1921] on Researches of a Musical Antiquarian 335 



early morning. The viols have a solemn little passage of Imitation 

 and the monotone of the Watchman is heard, going his round. 



" God give you good morrow, my masters, past three o'clock and 

 a faire morning." Then suddenly, with a change in the accompani- 

 ment from minor to major, the Cries of the vendors of fish begin. 

 Curiously enough, Gibbons begins with mussels and not oysters — 

 oysters come later. I will not comment on the Cries. You will 

 hear them. Only I want to call your attention to one or two 

 points. 



There is a delightful little song — not a cry — for the seller of 

 ink, then a very comical Town Crier, who cries a mare lost " on the 

 30th day of February." Then a very interesting Begging Song for 

 the inmates of Bedlam. " Poor, naked Bedlam Tom's a cold. A 

 small cut of thy bacon, or piece of thy sow's side, good Besse. God 

 Almighty bless thy witts ! " 



Shakespeare has used many of these very words in " King Lear." 

 ""Bless thy poor wits — Tom's a cold " — (Edgar disguised as a mad- 

 man in " King Lear," Sc. IV. Act 3). This Fancy is divided into two 

 parts. Part one finishes with a delightful bit of Harmony. The 

 most striking song in part two is for the Chimney Sweep, and this 

 song occurs note for note and word for word in Dering's work, show- 

 ing it to be a really popular tune. The work concludes with the 

 Watchman's warning, " Twelve o'clock, look well to your locks, your 

 fire and your light, and so good night." This beautiful specimen, 

 and Dering's, are in a manuscript, copied in 1016, by Thos. Myrrell, 

 so that we may be sure they were composed in Shakespeare's lifetime. 

 The translation of the title-page is as follows : "A remedy against 

 sadness — select songs of various authors, and on various subjects, 

 set down by the labours and hand of Thomas Myrrell, a.d. 161G." 



(Gibbons illustration.) 



The Dering I present is called " What d'ye lacke ? " after the 

 •opening, which is clearly intended to represent the 'Prentices at the 

 shop doors advertising their wares. But the great charm of Dering's 

 work is the number of real songs, i.e. more than Cries, which he 

 preserves for us. 



We have here the sellers of Ink, Old Doublets (the same as 

 Gibbons, but here in a different time), Rosemary and Bays, Chimney 

 •Sweep (the same as Gibbons), Blacking, a Cooper (very interesting, 

 as the tune is the first part of " Heartease," alluded to by Shake- 

 speare), Rats and Mice, Garlick ; and we also find the Begging song 

 " Bread and Meat for the Prisoners of the Marshalsea," and other 

 similar petitions. The whole work is an advance on Gibbons and 

 Weelkes, and shows Dering to be a really admirable composer. I 

 must confess I feel a great satisfaction in unearthing this specimen, 

 because I have already, as some of you know, restored to life and use 

 some of this composer's splendid Motets. It is to me astounding 



