Annotation:Shepherd kept Sheep (A)

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X:1 T:Shepherd Kept Sheep (A), &c. M:6/4 L:1/8 R:Air B:D'Urfey - Wit and Mirth; or, Pills to Purge Melancholy, vol. 5 (1725, p. 35) N: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/87908399 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:C B2|B3c B2 B3A ^G2|A4A2 c6|d3c B2 c3de2|e3de2c2A4| z4 z4 z2B2|B3c B2 B2A2^G2|A4 A2 c6|d3c B2 c3de2| e3d e2c2 A4|c2B2c2 d3cB2|c3B c2d6| 3Bc2 G3A G2|A>B A3B c4B2|B3cB2 B2E4| A3B A2 A2D4|G3F E2 c3de2|e3d e2c2A4||



SHEPHERD KEPT SHEEP, A. English, Air (6/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. Words and music were included in Thomas D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, vol. V, pp. 34-35, and begin:

A shepherd kept sheep on yon mountain so high,
Fa-la-la- fa-la fa-la-la-la-la-la-la;
A shepherd kept sheep on yon mountain so high,
When a pretty young damsel came tripping there by:
Fa-la-la-la-la-la, fa-la-la-la-la, fa-la-la, fa-la-la, fa-la-la-la.

Shepherd, quoth she, dost thou want e'er a Wife,
No by my troth I'm not weary of my Life.

Shepherd for thee I care not a Fly,
For thou't not the Face with a fair Maid to lie,

How now my Damsel, say's thou me so,
Thous shalt test of my bottle before thou dost go.

The end is predictable. The air appears in John Gay's Beggar's Opera (1729) under the title "In the days of my youth.”



Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 64.

Recorded sources: -



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