No mention of "Greensleeves" has ever been found earlier than the Stationer's Register entry of the ballad on Sept. 3, 1580 (and there's no known extant copy of it). After that date there were many imitaions parodies and moralizations. The song was so poor that it had been forgotten by about 1610, and was a 'lost' song until the late 18th century when it was turned up in 'A handful of pleasant delites', 1584.