Annotation:O Mistress Mine

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O MISTRESS MINE. English, Air (3/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The tune was arranged by the English composer William Byrd (c. 1540-1623) for Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book (1611), and was also set by Thomas Morely (1557-1602). Shakespeare has the clown sing this song in Twelfth Night (act II, scene 3).

O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and here your true love's coming
That can sing both high and low.
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journeys end in lovers' meeting
Ev'ry wise man's son doth know.

The Byrd and Morely settings predate Shakespeare's play.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Kines (Songs From Shakespeare's Plays and Popular Songs of Shakespeare's Time), 1964; p. 9.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Hear the song on youtube.com [1] [2]