Some useless trivia about the Tudors and logical supposition.

Anne Boleyn never had three boobs or an extra finger - these are all propaganda myths put about after her trial and execution for adultery and incest. Had she an extra finger, her family would have hidden her away or 'encouraged not to thrive' when she was a child. She would not have gained a place at Court, either in France, where she spent her early life, or in England, where superstition (under guise of The Church)~ still thrived. She certainly would not have been royal marriage material with any visible disformity ~ too much risk of 'infecting' the Royal bloodline. There were rumours during her trial that she had bedded the King through witchcraft (what we would now call heavy petting, mutual masterbation and blow jobs, everything except actual penetration) which is why she could not carry a child to full term and that lead to the other outward 'signs' of witchery being invented and broadcast. Rumour makes molehills into mountains ~ or in this case, moles into mammaries.

The Tudor colours, from Henry VII through to Elizabeth I, were green and white. Anyone wanting to be recognised as a Tudor supporter, wore these colours. During the month of May, the whole court wore green and celebrated with hunting, feasting, games, masques and balls. Hawthorn, or flowering May was the emblem of the House of Tudor; after Richard III's death at Bosworth, his crown was allegedly found in a hawthorn bush and placed on the head of Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII.

If the tune can be traced back to 1580 (slap in the middle of Elizabeth's reign) it is likely to be at least a few years older than that. Henry had only been dead 33 years by then. He had been an accomplished musician and excellent at sight reading. It is possible that it was writen 50 years previously, for Anne Boleyn, but there is no evidence. Henry hated writing himself, but there are 17 letters in his handwriting to Anne. It is possible that he wrote her others, poetry was popular at court and the subject matter of Greensleeves ~ that of a courtly lady ignoring her sugar daddy would certainly suit the circumstances of Anne refusing to bed the King until they were married.

With all the evidence and supposition given above, we're left with the possibility that Henry VIII DID write 'Greensleeves' but it is probable that it was someone else.

LTS