Annotation:Deel Assist the Plotting Whigs

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DEEL ASSIST THE PLOTTING WHIGS. English. Written by the famous English composer Henry Purcell. The title was derived from the first line of the song "'The Whigs' Lamentable Condition' or 'The Royalists' Resolution', to a pleasant new tune", which appeared in 180 Loyal Songs (1685 & 1694). The music alone was included in Musick's Handmaid (Part 2, 1689) as a "Scotch tune", though credit was given to Purcell, perhaps in imitation of the style. To further compound the confusion as to national origin, Chappell (1859) asserts this tune was appropriated by the Scots for their "Peggy, I must love thee." In Pills to Purge Melancholy the tune appears in adapted form for the song "Tom and Will were Shepherd Swains."

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