Annotation:Lover's Petition (The)

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LOVER'S PETITION, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was composed by John Barrett around 1700. Later printings of the song appear in John Watts' Musical Miscellany, vol. 4 (London, 1730), Dr. Arne's Monthly Melody, or Polite Amusements for Gentlemen and Ladies (London, 1760) and his British Amusement (London, 1762). The cautionary lyric begins:

When Lovers for Favours petition.
Oh then they approach with Respect;
But when in our Hearts they've Admission,
They treat us with Scorn and Neglect;

'Tis dang'rous ever to try them,
So artful are Men to deceive,
'Tis safer, much safer, to fly them,
So easy are Maids to believe.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 44 (appears as "Fleur-de-lis", the named of a 1994 dance by Fried de Metz Herman set to the tune).

Recorded sources:

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