B I R 



B I R 



he (lourifhed, nothing feems to have been thought neceffary 

 for keyed-lnflrunieiit?, except variations to old tunes, in 

 which all the harmony was crowded, v\hich the fingers could 

 grafp, a;id all the rapid divifions of the times, which they 

 could execute. Even nominal fancies were without fancy, 

 and confined to the repetition of a few di-y and unmeaning 

 notes in fugue, or imitation. Invention was (o yoimg and 

 feeble, as to be unable to go alone ; and old chants of the 

 church, or tunes of the llrcet, were its leading ftrings and 

 guides. 



Though the reformation had banidieu fnpevftition from 

 the land, fragments oi canto feimo, like rags ot Popery, ftiU 

 remained in our old ftcular tunes, and continued to liave ad- 

 mifrion in the new. Indeed the melodies of all the reft of 

 Europe had no other model than the chants of the church, 

 till the cultivation of the ni'ificcd drama ; whence all the 

 rhythm, accent, and grace of modern mullc, have manifeftly 

 been derived. 



Befides the great number of Bird's compofuions for keyed- 

 inftruments, which are preferved in the Virginal Book of 

 queen Elizabeth, another rr.anufcriot collcftion of his pieces 

 Hill fubfifts, under the title of " Lady Nevil's Mufic Book." 

 It is a thick quarto, vi-ry fplendidly bound and gilt, with tiie 

 family arms beautifully emblazoned and illuminated on the tirit 

 page, and the initiab H N at the loweft left hand corner. 

 The mnllc is all written in large, hold charafters, with great 

 neatnefs, on four ftaved paper, of fix lines, by Jo. Bald- 

 wine, a finging-man at Windlor, and a celebrated copyill 

 of queen Elizabeth's time. The pieces contained in this 

 coUettioii, fixteen of which are entered in that queen's vir- 

 ginal b'Mjk, amount to forty-two, with variations to many of 

 them, of the moH laboured and difficult kind. The notes, 

 both white and black, are of the lozenge form, like thofe of 

 the printed mufic of the fame period. 



^ 



Lady Nevil feems to have been the fcholar of Bird, who 

 profeffedly compofed feveral of the pieces for her ladyfhip's 

 ufe. 



None of Bird's pieces for keyed inftruments feem to 

 have been printed, except eight movements in a thin folio 

 book of lefTons that was engraved on copper, and publifhed 

 in the reign of king James I. under the following title : 

 " Parthenia, or the Maidenhead of the Mufickc that ever was 

 printed for the Virginalh'. Compofed by three famous maf- 

 ters: William Bird, Dr. John Bull, and Orlanco Gibbons, 

 gentlemen of his niajellyies inoft illullrious chappel." Thefe 

 IclTons, though not equally dithcult with fome of thofe in 

 the Virginal Books of queen Elizabeth and lady Nevil, are 

 rather more dry and ungiaceful. 



The canon, Non nobis Domin.', appears in none of his 

 works pubfiflitd by himfelf, or colletted by others, before 

 the year 1652 ; when Hilton inferted, and prefixed the name 

 of Bird to it, in a collection of catches, rounds, and canons. 

 But as no claim was laid to it by, or in favour of, any other 

 compofer, before or fince that time, till about the middle of 

 the lall century, when it was given to Paleftrina by Carlo 

 i^icciotti, who publiflied, in Holland, among his concertos, 

 a fugue in eight partSj on the fame fubjeft, there feems no 

 doubt remainmg ot our countryman Bird having been the 

 author of that pleafincf and popular compofition. 



