Annotation:Death and the Lady

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 DEATH AND THE LADY. English, Air (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. According to Chappell (1859), this melody appears in two publications of the early 18th century (A Guide to Heaven {1736} and Carey's Musical Century {1738}), and several ballad operas including Cobbler's Opera and The Fashionable Lady. It is mentioned twice in Goldsmith's 1776 volume The Vicar of Wakefield. Chappell believed the melody to be a corrupted version of the first part of the venerable "Fortune my foe." Fair Lady, lay your costly robes aside, No longer may you glory in your pride; Take leave of ev'ry carnal vain delight, I'm come to summon you away this night.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 2, 1859; p. 170.  Recorded sources:

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