"HOW D'YE DO?"
Compare "Blowzabella, my bouncing Doxie," in d'Urfey's "Pills to purge
melancholy," I., p. 190 (Ed. 1719).
"RIGS O' MARLOW."
This air is printed in Burke Thumoth's collection of Irish Airs (1720),
in Holden's "Old Irish Tunes" (1806), and in "Songs of Ireland," p. 164
(Boosey).
T. Crofton Croker quotes the words of the original song in "The Popular
Songs of Ireland" (1839), of which the first verse is as follows:--
AIR--"Sandy lent the man his Mull."
Beauing, belling, dancing, drinking,
Breaking windows, damning, sinking,
Ever raking, never thinking,
Live the rakes of Mallow.
Mr. Kimber, the leader of the Headington Morris, could only give us the
first verse of their song, which, however, is quite different from the
Irish words:--
When I go to Marlow Fair
With the ribbons in my hair,
All the boys and girls declare,
Here comes the rigs o' Marlow.
Mallow is in County Cork and was a fashionable watering-place in the
eighteenth century, when it was known as the "Irish Bath." Croker says
that the young men of that fashionable water-drinking town were
proverbially called "the rakes of Mallow," and he adds: "A set of pretty
pickles they were, if the song descriptive of their mode of life, here
recorded after the most delicate oral testimony, is not very much
over-coloured."
Neither the Oxfordshire nor the Gloucestershire Morris-men, from both of
whom we recovered this tune, had probably heard of "Mallow"; it was
natural enough, therefore, to substitute "Marlow," which, of course, they
know very well.
"COUNTRY GARDENS."
This is the prototype of "The Vicar of Bray," and Mr. Kidson tells us
that he has it in an old book of airs under the more ancient title. It is
also called "The Country Garden" in Playford's "Dancing Master," and in
Chappell's "National English Airs," Nos. 25 and 26. Chappell gives it in
3-4 time, and remarks that it then becomes "a plaintive love ditty
instead of a sturdy and bold air."
"SHEPHERD'S HEY."
This air bears some resemblance to "The Faithful Shepherd" in Thompson's
"Complete Collection of Country Dances" (_circa_ 1775), which is
reprinted in Mr. Kidson's "Old English Country Dances," p. 10.
"CONSTANT BILLY."
This is a variant of the "Constant Billy" printed in Playford's "Dancing
Master" (1726), p. 170, and also in one of Walsh's dancing books. It is
also in Gay's "Beggars' Opera," where it is set to the words, "Cease your
funning." Mr. Kidson tells us that the air is known in old books as "Over
hills and lofty mountains" or "Lofty mountains."
The well-known Welsh air "The Ash Grove" is but another version of the
same tune; but whether the Welsh derived the air from England or _vice
versa_ is a moot point. The matter is discussed, at some length, in
Chappell's "Popular Music of the Olden Time," p. 665, to which the reader
is referred.
The air that we print is as the Headington Morris-men played it; but we
also recovered a variant of it from the Bidford dancers. The "Constant
Billy" of the Bampton men, already mentioned, is yet another variant, but
in the Æolian mode.
The words of the first verse of the Headington version were as follows:
O Constant Billy,
Shall I go with 'ee?
O when shall I see
My Billy again?
The Bampton words were different:
O my Billy, my constant Billy,
When shall I see my Billy again?
When the fishes flies over the mountains
Then you will see your Billy again.
"BLUE-EYED STRANGER."
Mr. Kidson tells us that this is a variant of "The Mill, Mill, O" in
"Orpheus Caledonius," I., p. 40 (1725). It has also some points in common
with "Just as the tide was a-flowing" in "Folk-Songs from Somerset," II.,
No. 37 (and note).
"BLUFF KING HAL."
This is a version in the major mode of "The Staines Morris Tune,"
published in the first edition of Playford's "Dancing Master," and
reprinted in Chappell's "Popular Music of the Olden Time," I., p. 126.
How it has come to be christened "Bluff King Hal" we do not know unless,
as Mr. Kidson suggests, the Bidford Morris men have taken the name from
some modern collection of old English dances.
"MORRIS OFF."
As has already been stated, this tune, which was given us by the Bidford
Morris dancers, is printed in Thoinot Arbeau's "Orchesographie," p. 94. A
Dutch version of the same air is included in a collection of dance-tunes
by Tielman Susato (Antwerp, 1551); and is reprinted in Carl Engel's
"Literature of National Music," p. 56. See also Grove's "Dictionary of
Music" (old ed.) II., 369.