Here are the notes from Penguin:O Shepherd O Shepherd (FSJ II 122)
From the form of this song, Miss Anne Gilchrist suspected that it may once have been a singing game — perhaps in the form of the advancing and retiring line — with one person playing the shepherd to whom inducements arc offered to persuade him to return home. Various early Scottish compilers (Johnson, Herd, Chambers) printed versions of the song, though we have found no other English set than this. The tune is interesting as being a modal version of "Greensleeves." Either the well-known version is a modal tune 'improved' by an ignorant musician, or else it has here been converted into a modal tune by a country singer.
Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:O Shepherd, O Shepherd
DESCRIPTION: Shepherd's wife offers a breakfast of bacon and beans if he will come home; he refuses, he must tend his sheep. She offers a dinner of pudding and beef, then a supper of bread and cheese. Finally she offers clean sheets and a pretty lass. He accepts.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1906
KEYWORDS: marriage sex food dialog humorous wife shepherd
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland,England(South))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Vaughan Williams/Lloyd, pp. 74-75, "O Shepherd, O Shepherd" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SHEPWILD SHEPWIFE (cf. the notes to BONSTJON)
Roud #1055
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Greensleeves" (tune)
SAME TUNE:
Bonnie Saint John (DT, BONSTJON)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Shepherd, O Shepherd
Notes: This seems to exist in two forms, "O Shepherd O Shepherd" and "The Shepherd's Wife." The two have identical plots, but the latter -- at least as recorded by Gordeanna McCulloch, based on the version in Herd -- *feels* much bawdier, as well as more fun. (Anne Gilchrist thinks it may be derived from a singing game, and it does have rather that feel.)
The distinction is so strong that I thought of calling them separate songs, but I can't imagine a clear dividing line.
The tune of the "O Shepherd O Shepherd" versions is described as a "modal version of Greensleeves." This is a bit strong; the tune has been altered in more ways than the simple removal of accidentals. - RBW
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