Annotation:Malt's Come Down
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MALT'S COME DOWN. English, Air (6/2 time). G Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA. The tune dates back to the 16th century, and appears in a setting by the English composer William Byrd in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (No. CL), and in Deuteromelia (1609). Chappell notes: "...it appears that Ravenscroft, in arranging it as a round, has taken only half the tune." Since the latter two lines are always the same, it makes a great convivial song, with the first two line being made up spontaneously by each participant in turn. Various stanzas begin:
There's never a drunkard in all of the town,
But well he knows the malt's come down.
Malt's come down, malt's come down,
From an old angel to the French crown.
There's never a maiden in all of the town
But sleeps alone now the malt's come down.
Malt's come down, malt's come down,
From an old angel to the French crown.
![](/w/images/thumb/b/bf/Angel.jpg/200px-Angel.jpg)
The 'angel' can either refer to an English gold coin [1] that weighed 23-3/4 carats, minted from 1465 to the time of Charles I and worth approximately 7 shillings, or to a prostitute (see Routledge, Dictionary of Historical Slang, p. 81). 'French crown' refers similarly to a gold coin weighing 23 carats and worth about 5 shillings, or to the pox (see Routledge, Dictionary of Historical Slang, p. 1945). Some of the rhymes appear in nursery-rhyme collections, and collections of English rounds.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 1, 1859; p. 151.
Recorded sources: