Small Ensemble Bouzouki,Guitar,Harpsichord,Mandolin,Violin - Digital Download SKU: A0.1017678 Composed by Anonymous. Arranged by Gordon Jackson. Baroque,Celtic,Classical,Folk,Irish,Multicultural,World. Score and parts. 4 pages. Gordon Jackson #6436745. Published by Gordon Jackson (A0.1017678). Staines MorrisThe song, Staines Morris, is very well known by singers of traditional songs. It’s a 17th century song. It’s a 19th century song. Actually, it’s both! The lyrics were certainly published, and probably written, by Robert Cox for his play Actaeon and Diana, published in 1656. The tune was first published in John Playford’s The English Dancing Master in 1651. There is no evidence that, in the 17th century, the lyrics were sung to this melody. That didn’t happen for two hundred years, when William Chappell put the two together for his Popular Music of the Olden Time, vol. 1 (1859). I have added chords to the melody. Whilst humming the tune to myself, I found myself moving into 6/8 time, and that inspired me to compose a galliard based on it, complete with ‘divisions’ (runs of semiquavers or 32nd notes) and counterpoint. The song melody and the galliard can be played separately or as parts of one piece, perhaps with the galliard played between two of the verses. I put the galliard in A minor, to provide a contrast with the D minor song melody, but play them in whatever key takes your fancy. I have also added below the lyrics, as most often sung today.Come ye young men, come alongWith your music, dance and songBring your lasses in your handsFor ’tis that which love commands Then to the Maypole haste away For ’tis now our holidayIt is the choice time of the yearFor the violets now appearNow the rose receives its birthAnd the pretty primrose decks the earthAnd when you well reckoned haveWhat kisses you your sweetheart gaveTake them all again, and moreIt will never make them poorWhen you thus have spent your timeAnd the day be past its primeTo your beds repair at nightAnd dream there of your day’s delight
