One Hundred English Folksongs - Cecil James Sharp

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1916 edition. Excerpt: ...forms of the air that I know. Barrett, in a footnote, states: "This song is usually sung without any attempt to emphasize the rhythm." The words have been compiled from those supplied to me by several singers. No. 52. My Bonny, Bonny Boy The earliest form of the ballad is, perhaps, that which was printed in the reign of Charles II under several titles, "Cupid's Trappan," "The Twitcher," "Bonny, bonny Bird," etc. (Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, p. 555). For other versions with tunes, see the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (volume i, pp. 17 and 274; volume ii, p. 82; volume iii, p. 85); Songs of the West (No. 106, ad ed.); English County Songs (p. 146); Folk Songs from Various Counties (No. 9). The words are also in the Roxburghe Collection and printed in black-letter by J. Coles and by W.Thackeray (17thcentury). Mr. Baring-Gould claims that "bird," not "boy," is the proper reading, and points out that it is so given in the oldest printed version. But Miss Broadwood suggests that an old ballad-title "My bonny Burd" (or young girl) may have led to the allegorical use of the bird in later forms of the ballad. The version given in the text was recovered in London. It was necessary to make one or two slight alterations in the words. The tune, which is in the iEolian mode, contains a passage only rarely heard in folksong, in which several notes are sung to a single syllable (see English Folk Song: Some Conclusions, p. 109). No. 53 a and b. As I walked through the meadows For other versions, see the Journal of the Folk-Song Society (volume ii, pp. 10-12; volume v, p. 94). A few verbal alterations have been made in the words. The first tune is in the major mode and the...