. . . supper being ended, and the musick bookes,
according to the custome being brought to the table:
the mistresse of the house presented mee with a
part, earnestly requesting mee to sing. But when, after
many excuses, I protested unfeighnedly that I could not:
everie one began to wonder. Yea some whispered
to the others,demanding how I was brought up.
--Thomas Morley, 1597
Plain and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke
Here is where you will find words for some tunes used in English Country and Traditional dancing. Although this is by no means a scholarly work, where I have found an authoritative reference, I note it. My primary source has been William Chappel's Old English Popular Music, 2 volumes plus appendices, the 1893 edition as reprinted by Jack Russell, New York, in 1961.
But! Caveat lector (cantor? saltator?) these may well not be the "original" words. It was and still is customary to set new words to old tunes: no one can be certain what words if any at all were first used. Some are very much more recent than the dances. For example the Christmas song Masters in this Hall was set around 1860 by William Morris to the tune of The Female Sayler, a French contredanse published in 1706... which itself uses a yet older dance tune, La Matelotte, (first dated publication 1653. but undated MSs are earlier according to Chappell).
Any way, here's what I have. Additions and corrections are welcome. Send them here.
This site is dedicated to those who have worked to preserve our folk heritage, commemorated by Sidney Carter:
Sidney Carter, by the way, in 1934 (one source says 1963) wrote the poem Lord of the Dance and set it to the traditional Shaker hymn Simple Gifts.
--Dick Wexelblat, February 2002 (Dick Wexelblat)
* "Jovial" is the name of an early computer programming language. A prize of no significant value will be given to the first person who responds with the full text of the abbreviation (acronym) Jovial and whom it was named after. The value of the prize will be advanced to slightly significant if the responder truthfully states that she or he did not find the answer on the Web.
An interesting link: