Annotation:Once I Loved a Maiden Fair
X:1 T:Once I Lov'd a Maiden fair M:C L:1/8 B:Playford - English Dancing Master (1651, p. 74) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D f2f2 f4|e2f2d2 cd|e2e2e2f2|e4 e4:| |:B2c2d4|e2f2d2 cd|e2e2e2f2|e4 d4:|]
ONCE I LOVED A MAIDEN FAIR. AKA - "Maiden Fair (1)," "Once I lov'd a Maiden fair." English, Country Dance Tune (4/4 time). D Major (most versions): B Flat Major (Moffat & Kidson). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Moffat & Kidson): AABB (most versions). The melody and dance instructions ("Longways for as many as will") were first published in London by John Playford in his English Dancing Master [1] (1651). The tune subsequently appeared in other Playford publications including Introduction in the Skill of Musick (1664), Musick's Delight on the Cithern (1666), Apollo's Banquet (1670), and two other editions of the Dancing Master (it was dropped from the series after the third edition of 1657). William Chappell notes that it also appears in the 1680 volume Pleasant Companion for the Flageolet. The original ballad sung to this air appears in the Roxburghe collection. Chappell prints a different version of the air which Kidson finds has "great resemblance" to "Here's a Health unto His Majesty" by Saville.
The song (also called "The Revolted Lover") dates to June, 1629, when it was entered as a new tune on the Stationers' Register, by "the Assignes of Thomas Symcocke."
Once I lov'd a maiden fair,
But she did deceive me;
She with Venus might compare
In my mind, believe me.
She was young, and among
Creatures of temptation,
Who will say but Maidens may
Kiss for recreation.
