Fair Rosalind 

1. Fair Rosalind in woeful wise
Six hearts has bound in thrall;
As yet she undetermined lies,
Which she her spouse shall call,
Which she her spouse shall call.

2. Wretched, and only wretched, he,
To whom that lot shall fall;
For, if her heart aright I see,
She means to please them all,
She means to please them all.



From William Chappell’s “Old English Popular Music” (1893).  He states that it appears in “Mercurius Musicus” (1735), Watts’ “Musical Miscellany” (1729), and “The Convivial Songster” (1780).  In the preface, Chappell  says, “while the skilled composers, in pursuit of the new musical ideal, shew no abatement of energy, the characteristic of the popular tunes is a gradually increasing languor and poverty of invention.”  So much for old-time music, I guess!