

34

35

There are six songs which constitute the group "Court

Varieties." Upon defining the word "variety," one finds that

it means a diversity of nature or character, absence of

monotony, sameness, or uniformity.2 The word defined as a

"literary or artistic quality" is best demonstrated by Thomas

Morley in his Introduction to Musicke: "So that you must

in your musicke be wavering, like the wind, sometimes wanton,

sometimes drooping. . . and show the verie uttermost of your

variety, and the more you show the better shall you please."3

Considering the statements in the preface to Melismata and

the definitions, one concludes that these songs deal with

courtly life and have been chosen for their diversity--hence

the term, "Court Variety."

The titles to No. 1, "The Courtiers good Morrow to his

Mistris," and No. 4, "The Courtiers Courtship to his Mistris--

The Mistris to the Courtier," make reference to nobility with

the words "courtier" and "mistris." No. 1 is a love song

and No. 4 is a proposal of marriage. Perhaps they hint of

intrigues or attitudes that were part of courtly life. No. 2,

"The Crowning of Belphebe," and No. 3, "Mercuries Song, the

messengers of the Gods," make reference to mythology with such

words as "crowning," "Gods," and "Mercuries." No. 2, a pastoral

2 OED, XII, 51. 3Ibid., XII, 51.

setting, describes the crowning of the "Shepheards Queene,"

and those present are commanded to pay hommage to her. No. 3

could be taken as a wise saying or courtly advice. No. 5,

"A Song of Pages, Cashiered from their Masters," and No. 6,

"Servants out of Service, are going to the Citie to looke

for new," both deal with pages and servants who have either

been discharged or have quit their jobs. In No. 5, the pages

sing for joy over their newly-found freedom while in No. 6,

the servants describe themselves as a "lustie crew" who are

looking for a "new Master."

Whereas there is a vague uniformity of subject matter--

courtly life--there is much "variety" of subject matter within

the group. They are not all songs of one sentiment but

represent some of the various facets of courtly life.

There is also much variety in the music. The medius in

No. 1is a vocal solo, as is the tenor in No. 2. In each

instance, these parts contain the melody and have text set

throughout. The other three parts in these songs are probably

instrumental because they have no text except at those sections

designated in the score as "chorus." In these sections text

appears in all four parts.

No. 1 is a strophic song and consists of two stanzas.

Each stanza has an introduction, a solo, and a choral refrain.

37

The chorus section uses the same text in both stanzas.

In No. 2, the sections marked chorus and verse follow

an alternating pattern of chorus, verse, chorus, verse,

chorus with instrumental interludes between each section.

The last chorus is the first chorus repeated, and except for

this, the song is through-composed. The presence of this

pattern does not affect the form but does affect the texture.

Although it is basically homophonic throughout, the sections

specified as chorus are distinctly homophonic while the verse

sections are more contrapuntal. In the solo part, the

rhythm moves in slower note values while the other parts

move in faster note values. This makes it impossible to set

the text given in the verse section to the faster moving

parts.

No. 3 consists of five parts and contains no indication

of chorus and verse. Only the medius part has text set

throughout. Short fragments of text of incipits appear at

the beginning of each part which could be an indication

that all of them are to be sung, but like No. 2, the contra-

puntal lines make it difficult to fit all the text of the

medius to every part. Also, the title, "Mercuries Song,"

implies a solo song.

ALthough written for five parts, No. 4 is a duet. "The

au;tiers good Morrow to his Mistris--the Mistris to the

utier"is, as the title tells us, arranged as a dialogue

tween the courtier (quintus) and his mistress (medius)

h n .e sting while the other responds. The tWO 2ine

Sas one melody throughout, hence it could be considered

IfarlOn of a solo song. Like the other songs, he tex--

kefticut to add text to the other pars and th

Addi on of text to the other parts would detract from the

eAle t. It is through-composed except for a short

pr ise at the end of the song.

Not 5 is for three parts and is the only song with text

alt the parts. The text is the same in all of the

t- except for a slight variation in the treble (measure

2 a.hich reads 'gone may hee be down," while the medius

reads "neere more than we see down," and the bassus

measure 23) has he text "nor againe to come at us." Th

1- 1-, through-composed but can be divided into three see-

0 n IllThe middle section, measures 14-24, is more contra-

untal an contains melismas on the words "joye" and "down.

71,ther two sections are more homophonic.

- et for four parts and in the chorus (measures

-.1tih ave the same text. In the next nine measures

39

the voices comment alternately and simultaneously with

different words except for the occasional interjection of

the syllables, "hay now." Like No. 4 this section creates

a seamless dialogue between the parts. The first section

is repeated as a da capo by means of Ravenscroft's reference,

"chorus" at its end. This section is also the most complicated

rhythmically of any of the songs in Melismata. The second

section, in a compound duple meter, is simpler rhythmically.

