| Author | Topic: Add: The Vicar of Bray | |
| dmcg | Posted - 17 Sep 03 - 11:48 am | |
In good King Charles's golden days, When loyalty no harm meant, A zealous High Churchman was I, And so I got preferment; To teach my flock I never miss'd, Kings were by God appointed, And damn'd are those that do resist, Or touch the Lord's annointed. Chorus: And this is law, I will maintain, Until my dying day, Sir, That whatsoever King may reign, Still I'll be the Vicar of Bray, Sir. When royal James obtain'd the crown, And Pop'ry came in fashion, The penal laws I hooted down, And read the Declaration; The Church of Rome I found would fit Full well my constitution; And had become a Jesuit But for the Revolution. When William was our King declar'd, To ease a nation's greviance, With this new winf about I sterr'd, And swore to him allegence; Old principles I did revoke, Set conscience at a distance; Passive obedience as a joke, A jest was non-resistance. When gracious Anne became our Queen, The Church of England's glory, Another face of things was seen, And I became a Tory, Ocaasional Conformists base, I damn'd their moderation, And thought the Church in danger was, By such prevarication. When George in pudding time came o'er, And mod'rate men look'd big, Sir, I turn'd a cat-in-pan once more, And so became a Whig, Sir; And thus preferment I procur'd, From our new faith's defender, And almost ev'ry day abjur'd The Pope and the Pretender. Th' illustrious house of Hanover, And Protestant succession, To these I do allegiance swear, While they can keep possession; For in my faith and loyalty I never more will falter And George my lawful King shall be, Until the times do alter. Source: Sabine Baring Gould, 1895, Old English Songs from English Minstrelsie, 1895 Notes: This is taken from the selection of the eight volume work by Baring Gould of the same name, reprinted by Llanerch Publishers. Notes are not given in the selection, but are in the full eight volume work to which I do not have access. Therefore I cannot give any information about where and when this song was collected. The following quotation is from a Berkshire History website:
Database entry is here. Edited By dmcg - 17-Sep-2003 11:55:44 AM | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 17 Sep 03 - 02:14 pm | |
William Chappell had this to say on the subject: "Simon Aleyn, Canon of Windsor, was Vicar of Bray, in Berkshire, from 1540 to 1588. "He was a Papist under the reign of Henry VIII., and a Protestant under Edward VI.; he was a Papist again under Mary, and once more became a Protestant in the reign of Elizabeth. When this scandal to the gown was reproached for his versatility of religious creeds, and taxed for being a turncoat and an inconstant changeling, as Fuller expresses it, he replied, 'Not so neither; for if I changed my religion, I am sure I kept true to my principle; which is, to live and die the Vicar of Bray,' " "This vivacious and reverend hero gave birth to a proverb, "The Vicar of Bray will be Vicar of Bray still." In a sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, by John Evans, in 1682, after describing the common notion of a Moderate Minister in the church, he says, "And if this be moderation, the old Vicar of Bray was the most moderate man that ever breathed." (Southey's Common Place Book, p. 159). Nichols in his Select Poems says that the song of the Vicar of Bray "was written by a soldier in Colonel Fuller's troop of Dragoons, in the reign of George I." "In the ballad operas, such as The Quakers' Opera, 1728, and The Grub Street Opera and the Welsh Opera, both 1731, the original name of the tune is given as The Country Garden. "In some of the copies the tune is printed in 3/4 time, which entirely changes its character; it then becomes a plaintive love ditty instead of a sturdy and bold air. The curious will find the 3/4 version in National English Airs (No.26, p.14). [Here he prints the song; a little different in some particulars from the text quoted above] "The above air was also rendered popular by the song of "The Neglected Tar," commencing - "I sing the British seaman's praise; A theme renown'd in story," &c. It is printed in the Rev. James Plumtre's dull, but highly moral collection, 8vo., 1805." Popular Music of the Olden Time, II, 652. In the Appendix, however (II 787), Chappell comments further: "Simon Aleyn has long had the credit of being the proverbial Vicar of Bray, but it appears from various authorities quoted in Athenænæ Cantab. (i. 107), that Simon Symonds was instituted to the vicarage on the 14th March, 1522-3, and died about 1551; therefore, the story cannot apply to any vicar of that time." If I have time later on I'll have a look at Baring Gould's notes on the song; there is a set of the Minstrelsie in the City Library. | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 17 Sep 03 - 03:10 pm | |
