I. 'Hold thy peace,' see p. 77, _Tw. Nt._ II, iii. For _three_ voices,
Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Feste the clown, who begins the catch. The
second man follows when the first has arrived at [segno symbol]. For
the explanation see p. 90.
[Music:
Hold thy peace, and I prithee hold thy peace,
[segno symbol] Thou knave,
Hold thy peace thou knave,
Thou knave.]
'Thou knave' will be heard _nine_ times for every once the whole tune
is sung by one of the voices.
II. 'Jack boy, ho boy, news,' see p. 92, and _Shrew_ IV, i, 42. This
is very old, prob. quite early 16th century (see Introduction).
For _four_ voices. The second man comes in at [segno symbol], as
before.
[Music:
Jack, boy, ho! boy, news;
[segno symbol] The cat is in the well,
Let us ring now for her knell,
Ding, dong, ding, dong, bell.]
24. Threeman songs (corrupted into 'Freeman,' see p. 83). These were
entirely different from Catches. A Threeman song is merely (as a rule)
a song with _three parts_,--_e.g._, two trebles and a tenor, etc.
_Winter's Tale_ IV, ii, 41, and IV, iii, 285-327.
Here is a Threeman song, published in 1609, but probably much older
than that.
[Music:
V.1. Wee be souldiers three,
Pardonez moy je vous en prie:
Late-ly come forth of the low coun-try,
With nev-er a penny of mony.
V.2. Here good fellow, I drinke to thee,
Pardonez moy je vous en prie:
To all good fel-lowes wher-ever they be,
With nev-er a penny of mony.]
There are two more verses of the same sort.
25. 'Canst thou not hit it,' _L.L.L._ IV, i, 125. No more words known,
except this one verse.
The tune is mentioned as a dance in an Elizabethan play, and is
alluded to in an old ballad 'Arthur a Bradley.'
[Music:
Thou can'st not hit it, hit it, hit it,
Thou can'st not hit it, my good man,
An' I cannot, cannot, cannot,
An' I cannot, an-o-ther can.]