Greensleeves From the street buskers versions in the 1580s
In this project, Earnie Taft helped out with his fiddles, and the tune can be played easily with a C six hole whistle. The myth about this tune was that it was written by King Henry VIII for Ann Bolen, but the truth is it was one of the many "street busker" tunes developed in the 1580s, years after King Henry's death. While there have been many, many variations of the lyrics, I chose four of them in what I hope captures the meaning and feeling in the tune about a young man who is treated very badly by the woman he adores.
In was also in this time that the concept of the Broadsides were developed. The street buskers would print their lyrics on a large sheet of paper and fold it in such a way as to make them into very "cheap" books (called "Chap Books") and either give them away to people during their performance, or to sell them in the town square or in festivals. Broadsides were the forerunners of what is now known as a "newspaper" developed in the 20th Century. They were also the format of the "Dime Westerns" popular in America in the latter part of the 19th Century.
Shaun, That KelticDead Guy