Things have been a little hectic this week (that'll teach me for going away) so in lieu of a post I had planned to write (coming soon!) I shall highlight a fun item from the British Library collections.
This is a page from an early/mid-thirteenth century song book (probably from Reading abbey) with lyrics written in middle English and featuring turns of phrases such as:
Almost a medieval version of Old MacDonald.
At the bottom of the page in red are instructions on how the sung is to be sung which according to the modern commentary, the song is "intended to be sung in a round, requiring four singers to sing the same melody, one after the other, each starting when the previous singer reaches the red cross on the first line. While this is happening, two lower voices repeat the words 'sing cuccu'."
Interestingly, while the song is in Middle English, the instructions are in Latin along with the red lyrics. The lyrics in black are in Middle English. We can speculate to our heart's delight as to why this song had both Latin and middle English lyrics, but this is the earliest known English example.
You can listen to the song here:
Notes
MS, BL Harley 978 f.12v
http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item100326.html
This is a page from an early/mid-thirteenth century song book (probably from Reading abbey) with lyrics written in middle English and featuring turns of phrases such as:
'The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!'
At the bottom of the page in red are instructions on how the sung is to be sung which according to the modern commentary, the song is "intended to be sung in a round, requiring four singers to sing the same melody, one after the other, each starting when the previous singer reaches the red cross on the first line. While this is happening, two lower voices repeat the words 'sing cuccu'."
Interestingly, while the song is in Middle English, the instructions are in Latin along with the red lyrics. The lyrics in black are in Middle English. We can speculate to our heart's delight as to why this song had both Latin and middle English lyrics, but this is the earliest known English example.
You can listen to the song here:
Notes
MS, BL Harley 978 f.12v
http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item100326.html
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