The four songs which comprise the second group are all

rounds for three and four voices. They are entitled "Citie

Rounds," because their texts are drawn from the sounds and

cries of the city. The combination of street cries that

make up No. 7 possibly accounts for its melodic angularity

and its relatively complex rhythm. No. 8, "1 pray you Good

Mother" (also referred to as "The Young Nurses Request")4

has two possible interpretations: one, that of a daughter

asking permission to marry, and the other, a daughter or

nurse wishing to play with or take care of the child, "Little

John." No. 9, "My Mistris will not be content," makes ref-

erence to Chaucer and the song was probably derived from the

tale of the "Wife of Bath" in the Canterbury Tales. No. 10,

4Thomas Lyle, Ancient Ballads and Songs, introduction by

Robert Thomson (London, 1827, reprint, Norwood, Pa., 1973),

p. 61.

iywit an old man all the night," is the bawdiest of

hEsongs in Melismata, and is particularly humorous

ignt of the text painting.

I Lay with an old man all the night,turned to him and he to me,

Hee could not doe so well as hee might,B I tee would faine,

Buit5 w0ouid nt bee.

n an that the highest note, middle C (measure

d r heebeats on the word "would. " Then he

d away on the rem-s ing text, "faine, but it

IC n11t beD It is even funnier in the context o41a round

the repetition of this line emphasizes the dilemma

Jhe third group of songs, entitled "Citie Conceits,"

the most e elusive of all the terms. The most common

nns of conceit are ro imagine, fancy, or think. Others

take into mind, apprehend, for a conception or notion

rm: conception, think, conceive; to fl .or inspire

QConceitor fancy; to have a good conceit of, to take

,ancy. An archaic usage is to conceive as a pur

1, sign, or to conceive. Gustave Reese in Mus__

,mears Ravenscroft, Melismata (London, 1611, facsi>ie

\ew Yok, 1971 , E4.

E, XI, 209.

41

the Renaissance, relates the term to toy7 which is defined

as being without seriousness, to trifle, or play, to flirt,

to amuse oneself, or to play or frisk about. Archaically,

it means to make sport or mock.8

Hence it may be conjectured that these songs concerned

with city life are fanciful and playful. It is possible that

they could be related to the musical genre, fancy, or that

the name could even be a sort of arbitrary term chosen by

Ravenscroft. There are four songs in this group, for three,

four, and five parts.

All of these songs express some sentiment concerning

city life in London. No. 11, "The Painters Song of London,"

refers to the city and is a street cry of a cosmetic sales-

man. Similarly, No. 14, "The Cryer's Song of Cheape-side,"

comes from a tradesman's song, and Nos. 14 and 12, "The Ser-

vants Song of Holborne," have names of locations in London.

No. 12 expresses a servant's disgust for his master and could

possibly correspond with that part of the definition, "to

mock or make sport." No. 13, "A Bellman's song," was

undoubtedly derived, at least in part, from the song of a

London bellringer.

7 Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance (New York, 1959),p. 833.

8OED, XI, 209.

42

All of the pieces in this group are solo songs, and only

No. 14 has an indication of chorus. Like No. 3, Nos. 11 and

12 have incipits in all the parts at the beginning of the

songs. In each, the solo is in the tenor or medius part

which always makes its entrance after the other parts have

begun. No. 11 consists of two stanzas set strophically;

the other three are through-composed. There is a short re-

prise of the last three measures in No. 13, and No. 14 has a

fully texted chorus for its last sixteen measures.

The fourth group of songs, called "Country Rounds,"

are composed around the subject of country life. No. 16,

"And seest thou my Cow to day Fowler," is the only song which

makes direct mention of anything to do with the country.

All of the others are characterized by the type of nonsense

syllables that is typical of country cries.9 These syllables

usually have meaning but in this case not all of them do.

In No. 17, "Kit and Tom chid a," the syllable, "chid," is

an archaic form of "chide," meaning to give a loud or impas-

sioned utterance to anger.10 Thus, the song is probably

describing an argument between Kit and Tom. The nonsense

tFrederick Bridge, The Old Cryes of London (London, 1921,reprint, New York, 1976), pp. 21-22.

Y0ED, 11, 337.

43

syllables in No. 15 and No. 19 could possibly be used as a

substitute for bawdy words or perhaps included for their

rhymes. In No. 16, the "Bim, bome, bim, bome," represents

the ringing of bells for Mattins.

The last group of songs, "Country Pastimes," are all

ballads except No. 23, which is a Christmas carol, but even

it has some of the characteristics of the ballad. Ballads

generally consist of many short stanzas which tell stories.

Traditionally, people would gather and listen while the local

maker of ballads or wandering singer would tell these stories

in song.12 This probably became a form of entertainment and

is a likely indication of Ravenscroft's source for the

expression "Country Pastime."

Most ballad texts are divided into narrative and refrain

sections in which the action of the story is carried on.1 3

In the Melismata ballads, word repetition is used within these

sections to reinforce the mood, maintain the motion, or some-

times just to complete the rhyme. 1 Ravenscroft emphasizes

the refrains by setting the text to all of the voices at

these places. In the other sections, the text is carried

by the treble except for No. 22 which is a tenor setting.

l"MacEdward Leach, The Ballad Book (New York, 1955), p. 1.