James J. Fuld wrote in his Book of World-Famous Music, 5th ed. (Dover, 2000, p. 187, s.v. Country Gardens): This melody first appeared in 1728 under this title ["Country Gardens"] in The Quaker's Opera printed in London for J.W., at p. 37; BUC, p. 866. The melody also came to be known as The Vicar of Bray¹. Chappell included two versions in A Collection of National English Airs (London, 1838-1840)² which provide an interesting link between the 1728 version and the "Handkerchief Dance" tune collected by Cecil J. Sharp and Herbert C. MacIlwaine in 1907³ and popularized by Percy Grainger in 1919. | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 19 Sep 03 - 01:08 pm | |
The song is printed in Moffat and Kidson, The Minstrelsy of England, 1901, 220-1. Frank Kidson noted: "In Nichol's Select Poems the statement is made that the song is the composition of a 'soldier in Colonel Fuller's troop of dragoons, in the reign of George I.' The present writer was able, some time ago in the Musical Times, to refute this popular error and to show that a version of The Vicar of Bray was written by Edward Ward, and inserted among his Miscellanies printed in the third edition of 1712, before George I came to the throne; indeed, Ward's song may even have been published long before the above named date. For a selection from Ward's verses see the Appendix to the present volume. The original Vicar of Bray (a little village on the Thames above Windsor) was supposed to have been Simon Aleyn; he was Vicar of Bray from 1540 to 1588. It is, however, uncertain as to which vicar gave rise to the proverb - 'The Vicar of Bray will be Vicar of Bray still.' The tune is an old one named The Country Garden. In Daniel Wright's Compleat Tutor for ye Flute, circa 1735, it is named The Country Garden the New Way. Under the first title the air is used in the Quaker's Opera, 1728, and other ballad operas of the period. The first air (printed on half sheets) to The Vicar of Bray is the old Scotch tune Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, and it was not until quite late in the 18th century that the song became united to the tune we now know, i.e. The Country Garden. The song is given in Calliope; or, The Musical Miscellany, Edinburgh, 1788, to a version of the present known tune, and this air was also used for a song, The Neglected Tar, popular at this time." The Minstrelsy of England, 1901, 316-7: "Early version of The Vicar of Bray, from Edward Ward's Miscellaneous Writings in verse and Prose, vol. iii, 1712. The Religious Turncoat; Or, the Trimming Parson I lov'd no king in forty-one When Prelacy went down; A cloak and band I then put on, And preached against the Crown. Chorus: A turncoat is a cunning man, That cants to admiration, And prays for any side, to gain The people's approbation. * * * When brewer Noll with copper nose The stinking Rump dismounted, I wisely still adher'd to those Who strongest were accounted. I preached and prayed for Oliver, And all his vile abettors, But curs'd the King and Cavalier, And cried 'em down for traitors. When Charles returned unto the land, The English Crown's supporter, I shifted off my cloak and band And then became a Courtier. The King's religion I profest, And found there was no harm in't; I coged and flattered like the rest, Till I had got preferment. * * * When Royal James began his reign, And Mass was used in common, I shifted off my Faith again, And so became a Roman. * * * When William had possess'd the throne, And cur'd our country's grievance, New principles I then put on, And swore to him allegiance. I then preached up King William's right Pray'd for his foes' confusion, And so remained a Williamite, Till another Revolution. But when Queen Anne the throne possess't, I then, to save my bacon, Turn'd High Church, thinking that was best, But found myself mistaken. For soon discerning very plain, The Whigs had got the better, I turn'd Low Churchman, so remain A Trimming Moderator. Therefore all you, both high and low, Let me for once direct you, - Serve no cause longer than you know The party can protect you. Kidson adds: "The writer is in possession of a version of the above (having considerable variation), engraved as a half-sheet song, with music. The air employed is one popular at the time, named London is a Fine Town, and the last monarch named in the song is the first George. The sheet was probably engraved about 1720-30." | ||
| Malcolm Douglas |
Posted - 19 Sep 03 - 02:10 pm | |
Here are tunes to accompany the references above. Bessy Bell appeared as early as 1729, in a songster, The Musical Miscellany (I), but is here quoted from the Scots Musical Museum, II, 1788. X:1 T:Bessy Bell and Mary Gray B:Johnson, Scots Musical Museum, II, 1788, no.128 N:The Vicar of Bray was originally set to this tune. L:1/8 Q:1/4=100 M:6/8 K:C G|(E3/2F/) G (G3/2A/) _B(|TA3/2G/) A F2 F|(E3/2F/) G (G3/2A/) G| c3 {cd}e2 G|(E3/2F/) G (G3/2A/) _B|A3/2G/ F f2 (e/f/)| (gf) e (fe) d|c3 {cd}e2 g|(e3/2d/) e (c3/2d/) e| (fd) _B (de) f|(ge) c (cd) c|e3 Tf2 (e/f/)| (ge) c (ef) e|(fd) _B (de) f|(gf) e (fe) d|c3 {cd}e2|] X:2 T:London is a Fine Town B:Playford, Dancing Master, 3rd. ed., 1665, 111. L:1/8 Q:1/4=100 M:4/4 K:F c/B/|AF FF A c2 B/A/|GA B3/2c/ d3 e|fg/f/ ed/e/ fFFF|GG A3/2B/ G2:|] | ||