Bird died in 1623, fuiviving his mailer Tallis thirty-eight 

 years ; and if we iuppofe him to have been twenty in tiie 

 year 1563, when he was chofen organift of I.inctihi, lie 

 mull have been eighty at his deceafe. Peacham, in his Com- 

 plete Gentleman, fpeaks of him with great reverence; ''For 



Motets and Muficke of piety and devotion, as well for the 

 honour of our nation, as the merit of the man, I preferre 

 above all others our Pi^cenix, Mafter William Byrd, whom in 

 that kind I know not whetlicr any may equall. I am furc 

 none excell, even by the judgement of France and Italy, 

 who are very fparing in their commendation of ftrangcrs, in 

 regard of that conceipt tiny hold of themfelves. His 

 Cantiones Sacrae, as alio his Gradualia, are meere angelicall 

 and divine; and being of himfclfe naturally difpofedto gra- 

 vity and piety, his veine is not fo much for light madr-gals 

 or canzonets; yet his Virginella, and fome others in his riril 

 fet, cannot be mended by the fiill Italian of them all." Sc' 

 cond ImprcJJlon, p. loo. His pupil, Morlcy, in \\i> Inlra- 

 diiflwn, every profcfTor and mufical writer of his own and later 

 times, never mention him but with thehighcft lefpeCl. At 

 this remote period but little, however, can be known of his 

 private life, which was too lludiousand fedentar)- to have fur- 

 nifhed hillory, at any time, with events of general interell. 

 With rtfpe£t to what Ant. Wood afferts in his Fafti, that 

 " Bird was excellent in mathematics," it is, in his ufual way, 

 fnpported by no proof; and indeed mathematics have fo little 

 to do with praftical mufic, either in conipolition or perfoi-m- 

 ance, that thole mnficians, who are moft ignorant of the ratio 

 or philofophy of founds, feem conllantly to have arrived at 

 the liighelt degree of excellence in the fcleftion, combination, 

 and refinement of them in pradlice, by the mere alfillance of 

 experience, and the gift of good ears and powerful nerves. 

 That he was a diligent cultivator of his art appears from his 

 numerousworks, which aremore the produftions of meditation 

 and lludy, than of hafle and enthufiafm. That he was pious, 

 the words he felecled, and the folemnity and gravity of llyle 

 with which he fet them, fufficiently evince. Of his moral 

 character and natural difpofition, there can, perhaps, be no 

 teftimonies more favourable, or lefs fubjeft to fufpicion, than 

 thofe of rival profeffors, with whom he appears to have lived 

 during a long life with cordiafity and friendlhip. And, of 

 the goodnefs of his heart, it is, to us, no trivial proof, that 

 he loved, and was beloved, by his mafter, Tallis, and fcholar, 

 Morley ; who, from their intimate connexion with him, muft 

 have feen him en robe de chambre, and been fpecSators of all 

 the operations of temper, m the oppofite fituations of fub- 

 jeilion and dominion. 



Indeed, the bell memorials of a profeflional man's exift- 

 ence are his fnrviving works ; which, from their having been 

 thought worthy of prefervation by poilerity, entitle him to 

 a niche in the Temple of Fame, among the benefactors of 

 mankind. The phyfician who heals the difcales, and alle- 

 viates the anguifli of the body, certainly merits a more coii- 

 fpicuous and honourable place there; but the mnfician, who 

 eminently fooths our forrows, and innocently diverts the 

 mind from its cares during health, renders his memory dear 

 to the grateful and refined part of mankind, in every civi- 

 liied nation. 



Bird cherry, in Botany. See Prunus PaJus. 



BiRD'sfvc. See Adonis. 



BiRD'sybo/. See Ornithopus. 



JjiKiLi^s foot trefoil. See Lotus. 



Bird's nejl, a name ufed bv fome for the daiicus, or car- 

 rot ; and by others for ophrvs. 



Tjh-d's ne//, j!mf>le. See Orchis. 



Bird pej.per. See C .". p si c e y . 



Bird's tongue. See S E st c lo. 



B I R DS canary. See C A N A R V birds. 



Bird of the wz/f, among Alchcmiflsy is the pliilofophical 

 mercury; and, in general, fubliaiations or fubllances IpJ- 

 rituahzed by the fepavation of their terreftrial part. 



Bird, golden, the hermetic matter partly matured. 



3 L 3 Bird, 