12 Ibid., pp. 8-9. 13Ibid., p. 18. 1 4 Ibid., p. 18.

-' 2 and 21 also use nonsense syllables in their refrains,

e these portions somewhat of a country air.

The texture of the "Country Pastimes" is basically

sor ,i, saII the parts could conceivably have text

them. However, most ballads were traditionale

and considering the arrangement of the othe

MeLismata the tendency is to regard the narratiVe

S n S00 passages with the remains used tounc-

tat e r to emphasize them. A further indication of whether

ottext should be added to all the parts can bE found

the text of the songs. For example, the text for the

11 nthe first stanza of No. 22 reads, "I cannot -ome

eyy tu woo The text which follows this appears in

Jaart and is sung by the chorus which comment, "he

_4_not came everyday to woo,"

Raenscrof t gives no indication in Melismata of how

parts without t ext are to be performed and i

stLkely that they were performed by instruments even

.--. e extent of doubling the solo lines with an instrument.

Th coice of instruments was probably determined by

t They ma: have been a consort of viols or one

bi, p. 20.

45

of recorders, although other instruments such as citterns,

lutes, violins, flutes, and pandoras were also known to have

been used.1 6 In the case of the choirboy's songs, an

indication of instrumentation was given in the stage direc-

tions. Besides the frequently used lute, which as Ravens-

croft pointed out, Pearce often used in his compositions, a

quartet of viols is indicated in plays such as Redford's

Wit and Science, the anonymous Jack Drum's Entertainment,

and Sir Giles Goosecap. A bass viol is used alone in one

of the songs from Marston's Antonio's Revenge. Cornets are

used in his Malcontent, and in Sophonisba, also by Marston,

they are combined with organ. In Edward's Damon and Pithias,

the regals is the indicated instrument.17

It can be concluded that Ravenscroft set the text to

the parts he intended to be sung and for the most part,

they are accompanied songs for solo and ensemble. Formally,

the songs are either strophic, through-composed, or rounds,

except for No. 5 which is basically a da capo. Three of the

16 Noah Greenberg, An Anthology of English Medieval and

Renaissance Vocal Music (New York, 1968), p. 117.

1 7Andrew J. Sabol, "Two Songs with Accompaniment for an

Elizabethan Choirboy Play," Studies in the Renaissance. V

(1958), 151.

46

groups, the City Rounds, Country Rounds, and Country Pastimes,

adhere to specific forms whereas the other two groups achieve

the greatest variety of form and presentation. The subject

matter ranges from bawdy to sacred and with the differing

forms, represents the various "humours" referred to in the

title and the "variety" which was Ravenscroft's intention.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Apel, Willi. The Notation of Polyphonic Music: 900 to1600, 4th ed. Cambridge: The Medieval Academyof America, 1949.

Arkwright, G. E. P. Catalogue of Music in the Library ofChrist Church, Oxford, 1 vol.-, preface by T. B.Strong. East Ardsley, England: S. R. Publishers, 1971-.

Boyd, Morrison C. Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism.2nd ed. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1962.

Bridge, Frederick. The Old Cryes of London (London, 1921),reprint. New York: AMS Press Inc., 1976.

Burney, Charles. A General History of Music, 2 vols.(London, 1789), ed Frank Mercer. New York: Harcourt,Brace, and Co., 1935.

Campbell, Olive D. and Cecil J. Sharp. English Folk Songsfrom the Southern Appalachians. New York: G. P.Putnam's Sons, 1917.

Chappell, William. 'The Ballad Literature and Popular Musicof the Olden Time: A History of the Ancient Songs,Ballads, and of the Dance Tunes of England, 2 vols.London: Chappell and Co., 1855-59.

. Old English Popular Music, 2 vols. New

York York: Jack Brussel, 1961.

. The Roxburghe Ballads, 8 vols. (Hertford,1875), reprint. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1966.

Child, Francis James. The English and Scottish.PopularBallads, 5 vols. New York: Dover Publications, 1965.

Childs, Robert B. The Setting of Poetry in the EnglishMadrigal. Ann Arbor: University Microfilm, 1961.

47

48

Coffin, Tristram P. The British Traditional Ballad in

North America. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1977.

Colley, John Scott. John Marston's Theatrical Drama.

Salzburg, Austria: Institut fur Englische Sprache

und literature, Universitat Salzburg, 1974.

Davey, Henry. History of English Music. London: J. Curwen

and Sons Ltd., 1895.

Duncan, Edmonstoune. The Story of the Carol. New York:

Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 1911.

Fellowes, E. H. The English Madrigal COMpser. Oxford:

The Clarendon Press, 1921.

. English Madrigal Verse 1588 to 1632. Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1929.

Greenberg, Noah. An Anthology of English Medieval and

Renaissance Vocal Music, introduction by Joel Newman.

New York: W. W. Norton and Co. Inc., 1968.

