Annotation:Willy was so blithe a lad
X:1 T:Willy was so blithe a lad L:1/8 M:6/8 S:Chappell – Popular Music of the Olden Times (1859) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A E|E2E A2B|c2B F2E|F2E F2G|(A3 A2)E|E2E A2B|c2B F2E|F2E F2G|A2z|| e3|c2A A2F|FGA B2d|F2E E2C|(E3 E2)E|F2G AGF|B2A G2d|FGA A2G|(A3A2)||
WILLY WAS SO BLITHE A LAD. English, Air (6/8 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The song appears in wikipedia:John Playford's Choice Ayres Book 1 (1676, p. 76, where it appears as "A Northern Song"[1]), and Youth's Delight on the Flagelet (1697, where it appears as "Billy was as blyth a lad").
O Willy was so blithe a lad,
Ne'an like was in the town;
At Wake and Wassail Willy had
For dancing chief renown.
He pitch’d the bar, and hurl’d the stean,
Ne'a man could him outgang,
And if he strave with any man,
He gar’d him lig a lang.
