Lyr Add: My Little Sweet Darling

Subject: Lyr Add: My little sweet darling
From: Artful Codger
Date: 03 Jan 06 - 07:22 PM

On the album Sing We Noel, the Boston Camerata performs a 17th c. consort song "My little sweet darling", which was previously attributed to William Byrd. It's a beautiful lullaby with no especial ties to Christmas ("gods" indeed!), aside from being suitably mother-and-child. Are there any more verses to it? Here's what the Camerata provides in their liner notes:

MY LITTLE SWEET DARLING
17th c. consort song

My little sweet darling, my comfort and joy.
Sing lullaby lully.
In beauty surpassing the princes of Troy.
Sing lullaby lully.
Now suck, child, and sleep, child, thy mother's sweet boy.
Sing lullaby lully.
The gods bless and keep thee from cruel annoy.
Sing lully, lully, sweet baby, lully.

[The actual last line has rather more lullies, lullabies and sweet babes than are indicated above.]

Codgerly yours...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My little sweet darling
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 03 Jan 06 - 11:07 PM

There is an arrangement by Byrd, and one of the 20th century by Peter Warlock. What do you mean by "formerly attributed"? Is Byrd out of the running now?

A website called Land of Nursery Rhymes provides some additional text at http://www.landofnurseryrhymes.co.uk/htm_pages/Lullay%20Lullay.htm:

My darling dear, my daisy flower,
Let me, quoth me, lie in your lap.
Lie still, quoth she, my paramour,
Lie still hardly, and take a nap.
His head was heavy, such was his hap,
All drowsy dreaming, drowned in sleep,
That of his love he took no keep,
With hey lullay, lullay, like a child,
Thou sleep'st too long, thou art beguiled.

Unfortunately, whoever runs that site couldn't be bothered to say where they got it. It could have been made up last week by the milkman for all we know, so don't assume it's genuine until someone confirms that.

Did the Boston Camerata credit their source for text and melody, or did they keep it a secret?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My little sweet darling
From: Artful Codger
Date: 04 Jan 06 - 12:23 AM

Malcolm, thanks for the other verse, regardless of its questionable pedigree.


From the "Sing We Noel" liner notes:

"17th c. English"
...
"This consort song, formerly attributed to William Byrd, has no direct connection with Christmas;..."

That's all they have to say. But this is a reissue from a 1978 recording, so I don't know if the liner notes were truncated, as often happens with reissues. I ran across one or two other places where they said a similar thing regarding the Byrd attribution, but don't recall which sites, nor did they say why the revision of opinion.