Hillebrand, Harold N. The Child Actors: A Chapter in

Elizabethan Stage History. New York: Russell and

Russell Inc., 1964.

Houseman, John E. British Popular Ballads. New York: Barnes

and Noble, Inc., 1952.

Hughes-Hughes, Augustus. Catalogue of Manuscript Music in

the British Museum, 2 vols. London: William Clowes

and Sons Ltd., 1908.

Humphries, Charles and William C. Smith. Music Publishing

in the British Isles from the Earliest Times to the

Middle of the Nineteenth Century. London: Cassell

and Co., Ltd., 1954.

Husk, William H. Songs of the Nativity (London, 1868),

reprint. Norwood, Pennsylvania: Norwood Ed., 1973.

Kerman, Joseph. The Elizabethan Madrigal: A Comparative

Study. New York: American Musicological Society,

1962.

49

King, A. H. Four Hundred Years of Music Printing. London:Trustees of the British Museum, 1964.

Lang, Paul Henry. Music in Western Civilization. NewYork: W. W. Norton Co., 1941.

Leach, MacEdward. The Ballad Book. New York: Harper andBrothers, 1955.

Lyle, Thomas. Ancient Ballads and Songs (London, 1827),reprint. Norwood, Pennsylvania: Norwood Ed., 1973.

Marston, John. The Malcontent (London, 1604), reprint.London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1975.

Middleton, Thomas. A Trick to Catch the Old One, ed.Charles Barber. Berkeley-Los Angeles: Universityof California Press, 1968.

Musica Britannica: A National Collection of Music. 39 vols.London: Stainer and Bell Ltd., 1974.

Nettell, Reginald. Seven Centuries of Popular Song. London:Phoenix House Ltd., 1956.

Pattison, Bruce. Music and Poetry of the English Renaissance.London: Methuen and Co., 1948.

Phillips, William J. Carols, Their Origin, Music, andConnection with Mystery-Plays, forward by Sir FrederickBridge. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1921.

Puttenham, Richard. The Art of English Poesie (London, 1589),facsimile reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

Ravenscroft, Thomas. A Brief Discourse of the True Charact'ringof the Degree (London, 1614), facsimile reprint. NewYork: Da Capo Press, 1971.

. Deuteromelia (London, 1609), facsimile

reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

. Melismata, Musical Phansies (London,

1611), facsimile reprint. New York: *Da Capo Press, 1971.

. Pammelia. Musicks Miscellanie

(London, 1609), facsimile reprint. New York: Da CapoPress, 1971.

Reed, Edward B. Songs from the British Drama. New Haven:

Yale University Press, 1925.

Reese, Gustave. Music in the Renaissance. New York: W.

W. Norton, 1959.

Sandys, William. Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern in-

cluding the Most Popular in the West of England and

the Airs to Which They are Sung (London, 1933), reprint.

Norwood, Pennsylvania: Norwood Ed., 1973.

Scott, Charles K. Madrigal Singingc. London: Oxford

University Press, 1931.

Squire, W. Barclay. Catalogue of Printed Music Published

Between 1487 and 1800 Now in the British Museum, 2 vols.

London: William Clowes and Sons Ltd., 1912.

Ultan, Lloyd. Music Theory: Problems and Practice in the

Middle Ages and Renaissance. Minneapolis: University

of Minnesota Press, 1977.

Wells, Evelyn Kendrick. The Ballad Tree. A Study of British

and American Ballads, Their Folklore, Verse, and Music.

New York: The Ronald Press Co., 1950.

Woodfill, Walter L. Musicians in English Society from

Elizabeth to Charles I. Princeton: Princeton University

Press, 1953.

Young, Percy M. A History of British Music. New York:

W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1967.

Articles

Beatty, Arthur. "Some New Ballad Variants," Journal of

American Folk-Lore XX (1907), 154-156.

Chapman, Vernon V. "The Three Ravens Explicated," Midwest

Folklore XIII (1963), 177-186.

51

Dart, Thurston. "Music and Musicians at Chichester Cathedral:

1545-1642," Music and Letters XLII (July, 1961), 221-226.

Dotted Crotchett (pseud.2 . "A Visit to Christ's Hospital,"

Musical Times XLVI (September, 1905), 573-583.

Lawrence, W. J. "Thomas Ravenscroft's Theatrical

Associations," Modern Language Review XIX (1924),418-423.

Mark, Jeffrey. "Thomas Ravenscroft, B. Mus.," The Musical

Times LXV (October, 1924), 881-884.

Sabol, Andrew J. "Ravenscroft's 'Melismata' and the Children

of Paul's," Renaissance News VXIII (1959), 3-9.

. "Two Songs with Accompaniment for an

Elizabethan Choirboy Play," Studies in the Renaissance

V (1958), 145-154.

Skeat, Walter. "A Wooing Song of a Yeoman of Kents Sonne,"English Dialect Society No. 76 (1965), xviii-xix.

Ward, John. "Apropos: The British Broadside Ballad

and its Music," Journal of the American MusicologicalSociety XX (1967), 29-86.

