The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #48138   Message #721358
Posted By: Uncle Jaque
01-Jun-02 - 10:30 PM
Thread Name: Lyr/Chords: Farewell, Ye Green Fields and Groves
Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords: FAREWELL, YE GREEN FIELDS AND GROVES
Small world, Masato; I recently puchaced that very same CD "Travlin' Home", and have about worn it out playing it repeatedly!
My appologies for not mentioning those lyric variations of the tune; for some reason they just didn't seem to "get it" any more than the "Tedious" ones do, and I just didn't give it much thought. The Camerata's instrumental rendition of "Farewell Ye Green Fields" (essentially the same air)is, however, strikingly beautiful, and resonates with ear, mind, and Spirit as "how it ought to be".
The bass viol and / or cello was very popular as a Church instrument in New England back in the late 1700's & early 1800's; Our Town Historical Society has the one used in the Baptist Fellowship here in Yarmouth, Maine, in the 1820's and '30's, and I have found reciepts for replacement strings for it in the Church archives. General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, of Civil War fame (portrayed in ther movie "Gettysburg" a few years back) was reputed to be, among other things, a virtuoso with the "bass viol".

That ditty the old folks were singing in England sounds a lot more like what I had in mind, and I'll hit those links and check it out.
Many thanks for the research and links, fellas! You're all "Daisies"! (Mid to late 19th Century term there.)