Hey down, down (Anonymous)

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• (Posted 2023-03-13)  CPDL #73047: 

Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2023-03-13).   Score information: Unknown   Copyright: CC BY SA

Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download. This edition comprises a transcription of the original canon, and a realization written out in full.

General Information

Title: Het down, down
Composer: Anonymous
Lyricist:
Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SBBB
Genre: Secular, Canon

Language: English
Instruments: A cappella

    Manuscript 1580 in Dow Partbooks, no. 134
Description: A catch (canon) recorded as a jeu d'esprit at the end of the bass volume of the Dow partbooks (possibly later than the compilation of the set). Unattributed, it is sometimes credited to Thomas Ravenscroft (presumably on the basis of similarity to items in Pammelia); there seems to be no other example of this piece extant. The top line is written for a boy's voice (Oh! well sung my lad!), and is not a breeches role.

Original text and translations

English text

Hey, down, down, down, down,
Sing ye now after me:
La mi sol ut fa, so shall we all agree.
Take heed to your time and rest as you find;
The round and the square must be trued in their kind.
Oh! Well sung my lad!
I say we are as good by night as by day
La mi sol ut fa. Let us be merry here
As long time as we may, for time truly passes away.
Hey-ho, hey-ho.