Annotation:St. George for England
X:1 T:St. George for England M:C L:1/8 B:Thomas D'Urfey - Pills to Purge Melancholy vol. 3 (1719, p. 116) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:C c2 cc c3d|c_B AG A2z2|Ad2d dd dd|dc BA B3A|c2 cc c2 cc| cC CC G3G|dd dd d3d|dc BA B3B|c2e2g2 gg|g3G GG AB| c3G A3E|FF GG C3G|c3d e2c2|f4 f2 (.ed)| c2c2 c2 BA|G4 c2|c6c2|F6F2|G6G2|C8||
ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND. English, Air (4/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song appears in poet and songwriter Thomas D'Urfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy vol. 3 of 1707 and 1719 (pp. 1126-119, by D'Urfey, with music, and pp. 315-323 for a second part of the ballad written by John Grub), although these were adaptations as the ballad was considerably older, appearing in collections dating from 1659. Samuel Butler (1612-1680) wrote a song in 1671 entitled "A new ballad of King Edward and Iane Shore" with "St. George of England" as the indicated tune. Fielding makes "St. George he was for England" one of Squire Western's favorite tunes in his novel Tom Jones, and Ben Jonson made it one of the songs offered for sale by the ballad singer in his stage comedy Bartholomew Fair. D'Urfey's ballad begins:
Why should we boast of Arthur and his knights,
Knowing well how many men have endured fights?
For besides King Arthur and Lancelot du Lake,
Or Sir Tristram de Lionel, that fought for Ladies’ sake,
Read in old histories and there you shall see,
How St. George, St. George the Dragon made to flee.
Saint George he was for England,
St. Denis was for France,
Sing Honi soit qui mal y pense.