Dictionary Articles

Eitner, Robert. "Thomas Ravenscroft," Biographisch-Bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und

Musikgelehrten, 10 vols. Leipzig: Breitkopf andHartel, 1898-1904, VIII, 143-144.

Mark, Jeffrey. "Thomas Ravenscroft," Grove's Dictionary

of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 10 vols., ed. EricBlom. London: Macmillan, 1954-61, VII, 63-64.

The Oxford English Dictionary, 12 vols., James Murray, et al.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1961.

Pulver, Jeffrey. "Thomas Ravenscroft," A BiographicalDictionary of Old English Music. New York: E. P.Dutton, 1927, 405-408.

Tilmouth, Michael. "Thomas Ravenscroft," Die Musik inGeschichte und Gegenwart, 14 vols., ed. Friedrich Blume.Kassell: B'renreiter, 1949-68, XII, 64-67.

Wooldridge, H. E. and T. C. L. Pritchard. "Psalter, Metrical:English," Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians,5th ed., 10 vols., ed. Eric Blom. London: Macmillan,VI, 957-972.

MELISMATA: MUSICAL PHANSIES FITTING THE COURT,

CITIE AND COUNTREY HUMOURS.

EDITION AND COMMENTARY

PART II

JtELISMATA.

MVSICALL PHANSIES.

,FITTING THE COV RT

C ITIEandCOVNT REY

H v m 0 v P"519

To; , 4and .Voyces.

o alldelightfullexcept to the spitefpll,To noze ofnfjiUeexcept to the Penrlue.

04.

LONDON,

Printed by WIiamn S1asy for Thomwu adams.1611.

iii

THE RIGHTvv R SHIP vLL THE

true fauorers ofMuficke, and allyertuc Mt.TboAs Rauenfcroftiand Mr.

wd1am RAenferoft Efquires.

Eight JYor/hi1full, Ihaueheenefo much obbgedtothe courteous regardyouhaue aiwaies had ofmeec,thatjfl/hould notoWe.. Vnto you my be/encdeauors Igmildmuch

contrariyour indnejfs,anddefrucdiyincurre

the/hameqciingratitude: Let it therejorcjandwith. our good likings, that &y the/c harmele/fAu ficall P hanfiesImay ew totheiwor/d,4rd herebv conffeboin much lam bound vnto!

A Yost

i

The Epiftle Dedicatorie.

you; and when it (hal'further feeme goodtojourWor/hIps to command me,Irvi/

not haue abity or life that

]hailnot beatjourferuie....

LoXo N.6.4prilis. z6iz.

Your Worthips affekio-natekinfeman,

V

TO THE NOBLESTO F T HE COVRT,L I BE-

RALLEST OF THE COVN--r a u , and frcecf ofthc

CI I. ]a.

0 v may well per-ceiue by the much va-riety herein compofed,that mydefire is to giuecontentment in this

kinde of Muficke tod__ the skilfull, and moft

judicious of all fortes. And beinglittle ormuch beholding to fome of each rancke,I fludie and firiue to pleafe you in yourowne elements. Now ifmy paines proueyour pleafures, you ihall fill keepe mee inpainestopleafeyou. And foI refyours.

TRJB. M.

vii

A TABLE OF ALLThe Songs contained in

this BOOK E,

C OV*R T VARIETIES.

QI9Iw~f rtA Lout. 40 Votekwj ew fivrer. 4a Vu.

Hfie, btfte,pofihafle. 5.oc.wi ye lomeme *.Voc.

Long hae Ibeeneperplext. .3-Voc.Hegh bo, away the Mare. 4.Vec.

ITlE OV N D S.

B nnmt far old hoot$. 4. VO4iprsygood Mother. 3.Vdt.

My mifirs willot kcott. 4.Voc.10 4 wibt an old man. 4.Voc.

C T IECONCEITS.,

\trfere Aretyoaf'sirc c24ides.4roc.

3$y mafer isfwife. 4 .Voc.

13. Maides to bed14. 0yer,Ojet.

CCOVNTRY ROVNDS.

x. E that will 0 Aie-houfe keep.

3 C,16. Mdfre/Lthou my cQm jroC.

17- Kit and Tom chidA. 4. Voc.18. Dery dine,ding,d . .3,$

19. Ar 1uwent bythe way. .

COVNTRY PASTIMES

20. Here were three Raues,4.k-.21. ZwI.A the Frogge in ;the.'

z z. IbSue houfe and lando nKent4 K;

23. &emmbcr 0thou man. +

FIN I S.

B

viii

2-.

4.5,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

COURT VARIETIES . . .............-.-.-.-.-. 1

1. The Courtiers Good Morrow to His Mistris 3

2. The Crowning of Belphebe 7

3. Mercuries Song, the Messengers of the Gods 20

4. The Courtiers Courtship to His Mistris.

The Mistris to the Courtier. 22

5. A Song of Pages, Cashiered from Their Masters. 27

6. Servants Out of Service, are going to the

Cities to Looke for New. 31

CITIE ROUNDS. . ................. . 35

7. Broomes for Old Shooes 37

8. I Pray you Good Mother 38

9. My Mistris will not be Content 39

10. I lay with an old man 40

CITIE CONCEITS . . . . . . . . . .............. 41

11. The Painters Song of London 43

12. The Scriveners Servants Song of Holborne 45

13. A Belmans Song. 51

14. The Cryers Song of Cheapside 54

COUNTREY ROUNDS.. .................. 69

15. He that will an Ale-house keepe 71

16. And seest thou my Cow 71

17. Kit and Tom chid a 72

18. Derry ding, ding, daffon 72

19. As I went by the way 73

COUNTREY PASTIMES . . . . . . . . . ........ 75

20. There were Three Ravens 77

21. The Marriage of the frogge and the Mouse 80

22. A Wooing Song of a Yeoman of Kents Sonne 82

23. A Christmas Carroll 85

ix

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A-x ft

ALM

Fo-p'neanune

cot

r - - -- -- 1 II -

.59

-4= 4 .L E''...E=" n m. -o um ="

bl

L=Idp

I A

PPF

-A IL

"sauna

IIW7ML dp do

09

moo

Ow

k4

IL

AMW-

4p

Mirm 3 b

-4wF

64M

49 +hatvC6, 4k vcs,

sLev 6m Come,

ol 4

C.k

14

AVC

J-lf . IK i

ro -a

.6... .- .. ..- ..3.. - -. - . -- -- - r ---- 4 1 1 '1 1 I

-~w -a O

g 1. -it1 - - -7-7

65

"WC cre a

s'y250y -- T WE Yop

wgi -.- cow, am ~~Fw-i-- ya & -C M $

I la -0eilooi11o I mIIeIm g l

all "airy

. . I1. I- -

"e' -- e"m. - - cm -a',WA - c m,

84 att aws w- cosa we - come

84 aI are - corns &pw

we cotnc,azweI - omw,a8re we - coe-

hc1 acmvnwww,ai, ,w-

04 tt re e- - omeavew owe,

7 we4 - covw o all awle, we - coie

But 411"m We ei el- come.

-----

altoine But alre wC4 ConC.

we -Come, wel- comc, tom

en m.- y fyea-- st-k eat

441 1 , en -- cne

AIt

+Ias ,t

now=%n

ey ~wCA

bn -- v

Myq%

I J -II

1774

my cke-

feast n

_As+I i I

CouniTy Ijonum

15- 710I)

)my 1y niny, hyy neney y no, hey

A I

Cham-,se anda ke " -no *- ny,

Ani 4iS fe&. Iw my G~w o-day

11 B w binnc,, w'i Loim, a bm

Few- , C I-&y FAw-

no VY , g h ey g n -no

La. B m-j - I. ap k

20 Ma ben, We e a a Nee

- A in~-m n I lknn n.~e.- .. , . . .ue.e.u nn una u. - a un . -n - -- .... .

kit A& TOM K L ancL To vw cl% & ,

T*" " " K 56. J ,IL

.V i..p .... ...... V.. .- ----- ---# 1 -- --.- --.---- .- .TV om 4 $ 419 "k cdi 0

n Tom.

18.

a a eweeddowwe we -deawA

-JV - yj j T IIIIIL E. IIIAL4

ww4cn, ()widcTw Ce w o S e~,WWIA

, I, .. :I . A- -A

W"n -A o1,wwe, w CL aWee

I'om,

407*11fALI

170.

K 1 T--- m Irit

Iom

7

190

A()

JLJr- A I I

I AL

ein43k.iny()ac

woAL--

I 1L----

~ IvWayf, ha - uom,

~j~it

ha zm~ c zmm

- -14 6o-0~ "AAlfl

a

v

tro

dNommlm~

I

ron

Couny fiStims

7T2Q.

4. Voc.

Tbere were r Ravens sat

. 71 V, - , D I --- do n , a

aDewnc- a d wic

-us

POWflC- kcy dOWm, hey

down, hay 4owti,. Tbere, were- Ihrwc Ravens ira4

i tl

IPAM I= CIL I J= -

-I cwml, ce dwne-,

78

en a 4re , wilk a dow,Te

Swtha 4owuei

owownc

thr 4 Iva 4owiic,

w~c Mc Iac is h n a re Ua

Wl

L L

Wt

sa- ------

-Fad

A~wne, derriz, erirri 0&1 , dw.,9owe

downeA AL i.AL w e o n-

dawn. d wne. drriROLw Id te

, Te once oF them said to his wate,down adowne key down,

'Thee onc of themsi& to 1US make0,w k adowne-:

1k- ow, them, sa L to 1us Make,Wre, s I&Uwc- our brefak<t ta6c

with adowne dery down.

N TDine-in y dergreene ficl,,Idownc-adowne hcy d(owhe.,

Dowmc in Yonicriwem. -ict&,owit a aowne'.

Nwncin yuc n ftca'Tcre tis bu' ht slain under kis sidel

+ i Ui houn& ithy tie downe at 6sfedledowne- adownckey downic.

(L5 hounds U ticdowncr-at hisfectewith adl=

%hjs Iko td they tie downc at kis f 40teSo well "e can their Master keeye-,

with ,i4one,

3 ) Jwks *Aey flc- so eagerlydowne, dJvne,

WS vIawKes thCy fit soc6agersywith. adowc,.

Xs )iawkes t ,So7kcre's no f0wz darc 'h='

iwii adownc

b Downe there come & fallow Doe-,dowrepi a d ownc--

Powne there, coneafalow Doewithadowne.

N wnctha-ms fallow Doe,.

'I She if

She, Lft hi's5l Ldy hcL,wtt adoxe,.

* ztf t T ahis UAkc4,4.4nL (Lt )i* s wowdn we-s

wi*$Ia dowme.4,

S Sp-gt k twcke-,

with adownc-.Skothie. Lupim UT heracke,

.4 carr idta- tearhen a4ke-,wiTh adewnc downd,,

9 5he bricd him beire-thLfrime,dowe-aAowne.

wiah a own~e-,She 1wv ter-oik 'm,

ShewaS 4 hers ei emgZLwikh,

0 o& seds.elve erVknan,

coa seiuLey aS4ucka ems, wSb ad&r cc

a~ep 7 -with adoWne,

I A

Z180

a wqqww~ MW&bw a L A .h

was*A 1-nl" i

um tis t 108 st% im uf C

2 - W - es-aAOL

tem -We-dm, te -M ALe

14W VIA

2 'Tke J e wold& a wohij v ,hi dukumb'k W 4L

Sword. aM bucker 1his sia k,tweeCk, tweetce wino,

5 Whew htc, was uyoiv-) is horse 5Ct,luwiIlc, duin, hurn1e c

f(is boots Th y shoneas bllsa:t eet 10 AC w"e twino,-1

4 When lhe- wn45o th- merryIt t yeu.phKwi , he-w p 4um

Laiy M uAse- l ee you w*i* i ?tiwc4Lte, tweedIe iwito.

5Taew C&In out iOw. duiity MuC-,IktaPmt'k dwtm, Itumbik dam

Ian%- Laad of this iwurve,.twee ,wedtwino.

L' Nast thou~anty mintde~ of mce?huKr dim., une- dum

Ih&ve. e'erva4 biiv(de f iae,ctedtevtwede twine,

I Who hst this mUa-rr.e-e' inak-?tabwnk4e, hu- k4m,

Our LOrdI wh1kki sthe -at?tweedle, tweekLwno,

"as blacke asset," could possibly be "as blacke as soot;

however, "asset" does rhyme.

A-nMbwflEs .

6-1 r 64, AM,

81

0 What shAlt we- have to our sujaerwhumlec dunL, humle , dmI,

lram 1m ns in at of batter,4weed. Xtw -k tw no.

Y,,9 n te M er' an~vt,.~e ~twecd&UMe, iwumee um

7h( Moueam&even fhe-Iattwedte tw tw av :

1o rit came i1ngthour cat,humulze, acn, Iliumle d&M,

&4u& caut the, iiousc even tiy *e k -,weedk., tw'et twino.

11 1kef &L& they sep&arte-,hum14e dwm, hItmM16t .SutM,

the wg., ayton t.h f I so flat,

L 'lkeu, came- im Dicke, our Dvxkc,humbte dum, h umbe- Sau,

400ned&ew-theftcj e ewvto the ta1,

1,'1%e, t vunsu the-watt,humbLe Sum, aI lle- cbdA ,

goody co th yhe tJec witutweedle- t~ee.A ,nosd'

A woo ng Song f &Yocmai of

KENTS Sontv-.2.

at i.

I h&wekoeeani Iainhavenov an,

I.

,Z p e c n

ovc, "VC, now iwo Feme, hslc, fit n

A82

s

8,

T eci ia4& - yny is hs ren+, ac

9 rwo pe*A a~c- jeny I. Iu vet, kc

Two gc hWg,.- yeny is my ven4 I

TAW ---

1 1U n c0m vC - y- 4 ' OO,

My vtcoenteI - -W-y eve,-Ivywwoo

I I I I

"an- om co?"evcq-- vy 6o woo.

Itca7 a fhrS eiest zonnefy =01T rkt tofh loreI mewelt

for ck can bravely coatmy shoonc,an&W f "t wtcannnt a it.

Chors. for he can brav Yclout k.sh vtt

an& le- fwt wel canvfnta bt.

NY vathcr he-gave .e- Aigt e,

Iny V g&AA he-g .ea ow,have-& &o&-ivatwr SdWts there by,and i me. bestowed a plow.

Clior, )*c- ba& a & --Wstr dwetsfte-v by,

and he on kin wiestowed A&flow.

One, tiinme I save ayaferofptPis+anoderfie ataui

AnS if thou wit notc n e-love,in trh kte ivotethy yaw.~

Cho An 4haw, wit inot rsrt0vaisoVC..it trutk hee'le die Ievot thy vace-.

Ich havt- teene. fw ic our Whitson Lortch haveha& III" anVa.,

atake- 4$ow hast my heartLhot, 7and' m-mtnde zeenespann6 vare,

Cho---AnA -thou. hast his hotIt hold.,and in his inscees rare.

Uk wilt ywt tm my kst white slopan4 4ih wilt weave- m yellow,

,4u on my haao& g ay hat,and in'f it sttkca loniy rose-.

Chor. .-4n4 on.his head. a oojra le I ,tse-ickloWiy wsc,

Wlenfow cease off, r"akeno delay,and if you'll love meo, love nit now,Or as ic" zeecke- zoome-. oder whete,for I caVnot co-iC ever-y ty towoo.

Clio, Or ets Ek I zeek zone odxr,wherefor he cannot c.mr- evcrydaytoWOO

tNote the use of v for f;for th, ie., oder.

z for s; ich for I and ___

Clut my_ shoone, patch, or mend my shoes.

ngqa_ bell, ring a church bell, ring chimes.

4Pins, were given as presents.

5 Taudry lace, a piece of lace bought at St. Audry's fair.

6Whitson Lord, at festivals on Whitsuntide a lord and lady

the ale were chosen.

7In hold, in your keeping.

6 Sloppe, loose frock.

he preceding is taken from the notes on "A Wooing Song

Yeoman of Kents Sonne" English Dialect Soc iety No. .17965 )L 47 .

A Ckns+onas Carifl.

23-c

&eMftr OkeRe YrcmevO humwn,O OumM.O ,

L s 1.0, -L F.0

U e L.

0 +snaimO thm

SI ..

kcX

e - em b r i on m nkm Ae 4w TTtan g n

T'g6SLE.

Vo4voc.

I R

ant I a w I ca ore re - pe

kereffore re - pen*

threore rem 4 e

4fherekorc, re - pe4.

2 Rpncner Adams al0 thowian, hown'fat,

1?t'ncwtber Adams faitprom hcawn to het:

Vmltber AdaM failt$ow we were conemne&aLLrZ helt pr vetuet

iterifvto avwo,

3 (pnetmkr Gets goocatefsc0 tho u man.,0 ttouman,

lenwnter ao isgOOCnCSCe--- 4nctvs grflrt made .0

"%bmecx*s 00ncnssefrow We- sent sonnodonts le6-Our sitnes for to rrease-,

Li not affrskt

+ Ike 4Ange -s5aU asing,o thotman,) 0thowman,

tte..Anttls alt &&d sin$te yhcardo kInt,.

tour hean~ly n,.4n peceto man tivng

fiftagoo 1 wUni

5 'Ie sheyhcards amazcct was,Otho& mat 0 4hoU, ma.

Ihe shephcards ainAzecwaST eanl 1-h e tC1 ,tt sherhards WA5$ow *t shoul& come to ae-tat Christ our Metsia5$howLt be our KLnt40

6 To 9e*km did they goe,o thu, man, 0 unnan,To Balm did t tyeolhitekeards tit-,

tro 81i4em dAid *hcypoe-fro seewhea t wettsorn,

Whether Chrizot won, lnmc or -noto set mai. fre -

W4 AstheAnISdbcfore4&A say,OowUman,

&.4s thtcnlts Infore say,So it Cate, to vsSC-,

*As t heA ts f Mr.,-"say,tiYtfo ababi- wh&s tt layrna manger wrayt -I hay,soyioore- hewas.

$ in jetklem he was bmre,0 thou man, OtOwunan,

In Ntkm Ike was borne.,For mankit& sake,Ira. Oetkks"Wewas ttorne

JOr us that wemt-forterne.,AII& tkcreere> toboocortte-

oarftesli.te take..-

9 Grve-thaiks to Goa way,o thow mna, 0tinsw, .,

Give,thanks to Eioctatwaywc heari st joyfril,awe Thanks toFor tis Ow0Let al nnl

holy, holy,

87

CRITICAL NOTES

The following critical notes indicate the original

readings for those passages which have been altered in

the transcription. These readings are shown by using a

formula which indicates the song number, the measure

number, the voice, the beat, and the original reading

transcribed. The following abbreviations are used to

show the voice parts: Tr, Treble; M, Medius; Q, Quintus;

T, Tenor; B, Bassus. For example, "l. 23 B 1: a"

indicates that the original pitch in song No. 1, measure

23, Bassus part, beat one is an a.

1. 23 B 1: a

2. 13M 3: a#

3. 9 T 7:

4. 10 M 1: .=

22 B 3:

5. 6 M 2:

6 M 3:

33 M 1:

32 B 1:

33 B 1:

6. 10 Tr 1:

9 M 1:

12 M 4:

sa

40

40

a

"a

a

I4 ft l T HIC, S g -f ITOm -Ot e n SCO e